How do you handle late comers?

[midnyte13]

Friends,

I am involved in a very friendly "club" where we meet every two weeks to play on fridays.....usually at my place.

The monday before the playing friday an email goes out to all players with the date - time- and place of the game.....

there is one player who due to work will typically arrive 30 minutes late....but some times as late as an hour.

Our game is 20$ buy in....and a single rebuy 1 hour after initial play has started. Blinds every 15 minutes.

Up til now...when the late comer informs us that he will be late....we have simply include his small and big blind when it comes around. Normally there are 8 players....so...


The ultimate gripe is that if/when he shows up almost an hour late....and decides to also "rebuy" his chipstack almost doubles.....while some others may have less chips due to the previous hours play...

thoughts?/Comments/Suggestions?

[albie]

I don't see the issue. Making him pay blinds seems spiteful and unnecessary to me. Sure some people may have less chips but can't they rebuy if they want to? Others are going to have a whole lot more chips than him. We have a single table re-buy every week. Starts about 9:30 with add-on at 11. Arriving any time before 11 is fine. If we already have 10 then late arrivers can't play. I don't see what advantage you gain by coming late.

[midnyte13]

how do you handle table seating.....do you deal in anyone who is not at the table?

[albie]

We have 10 numbered seats and a deck of 10 cards A-10. Everyone draws for seats. Latecomers draw a leftover card to decide which empty seat they fill.
Once you've arrived you get dealt in & folded if you aren't at the table - outside smoking, call of nature or whatever. But until a seat's filled we ignore it.

[Jambine]

Originally Posted by midnyte13

....when the late comer informs us that he will be late....we have simply include his small and big blind when it comes around.....

There ya go. Put his stack on the table and blind him off in turn. No problem.

[STR82ACE]

Is this cash or tournament? In a cash game, it doesn't matter. He doesn't get his chips until he arrives, and if you offer rebuys, well anyone can reload.

If its tournament, that's different. If he's committed to attending, his stack must be at the table and blinded down until he arrives. Since its a rebuy, I don't see the issue with him rebuying when he arrives at all, so long as all the other players have the same oppurtunity during the same time.

In my weekly/monthly game, I tell every that if you're going to be late, tell me. You will be blinded out till you arrive. If you're not in your seat by the end of the second blind level, I remove your chips and you don't play. I have yet to enforce this as everyone shows up by the end of the second level of play.

[midnyte13]

Thanks everyone.....

[bergs]

Hit him with a chair. Then let him buyin for double $ for a full stack and let him play. Seriously, HHWaC is the new KITN.

[JM]

Beheading would solve the problem and send a message to others.

[UW85]

Assuming it's NOT a cash game....

Being the host who busts his tail to put on these games, it's a PITA when people show up late w/o calling because you're just never quite sure if indeed they will show. Plus I think it's just rude. Ironically the person in my game that shows up late almost every month lives 10 minutes away and hardly ever calls. I understand the boys coming from 45min to 1+ hrs away through Seattle traffic on a weekday evening -- no problem there, but if you live close enough to walk....

That said, I heard a cool idea once here on CT with respect to this problem. Give everyone that shows up on time a BONUS chip or two equal to your highest denom. For example, if you're starting stack is $25,000 then you might give each person a couple $1,000 chips (about 10%). Typically this will get the "late" folks attention.

Finally, why not try good old fashioned communication (assuming you haven't) -- send an email explaining how ya feel to the group -- I'll bet you can say it in a nice way and get the message across. Best of luck