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johnnyawe
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06-23-2005, 02:36 AM
Post subject: My home game got too big
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#1 (permalink)
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Full House
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 1,064
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Anyone run into this problem? My small apartment can only accomodate 8 people for a poker game. I tried 10 once and it was just too many people.
There are over 20 serious players on my e-mail list, and it is growing. The last game I had, I had 8 players lined up before I even had a chance to send out the official e-mail to the list. The one before that I almost had 11 people show up, which would have been a disaster!
How should I handle this?? What I tried to do was send an e-vite thing that required RSVP, and said that the first 8 people to RSVP would be gauranteed a seat in the game. Others could show up but may not get a chance to play.
There were a couple problems with this. 1) I kind of felt like a jerk sending an evite to 20 people for an 8 person event. 2) A few people ignored my instructions and RSVP'd and showed up even though I already had 8 people RSVP'd. (That was the game where I had 10 ppl).  3) A few people who heard about the game wanted to RSVP before I even sent out the e-vite.
The other thing I tried when I first started and the games weren't this big was to invite 8 people individually instead of sending out a group e-mail. And then if someone couldn't make it, extend an invitation to another person. However, I think I would again feel like a jerk having to pick the "elite 8" out of the 2o player list. Plus, it was a nightmare trying to get everyone to RSVP and then inviting other players at the last minute.
The only thing I can think of is to raise the stakes high enough so that fewer people will want to play. Or, wait until the LAST minute to send out an e-vite, in hopes that most ppl will already have other plans.
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evman150
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Flush
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Victoria BC
Posts: 269
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I wish I had your problem.
We just do it by phone and it's a pain in the ass to try and get 8 or 9 guys.
Everybody's either at the bar or working or something.
Thought of setting up two tables?
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Light years ahead of the competition.
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Krotalus
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 76
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find out which of your regulars has the most room, then ask if you can hold the games at thier place if you get too many people
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DoGGz
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Well, in my local home game we have one table 11 max run all day. From about 5pm til 5am so over 30 players cycle through the day. If you come and the table is full, either wait or leave. It is first come first serve.
Of course, we also take a 5% rake, hire dealers, and have free food/drinks all day so it makes a relaxing atmosphere.
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Jes_Gru
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Straight
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 209
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Johnnyawe,
I will throw out several suggestions, and maybe 1 of them will stick.
1) Have players pay up front. First 8 are in. This can be a pain, but will eliminate last minute cancels
2) Have a game more regularly (Friday/Saturday or 2 Saturdays in a row). Evite some to the first one, and then the others to the next one.
3) Get a bigger place 
4) As Krotalus suggested, see if someone else can offer a place to host the game that can handle 2 tables.
Don't feel like a jerk, as long as you state that you can only a certain number of people, mass invites should be fine. Plus if someone just shows up that hasn't RSVP'd and then bitches about it, you have just reduced your invite list by 1.
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mike4066
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4-of-a-Kind
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,943
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I don't know what the current stakes are, but I say double them
That will weed out a few of the people.
from there i'm out of ideas sorry.
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evman150
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Flush
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Victoria BC
Posts: 269
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by doggz
Well, in my local home game we have one table 11 max run all day. From about 5pm til 5am so over 30 players cycle through the day. If you come and the table is full, either wait or leave. It is first come first serve.
Of course, we also take a 5% rake, hire dealers, and have free food/drinks all day so it makes a relaxing atmosphere.
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That sounds really cool. I wish we had something like that.
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Light years ahead of the competition.
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FyrFytr998
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Full House
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Milford,Ct.
Posts: 1,412
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by mike4066
I don't know what the current stakes are, but I say double them
That will weed out a few of the people.
from there i'm out of ideas sorry. |
I agree. More money to win, and the low rollers will look elsewhere for a game. Have you ever thought about a tourney fee to cover the cost of maybe renting out a local lodge or hall? If you make no profit on the rental then it should be legal for you to do, and you'd be able to accomodate all the players.
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TN_POKER_MAN
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 19
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my 2 cents worth:
1. play a different game
2. increase the stakes
3. split your invites in half and rotate invitations
Above all, tell them the truth and solicite solutions from some of the core players. Don't be too deceptive or sneaky with your decision. I've found that most folks can handle the truth.
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SteveA
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Posts: 27
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Johnny,
Check out my site: http://www.homepokerclub.net/clubhome.php?clubid=1
It's a site you can use to schedule your tourneys (similar to evite), and record the results online. You can set the number of seats available for a tourney when you schedule it. This will show which players:
- have a seat reserved.
- are waiting for a seat.
- are not attending.
It still may not be the most polite thing to do...
Anyways let me know if you create a club.
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SteveA
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outphase
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Full House
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 949
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what you can do is "faction" the list. Shuffle your list and separate them in blocks of 4 or 5 then invite a few groups. Each time invite different groups and don't invite the same ones twice in a row. With this you don't run into too many complications due to size and people face off against different people each time.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by lambchopdc
Lets stop talking ABC poker and move on to D, E, and F.
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FyrFytr998
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Full House
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Milford,Ct.
Posts: 1,412
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by SteveA
Johnny,
Check out my site: {Link Temporarily Edited by Moderator pending Admin Approval}
It's a site you can use to schedule your tourneys and record the results online.
I'll be adding an RSVP feature shortly (this weekend), and you'll be able to set the number of seats available for a tourney when you schedule it. This will show which players:
- have a seat reserved.
- are waiting for a seat.
- are not attending.
It still may not be the most polite thing to do...
Anyways let me know if you create a club.
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Sorry to pull the plug on your link. Please talk with one of the Admins about setting up a reciprocal link between each other. I see you already have mutual links with two sites we have approved of. Just a policy with 1st time posters making links and disappearing off the boards. I don't find any conflicts with your site and ours. So there shouldn't be a problem. Thanks for your cooperation.
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Xianti
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Administrator
Administrator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: facebook.com/xianti
Posts: 5,289
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SteveA or FyrFytr:
Could you please PM me the URL of the edited link?
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Xianti
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Administrator
Administrator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: facebook.com/xianti
Posts: 5,289
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SteveA's URL seems fairly harmless and relevant. I've replaced it in his post, but removed it from his signature.
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johnnyawe
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Full House
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 1,064
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Thanks for all the suggestions guys.
I'm not crazy about the idea of splitting the group into 2 or 3 subgroups. Reminds me too much of having "different cliques" of friends. Or if I picked the groups randomly every time, it brings up too many other problems. How would I randomly pick the people every week? What if the same people keep getting picked?
I had a flash of inspiration last night though. Hold the game REGULARLY every other Friday, and everyone who doesn't "make the cut" for a game, is gauranteed a seat in the next game 2 weeks later.
Actually SteveA's site seems pretty cool. I don't do tournaments, but I may still be able to use the site as a vehicle for inviting people, since it seems like you can specify a max number of seats available and have people reserve them. I'll have to look into it more.
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SteveA
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Posts: 27
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by johnnyawe
Actually SteveA's site seems pretty cool. I don't do tournaments, but I may still be able to use the site as a vehicle for inviting people, since it seems like you can specify a max number of seats available and have people reserve them. I'll have to look into it more.
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Thx let me know if u have any suggestions/questions.
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SteveA
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ChezJ
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Full House
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Washington, D.C.
Posts: 1,456
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if these guys are all close friends, then you got a problem. if they're just poker acquaintances whose money you want to take, do what i do: make two lists, one for fish and one for sharks. send the evite out on monday to just the fish. then on wednesday, when the list is nearly full, send it to the rest of the sharks and let them battle it out for the last couple of slots. this is my version of table selection. it guarantees a low shark-to-fish ratio. if i was really cold hearted, i would not even invite the sharks but once they know i have a regular game, it's pretty hard to lie and say we're not playing this week.
ChezJ
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