Home Poker Games, By John Reger
Home Poker Games
By John Reger
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Contributing Writer
Recently I was talking with a woman online about poker, and she was telling me about a home game she had started.
She had been playing for years online and at poker clubs, but liked having a friendly game at her house in a more social atmosphere.
Home games are fun, but they are definitely a different animal than online or playing at a club.
A home poker game is more social, usually played with friends and family. There is usually liquor and food and your attention is not on the cards a lot of the time.
There is nothing wrong with that, but realize a home game is not as competitive and your strategy will definitely be different, intentional or not.
When you are playing with someone you know, the tendency is to play looser. First, the stakes are usually a lot lower, and second, you aren’t going to have the same killer instinct you would if you were playing with a stranger.
That doesn’t mean a home game can’t be fun. If you set it up correctly, it can be more enjoyable as online or a club and just as competitive.
The woman I was talking to hosts a regular Thursday evening game, and it begins sharply at 6:30. There are six to eight players, and the game ends at midnight or when the table gets below four players. If someone has to leave, they must announce their departure time at least an hour before. She called it “table etiquette.”
Setting a routine is important. Her game is at an established time with a consistent core group of people and has a definitive end time.
There are a couple of people that float in and out of the game, but for the most part the same people show up every week. There is nothing worse than a home game that has four people ready to play and four flakes whom you can’t count on to be there.
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Last edited by scrawnybob; 07-19-2006 at 08:57 PM.
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