Do you ever feel guilty for taking your friends' money?

I was playing our regular Saturday night poker game last night with my friends and since I started playing online, using forums etc my game has improved drastically. Basically I cleaned them out and not for the first time. One of my mates joked that I wouldn't be invited to the next game and I feel that if I keep winning like this it may well become true. Maybe I should throw a game or play really loose just to keep them interested? I do try to give them tips on what hand to play and when but as they don't play online they just aren't getting the same amount of practise that I do.

I was wondering if there is anyone else here in a similar situation?

No Never Through a game. Play your game as well as you can,if they dont like the outcome,thats there problem. When playing poker you should never worry whos at the table, I played on Thanksgiving day,there was my wife,my 2 daughters(34 and 36 yrs,old) my son (40 yrs.old ) my grandson (18 yrs old ) and my daughter in-law (46 yrs old ) i played like i always do and won $62. and my eldest daughter won about $50. and she never played before,lol,, everybody else lost, My point is when your playing poker no matter whos there, men,woman,sons,daughters,in-laws, or anyone else, Never be afraid to play your best, and Never be afraid to play against anyone,if you do,you are done as a poker player. And Also, by the way, IT WAS THERE IDEA TO PLAY,, guess they figured they could beat the Old man,LOL, >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> buck:hello: :hello:

I've never felt bad for taking my friends money because i know they won't feel bad about taking mine. I've felt bad for my friends before but it was because they were just losing too much money period. I mean they would come to our weekly poker game and lose thousands at a time. The reason I felt bad for them was because they had a gambling problem and didn't know when to stop. You shouldn't gamble if you can't afford too. And I mean some of these guys would just keep buying-in, in hopes to get even (which from experience is a big poker NO NO). MONEY YOU DON'T LOSE IS JUST AS GOOD AS MONEY YOU WIN. This means that lets say you buy in for $10,000 and your down to your last $800. A lot of people would be so tilt from losing just over $9000 that would play reckless and not care what happens to the last of their chips. But lets say you get up from that table with your last $800 then you can still spend that $800 on what ever you like.

no my friend dosent mind lol

You should always play your best, like these people point out.

However...

This is a unique situation. You have two things going on that supersede the importance of your immediate results:

1. Potential profit

If you're much more skilled than your friends, especially if you're playing a pot limit or no limit betting structure game, winning may cost you money in the long run. You should keep that in mind when deciding whether to play your best and clean everyone out. Even with superior skill, you will win not every time. If you're playing a cash game structure, consider changing to a single table tournament which increases the luck factor. Playing with a greater luck factor might be useful in obscuring any superiority in play that you might have.

2. You want to be able to hang out with your friends

If you really enjoy time with your friends, you don't really want to screw it up by always taking their money. You could make your involvement in the game involve less or no money by adding your winnings to the next prize pool, limiting your winnings and adding the rest to the next prize pool, or other creative ways to more evenly distribute the wealth. Make sure your friends appreciate that you can lose too.


You need to decide what's important here and then proceed accordingly. And I do understand that both ideas I've listed here could be important to you, they would be to me.

I think throwing the game would be a mistake. You don't want to get in the habit of playing anything but your best for the situation.

My friends and I generally try to better each other while playing (not actually during play), and the skill level has drastically increased across the board in the past 2 years. Having said that none of us really feel guilty about winning or mad about losing since each game is a learning experience for us.

Hell no! I just smack em on the back and say gimme those chips!
Back when I was first learning they had no problem taking my money, so I'll have no problem returning the favor
Though if you feel it's unfair , just remember they are willing to put their money in , so they are willing to lose it....

Besides on the other end , I'd rather a friend take my money then a stranger...

I feel a little reassured now. Hopefully my clean outs will improve the quality of play.

By the way, just to clarify, we're not talking hundreds here, just £30 or so. We play low-limit at .20p/.40p and I don't end up winning everything, just the most.

This is one thing in "sport" or games that i can never figure out,

Why is it such a supposed bad thing to beat your friends, i know that in my circle of friends we all go out intending to be the winner and if that means wiping the floor with them - then mores the better

Darts, pool, snooker, pinball, computer games, cards, chess, football you name the bigger the win bigger the bragging rights

But everyone knows if they had the chance they would do the same - but also your friends and friends you will still be long after the countless games have been played.

IanT

*Also if they cant afford to lose the money they shouldnt be playing with it - same as in any other game

Take it but...

Reffer them to this site and have them take advantage of the tools provided within. If you refer them to the site and encourage them to sign-up to online poker games from this site we will all benefit in the long run.

You told them about your strategy guide they took advantage cardschat.com received some credit your freinds find new strategies and you all play every week so that time you can all have practice actually very good practice.

I wish I had poker friends still, jokes, I never did. I just played my dad once for play chips.

Good Luck with your freinds. "IIKAKIMAA" (keep trying in Blackfoot)

LOL just thought I would add this. Of all my friends I was the best card player and I use to tell them: "think of this money that your losing to me as money your paying for poker lessons.":hello:

I've never felt bad about winning money from my friends, no. However, I don't play home games for any stakes that matter to anyone at the table (it wasn't always like that, but I think I made a wise decision to stop playing higher stakes with friends). We usually play mini-tournaments, either limit or no-limit, and when you're doing that, you don't really even need to have a buy-in.

I play at home to hang out. I play online to win.

F Paulsson said:

I play at home to hang out. I play online to win.

Click to expand...

Amen, if you are taking enough money that your friends can't pay rent, or you are only paying rent because of your winnings in these home games, there is a problem.

Friends should never be gambling for more than they can afford to lose comfortably. Thus, there should not be any guilt or remorse. You are only taking pocket change or spending money, not food from the table or car payments.

We play minitournaments, no limit $10 or $20 buy ins. With 6-10 people they can last between 1-2 hrs. You are out at most $40 if we run 2 that night and don't finish in the money. You get about 3-4 hours of poker and talking and lose no more money than hanging out at a bar for the night.

Never feel guilty taking your freinds money, they won't feel guilty taking yours. Me and my buddies play $20 sit-n-gos and we get 2 or 3 in a night so the most you can lose is $60 but you can win $200 or more but usually everyone seems to get a piece of the pie by catching cards for at least one game and we get to talk trash and drink beer which is always a good time.

I learned to play pool by playing my older buddy for loser pays where he would consistently beat me. All of the money that I lost with him made me want to get better which I did, so for a small investment at the start, I made a ton of money playing at the bars against all of the drunks, although I was usually one of the drunks as well but it was on their bar tab.

We have toyed with the idea of tourneys but haven't yet tried it. Like I said before we play low-limit so nobody loses more than they can afford to. As for getting my friends into the online thing, I did mamange to get a friend playing online at Holdempoker, my usual hangout, but he has since stopped using it as he found neteller too much hassle when cashing in. I tried explaining to him that cashing in a mealsy $10 is pretty pointless and that he should instead try to increase his bankroll with it but would he listen? Of course not. Given that, my attitude towards him is now "sod you". The other guys I play with I've been trying to give advice to.

I have decided to carry on as normal, not fixing any games and trying not to feel too guilty.

I definitely agree with the others here, you need to just play your game and not worry about it.

I had the same situation, I was new to a live game among friends before I started playing online, and they took my money for weeks (in good fun). Once I took my game online, my learning curve steepened and I win way more than my fair share now. I don't mind, (a) because no one was throwing games to me when I started, and (b) I still don't win all the time. Plus, you improve by playing better players, so I hope to take the level of my live game up a notch, which in turn will help me improve.

Anyway, all this to say, keep playing as normal! If you're going to consider anything, just make sure the stakes are comfortable for everyone, and from what you've written it seems they are.

Anyone who plays our home games never feel guilty about taking friend/family's money during poker play, and our home games are almost a regular weekend event around here and everyone who plays knows ahead of time the house rules and limits. House rules are set by, of course the home owner. Those rules are - what game(s) to be played during the day or evening and max buy in of chips. So everyone who plays knows before hand how much they could lose for that particular day.