[99%evil]

I played a home game last night with some guys I didn't know very well. The playing was horrible and I was happy to come out with more money than I went in with, but there was not much room for good play.

My question is this, we had 5 people left the man in the small blind went all in and busted out. The host of the party was big blind and proceeded to put the button at his spot instead of leaving a dead button in the last position. His way caused the blinds to skip one so the player to his left skipped the big blind and paid the small blind. I interjected and stated that there was a dead button and the blinds cshould not be jumped over. I've played on Partypoker and I know this is how they play, I've played in casinos and they don't skip it like this. My peeve is that we were down to 4 people and the blinds were crippling at his point because of the way they structured the crappy tournament (did not use denominations, a chip was a unit and we got 30 to start with and blinds double as each person went out, so when 3 go out in one hand the blinds are huge and if you have'nt even seen a blind yet you've got 1/3 of your chips in when they first get to you).

I understand it wasn't my house, but most of the time the guys didn't know a lot of basic rules (like a flush beats a straight kind of thing). It seemed to piss off the guys whose tourney it was because I took control away, although I did apologize and say we could do whatever they wanted, they still did what I had mentioned. It kind of put me off when I couldn't tell if the guy was upset after that.

Was I in the wrong, or should I have just gone along with the way they were going. The guy who was being skipped would have missed putting in half his stack for the big blind at that time and could have gone around again waiting for a better hand. My stack was a bit more than his, but the blids were not going to miss me as I was 2 seats away.

Another thing I didn't like, but I kept quiet about was whenever we got from 11 folks down to 3 they would stop the game and announce they would split the cash up. The guy with the most got the 1st place amount we had agreed on and the 2nd and third split the remaining money. This is ridiculous, I could double up twice and take out the chip leader and they are still paying him a full stake. He should have taken out a percentage to give to the lower players to even it out I think. I was in 2nd and 3rd chip position twice when this happened, I didn't get a chance to go after the chip leader so basiclally whomever caught cards at the beginning would win.

Suffice to say I'm not going back to this game again.

What are your opinions on my two scenarios? Was I out of line in my way of thinking. I realize it was not my game, but I'd like to know if I'm doing something out of the ordinary to keep my game closer to how the casinos play.

[KYBill]

I think you did the right thing, and i wouldnt go back again !!

[SpaceMonkey]

Sounds familiar. Check these out: Blinds discussion and Playing in games outside your own.


You weren't in the wrong, skipping blinds late in a tournament on the bubble is a huge advantange that shouldn't happen.

I don't blame you for not saying anything about their pay structure, but that's lame too. Depending on how pissed I was, I may have asked about playing it out. Especially since with everything you've described, I would have known right from the start I'd never be returning to this game.

[Dwight87]

What was the buy-in?

[Merlin14]

Originally Posted by 99%evil

most of the time the guys didn't know a lot of basic rules (like a flush beats a straight kind of thing).

Hmmm... not sure if this is a bad thing or a good thing!

I've got the same problem. I've play with the same group of people since college ('bout 20 years now) but since I've started playing online and reading more I just can't stand to play with them because they do the exact same things, raise blinds when a player busts out, all chips have same value (when they're even willing to play with chips), etc. Just turns into a big luckfest and they seem to like it like that. Probably because they never bothered to learn the game and have better chances when luck is a bigger factor.

I don't think I could've kept quiet about the payout structure when it came down to three players. That's just so inequitable I don't know how anybody could've abided by it except the chip leader. I guess it would depend on how familiar you are with the host and other players.

[99%evil]

Only $10 bucks, but the way the tourneys were structured a 12 man game lasted about 45 miutes, I was there for two and a half hours and we played 3 tourneys I came in the money 2 out of 3.

It's like an ultra turbo tournament, getting cards and luck early and you win, play solid and your blinded out in three turns of the table. I never lost a hand that went to a show down, I played as solid as I could given the structure. It was liek playing a 300 play money tourney on Pokerstars, three guys went all-in pre flop on the first hand almost every game. Guys were all in chasing cards like crazy...

[R Deckard]

Ah-HA! I think you guys have discovered the reason they put DICE in poker chip sets. These guys probably would have just as much fun betting evensies/oddsies (real craps rules would be too complicated)--but then it isn't fashionable to boast about the great dice tournament you played in last night.

Combine small starting stacks, huge blinds, and no concept of the rules--voilá, you've got a card-based simulation of a slot machine disguised as a Texas Hold'em game. . .which is probably what these guys play when they go to a casino, anyway.

[Dwight87]

Well, if it's just a $10 buy-in with a bunch of guys who don't know how to play much, I would just let it go. Explaining the common rules to these guys would slow down the game to much and I'm sure that's the last thing they want in their turbo game. Besides, you were at someone else's house so not a lot you can do if that's how they play. Next time find out the common rules before entering a game so you know what you're getting into.

[99%evil]

I hear you, I just had to vent somewhere, I figured the folks here might be the only ones that would understand. I heard about the game from my brother, I misunderstood before I got there how things were set up, once I was there I had already blown a half hour drive so figured I'd stick around. I would have spoken up about the payouts, but I appeared to be pissing off the host of the party and he had over ten friends there and my brother was my only ally. You don't have to be a decent player to figure out those odds...

[Captn_All_In]

Hey evil....I read your post then moved on to another one and said to myself....you know what he needs to do is....

1. Find the hosts number and call him. Thank him for letting you come to his game. Then Apologize for sort of taking over. (Stay with me on this!)

2. While your on the phone discuss some of the things that were happening that normally don't happen in a game and see if he can see your side of No Limit Holdem. (The Light Side!! Not the Dark!!)

3. Invite him to one of your games so that he can see how one is really run and how different it is from what he was hosting.

4. Give him the links or copies of Robert's Rules, and or the eventual Chiptalk Rule Book so that he can learn what real poker is!!


5. Offer to help him set up his own game, making sure that he gets good chips!

6. Go back and win more of thier money!!

This is just a suggestion, but I think it is the right thing to do!