Zero stakes for beginners, zero buy-in. (1 Viewer)

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blackllama

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Hosting a night where people are beginners or wana give it a try. They also just want to play and not have any money on the line. Which is fine, they can focus on just learning. So we will play tournament.

So here is where i need some advice. I still want them to fear loosing or they will play not really caring. I was thinking something like the first person out owes the winner of the night a favour. Or as you loose you need to do a PG but annoying dare or something like that.

Anyone tried something like this? Any suggestions?
 
We did this in college but the dares were pretty specific, they all involved taking articles of clothing off. Come to think of it, it was a pretty specific type of friend group though.

I agree with @FestiveKnight , you dont need to be losing or winning large sums but the stakes have to matter, thats the reason poker is fun. Our group plays for $5 with beginners and the room goes quiet when someone bets a full dollar. Have everyone throw in $1 or $5, it'll be memorable.
 
I mean… unless these are children, couldn’t you at least play 2c/5c or something?

Poker without stakes might make sense if people don’t even know the basic rules. But they will never really learn the game until there is real money involved.
 
I've already agreed to make it zero cost. Some peeps aren't doing to well financially which is how this came about but a few bucks should have been ok. next game definitely. Maybe I can change their mind but for now need some kind of incentive. I think ill have to go with a prize, maybe a free buy in to the next cash game maybe? Still open to suggestions but
 
I started "Drunken Poker" for this very specific purpose. It is very simple.

Everyone starts out with $100 in chips. Standard 1/2 NL table. When someone busts out, the bank can easily give them another $100. All they have to do to get it is a double of the NASTIEST THING YOU COULD FIND AT THE LIQUOR STORE that day. And when I say nasty, I mean $8.95 with a $10 mail in rebate nasty.

Doing something like this turns poker from "I might lose my paycheck" and makes it into "I am going to laugh so hard when my buddy has to drink this garbage". Lots of fun. Try it.
 
tabletalker7 said:
I started "Drunken Poker" for this very specific purpose. It is very simple.

Everyone starts out with $100 in chips. Standard 1/2 NL table. When someone busts out, the bank can easily give them another $100. All they have to do to get it is a double of the NASTIEST THING YOU COULD FIND AT THE LIQUOR STORE that day. And when I say nasty, I mean $8.95 with a $10 mail in rebate nasty.

Doing something like this turns poker from "I might lose my paycheck" and makes it into "I am going to laugh so hard when my buddy has to drink this garbage". Lots of fun. Try it.
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Great idea. If you want a variety of potential nastiness, at our FF draft anyone who commits an error (like calling out a previously drafted player or overbidding their salary cap) has to blindly pull an airplane sized bottle of booze out of a basket and shoot it. Let’s just say the selection of booze they are pulling from leaves a lot to be desired. Always gets the room going and is good for a lot of laughs.
 
Tonysquander said:
Great idea. If you want a variety of potential nastiness, at our FF draft anyone who commits an error (like calling out a previously drafted player or overbidding their salary cap) has to blindly pull an airplane sized bottle of booze out of a basket and shoot it. Let’s just say the selection of booze they are pulling from leaves a lot to be desired. Always gets the room going and is good for a lot of laughs.
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We had one guy who was ok with beer but not ok with liquor. We got him a 6 pack of Genny Cream Ale and instead of putting it in the fridge, we put it on the space heater to bake. He had a terrible night.
 
blackllama said:
've already agreed to make it zero cost. Some peeps aren't doing to well financially
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I guess your only option left is strip poker than

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Joke aside, tournament with a low amount (something like $5) with rebuy is the best option for learning poker.

Trying to learn/teach poker with zero stakes is pointless, people just going to go all in or do stupid thing every hand cos there is no consequences
 
LeLe said:
Trying to learn/teach poker with zero stakes is pointless, people just going to go all in or do stupid thing every hand cos there is no consequences
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+1 on this; you won't learn poker with no stakes because everyone can just all-in every hand. I'd say penny stakes would be better, but don't let it ruin your fun if money is a problem! A big part of poker is understanding the value of certain hands, and you can't gain that knowledge without some type of incentive. Otherwise, what is the point of folding?
 
LeLe said:
Trying to learn/teach poker with zero stakes is pointless, people just going to go all in or do stupid thing every hand cos there is no consequences
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Well, you can at least teach them the rules and order of play. I wouldn't expect anyone to absorb much strategy in their first game anyway.
 
jxfan said:
+1 on this; you won't learn poker with no stakes because everyone can just all-in every hand. I'd say penny stakes would be better, but don't let it ruin your fun if money is a problem! A big part of poker is understanding the value of certain hands, and you can't gain that knowledge without some type of incentive. Otherwise, what is the point of folding?
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I beg to differ. A off brand London Dry Gin taught a lot of people the lesson of overvaluing certain hands. Even me. That stuff was terrible.
 
Some of the earliest nickel/dime blinds $10 max buy-in games I hosted were also some of the most cutthroat and competitive.

If the dynamic of the group are competitive to begin with, regularly give and get shit over little things, it doesn't take a lot to financially motivate a good game. The number of times someone would remind someone else about the 50-cent bluff they pulled off three sessions ago becoming exactly the needle to drive some action in the game made it worth it.


(Back when I hosted a $5 buy-in tournament, I started the tradition of the winner from the previous session would post a $1 bounty on themselves. Winning that bounty off the previous winner was nearly as good as winning the tournament.)
 
We played for rocks on boy scout outings. Lose your rocks and you had to leave the tent and let someone else have your seat - tents don't hold more than a handful of players. There was a waiting line.

I also hosted poker for the local Chamber of Commerce. No fee, no donation - - - with door prizes as a bomb pot every thirty minutes and a prize for the winner at the end. The prizes were small, less than $5 each. But everyone likes to win even small prizes.

And then we have "bar poker". Play a tournament for points, no fees but most people ordered stuff from the bar/kitchen. Players with the most point at the end of the season get a free meal.

Have fun! -=- DrStrange
 
So you’re saying if I start with casinos that have no deposit bonuses, some for poker too, I won’t really learn? Maybe I’m new but I’m not a fan of constantly stressing over losing money. And what do you mean by people will go all in or do something dumb? Is it even worth teaching those kinds of players poker then? If you are going to hit a casino, you have to take responsibility and play smart, even if you don’t win or lose anything. But if you can only learn under the threat of losing money… nah, I just don’t get that.
 
BernWhy said:
So you’re saying if I start with casinos that have no deposit bonuses, some for poker too, I won’t really learn? Maybe I’m new but I’m not a fan of constantly stressing over losing money. And what do you mean by people will go all in or do something dumb? Is it even worth teaching those kinds of players poker then? If you are going to hit a casino, you have to take responsibility and play smart, even if you don’t win or lose anything. But if you can only learn under the threat of losing money… nah, I just don’t get that.
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Yes, that's exactly what we mean. 'Casinos' for play money can teach the rules of a game and the format, thats it.

There's a difference between stressing over losing too much money and not having any money on the line. I agree, I'm not gambling my mortgage either but poker is centered around risking; when you're playing for free players will absolutely play dumb, shoving or calling bets when they're bored. This has been a universal experience. Even if you try to play perfectly, you have to adjust your play to maniacs which becomes just bingo. You can be patient and win...but win what?

The best way to learn something is if there's some stakes involved, yes, all research shows this. If you want a kid to learn something, first teach them why they should learn it and how itll help them, threats and opportunities. Ever seen The Wire? Kids bad at math in school but knows how to keep count of the drugs and cash coming in. Why? Because school wont whip his ass. Poker is the same way. In free poker, sure call the preflop bet and flop a fullhouse with 8 and a 2, thats your lucky hand now!

Not shaming you for playing free poker, just warning you that it's very different, most of us dont find it fun due to the lack of strategy, and you may pick up very bad habits.

EDIT: I was paraphrasing, saw it a long time ago but the point stands.
 
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Just do a few hands open face for basic rules and game flow. Return everyone to starting stacks and play for pennies or $1 buy in. It has to be for something.
 
Maybe because of my player's card, I can't perceive the appeal of playing shoots and ladders.

The game is candy land until it becomes a zero-sum game. That's the intrigue; that is the reason dopamine burns into our conscience, bringing us back to the game. Consequences that have at least some minimum amount of impact.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I hope the best for you, I hope you gain traction and get a game going; I would suggest .05 / .10, it can be blast! It doesn't have to be noise bleed stakes, but it can't really be nothing either.
 
LeLe said:
Trying to learn/teach poker with zero stakes is pointless, people just going to go all in or do stupid thing every hand cos there is no consequences
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Aw. Not my experience. But unique circumstances maybe.

Zero money home game continuously run for 20 years. Tournaments have run every 2-4 weeks, varying between 6 and 16 players.

Had only a few instances in that 20 years of any player treating the game as meaningless and playing like a moron. Those were alcohol related occasions. Never had a new players play stupid. But I did put measures in to reduce temptation to play stupidly; one rebuy only of 1/3 starting stack. It works and provides new players a second go.

So... @blackllama , I say it is possible. Maybe depends on the mindset of the group.

For my crew winning and improving are the goals. They don't have a need to risk money to want to win. Kind of like playing board games, right, where trying to win is the fun. Some are highly competitive while others are there mostly to socialise. Recruits tend to be like-minded people.

All of that said... I damn well want a money game too. Working on that.
 
1/2c $2 buy in or even 1/1c $1 buy in. If they can't afford to lose a couple buy ins at these stakes, they got bigger problems to worry about and should probably be putting all their efforts in a job search.

if it must absolutely be $0 poker; I would just do a tourney series and track points. Treat it like free fantasy football. bottom 3 at the end of a season has to do some type of punishment. top dogs have bragging rights.
 
From my experience, I have two groups. Main group plays a $50 buy-in mixed game. My other group just plays for fun. Nobody gets crazy in that group and all of the sudden there’s talk of “ok, maybe 10 bucks isn’t so bad”

It’ll evolve.
 

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