Tips on starting a poker home game?

Question

I will be having 5 other guys over for our first poker party. It is impromptu. Everyone knows at leas two people, but no one knows everyone, except me. We will probably play hold 'em.

Any general tips, as well as specific tips on limit vs. no-limit

and amount of blinds. I would probably do .25 - .50 but we have some newbies.

Answer 1

Wolf, keep it simple until you see the way they are. You dont want to create hostility over losses and poor sports.I have done this in the past, and generally it works. be careful with guys drinking. good luck.

Answer 2

I would do a tournament, just so people know in advance how much they will probably lose.  Do a small, $5 or $10 buy in.  Give everybody 1500 in chips to start, blinds start at 10/20, and double the blinds every 15-20 minutes (need to speed up a little since it's a 6 person table).  Print off a sheet showing chip color and worth, blind levels, and payouts.  For this small a tourney I'd do second place gets their buyin back, first gets the rest.  This way everybody can play like they see on TV, nobody loses a ton of money, and breaches of etiquette don't result in somebody losing real money.  The newbs can learn as they go, without feeling like they're just getting picked on.  Tournaments also usually let people stay in longer, so you can make it a night's entertainment.

I've found that FL cash games, especially at lower limits, result in people chasing cards, getting lucky, and pi$$ing people off.  When somebody gets pocket aces cracked by suited connectors, somebody hitting a gutshot straight draw on the river when the aces have been betting into them the entire time, it can result in bad blood.  Go NL tournament style.

And tell everyone to bring something to share, whether it's beer, pop, chips, pretzels, or nuts.  This is supposed to be social, not a second job.  Having said that it sucks if people don't take it seriously.  I have a list of house rules that hangs in my card room.  It details things like string bets, breaks, stepping outside to smoke or go to the bathroom, how to handle it if a small blind or dealer busts out, etc.  You want people to come over to play cards, have fun, and possibly win some money.  I've been hosting card games for years, and the above is pretty much what I've learned.  My rec room has a second table so people that bust out of the tourney can start a cash game, but for right now just do a tournament.  It's easy and fun.

Answer 3

My best advice is just go on-line and search for home poker tourney.  Using 1500 in chips to start is good with 25/50 to start the blinds.  Have the blinds go up every 20 to 30 minutes.

Answer 4

your first tip is don't drink alcohol! it will only make it worst. keep the chips simple if possbile ,buy the ones with the money value on it, its probably the most annoyin question of the night " how much is this worth again" play with a dealer chip so everyone knows where the blinds are. make sure you play at lest 5 practice hands first, the betting is the hardest to follow for newbs. you will be alright, also where do you live i would like to play with you guys!!

Answer 5

Do you want the tip to make everyone happy? Or the tip to take everyone's money? :)

1. Happy:

No limit tournament, $5 rebuy, blinds go up every 20 minutes. Be patient to newbies and try to make everybody play loose passive (by showing them how to do it yourself).

2. Money:

No limit ring game (not tournament). Sit directly after the new players. There are usually two types of new players, those who always fold and those who always call. Hopefully you know what to do... :)

Answer 6

Poker parties are a great way to get to know people. Just keep the blinds low, like you said, .25 for the small blind and .50 for the big blind. You might want to play limit hold 'em because people can get pretty competitive when it comes to money. You don't want any hostility or anything. Make sure evryone knows how to play. If they don't know how to play, offer to have them come over a half-hour earlier than the others so you can give them a basic lesson. Have fun!

Answer 7

Don't get drunk.  Have a copy of Robert Rules of Poker on hand, you can get it off the net at various sites.  FOLLOW them, even if it pisses people off.  It's a lot better to follow the rules and play the game right than it is to let players splash the pot, slow roll, string bet, etc.  That stuff just causes problems.  Have some food like pretzels, peanuts, etc. that isn't greasy so your chips and cards don't get messed up.  Use decent chips and plastic cards.  The plastic cards will last practically forever and are much nicer to play with than the paper ones.  

www.homepkertourney.com has a lot of advice and it has forums where you can ask questions.

Answer 8

If you're playing a cash game, I'd suggest Limit instead of NL.  Tempers are far more likely to flare if you play NL, because there's 'friendly game' and then there's losing all your money to some s*****k you never met when he called your all-in because "6 is his lucky number!"

Remember, in a cash game blinds don't change, rebuys are always allowed, and it's a good idea to limit the buy-in amount, so that one guy doesn't sit down with 8x what everyone else has.

$0.25/$0.50 is about right if you're all sitting down with $50ish, otherwise you may want to scale back to $0.10/$0.25.

If you want to play NL, play it Sit-n-Go style.  That way everyone is risking $10 or $20 (or whatever) for an hour or hour-n-a-half, probably less with 5 guys, and you can pay out 70%-30%.

If that's what you play, go with $1500 for whatever buy-in you use, start blinds at $25/$50, and double every 15 minutes.

And MAKE SURE you set the house rules in advance, and tell everyone in advance that YOU will be the final arbitor of disputes.  These guys haven't played together, and EVERY house game tends to have a few funky rules of it's own.

Answer 9

if you are using .25/50, you know $50 will be the max buy in, 10 the min.  if you have NL and FL players i would recommend "dealers choice" where the dealer choses either no limit or fixed.  on the fixed limit hands i would up the blinds to .5/$1 to keep the action at a good level.  or you could play a mixed game where every 8 hands the game changes.  it's fun tho, we have a home game every week.  nothing too serious, just drink beer and play cards.  enjoy!

Answer 10

If you're going the have a bunch of newbies then I would suggest playing a tourny format with a lower buyin as opposed to a Live format, as it's more abstract and people get get as bent when they lose chips that have no real monetary value.  when your tossing around chips that are worth a real set amount people tend to get more upset when they have a bad beat.

my 2 cents.