Great Laydown by Phil Hellmuth
Here’s another great lay down by Phil Hellmuth. It seems like lately all I’ve been doing is praising good lay downs. Anyhow, enjoy!
Playing Live Poker
I went out last night and decided to get back to playing cards a few times a week. I was a little nervous and rusty at first, but it didn’t take me long to settle in. I didn’t catch very many cards, but I was extremely patient. It was an extremely loose $1/$3 game where the average pre-flop raise was $20 – $25. I really don’t like that because I always raise the same pre-flop, and I like to keep my pre-flop raises on the lower end, so I don’t over-commit myself to a hand. However, if I wanted some isolation, I had to raise it up a bit more than I usually do, so I made my standard pre-flop raise $15. My first big hand was KK in middle position, in which everyone had limped to me, and I decided to make it $10 to go. I had 4 callers, so I was already a little nervous going to the flop, lol. The flop came 10J10. A player before me who had about $400 behind him made it $35. I made it $75 and he quickly puts me all-in. Back in my old days, I probably would have instant-called this. However, I made sure I took everything into consideration. What else would he limp, call my raise pre-flop, and then so confidently come over top and raise me all-in. I could tell by the look on his face and his demeanor that he was not at all concerned with what I had. After about 2-3 minutes of pondering, I laid down the hand. I was sure hat he had a 10 in his hand. Anyhow, I won a much bigger hand later with QQ, but then lost another big hand later to gut-shot straight draw against my two-pair. So the end result was a 9 hour session which resulted me down a little bit from my buy in. But it was due to hands that were behind catching up. If I’m ahead, I’ll always put my money in. Nonetheless, I was proud of my play, and I know I can beat that game.
I also played a little bit tonight, I never won a huge pot, just took down a few multi-way pots. I pretty much floated around what I bought in for. Though it’s only been two nights of playing, I’m feeling confident about my poker game. I’m playing less hands than I used to and picking my spots very carefully. Anyhow, we’ll see what the rest of this week and month bring 
.
Home Poker Blog Promotion
I’ve been thinking of some ideas to get more content for my blog. I think I’m going to let some of my friends who run poker games contribute their ramblings to this blog as well. I’d like to get an idea of what are some of the other headaches that keep hosts of home poker games up at night. I’m sure there are tons of headaches that they have in addition to the ones I have. Of course, we all share the universal issue with loans, so I’d like to get others’ issues with that. Giving out loans is such a hassle! I still have about $600 that still hasn’t been paid back to me. Although I’m sure I won’t ever get any of it back. Hmmm, that’d be a nice poll/survey to take. In fact, that’s a great idea. Man I amaze myself sometimes. I’m going to take survey and poll of all the local home poker game hosts. Let’s get their feedback . Damn, I should get the players too. Man, I’m just full of amazing ideas tonight, lol. Anyhow, I need to stop amazing myself and start writing some of these ideas down. In the meantime, you know how I’m always praising great lay downs over great calls, check out this awesome lay-down by Josh Arieh. For those of you who don’t know him, Eric Lindgren considers him the best poker player that’s “unheard of.”
Patrik Antonius vs. Jamie Gold $750k Pot
Patrik Antonius and Jamie Gold get involved in a $750k pot on High Stakes Poker. Lol, though I’m not criticizing Gold’s play in this hand, I still think it’s ridiculous how lucky this guy gets. And I still think he sucks in my book ;p
Home Poker Games are Loose
I was talking to one of my players earlier at the gym about another home game in my area. I was conversing with him how loose that game is. He said something which made me think a bit. He said that “all home poker games are usually loose.” I stood in silence for a second, then continued on. But after having some time to think about it, I realize how loose all the home games I’ve been to. At first I thought it was just the higher stakes games because of the older crowd who have money to gamble with. But I realized that even the games with the younger, college crowds who don’t have as big a bankroll are equally loose.
There are few professionals and semi-professionals that play at home poker games. One of the first things you learn in any poker book is that the most common amateur mistake is playing too many hands. That’s what separates a professional from an amateur, patience. Professionals know that it only takes one big pot to make their night. And they’ll wait all night long until that one big hand comes up where they double, triple, quadruple up. Amateurs don’t possess that same patience. At first I thought the looseness was just a result of the big bankrolls, but that’s not it. It’s because the home games are just flooded with amateurs. All too often I hear players that take a lot of pride in their game, “you can’t win because they’re too loose,” or “how can he make that call?” If the stakes were high enough, the professionals would absolutely LOVE these games because they would just eat up these players. Professionals know when and who to get involved with. They don’t blame the other player for their loss or mistake. It’s poker and they realize shit happens. But in the long run, the professionals will eat these games up. Lol, I think I’m going to start exploring more of these home poker games now. I think I should just take my own advice, lol. Damn, I just suddenly got the urge ;p
Giving Out Loans to Your Poker Players
The biggest headache any the host of a home poker game must go through is giving out loans to your players. This can often time hurt your profit margins, and can be an extreme hassle to recover. That’s the one big plus casinos don’t have to worry about is that they never have to give out loans.
Giving out loans to your poker players is inevitable. Eventually, some players will start going broke, but maintain the addiction to play, to gamble, to win their money back. Many of your regular players will start asking for loans to play and won’t be able to pay it back for many weeks. The time you sped waiting for them to pay back the loan, your own pocket’s hurting. Depending on the stakes, the loans you can expect to give out can range from $20 to a few thousand dollars.
A loan policy must be established to help protect yourself from losing too much money. Consider the following before giving out a loan:
- How well do you know the player? Do you know anything about him? Where he works? His friends? His trust? How often have they been coming? Are they a regular? Do you want to deny him a loan and lose him as a player? I view this as similar to their overall credit. I once had a player, who came to all my games for month straight. However, I was hesitant in giving him a loan because he played at my friend’s game, took a loan, and never answered any of his calls or paid back the loan as he promised. Because of that, I tried my best to avoid giving him loan. Unfortunately, he asked a few times, and I needed his presence for a game to continue one night. He promised he would pay back the loan within the next few days. This was over 5 months ago, and I haven’t heard from him since. The only thing I know about him is his phone #. My advice is to only give loans to someone you trust and know and that if needed, you can be more confrontational about requesting your money back. A phone number is NOT enough information to meet the requirements of issuing a loan. Know his job, his friends, his background before you give a loan.
- Do you need to give the loan? Often times, you’re faced with the issue of not having enough players. Without enough players, the game cannot start or continue. Consider the benefit of giving out the loan. Will it be worth it to give the loan for the game to start? Will it be worth it to loan this player $150 so that the game may continue for an hour or two longer and make you $40, $60? How much more will you make if the game continues? I was frequently faced with the dilemma that the game would break if I didn’t give out a loan to one or two players. After all, you make money by keeping the game going as long as possible. However, you must consider the time it’ll take for the players that borrowed from you to repay you back. If it takes them 2 weeks to pay back $150, $200, then don’t think continuing the game for an hour longer to make an extra $40 isn’t worth it. I’d rather keep my $150, than make $190 in 2 weeks. Time is money, keep that in mind. The longer a player takes to pay you back, the lesser value that money carries over time. It’s just like inflation.
- Does that player bring money to the table? This partially goes in hand with one of the topics covered in the first point. What is the player’s value? Evey host of a home poker game knows the players that are valuable and the players they could go without. You want the high rollers, you want the players that bring their own money and you never have to give a loan to. Those are the players that make you money, they create huge pots, lose their money, and buy back in. These players create action and the house profits hugely off action. The tighter, smaller buy-in players do not bring as much value. And then you have the players that always seem to need a loan to play. If I have a player who 9 times out of 10, will buy in big, bring their own money, and never ask for a loan, I almost never hesitate to give them a loan. They’ve made me a lot of money, and furthermore, I’m confident they’ll pay it back within a very reasonable time. Keep in mind how much value that player brings to your game.
Keep in mind the credit and the value of loaning a player money before you do. It’s not always worth it, but when you must, make sure that it’ll be worth the benefit. Loans can be a devastation to your profit if you’re not careful about it. Be sure to make establish a loan policy so that all players are aware before asking you. In the next upcoming posts, I will provide some basic establishments that your loan policy should have, to protect you and your game.
Out of Commission
Sorry I’ve been out for a few days, been much more busier than anticipated. I had hoped to add quite a few posts this past weekend, but
that didn’t happen, lol. Nonetheless, the next post is a very common issue among home poker games: loans. Enjoy!
How Much to Rake?
How much should you rake at a home poker game? Well first, let me start explaining what rake is.
Rake is the percentage of the pot taken by the house. It’s how the players pay the house. Rake is how casinos, poker rooms, online poker rooms, and big home poker games make their money.
Often times, players complain about the rake. I think it’s dumb to complain about the rake, so long as it’s a fair amount. Obviously, an extremely high rake would be enough cause to complain. But why complain? The poker room or game is providing a place to play, a place where players know to look for a game, food, drinks, and the general poker atmosphere, you should not have any issue playing. A few times, some of my players would complain, but I would say to them, “Well find somewhere else that provides the comforts that I provide while you’re playing poker.” Most players will understand if you present it to them in that manner.
Most games usually take 10% and cap the rake at $5 (the max rake that can be taken from a pot, no matter the pot size). There is usually a minimum pot size to begin taking rake, but that varies from game to game and is also partially determined by the stakes played. I raked 10% with the minimum pot size being $10. I should also mention that it’s never a true 10%, because $15 would still be only $1 rake. At $20, then the rake becomes $2. Again, $25 would still only be $2 and so forth. I capped my rake at $4, just to provide a little uniqueness to my game.
I’ve been to games where the rake was uncapped and there was no minimum pot size. Just about every pot was raked, and the owner / dealer of the house would take rake as they pleased. Most players don’t even notice rake being taken. The players that are aware of the rake, would be extremely pissed to find that there is no cap on the rake. An uncapped rake is virtually unheard of. If you want to scare away some players from your game, host an uncapped rake game. I actually have a good friend who hosts such a game, and while his game is a great game, I disagree with his Rake System. I will add that he maintains a great game and great relationship with his players, so I think with that, most see past his rake system. Even I myself still play at his game today because he runs a great game with some great players. Nonetheless, I personally wouldn’t recommend applying such a system of rake.
There is something that’ll make you a little extra money. I know of another game where there is a Bad Beat Jackpot. His rake system was the same as mine except he capped his rake at $5. However, if the pot grew over $100 (which at this crazy game, it would frequently grow to that), he’d take $6. The extra $1 would go to the Bad Beat Jackpot, which, if Aces full of Jacks or better got beat, loser would get a Plasma TV. Of course, the chances of someone hitting the Bad Beat Jackpot is extremely slim, so you’d pocket that extra Jackpot for the most part. Something he did, which think a host should do instead of pocketing the extra money, was host a Freeroll tourney. Tournaments are good to have every once in awhile. Players love tournaments, so give it to them. You don’t make much money from tournaments, but it’s good to keep the players happy. And he does, he averages $70 -$80 / hr in rake. My average was between $35 – $50, so it ranged greatly.
Another thing to keep in mind is, as you’re taking rake, make sure you empty the rake tray, once it gets close to being full. The thing is, the poker players don’t realize how much money is being taken off the table. Though I’m not suggesting to hide the rake system at all, avoid at all possible to discuss with the players how much money is in the rake. Make sure your dealer knows this (if you have one). Usually, once the rake would hit $25, I would have the dealer chip out the small chips for $25 chips. I’d come and take the rake as soon as it hit $50 and record the amount.
You’ll have players from time to time ask you how much you’re making from the game etc.., but the wise thing is to avoid the conversation or just withhold the true amount from them. Usually I would just say “It’s enough” or “It helps pay the bills.” Though if a player asks what’s your rake, don’t hesitate to tell them. Every player is entitled to know your rake system and how much you take. They are not entitled to know how much you’re making from it. A game I went to, the owner usually tried to avoid that question when players asked him how much he rakes. This is a no, no. Make sure the players know how much you rake.
There you have it. Figure an ideal rake system for your own game and start watching the money roll in!