1.)    Can you afford to take out the loan?  You should be considerate of the house before asking for a loan.  Don’t ask to borrow $200 knowing that you can’t afford to pay it back within a reasonable amount of time.  This really makes your credit look bad and decreases the likelihood that you’ll be able to borrow again from the house.

2.)    Make sure you’ve earned the respect and trust of the house before you ask.  It can be very embarrassing for the house to reject you because they don’t trust you.  If it’s your first time asking for the loan, ask for the credibility of another player that knows you to vouch for you.

3.)    Once you borrow the money, don’t play foolishly.  I know the whole once you agree to lend someone money, it’s their money saying.  But just think, if you’re the house, and you’re spotting this guy $100 for the third time and he keeps calling every pre-flop raise and pushing on every draw hoping to get lucky, it can be very frustrating to support that player’s gambling habits.  The house is more prone to loan a player money that will more than likely be able to pay it back by the end of the night.  Play well with borrowed money, it’ll increase your chances for future loan approvals.

4.)    Pay back the loan as soon as you can.  The sooner you pay it back, the better it is for the house and the better it makes your borrowing credibility look.  I’m more prone to loan someone $100 that’ll most likely stop by the next day to bring it back should they bust.

5.)    If you can’t pay back the loan, do NOT dodge the house’s attempts to contact you or ask about it.  That’s the worst thing you can do is ignore someone you owe money.  It’s disrespectful and a terrible way to take advantage of someone kind enough to loan you some money.  If you can’t pay back the money, then don’t be a stranger, let them know.  I felt much better about those who informed me of their financial situation and made it a point that they were still aware that they owed me money.  If you can’t pay back the loan, make sure you tell them your situation, they’ll be much more sympathetic than if you didn’t tell them at all.

The next time you’re about to ask for a loan from the house, take into consideration those 5 factors.  Doing so will increase our credit line and credit  with the house and other players.

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 .

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

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!

You want to invest in the minor details of the game that’ll keep people buzzing about your game. “He has these real nice chips.” People will some of these details as they first sit down at your game. They’ll think “wow, nice table, nice chips, great set up.” You want to create this buzz and by doing so, your game will get busy this way.
When I first started my game, I spent about $100 on some shiny, holographic chips on eBay that were clay composites. Although they were flashy and looked cool, I soon learned that this was not the way to go. After going around to other poker games, I saw that I needed to upgrade to all clay poker chips. Paulsons are your highest quality, all clay poker chips that you’ll find, but they can be very pricey, $1400 – $3000 for a set of 1000, and I’m sure some go for more than that. I decided to money and move down one level below Paulsons. I spent around $800 for a set of a 1000 and they were still all clay. This rate also included a custom logo on the chips which matched the theme of my table. And only crazy poker chip enthusiasts would have been able to distinguish between Paulsons and these chips.

Poker chip customization is important because believe it or not, some people will buy generic chips online and bring them to poker games to cash. With a custom logo, that’ll make it much more difficult for such players. And of course, you need to have your own trademark

Be sure to invest in the finer details of your home poker game. People can tell when you do and that’ll make it all worth it.

1.) Start researching all the home poker games in your local area. Go play at those games and scope out what you should and shouldn’t be doing for your game. Mimic your game similarly to those of the successful home poker games in your area.

2.) Get to know the local network of poker players. Network within the local poker network and see if your friends play poker. Start talking poker and make your name known within the poker network. Find out what stakes the locals like to play and how often they play.

3.) Talk to the guys that run the local home poker games. What are their thoughts? What do they like and don’t like about their game? Probe their knowledge and experience. People love to talk about what they do and know. Take advantage of that.

4.) Research the expenses. Research how much it’ll cost to have your own poker game. Research the costs of a table, chips, chairs, food, beverages, and whatever miscellaneous expenses that’ll make your poker game stand out. Develop a budget and don’t mind to spend on quality. Maintain quality and trust me, you’ll make ten times your investment.

5.) Start hosting a friendly, regular poker game among your friends. Just a free, friendly game will start marketing itself among the poker network, especially among the young players that attend college or school. It’ll be easier late to make the switch over to a more formal, regular poker game.

And there you have it. Some quick tips to get started on your home poker game. In future posts, I’ll go over each of these tips in more detail. So what are you waiting for? Go at it!

I had a perfect spot to play, so I welcomed all my friends and their friends to come play at my place. I loved playing at my place, mostly because I didn’t have to go anywhere to play. I loved playing live. We started playing $0.10/$0.20, then soon moved to .25/.50. I would just call my friends every night and those that could come play, would come over. It was usually enough to be at least 8-handed.

There were times when we couldn’t gather enough players, so I decided to start a Facebook group. A lot of college students found out about my game that way. So after about 2-3 months of playing, a few of my players suggested I start taking a rake. For those of you who don’t know what rake is, it’s a percentage of the pot that the house takes. I was hesitant for awhile because I didn’t want to scare the players away. But after talking to a few of the players, most of them didn’t mind. I still remember my first night starting the raked game. I went out and bought 3 huge bags of candy, 150 piece chicken nuggets from McDonalds, and 4 two-liter sodas. I spent a little under $100 in food and drinks. We started at about 9:00 pm with 9 heads. Around 10:00, we had 2 people in line waiting to play. I had to work the next morning, so unfortunately, I couldn’t stay up all night. I ended up going to bed around 2:00 am and awoke at 7:45 am to find that they were still playing! I usually spent about 15-20 minutes getting up for work, so by the time I was about to leave, they were finishing up. I went over to check the rake. The total rake was $355! So thoughts of ($$$) immediately passed through my mind. I thought damn, this could be really profitable. And the rest is pretty much history.

I would begin hosting games 2 nights a week, .25/.50 and .50/$1. I invested in a flat screen TV, a new custom poker table, and some custom chips. In the first 2 months, there were times when the game would struggle to get some players to come play, but after about 3-4 months, I never again had that issue. My games usually had at least 2-3 waiting in line to play. My average rake was around $400 a night and the game typically would last 8-10 hours. So that’s how it all started. I don’t do it quite as heavily now. Due to some personal issues, the game has slowed down a bit, but I’m confident I could bring things back to normal if I desired it. Anyhow, look for an upcoming post that will provide some tips on what to do to start your own profitable home poker game.