Poker home games guide – Mainstream Media guide

Poker home games guide can vary depending on who you ask. For most casual poker players it involves lots of alcohol, a chance to meet up with the lads, play games that get crazier as the alcohol and night wears on and perhaps win some money.

Poker home games guide from more serious poker players breaks into 2 camps – the very serious and mostly non drinking (if you want to be #WINNING them) where it really is about the money or the lads game of poker involving lots of alcohol but perhaps more serious games until near the end.

Mainstream Media guide to Poker home games usually reflects the more casual poker players viewpoint and although any positive mention of Poker by the MSM is very welcome in these Full Tilt fiasco times you have to laugh at some of the things they suggest.

One respected American paper is the The Huffington Post and they released a guide called Poker Night: 10 Essential Steps To Hosting The Boys. Some of the advice is decent for virgin Poker home games people but like the image below some of it seems to make you wonder if the people involved have actually played in a Poker home game. Or a vaguely normal one at that.

Poker home games guide - Mainstream Media guide!

Poker home games guide – 10 steps

Step #1: Get The Right Guys
Step #2: Set A Date
Step #3: Get The Gear
Step #4: Food & Drinks
Step #5: No Wives
Step #6: Running The Game
Step #7: Bathroom Breaks
Step #8: Make Etiquette A Priority
Step #9: Music Options
Step #10: The Next Day Check-In

From the Poker Night: 10 Essential Steps To Hosting The Boys

Step #7: Bathroom Breaks

Poker bathroom breaks - Poker home games guides from the Mainstream Media

As host, make it clear before the game starts that after every third or fourth hand the group will take a collective bathroom break. This prevents unnecessary interruptions throughout the game and prevents nosy players from looking at the bathroom visitor’s hand while they’re gone. To really drive this later point home, elect two guys to stand guard over the table while the others go to the bathroom, then appoint a third guy to watch over the first two. The original guards watch each other’s every move and the third guy watches to make sure the first two don’t conspire to cheat together. This full-proof precaution, called the ‘Pyongyang Border Solution,’ proves the host’s commitment to reasonable, relaxed and fair play.

How many hands per hour? Although in some Poker home games this 3 or 4 hands per bathroom break may be an hourly break, you may want to set a time for breaks.Also, not inviting the whole Incontinence Society along to play may stop the need for every player going to the bathroom every 3 or 4 hands. I think its normal that players go to the toilet may miss a hand but then you have smoko breaks every hour or 2.

Make Etiquette A Priority

Poker home game guides - etiquette and table manners

Have players agree to keep their cool before the first hand is dealt. No trash talk. Leave all comments concerning players’ wives, mothers and hybrid cars at the door … after all, poker night isn’t about money, it’s about honor.

No trash talk? Sounds like a fun evening with your mates. Taking the piss out of your mates before, during and after the Poker home game and the hands proves you are mates. After all, if something terrible but funny happens to you then you know who your real mates are as they will laugh at you and it.

And if Poker and Poker home games are not about the money then why do we keep the score by using cash?

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