Home Game Tips
In addition to all the general poker skills and strategies, there are several key tips that every home game player should follow in order to make the game more profitable for themselves, as well as more enjoyable for everyone involved. If you truly wish to always be playing your A game, but also want to make each poker experience a fairly pleasing one, check out the list below for some fundamental home game guidelines.
EASY ON THE BEVERAGES
It's not uncommon to find an of-age group of home game players also partaking in the consumption of alcoholic drinks, though it's really not uncommon to find of-age people drinking period. While you may enjoy getting a little tipsy when hanging out with friends, playing poker drunk can be a surefire way to lose control of your chips, as well as other bodily functions. If you plan on committing a BUI (Betting Under the Influence), you may find your poker skills blacking out as all your chips blur into other players' stacks.
CARDS SPEAK, NOT PLAYERS
Hours upon hours of perfectly good home games can be wasted getting into arguments over fairly trivial hands, especially when the debate is over who wins a particular pot. By far one of the best rules to implement in these situations is that cards speak, meaning when the cards are shown down, there should be no discrepancies over who gets the chips. If a ruling is unclear to someone, you can always refer back to the guidelines your game follows, or check online for an official rulebook.
WAIT YOUR TURN
Perhaps one of the most annoying things a player can do is to act out of turn. However, not only can it give other players a pain in the neck, it can also give them valuable information that may change the way they play a hand. To other players that might be waiting to set a trap or slowplay a big hand, this can also be a great nuisance, as it could eventually inhibit them from maximizing the size of the pot they take down. For the sake of running an orderly home game, it is best to always be aware of when it is your turn to act, refraining from both stalling and jumping the gun.
DON'T TAP ON THE GLASS
Occasionally at a home game you will bear witness to the proverbial "fish" types of players, those that play much too loose and are frequently on the giving end of bad beats and suckouts. The common reaction of short-tempered and tilting players is to berate such players for their less-advised styles of play and seemingly grandiose amounts of luck. However, if you're playing poker in order to actually win, you'll not want to discourage the fish from playing how they do, or tapping on the fishtank as it were. These players will pay you off in the long run, and when they do happen to have the poker gods on their side, a simple "nice hand" comment will more than clarify how much you enjoy having them at the table.
LEAVE RICHER, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER
Even if you do not end up financially profiting from the evening's events, there is much more to enjoy about a home game than simply winning money. Home games are great opportunities to spend time with current friends or family members, as well as to meet new people and potentially make new friends that have similar interests in poker. Not to say that you can't be all about business while you're at the table, but it is certainly nice to be able to enjoy a home game experience even when the cards aren't falling in your favor.
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