Running / playing in a home game

Tmor

Tmor

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Running / playing a home game

I know there's other forums on this topic but i've basically read through them out of curiosity. I'm interested in hearing about the whole running a poker game thing, also the aspect of raking

I know it's not on the up & up, technically illegal for the house to profit, but i'm sure we all know people who do this or at least that many people obvious just do it. Plus, I do have a friend who has bounced around the idea of taking a small "piece" of each pot, running the game with long time acquaintances & such playing in the game where there are no trust issues, & typically playing no stake higher than .50 /1. So he clearly wouldn't be taking much for himself. He'd be providing food & a dealer, as well as a premium table, chips, cards etc. He thought about doing this two nights a week. To add, there is a very busy 1/2 raked game only a few miles from his place, which is supposedly known of & from what i heard through the grapevine they throw a little something somewhere as a thank you, for.. you know. But that can't be confirmed. Though I would think something large that's in no danger would typically mean something smaller with a group of bud's that takes less for the house wouldnt stand much of a chance in getting broken up.

I'd just like to hear from anyone *that actually has experience* with the whole thing, opinions and standpoints on the whole raking & not raking games. As well some opinions on what my friend has been considering. Thanks in advance guys. Very interested in hearing what ya'll think and have experienced
 
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detroitjunkie

detroitjunkie

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It all boils down to how professional you want the game to run. Are you playing with true poker rules, or do you not care if people make mistakes or angle shoot each other? This answer alone will decide where you go from here.

I have ran 2 different home games for people as a hired worker. Both wanted professional rules and dealing At this point I had been dealing for several years and knew a few others i had worked with to bring in as well. The house had chips and cards that were pretty standard for poker.

To entice people to come, we had free food and drinks, including beer and wine and liquor. Food varied from simple chili to lasagna. It was a nice set up. We ran a pro tournament and cash game and our dealers knew multiple games

As most of the big home games in Michigan do, we took a standard rake of 10% up to $5 for a full table. If you do not know how rake collection works let me know.

We as dealers also accepted tips, and they were good. For the tournament we took out 10% for the house and dealers. This was the only way the dealers made money was from the tips, but it was good we took about $100 each for the night. House would typically make several hundred depending on the run of players. This paid for all food and drinks.

Being a rather old-school guy by heart, and a professional dealer, I do not like dealers playing in the games they deal. Too much opportunity for issues to arise - even if you pass the deal, trust me there will be issues.

You need to appoint a room floor person who will handle the money and the chips. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you allow the players open access to chips, you WILL have issues.

If you do not care if they game is well run then forget everything above and just have a entrance fee to the game. Like $20 per person and give out free food and stuff. This way you do not have to worry about rake and tourney fees (but still no player access to chips - EVER)

If you are competing for players, you can lower your rake down a bit to 3 or 4 max per hand. That should still yield enough money to pay for everything.

ALWAYS keep track of the money - make sure it adds up at the end and that you have received all of your chips back. Keep track of tourney numbers in case there is an issue and you need to prove what the prize pool should be (because some players may have left and it will be tough to remember how many entered).

To save yourself from hassels print up a rule list. ROBERTS RULES OF POKER will do just fine, even though some of the rules I think are goofy. You can find it online. TDA rules are good too but only cover tournaments not cash games.

Good luck, dont worry about it being illegal, at those stakes it would be a loss leader for the local police to come knocking, and really wont care unless you have someone complain.

Be careful of people you do not know. It may even be wise to check ID's just to put fear in people who may screw around. If someone shows that NOBODY knows be cautious and maybe not even let them in the house.

Hope this helps, any more questions let me know. There are plenty of tournament clocks online too that are free if you need one.
 
Tmor

Tmor

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It all boils down to how professional you want the game to run. Are you playing with true poker rules, or do you not care if people make mistakes or angle shoot each other? This answer alone will decide where you go from here.

I have ran 2 different home games for people as a hired worker. Both wanted professional rules and dealing At this point I had been dealing for several years and knew a few others i had worked with to bring in as well. The house had chips and cards that were pretty standard for poker.

To entice people to come, we had free food and drinks, including beer and wine and liquor. Food varied from simple chili to lasagna. It was a nice set up. We ran a pro tournament and cash game and our dealers knew multiple games

As most of the big home games in Michigan do, we took a standard rake of 10% up to $5 for a full table. If you do not know how rake collection works let me know.

We as dealers also accepted tips, and they were good. For the tournament we took out 10% for the house and dealers. This was the only way the dealers made money was from the tips, but it was good we took about $100 each for the night. House would typically make several hundred depending on the run of players. This paid for all food and drinks.

Being a rather old-school guy by heart, and a professional dealer, I do not like dealers playing in the games they deal. Too much opportunity for issues to arise - even if you pass the deal, trust me there will be issues.

You need to appoint a room floor person who will handle the money and the chips. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you allow the players open access to chips, you WILL have issues.

If you do not care if they game is well run then forget everything above and just have a entrance fee to the game. Like $20 per person and give out free food and stuff. This way you do not have to worry about rake and tourney fees (but still no player access to chips - EVER)

If you are competing for players, you can lower your rake down a bit to 3 or 4 max per hand. That should still yield enough money to pay for everything.

ALWAYS keep track of the money - make sure it adds up at the end and that you have received all of your chips back. Keep track of tourney numbers in case there is an issue and you need to prove what the prize pool should be (because some players may have left and it will be tough to remember how many entered).

To save yourself from hassels print up a rule list. ROBERTS RULES OF POKER will do just fine, even though some of the rules I think are goofy. You can find it online. TDA rules are good too but only cover tournaments not cash games.

Good luck, dont worry about it being illegal, at those stakes it would be a loss leader for the local police to come knocking, and really wont care unless you have someone complain.

Be careful of people you do not know. It may even be wise to check ID's just to put fear in people who may screw around. If someone shows that NOBODY knows be cautious and maybe not even let them in the house.

Hope this helps, any more questions let me know. There are plenty of tournament clocks online too that are free if you need one.


detroit, thanks so much brother! that was very helpful and gave me some insight that i was looking for. honestly, appreciate the time you took to give me all of that. what my friend has planned is a 10% up to $3 "piece" of the pot. 1/2 could happen, but the "piece" would be the same. i was wondering though, i know what you were saying with the cops thing, but what did you mean by "loss leader", and the if someone complained thing? And yeah the game would be handled professionally with rules but it would be relaxed, money handled by the host, etc Every aspect has been considered by him, i just wanted to hear some more about it all
 
detroitjunkie

detroitjunkie

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loss leader was a joke-ish way of saying it would not be worth their time coming to bust you up, it would be like them coming to your house and breaking down your door if you had a joint worth of pot being smoked.

If someone has a bad experience, say a mis-ruling that cost someone a substantial pot, or if someone was cheating, a disgruntled player may get angry with the house and call 911. Then the cops MUST respond, to curb this you only have people you know, or those that come with recommendations, and run your game fairly - you should not have a problem.
 
detroitjunkie

detroitjunkie

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also depending on what state you are in, yuo may or may not have a hard time finding pro dealers.

If you are in Michigan, Florida, New Hampshire, California, Arizona, New Jersey, Nevada, or New York/Connecticut , you should not have a problem finding a pro-ish dealer or two to come and deal for tips only. These may not be the only states, but they are the top 8 states for poker. If you are near Tampa, LA, Las Vegas, or Detroit I may be able to help you get someone very trustworthy, let me know.
 
detroitjunkie

detroitjunkie

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Oh and you are welcome, I like helping, and writing.
 
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