Top 10 Beverages Every Home Poker Game Should Have
I pretty much bounce around between 2-3 of the home poker games in my local area. And after running my own game for awhile, I find that there are just some drinks every home poker game should have.
1.) Water - Everyone needs some water at the poker table. We live in an age of health-consciousness. A 24-pack of water is only $4.50 – $6.00. And don’t get the cheap, grocery store brand. Water drinkers can certainly distinguish the difference between cheap and name brand water.
2.) Bud Light – Everyone loves Bud Light beer. I never had anyone complain about Bud Light and there’s plenty of it at all the games I go to.
3.) Dark Beers – Poker players appreciate a game with a little bit nicer taste of beer. Even though I don’t like dark beers, I received many compliments for carrying Ying Ling. A case would usually suffice for the night (sometimes I’d get the bottles just to mix it up, the players seemed to get a big kick out of drinking from a bottle)
4.) Sunkist / Orange Soda - Sunkist or orange sodas for some reason were a huge favorite at my game. I would go through a 12 pack of Sunkist in one night fairly quickly.
5.) Mountain Dew Code Red – Poker players for some reason love this stuff. I flew through 12 packs of these as well.
6.) Mellow Yellow – You always have to have those “green” sodas are what I like to call them. Mellow Yellow were my players favorite, but Mountain Dew would suffice too.
7.) Hawaiian Fruit Punch – For the players that didn’t like soda, but didn’t like the bland taste of water, this was the very happy medium for them. A 12 pack of these would be gone within the first few hours.
8.) Energy Drinks – Energy drinks are great especially for the bigger games where players are there for the long haul. It’ll keep them energized and focused on playing. Vault energy drinks worked great and usually can find six-packs of these for $2-$3.
9.) Margaritas – One of my friends that hosts a game used to be a bartender, and he would regularly make these at the players’ requests. Not a bad idea either. It’d loosen up the players, create bigger pots, and that equates to more money for the house 
.
10.) Rum and Coke – I tried this one night, and another friend of mine experimented with this one night at his game. The results: I went through two fifths of rum in two hours. 3 players had re-bought twice during those two hours.
There you have it. No poker game should be without at least a few of these beverages. I wouldn’t allow my drink expenses to total more than $20 – $30 each night. Try to keep an eye out for coupons or discounts grocery stores are offering. Every so often, my local grocery store would offer four 12 pack sodas for $9.99 which was a great deal. I made sure I stocked up when I saw this offer. Investing in a BJ’s or Costco account wouldn’t be bad idea. Shop once a month and just stock up. Don’t be afraid to invest more money for the name brand stuff, players will appreciate it, and you’ll make all your money back plus much more in the long run .
Playing Live Poker Continues
Well, I just busted for the first time in a week and a half tonight at my friend’s game. Such a bad feeling too, I was on a pretty steady win streak until tonight. I played one hand terrible and lost my entire stack on it.
I had Q8s at the cutoff. My friend who’s a rather loose-aggressive player makes his standard pre-flop raise. I called and the flop came Q103 rainbow. I bet out $6.50 and he re-raised $10 on top (blinds are .50/$1). I’ve seen him make this move several times so I felt that a re-raise would make him fold. So I raised $20 more. He thought for a long while. I rarely re-raise a raise on a bluff or marginal hand, so with my image, I was confident I could pull it off. He proceeded to go all-in, and at this point, I was pretty much pot-committed. He turns over AA and it holds up. I hate blowing my stack on just top pair, it’s something I always try to advise others, including myself NOT to do.
I don’t think I would have normally played that hand had I not been up and down all night. I was playing strong for the first hour or so until I made a good call, but the weaker hand ended up sucking out. That kind of ruined my mood for the night and made me play off my typical game. I think next time I get frustrated, I’m just going to get up and take a break.
So the lessons to be learned:
1.) Don’t blow your stack with just top pair. Top pair is only a pair. It’s not a hand you want to win a big pot with. You win big pots with your sets, boats, flushes and straights. Unless you’re sure your top pair is good, don’t get too involved with it.
2.) If you lose a big pot, get up and take a 5-10 min break. Take your mind off it. You might find yourself trying to play differently or more hands to try to make up for th money you just lost. You can’t change your game because you just lost a big pot. You’ll find yourself playing more hands or too scared and tight. Take a break if you have to.
Well, I need to get off here and get some sleep. Good night!
Patrick Antonius vs. Jennifer Tilly
Here is a video showing how much of a fluke Jennifer Tilly is.
She is absolutely horrible. Just as the announcer said, “Jennifer Tilly just gave Patrick Antonius an unbelievable amount of credit.”
Yeah, she really did, lol.
Patrick Antonius vs. Ilari
Patrick Antonius vs. Ilari on “The Game”
I expect better from Patrick Antonius here, I’m not so sure why he had trouble laying down top pair, shitty kicker?
Poker Joke
You know, this wouldn’t surprise me if it were true.
Playing Live Poker Continues!
I’ve been playing a few $0.50/$1 games the past few nights. Mostly young adults and college students that play at these games, but I enjoy playing with that type of crowd. Here are a few reasons why I prefer such a playing environment:
1.) I believe I can outsmart and outplay these type of players. I know this sounds a little arrogant, but I think it’s very important when deciding who to enter a hand with. I feel that a lot of these guys have read poker books and etc.., though I’ve never read any book, I’ve read articles online and talked to people about hands, so I’m not entirely uneducated. Nonetheless, I think I have a good, general idea of what this guy is trying to do in particular situations. Most of the guys I play with are college students looking to make some money. With that overall goal in mind, sometimes I can break down and analyze their logic in each hand. If I think he’s out to make money, I can expect a betting manner to lure me into calling or bigger bets when he’s trying to steal a pot from me. If I believe I know what he’s feeling and thinking about a hand, I’ll act accordingly. It’s true when they say poker is about playing the player.
2.) You have a lot of the extremes at these type of games. What I mean by this is that, on one extreme, there are the overly tight players who are afraid to lose money. They typically try to play pretty “abc” book poker. Sometimes I get a good idea of when they’re trying to use their tight image to make a move or when they really have it. On the other extreme, you have the gamblers, you have the guys who love to try to draw out, who will call any pre-flop raise hoping to get lucky on the flop. Obviously you’ll make most of your money off these players. Rarely at these games, will there be players that can successfully mix it up at these games (or at least I haven’t ran into many).
3.) It’s entertaining. Time goes by faster as you’re waiting for a hand if you’re being entertained. Poker is much funner if you’re laughing and smiling. Most of these games have a lot of guys that are there to have a good time, and I find it more relaxing and easier to have patience and play. Although most of the time I’m rather quiet at the table, I am well aware of the conversations people are having. Often you’ll see me crack a smile because some of the things these kids say are hilarious, lol.
Anyhow, continuing on, I’m starting to get back into the groove of playing. I feel like I’m more mature in my gameplay, and feeling really confident about how I’ve been playing. Past two nights have been positive cashes, so hopefully I can keep it up. I think the key to winning cash games is timing. Your timing must be as best as possible. Be well aware of who at the table can pay you, and who it’ll be difficult to acquire money from. Home games are usually just a bunch of gamblers and a few super tight guys (at least from my experience).
I might deposit some money on UltimateBet and play online a few hours a week as well. We’ll see how my live playing goes. So far, I’m a little under break even for 4 nights of play. So we’ll see how this upcoming week goes!
Great Poker Read by Mike Sexton
Here’s Mike Sexton calling Mike Matusow’s bluff.
Great Reads by Daniel Negreanu
A compilation of great reads by Daniel Negreanu. He’s definitely like a Poker Jedi!