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How many people here play poker?
shardian:
I've never been a gambler at all. Several of my family members have had major problems with gambling. If you've ever known a problem gambler, you know it is not a pretty thing.
Having said that, I LOVE tinkering around with penny ante poker and such. Problem is noone I know plays. Those that I do know that play are rich people and only play with other rich people for big money. When real money gets involved, it is no longer fun.
shmokes:
I used to play a poker game where everyone bought in with five dollars and the ante was nothing . . . like a nickel, IIRC. We had fun, but not nearly as much as when the buy-in was $20. It works out more or less the same. Sometimes you win, and it's like $60 or $80. Sometimes you lose. You lose more, but then you win more too. But the problem with low-stakes games is that you CAN NOT BLUFF. You bet fifty cents or a dollar on a hand, which is a huge bet when the buy-in is five dollars, but it doesn't matter. You get called every time. People will call you just to see what you have. They'll call you with a pair of twos or a even just a high-card. It actually is more fun if the people you're playing with care whether they win or lose. I mean . . . you want it to be just a friendly game. I can see how a HIGH stakes poker game might make for a bad vibe at a neighborhood poker night. But . . . I like for there to be a little bit of real money involved.
Jdurg:
--- Quote from: shmokes on May 02, 2008, 11:38:59 pm ---I used to play a poker game where everyone bought in with five dollars and the ante was nothing . . . like a nickel, IIRC. We had fun, but not nearly as much as when the buy-in was $20. It works out more or less the same. Sometimes you win, and it's like $60 or $80. Sometimes you lose. You lose more, but then you win more too. But the problem with low-stakes games is that you CAN NOT BLUFF. You bet fifty cents or a dollar on a hand, which is a huge bet when the buy-in is five dollars, but it doesn't matter. You get called every time. People will call you just to see what you have. They'll call you with a pair of twos or a even just a high-card. It actually is more fun if the people you're playing with care whether they win or lose. I mean . . . you want it to be just a friendly game. I can see how a HIGH stakes poker game might make for a bad vibe at a neighborhood poker night. But . . . I like for there to be a little bit of real money involved.
--- End quote ---
I agree. The game I play with my buddies is a $20 buy in, range-limit Hold'Em game. The minimum bet/raise is $0.50 with the maximum bet/raise $4.00. It can lead to some big pots and if someone is short stacked they can either go all-in if they can't call the bet/raise or they raise with $4.00 or less, or they can decide to buy in before making the bet/raise. So if you're up against a short stack, you never know if they're going to go and buy in again, or if they'll just go all-in.
You can still bluff, but it's not the end of the world if you lose a pot so people do call with sometimes questionable hands. (Though not with something like a king-high, or a pocket pair of 2's on a board full of paint). The only thing that hurts is if the pot is huge and you have a dominating hand and someone catches the one or two outs they have left when they had no business being in the pot. It hurts, but you get over it.
The whole idea of poker night, which I'm attending one tonight, is to have some brews with your buddies and just enjoy being out of work. Granted, we've had nights where people have been frustrated and received such horrific beats that they let loose on a tirade and either walk out and go home, or just steam on the side for a while, but nobody has ever directed any rage towards any person. It's just been rage at Lady Luck for the "bad" cards that came down.
vorghagen:
--- Quote from: shmokes on May 02, 2008, 11:38:59 pm ---But the problem with low-stakes games is that you CAN NOT BLUFF. You bet fifty cents or a dollar on a hand, which is a huge bet when the buy-in is five dollars, but it doesn't matter. You get called every time. People will call you just to see what you have. They'll call you with a pair of twos or a even just a high-card. It actually is more fun if the people you're playing with care whether they win or lose.
--- End quote ---
In the poker night games I've played it's always $10, $15, $20 whatever buy-in, but then you're given $2500 worth of chips to play with. It helps a little with the problem you mentioned. Sure, everyone knows that your $1000 bet is really only $4 but there's something about pushing that huge pile of chips into the middle that makes you think twice about calling with a 5, 7 off suit.
When you play a friendly game with mates it's easy to forget that you're not James Bond, that can of light beer next to you is not a Vodka Martini, you're not going home in a Lamborghini, and those stacks of chips in front of you are worth nothing outside of this room.
THAT is what I enjoy most about poker.
Paulson:
Yeah...I play too...
Here's my poker chip bank roll ;) These are Paulson chips...hence my nickname
Some of the best chips money can buy...there's nothing quite like real clay
chips on the table.
I play online too... :)
Poker nuts go here: www.chiptalk.net
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