Poker Home Game Blog

Admit it - you harbor that dream of being on the big screen, playing poker in such a legendary manner people write songs about it.  During your holiday poker games, convince someone to bring a video camera so you can enter this contest.  The winning video gets a buy-in to the Celebrity Poker Challenge at the Sundance Film Festival.

There’s something amusing about the idea of winning a buy in to a poker tournament without  demonstrating any sort of actual poker skill.

Technorati Tags: Celebrity Poker Tournament, Poker Buy-In Contests, Sundance Film Festival

One of the biggest benefits of having a home game is the ability to regularly play poker variants that are not spread in casinos as frequently as Texas Hold-Em.  It was only a few decades ago that 5-Card Draw was the poker game of choice.  A key benefit of any draw-type game where opponent cards are not exposed is the ability to practice your pure poker playing skills.  When no one can see your cards, the actual hand you hold may not be nearly as significant to the one you choose to represent to your fellow players.

Here’s a nice breakdown of the way to spread 5-Card Draw, courtesy of a video from Expert Village:

Technorati Tags: 5 Card Draw, How To Play Poker, poker games

(image courtesy of examiner.com)

If you are serious about your home game, there has probably been at least one game in your life that you weren’t at 100% on the alertness meter. I’ve stooped to hitting the dreaded Red Bull sans Jaeger in order to keep my mind focused on the game at hand. It should come as no surprise that someone decided to create a line of energy drinks to market directly to the poker player.

The Caffeine Examiner over at examiner.com has done an in-depth review of this potential miracle elixir. Me, I’ll probably stick with my Monster and Rockstar.

All In Energy Drink Review @ examiner.com

Technorati Tags: home poker menu, Poker Drinks

Over at areallybigfish.com, they listed the nicknames of various “lesser known” poker players. I strongly disagree with classifying half those players as that. In any case, the Poker Nickname Generator is a hoot. It said I am the Deadly Soprano, and if you heard me sing, you’d probably agree.

Poker Nickname Generator

Technorati Tags: Poker Fun, Poker Nicknames

David Matthew recently posted an article on his Gambling in Space blog issues with staking/loaning money to your fellow players. One of his key points:

There’s a Catch 22 with loaning money to a poker player or other gambler and that is if the player was a proficient and competent player then he or she wouldn’t need the loan. A gambler who is proficient and competent does however need money to ply his (or her) trade so if that person is destitute then he cannot generate income.

So in other words, gamblers need money to gamble but if they’re good at gambling they shouldn’t need money.

I agree with a number of his points, including the oddity regarding the level of trust players make on these types of loans compared to loaning money in other situations. You can read my previous post on the dangers of loaning players money to keep your home game from breaking up here.

Technorati Tags: bankroll management, staking players

Eating while playing poker is tricky. Ideally, the dining choices should be ones that are least disruptive to the play. If it’s your house, having food that won’t get your cards greasy or dirty is desirable. Serving a full dinner could make your home game extremely popular, but you might not have enough room for players to have full plates and comfortably play at the same time.

Appetizers and snacks are a popular food choice. Instead of the usual crap you find down the snack aisle at the grocery store, why not try something a little classier? You can impress your guests with food that is completely gourmand without spending tons of time on it. Plus, having good food can equip you with an additional free tell against the other players - if a player is willing to stop eating to play a hand, tread lightly.

Check out YumSugar’s recipe for Proscuitto-Wrapped Mozzarella Skewers. Fancy pants, indeed.

Technorati Tags: home poker menu

It’s embarrassing for me to admit I didn’t learn how to do a successful riffle shuffle until I was nearly in high school. Let’s face it - it’s difficult to be a respected poker player without being able to shuffle a deck of cards decently.

Expand your shuffle skills beyond the casino styles and try your hand at the Pharoah shuffle:

Technorati Tags: Card shuffling, dealing

If you’re having problems getting players for your poker home game, you could always try what this guy has. With my luck, I’d owe the dog bank.

Technorati Tags: heads up poker, Jilli Dog

Earl Burton at the Poker News Daily discusses strategies on handling small pocket pairs in hold em. While the advice leans towards tournament strategy, there are a number of key points that can be translated to cash game play. The most important thing to remember is to not overvalue the pair and to be able to lay it down depending on the circumstances in play.

Technorati Tags: small pocket pairs

Texas Hold Em Rules Poker discusses the “chip and a chair” concept and using your chip stack as another measure of play strategy. Not nearly enough can be said about the importance of stack management, and this article does a nice job addressing errors made by those who aren’t the short stack.