 |
 |
E-mail this page to a friend » |
 |
| Now that you're fully equipped, it's time to shuffle up and deal. Defining the game starts with setting the stakes. They should be high enough to get your heart pumping but low enough that no one will miss a car payment. If you're playing a $5-$10 Texas Hold 'Em game (meaning $5 is the bet size before the turn, $10 after), a big loss in four hours of play would be about $400. Bear in mind that no-limit poker may look fun on TV, but it's not a great social game. Friends turn into enemies fast when Junior's college fund is getting devoured like a pepperoni pizza. |
That said, if you've got the cash and the cojones to get a no-limit game going, your challenge is to keep the stakes relevant for everyone, and that means capping the buy-in. The rule of thumb for the maximum buy-in is 100 big blinds. So for no-limit Hold 'Em at $1-$2 blinds (where $1 is the mandatory "small blind" bet made by the first player after the dealer, and $2 is the mandatory "big blind" bet made by the second), the max buy would be $200. That means any player who's down in chips can buy back in but only enough to bring his current chip total up to $200. For a $5-$10 game the max buy-in would be $1,000. Let the personal enmity begin.
At the start of the evening make a list of acceptable games. Playing a round of each is a good way to eliminate any positional advantages some games create. For example, if the current dealer calls Omaha high-low, each player deals a hand of it. When the deal returns to the guy who called the game, skip him and have the next player call whatever he's been itching to play. To keep things flowing, stick with games that are fast and generate a lot of action, such as Texas Hold 'Em, seven-card stud and Omaha (high only or high-low). For more information about rules and strategies, check out cardplayer.com.
An ideal size for a home game is seven or eight players. More than eight and the action slows down. If you fall to five, the worst players are going to have a difficult time winning. With seven or eight, the bad players will have a better chance of surviving, and somebody's always there to turn up the volume on the SportsCenter highlights. Plus, the game won't be ruined when a player has to split.
Which, of course, brings us to the biggest buzz kill in home poker: watching the money leave the building. One player booking a big early win and then taking off will deflate the room's enthusiasm in a hurry. Avoid this with a one-hour rule. Any winning player who wants to leave has to give an hour's notice before he can do so. Losing players can drag their sorry butt home whenever they wish. The casinos learned that the best way to deal with winners is to entice them to stick around for a while. Turns out it's a really effective tactic.
Here's another rule that affects winning players: The host should rake the pot, just as the casinos do. Food, alcohol and scantily clad waitresses all cost money. Taking a dollar or so out of each pot until expenses are paid is a great way to make the winning players underwrite the source of their good fortune.
You'll notice we haven't said a word about how to win. That's because what really matters isn't how fat your wallet gets but the time you spend with your friends. And if you're looking for a place where money is the game, bring your aspirations to fulltiltpoker.com, where you can take me on personally. Whatever happens, may your cocktail waitress mix a perfect martini and may all your pots be monsters.
|
| « Back |
|
|
|
