Some Reasons I No Longer Play in Home Games

For a long time, I mixed up my play a lot between playing online, in the casino, and in home games.  After several incidents, I decided to discontinue playing in home games unless I really know the people involved.  I’ll give a few reasons why below.

Rules can never be agreed upon consistently.  I have been screwed too many times by people that setup rules and then change them either the next week, or sometimes the same session.  I had one game in which the rule was that if you showed your hand before showdown, it was dead.  Well, I was all in against two players, they said they were going to check it down, and then one player flipped over the hand on the flop.  His hand was supposed to be dead.  They would not kill it.  Therefore, I ended up losing to a hand that should have been killed.  Some say I was just mad I lost.  No, I was mad because rules were not enforced.

Cheating is much more prevalent in home games.  Marked decks, unusual dealing techniques, signals, etc can all be parts of home games.  One friend told me about a guy that would always be on the phone and call the bet but not put chips in while on the phone.  If he lost, he didn’t put the chips into the pot.  I wouldn’t tolerate that.

Too many games turn into drunk fests.  If I am in a casino, then we can call security or the cops and eliminate the problem.  In a home game, by the time something is done, someone could be killed.  I had one instance where a drunken guy was going to attack a woman and had to be restrained by 3 men.  They then went back to playing a few minutes later.  I discontinued my association with that game after that.

Home games can be a lot of fun with a couple of friends or with family, but when you start opening them up to outside parties, then you are potentially asking for trouble.  On occasion, I will hold games with friends that I know well, but I no longer go to other home games.  I prefer something a little more structured and controlled.  I realize this isn’t the case for everyone, but it is the choice that I made.