Who's the biggest loser at your games? (1 Viewer)

[quintooo]

I have a game of 10-12 players. I run the bank, so I know stats on all my players. The biggest loser is currently down almost $1000, which probably isn't a lot to higher stakes games, but we play 0.05/0.10 and some 0.25/0.25 mostly... Sometimes I wonder if the biggest loser knows they're the biggest loser.

Of course, hosts are excluded from answers, because I know we're all still stuck in the hole from buying chips, poker tables, and beer

 

[MrWitti]

I think as long he easily can afford, thats less of a problem. My players do see the money they bring at the table as entertainment/gamble money that they would have spent elsewhere for drinks meals etc.
luckily our group is pretty even in skills and profits and losses are kinda balanced. We play mostly 0.50/1 and range is usually up or down 200$

 

[Eriks]

I have two consistent losers in my game. One is a very splashy gambling type player who either will book a big win or a big loss depending on how he runs. Typically the latter though. The other one is weak tight and will usually break even or lose like half of a buy-in.

I don’t track results but we’ve been playing for many years and the splashy player is probably down several thousands of dollars (all micro stakes, $0.1/0.2 - 0.2/0.4). Tracking results would not be good for his ego and thus not good for the game so I’ll shut up; he can afford it.

I think tracking results is generally a bad idea. People don’t wanna keep track of how much they lose at poker anymore than they wanna know their total alcohol consumption/year

 

[quintooo]

I think tracking results is generally a bad idea. People don’t wanna keep track of how much they lose at poker anymore than they wanna know their total alcohol consumption/year

I don't share the results with any of my players, feel like that's overall not a good idea. I mostly like to keep track because I like graphs and spreadsheets. I do not keep track of my total alcohol consumption though

 

[Eriks]

I don't share the results with any of my players, feel like that's overall not a good idea. I mostly like to keep track because I like graphs and spreadsheets. I do not keep track of my total alcohol consumption though

Yepp, I should have said sharing the results is not a good idea. I would have liked to have tracked the results from my game for my eyes only too

 

[bsdunbar1]

I don't keep track of cash games, but have data on most things for all tourneys I run.
This guy has been playing in my games for years and is in the negative every year. (2020 stats below)
I agree that for many of these players this is entertainment money, sure they want to win but the expense for the fun is worth it to them.
The funny thing about this player is I have been to Vegas with him several times and the majority of times he will cash in tourneys out there. Probably because no one knows how tight he is.

 

[Eloe2000]

Our group typically has been playing small stakes beer money stakes every week religiously for about 7-8yrs. We have one guy who we call “ATM” who just simply looses every single week. He obviously doesn’t care about the money and plays for the social aspect. Funny thing is since we have moved to online tournaments he has been absolutely slaying it.

 

[Coyote]

We have one guy who we call “ATM” who just simply looses every single week.
Funny thing is since we have moved to online tournaments he has been absolutely slaying it.

...which corroborates my view on tournaments

 

[redeagle]

Our group typically has been playing small stakes beer money stakes every week religiously for about 7-8yrs. We have one guy who we call “ATM” who just simply looses every single week. He obviously doesn’t care about the money and plays for the social aspect. Funny thing is since we have moved to online tournaments he has been absolutely slaying it.

I think an ATM or two is common in most home games. I wouldn’t share stats ever since there is no reason to make anybody feel badly. These are social games mostly. It’s not like he lost a grand in one night, can’t pay the rent and has to explain to his wife.

If he is down $30-$50 on a weekly or monthly game where he hangs out, talks, jokes, eats/drinks, and enjoys poker with friends, maybe that is worth it to him as entertainment. I am even sure he mostly remembers that great pot he won where he sucked out a two pair 7/2 to crack those aces. Not everyone is driven to study and improve poker skills so they can dominate the next WSOP.

In our regular game, we have 2 or 3 ATM casual players, 7 or 8 solid players that have read up and like to play “good poker”, a few ultra-competitive types who work at it a bit mostly because they can’t stand losing at anything, and two very good players that put a lot of time in at card rooms and are usually making at least the first cut into the money every year at the WSOP.

 

[Highli99]

I will never out or criticize the VIPs in my game. They are to be treated with respect, entertainment, and all the action they desire. Their occasional suckouts will be celebrated as well played and much deserved wins.

Cash game poker may be a zero-sum game with respect to the money, but if the game is viewed more holistically the losing players are getting something out of it or they wouldn't keep playing. I try to identify that thing and optimize it for them. WIN - win.

 

[CraigT78]

I like to refer to Joey 'Money' as the whale in my game, not a loser.

 

[Rhodeman77]

the majority of my regulars are all losing players long term (at my game at least). They all win on occasion but as mentioned by OP, it is money they can afford to lose.

How much the biggest losing player is down, I would imagine somewhere in the $8-10k range for a rolling calendar year is not out of the question.

 

[detroitdad]

Of course, hosts are excluded from answers, because I know we're all still stuck in the hole from buying chips, poker tables, and beer

I'm not in the hole as a host.

The really big losers have moved on from cash games for the most part. Some (@Sprouty ) has used covid as an excuse, some just realized that they should stick to $40.00 tourney's.

 

[Josh Kifer]

Our table fish is a good dude, been coming for 10 years, but never wants to learn a thing. This is his "guy time", but he plays nearly every hand and always flips it over without saying a word to see if he won. Drives me nuts.

 

[Anthony Ferguson]

Since the pandemic, my regular group has switched to a weekly $.50/$1 no limit holdem game played virtually at www.pokernow.club. There is a simultaneous zoom conference. It has worked out well and I highly recommend the pokernow site. One player is the banker and he is sent $100 by each player via PayPal or Venmo with payouts later made by him. Most players are either lawyers or accountants, although somehow some local college kids have gotten into the game.

Accountants being accountants, the banker started keeping a spreadsheet of buy-ins, wins, losses, win rates, etcetera since we have gone virtual. One player consistently lost 1-2 buy-ins per game. He'd win occasionally and somehow thought he was a good player having a bad run of luck. I felt badly for him because I think it stung financially. He stopped playing about six weeks ago, although he did pop in 2 weeks ago and limited his loss to $50. He's down $4000+.

 

[JustinInMN]

I'm not a huge fan of tracking players. I know there must be losers or else no one would play to win. I don't think tracking, even if kept confidential, helps the poker economy at all.

But a good word about hosting. You want your hosts to be somewhat good at the game or else they will stop hosting.

 

[CraigT78]

You want your hosts to be somewhat good at the game or else they will stop hosting

Going on 6 years and I still host

 

[ninedeuce]

I'm in a regular (4 x week) online 1/2 NLHE game where two biggest losers down around $15k each since pandemic. For both those guys, $15k is about equivalent to $1.5k for most of us.

Both losers are super aggro, splashy types who often build up big stacks (aggression ftw!) and then spew it all off and more because they don't realize that trips are not the nuts on a paired board lol.

Agree about tracking players being bad for the game. Unfortunately, we use a social app and handle payouts via Venmo, so we need to keep track of results to ensure everyone properly paid. We don't aggregate the numbers anywhere, but each player has the ability to do that.

 

[SiouxperStack]

I don't keep track of cash games, but have data on most things for all tourneys I run.
This guy has been playing in my games for years and is in the negative every year. (2020 stats below)
I agree that for many of these players this is entertainment money, sure they want to win but the expense for the fun is worth it to them.
The funny thing about this player is I have been to Vegas with him several times and the majority of times he will cash in tourneys out there. Probably because no one knows how tight he is.

View attachment 590650

I feel like this guy should have won more than 270. 3 4ths, 1 2nd, and a 3rd = $270?

 

[Marc Hedrick]

I feel like this guy should have won more than 270. 3 4ths, 1 2nd, and a 3rd = $270?

3 ITM...so, 4th was only in the money once.

 

[Venturalvn]

Biggest loser in the game is my food credit card when I order pizza for the whole game and someone calling 2-8 offsuit to a 3-bet is suddenly scraping together $3 to pitch into a $100 order.

 

[bsdunbar1]

I feel like this guy should have won more than 270. 3 4ths, 1 2nd, and a 3rd = $270?

Well since you asked....
Marc is correct, 2 of his 4th place finishes were small enough tourneys that only paid 3 spots.
His 3 ITM's were for inexpensive weekly league tourneys that also have a small rake taken for season end freeroll.

 

[chrismurda]

I’ve been playing with the same group of 6 to 8 players for the last 17 years. The money seems to just work it’s way around the table with no clear winner... just memorable bad beats.

 

[Rhodeman77]

Going on 6 years and I still host

there is always an exception to the rule!

 

[quintooo]

I'm not a huge fan of tracking players. I know there must be losers or else no one would play to win. I don't think tracking, even if kept confidential, helps the poker economy at all.

But a good word about hosting. You want your hosts to be somewhat good at the game or else they will stop hosting.

I agree that it doesn't help the poker economy, but I don't think it hurts it either (as long as it's kept confidential).

I'm generally a winner at my games, not the biggest though. The problem with me though, is as soon as I climb out the hole from buying poker gear, I go out and spend more money on poker gear ):

 

[Saoliver]

Our table fish is a good dude, been coming for 10 years, but never wants to learn a thing. This is his "guy time", but he plays nearly every hand and always flips it over without saying a word to see if he won. Drives me nuts.

He is a VERY nice guy.

 

[Josh Kifer]

He is a VERY nice guy.

He is! Just.... Learn to play poker. Plz.... Plzzzzz

 

[quintooo]

I’ve been playing with the same group of 6 to 8 players for the last 17 years. The money seems to just work it’s way around the table with no clear winner... just memorable bad beats.

I think this is my preferred game to be honest. Maybe a slight winner, but honestly since my players are all my friends/roommates, I can't help but feel bad for the losers. Of course, we play at limits where making rent/tuition shouldn't be an issue.

I know most of them just wanna gambol, so I often give them action when I'm the obvious dog, but that's usually not enough to deter the sharks of my game.

 

[redeagle]

I know most of them just wanna gambol, so I often give them action when I'm the obvious dog

There so much fun can be had with this line.

This is what comes up about men gamboling playfully.

 

[djfayze]

I’m one of the winners as far as our $5 micro games go, although I’m probably the loser given that I’ve spent $1,200+ on poker chips and supplies in the last two months