Home games

cdncougar · Jan 28,2004, 07:36 AM

I have a 6-person poker group which gets together monthly. We play dealer's choice and end up rotating through a limited number of games. Is there a reference site where we could find some new games?

esool · Jan 28,2004, 11:42 PM

Have you tried texas hod'em?
Why play anything else?

ScottyZ · Jan 29,2004, 12:41 AM

Maybe this is a home game where they like to try out exotic wild card games.

Try

http://www.thejokerking.com/site/hom...ariations.html

for staters.

When you're ready for even more games, the most comprehensive list seems to be here:

http://www.homepoker.com/games.html

ScottyZ

cdncougar · Jan 29,2004, 02:37 AM

Esool

We do play some hold'em but the guys like to mix in some other games also. I've suggested a full night of hold'em but the group seems to enjoy the variety.

Scotty Z.

Thanx for the information.

Nutz · Jan 29,2004, 03:54 AM

"We do play some hold'em but the guys like to mix in some other games also. I've suggested a full night of hold'em but the group seems to enjoy the variety"

i remember feeling the same way. I was used to playing: Lou, pregnant 3s, chicago, blah blah blah blah

Then I was introduced to a game where they played nothing but hold em...I figured it would be boring as hell...but that thought passed after an hour

cdncougar · Jan 29,2004, 05:03 AM

Thanx Nutz (I've never said that before ... haha)

We play again Friday evening and I will suggest a night of hold'em again ... perhaps I can move them gradually by suggesting 1 hour of hold'em and guage the reaction.

cdncougar · Jan 29,2004, 05:04 AM

Anyone

When playing a night of texas hold'em, how do you coordinate the dealing? Is there a designated dealer or does the deal move which each hand played? Do you have several decks of cards preshuffled (to speed play) or do you shuffle after each game?

Sorry if the question is trivial!!

JonB · Jan 29,2004, 06:22 AM

Just like any game. I guess you could have designated dealer. But Hold'em always rotates the deal. So just pass the deck. Or I have before played in game where we had two decks going to speed up play a bit.

ScottyZ · Jan 29,2004, 06:27 AM

Depends on a lot of things.

If the players are inexperienced, you are *never* going to be able to speed up the game significantly. You'll just have to relax and go with the flow.

Using multiple decks may sound like good theoretical idea, but it's hard to implement. The few times I've tried it weren't too successful. It almost always ends up that the second deck isn't shuffled ahead of time because the person isn't paying attention or is busy playing the current hand. When the decks get mixed up (happens more than you might think with casual players) it wastes time trying to separate them.

It *really* helps to have a separate dealer who isn't playing in the game. The game moves much faster and with fewer mistakes when you have a single dealer who's only task is dealing.

If you can't find a dealer, see if anyone in your group who is good at dealing *wants* (never pressure anyone into doing this extra work) to deal cards. It will improve things somewhat if you have a single player dealing cards.

Other than that (and this is probably the case for most "fun" home gaes), just sit back, relax and give everyone a chance to shuffle up and deal when it gets to them.

One more thing. Some home games have lots of weird shuffling protocols to prevent players from cheating. If you are worried at all that the players you are playing with are cheating, don't bother with these sorts of shuffling tactics. Just go home. If you can't trust the people you are playing with, play somewhere else. You won't enjoy it, and you won't play well.

(Unless they are *serious* fish.)

Despite the saying, I would not make my own mother cut the deck.

ScottyZ

ScottyZ · Jan 29,2004, 06:36 AM

Oh yeah, JonB's post reminded me. If you do have a fixed dealer in *any* poker game, you always need to indicate which player is acting as the dealer, by the use of a dealer button or similar. And the "effective" dealer should rotate around (clockwise, just like everything else which rotates in poker).

And yes, it matters who the dealer is in stud games too (in certain situations where it's ambiguous who is first to act).

I wonder where you can get a high quality dealer button in Canada...

[I can't say any more than that or else my post will have to go the the Advertising section.] :lol:

ScottyZ

Graham · Jan 29,2004, 06:45 AM

"[I can't say any more than that or else my post will have to go the the Advertising section.] "

Not if it's relevant to the topic at hand, then it would be considered advice.

p.s I believe ScottyZ was referring to pokersupplies.com

cdncougar · Jan 29,2004, 01:52 PM

JonB and ScottyZ

Thanx for the feedback ... I appreciate the time you guys invest in explaining the games, etc.

We are definately all new players so limiting the number of decks to 1 is probably a good idea. As for rotating the dealing, it might be easier to designate a dealer for 5-6 hands then rotate to the next player.

As for a "dealer" puck, I will probably improvise for now (a stale Wagon Wheel would probably work well until we ran out of munchies ... then it would be open season on the puck!!)) but will eventually buy one on-line from pokersupplies.com. My brother (Golfnut) and I purchased our 500 chip sets from pokersupplies.com last year and have been VERY happy with the quality of the chips and the case. We both have recommended many other prospective buyers to their site (shameless pitch for a finders fee!).

Thx again.

ScottyZ · Jan 29,2004, 01:56 PM

I think the weirdest thing I've ever used for a dealer puck is a small novelty football. (Broncos!)

ScottyZ

esool · Feb 01,2004, 01:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdncougar

Esool

We do play some hold'em but the guys like to mix in some other games also. I've suggested a full night of hold'em but the group seems to enjoy the variety.

Last November I organized a Monday night football/poker night at my place and we all played texas hold'em for the first time. 10 guys showed up which is a record for us, and difficult to play any other poker game with that many players at one table.
We played tournament style with a $50 buy in and unlimited rebuys for the first hour if you lose all of you $400 chips(tourny $$). This way no one loses a ton of cash and since it is a week night (8pm-11:30pm) it is usually easy for guys to get out of the house.

Now we play every second Monday religiously and all the guys love it. More guys are starting to ask if they can join in also.
I have become a better player form picking up little bits from this forum plus read a book or 2 that were recomended by Scotty if I am not mistaken.
I also got my 500 chips from the pokerstore.ca and I think that helps add to the excitement when you have the proper equipment.

Try it and I hope you have the same results!

Jeremy · Mar 04,2004, 11:01 PM

One thing we did to help the hold 'em game is get rid of the burn. There is way less confusion for the newbies and more 'forgetful' players, and it gets rid of the arguments that always happen when someone forgets to burn.

Some people may not like this system, but the only thing that really changes is tradition.