Allright fellow dead heads. As I promised I would be blogging about my poker adventures. Tonight I am hosting a home game I have a couple of friends coming but I also have a bunch of people I have never met before coming. It is a small sized home game. We play .25/.50 no limit holdem. The average pot size is around $4 and $5 dollars. Nothing big. I am going to give you some tips on how to host home games. This will help you if you ever decide to play one in the future. 

1. Always make sure to invite people you know that you are better than. 

Ok I know this sounds mean but here is the deal. You like money right? Well along with playing against players that will test your skill you also want to make money. In that case invite the people that are going to give you some pretty easy. Real poker players want real money and that's the bottom line. 

2. Always make the game friendly and enjoyable. 

Ok so now you have the players you know you can beat but you have to make them losing money enjoyable. That is why I set the stakes we play for so low. It is not intimidating and it is a game where those people can blow off steam and just have fun. While they have fun I pick up an extra $100 to $150 dollars. Provide some type of snacks. What I do is I usually have some friends over for drinks earlier in the week and tell them to bring alcohol. After they get drunk and leave they leave their excess alcohol at my house. I then in turn offer this to the players in my home game free of charge. Who wouldn't come play some small stakes poker if you are getting as many free drinks as you want? 

3. Always make sure you seem to be having a good time. 

If these lesser players notice you are taking this game super seriously they may catch wise to what you are doing. You are setting them up to take their money. Like the saying goes " YOu can sheer a sheep many times but you can only fleece them once." If you make the game enjoyable and you are content to get half the money in the room then you will get many more sessions from these people in the long run. If you try and take all the money and are super serious while you play then they might not come back. 

4. Always make sure the rules are set and everyone knows them before you start. 

Now this seems like an obvious rule but you would be surprised how many times not being clear on the rules can ruin a good evening. It is your house so you set the rules and they are not to be broken. Now I am not talking about how the game is played I am talking about things like poker etiqquite. All verbal bets should be binding. If it is a players turn to act and he says "I'm all in" then trys to say he was joking that is too bad. He has to go all in. You should make it clear wether or not Check raising is allowed. Another good rule to laydown is wether or not string bets are allowed and also straddeling the blinds. I hope this might help if you think about having a home game in the future. If you have any questions just ask. I will report on the action for you tonight including any big hands or big pots that come up!

I can help you with all kinds of advice from beyond grave! Just Dial...

ASK DEAD LORI!

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Hey guys. As most of you know I play a lot of poker. I thought it might be interesting if I blogged about it here. If anyone has any questions about the game feel free to ask. Everytime I have a home game or play a tournament online I will post a blog about my success or failure. I hope it might get some of yall interested in the game and hopefully spark some discussion. Look for the first blog soon. 

Redhollywood 

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