Most organized home game I've ever played in.

I got a call last night around 11pm from a friend who wanted to know if I was interested in a $1000 buyin NL holdem poker game. He said it was being held at a friend of his and I'd be surprised at the fishiness of the players.

So I grabbed up my lucky chip (a 5 franc chip from the casino in Monaco that I got in 1973) and off I went. I met my friend at his house, we went there together and I was impressed from the start.

As you walked in they had two off duty policemen doing the old airport scan to check for weapons. Downstairs in the basement they had 4 tables of 10 people, plus a dealer for each table. There was food and drink, all in the original "rake" which was $20 a person.

I thought it was totally reasonable. $20 for food, drink, security. Of course it's illegal since there's any fee charged but with two county police there and 2 others playing, I wasn't overly concerned about getting raided or robbed.

Maybe it's because I've run so bad online the past few weeks, maybe it was that lucky chip, something was different though. I don't think I lost a single race type hand, I kept crushing overpairs. Ended up winning just over $3500 for the evening and, more important, got invited back to dip at the trough again.

The funniest guy in the place was a Gus Hansen wannabe. I swear he saw 90% of the flops, he bought in 5 times before giving up around 4am. If he was part of the pot I never even thought about it, I just autoshoved.

It really was a great time. Not just because I won but because the players in the game were not the antisocial types you see online or in person, crying about every missed draw. I didn't hear the word donk once.

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Sounds like a classy game


Hope you shouted "WAFFLES" every time you won a pot.

That sounds like a fun game! Nice little win for you too.

Refreshing story for a Sunday morning. Sounds like a player's dream event. Did you ask if the 'next time' was starting in an hour or two ...

sounds like a nice change of paace from the online world and security pretty cool set up .

Wow sounds like a sweet game to play at.

Btw, you said that the off duty officers were there to stop being robbed. But I mean, dont the police themselves do the raiding? Why did these police officers not care about this game.... pretty cool still though.

off duty cops working as security guards, just a second job for them.

Well, in my county I've never heard of a game being raided. The main thing that always worried me about playing in a place with $100k or more in cash around was being robbed. The two cops playing were both armed as were the door guards so that was taken out of the equation.

This is a biweekly game and I can assure you I'm going to be at all of them from now on.

You can never be too careful though. I had a buddy who played in a place like that and someone snitched or something and it got raided and everyone lost all of their money. Some even were arrested. The Cops Might Be Setting You Up!!!!

This was a home game? Sounds like an underground club.

Sooner or later those get busted. All it takes is one terrible beat on someone who decides to snitch and it doesn't matter if it's local guys guarding the door, feds could come take it down. If that happens, you can kiss what you have on the table goodbye.

Can I get in on that?

Wow sounds like it was a fish tank!!!

Congrats

If they could prove all the $50/person went directly towards food and security, pretty sure it wasn't illegal at all. If however the host is pocketing some of the "rake", then it is liable to get shut down.

Personally I would never feel comfortable in a place like that.. the $100K in cash is a magnet for robbers.

Apart from that, the game sounds very good and brilliantly well run. $20 fro food, drink and security sounds like it was being run for the game rather than any real profit.

Glad you did well.. I dare say you will be back for more!

One thing I would like to ask.

Is it simply the lack of rake that draws people to play in these games rather than trying to run the same game in a casino?

when i first read the thread title i wasn't expecting this. 1000 dollar buy in home game with security!!! sounds crazy to me. the biggest home game i play in is 50 dollar buy in with 20-25 people. then most of the time we play 10 or 20 dollars 6 handed. 2nd place gets double the buy in and first walks away with the rest. safe to say we don't need weapons check or security guards. just some drinks, snacks, and a chip and chair! typing this out made me realize how much i love playing in home games. so much more fun and care free!

Sounds like a great game. Very rarely do you find a oranized home game like that. Last one i went too i had to be dealer all the time, everyone was drunk before the first 15 minute blind level was done and it was just ridiculous cause huge fight broke out and stuff.

The nearest casino is a 3.5 hour drive in Atlantic City. Got to admit though that the lack of rake, just the flat $20 fee, is a selling point for sure for the game. I'd be willing to pay more than that.

By the time you add in gas, food and room costs in AC it gets too expensive if all you want to do is play for one night every couple of weeks.

Wow that sounds very impressive. How many buy ins were you able to get in that tournament, or was it a time limit one where you could just keep re- buying by a certain time? But that does sound like a wonderful game. Good luck if you go back ha