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Adding Player Bounties and KO Bonuses

5/28/2008 11:09 AM

If you're looking for a way to add a little something extra to your tournaments, you may want to consider adding bonuses for knocking out players (aka, bounties). Many professional tournaments do variations of this, including the World Poker Tour's Shooting Star tournaments (where player's get an instant $5,000 for knocking out one of the pre-selected poker pros). Since your own games probably don't have any big name pros or celebrities, the best bet is to probably just give a bonus for all players you knock out.

So how should the KO bonuses work? Well, the easiest way would be to just have everybody throw in an extra few bucks on top of the regular buy in so that the extra cash goes towards knockouts. In the league I'm in, we are probably going to make the knockout bonus 10% of the buy-in. So if your buy-in is $20, each player should throw in an extra $2. Each time a player is knocked out, the person who knocked them out will get $2. Obviously you can adjust the amount of the bonuses depending on what you think is best for your league.

Now, if you're doing the math, you'll realize that if you have 10 people adding money for knockouts, and only 9 people get knocked out, you'll have a little extra money left over. The easy thing to do is just to give that extra money to the winner, since they avoided being knocked out. Of course, you can be more creative and make it so that whoever knocks out the most people gets the extra bonus, or perhaps make the league leader or last season's champion worth double if you knock them out.

So what if your league or tournament uses re-buys? I personally wouldn't use knockout bonuses for re-buy games, mostly because it complicates things a bit and knockouts don't quite mean as much in a re-buy tournament. However, you can still use knockout bonuses and bounties, but you'll have to adjust things a little. You can either have a person keep putting in extra money for their re-buys to pay for another knockout or perhaps people only get paid once a person is knocked out and doesn't buy back in.

5 Great Ways to Increase Poker Participation

11/27/2007 8:50 PM

Let's face it, most home poker games are face with a dwindling player count from time to time. Whether your home game is just starting out and is in need of a good core group or your veteran game is slowly losing players each week, below are five tips that should help you boost your poker player participation.

Pick the Right Group
Sometimes some players just won't fit well with your regular poker group. Some players may be looking for a very strict, serious game while others look for a more relaxed, casual game. You may also have some people that just plain don't get along with others in the group. You may have to "cut the fat" and sacrifice the few for the sake of the many. Don't be rude about it, but next time you invite people, maybe you "forget" to invite a player so that everybody else is happier.

Find a Hospitable Host
Choosing the right places to hold your home games is definitely one of the more important decisions you'll have to make. You'll want to factor in the distance the location is for potential players, the accomodations, and availability. If you hold it at a player's home, you'll also want to make sure it doesn't put them out too much. If possible, you may want to rotate locations so that it's fair for everyone.

Upgrade to a League
As mentioned in a previous post, by structuring your home poker games into a full blown poker league, you can add incentive to help keep existing players coming back while enticing new blood to give it a shot. Players will love seeing where they stand and will know that missing a game means missing out on an opportunity for some league points.

Supplies, Supplies, Supplies
Remember, not all poker chips are created equal! It's amazing how much of a difference quality poker chips and a passable felt poker table can make in your home games. If you're still playing with plastic poker chips, it's time for you to get a grown up set.

Awards and Prizes
Once you have a league set up, you can add fun poker awards and prizes that will give players something to shoot for. Sometimes fighting for the top spot in a league isn't enough incentive, throw in a cool trophy or maybe even some extra cash and players will do their best to make every game.

Of course, the biggest key is to make sure everybody is having fun. Once they are, word of mouth will spread and you'll have players asking if they can bring more and more people each week. If you hit most of the major points above, you should be well on your way to a thriving home poker game.

Take Your League to the Next Level with Awards and Prizes

10/14/2007 3:22 PM

Winning money is obviously the main draw to a home poker game, but you can add extra incentive by throwing in some awards and prizes for various achievements. By using free web software like Home Poker System you can track all sorts of stats like points, players eliminated, and more. If you structure your league to have seasons you can give out specific awards and prizes at the end for various accomplishments.

Some examples of awards/titles to give out.

Champion - probably the most obvious award to give out is the one for the "best" player. This should be based on a predetermined point system. Though you could also go by most money won.

Headhunter - if you take the time and effort to track the number of players each person knocks out, you can have an award for the person who eliminated the most players during the season. It's a fun award to have, but can be a pain in the butt to keep track of.

Longest Streak - you can have an award for the person with the longest winning (or losing) streak. This puts added pressure (and excitement) on games where a person's streak is on the line.

Easy Money - it's always nice to have an award or two that goes to "bad" players. As such, it can be fun to have an award for the person who lost the most money.

Big Mouth - some titles don't necessarily have to deal with actual poker play, but rather a player's personality during the games. Home games inevitably have a stand out loud player, you may as well reckognize them with an award.

Bluff Master - an award for the person deemed "biggest bluffer". This would have to be voted on in some mannor.

Tight Ass - some players play tighter than a (ok, better stay away from that analogy).

Best Bluff - you can also award titles for single incidents such as the best bluff of the season.

Best Snack - snacks go hand in hand with your home games so you might as well have an award for the best snack (or even an award for the person that brought the best snacks).

The above list is just a small sampling of the kinds of awards you can implement at your own home games. Be creative and make sure to have at least one humorous award. Fun titles are also key so instead of just having "Most Conservative" you have something like "Biggest Tight Ass".

You can simply announce the awards at the end, but it's better to actually have some sort of physical representation of the award being given. For example, you can use trophies, certificates, poker chips, extra money, or any kind of random objects people donate. The photo featured at the top of this post is a ceramic trophy I made for my own home poker league (yes, it's even uglier in person). The key is to be creative and to agree on everything before you start your season.

Feel free to share ideas of your own in the comments below. I'm sure your fellow home poker players would greatly appreciate it.

Add Spice to Your Home Games - Create a League

10/8/2007 9:28 AM

Looking for a way to add some spice to your home poker games? Maybe turning your home games into your very own poker league is just what you need. Sound like a lot of work? Fear not! There's plenty of free software out there that'll help you create and manage your poker league.

For instance, Home Poker System is a free website that allows you to track your league online quickly and easily. Ok, so I actually created that site myself, but it really is 100% free so you have nothing to lose trying it out for yourself.

After creating your league, you're able to create seasons, schedule games, add players, and report results. The system will track everone's progress for you while providing detailed stats such as wins, losses, placing, money earned/lost, points, players eliminated, and much more.

By tracking your home games in a league format (with a leaderboard, detailed stats, and game history), you'll add more fun and excitement to your home poker games. When players are playing for points and a #1 standing along with the money, you'll give players much more to brag about while also giving everybody much more incentive to not miss any games. When people can see a history of past games and comment on the results, every win and loss will mean that much more to people.

Leagues may not be the best route for all home games, but why not register and find out if it works for you. You really have nothing to lose.

Speed Up Your Game By Doubling Your Decks

9/22/2007 11:10 AM

Sometimes you may feel your home game dragging along. This may be due to slow shuffling and dealing as amateur card players are generally not very quick dealers.

If you want to speed up your play without dealing with (pardon the pun) a card shuffler, you can add a second deck to your game. Use the player to the left of the dealer to shuffle the cards of the previous hand. When the hand is over, the person shuffling should be done (unless it was a very short hand) and should be ready to deal right away. Continue to pass the used cards to the left of the dealer and you should consistently have a deck ready to deal each time a hand is completed.

Table Talk Dos and Don'ts

9/17/2007 12:34 PM

One of the great things about home poker games is the trash talk that often makes its way to the poker table. When playing against friends, table talk is all part of the game, but there's still a few do's and don'ts that you should keep in mind. Most tournaments and casino cash play often have rules against talking in certain situations and restrict what you can and can't say during a game. Of course, at your home poker games, you set the rules, though the casino rules are usually in place for a good reason so you may want to follow their lead.

A common guideline is that players should probably not talk about a hand unless they are involved in it. If you're nervously bluffing a player, you don't want somebody who's not in the hand to call you out. It's not always a rule, but it's almost always considered poor sportsmanship to affect a player's hand when you're not in it.

Teaming up is incredibly frowned upon and often against the rules. You can joke around about having to take out a player or to watch out for a person's bluffs, but during a hand, you shouldn't be talking to your fellow players about strategy or ways to beat another player. A common example is when a person goes all in and two players call. Generally the two calling players will check the entire hand to increase their odds of eliminated the all-in player. This is an acceptable unspoken strategy but it becomes poor sportsmanship (and usually against the rules) to tell your fellow player to just check it down during the hand.

You can talk about your hand all you want, as long as you don't say exactly what you have. This is rule that most people don't know. Most casino games have a hardset rule that you cannot tell people the specifics of what you're holding while you're playing. You can be vague and give possibilities, but you can't flatout say "I've got poket aces". Once people lay down their cards you can show them and brag all you want, but you usually aren't allowed to say exactly what you have while the game is being played. Since this rule is often forgotten, it's really up to you whether or not to enforce it.

Verbal bets are binding - at least at the casinos. Movies have shown some bad poker, thus giving new players some bad examples to follow, such as the "I call you're bet and I raise you all-in." It's up to you to determine how to handle verbal bets, but you really should make verbal bets binding a rule since it's unfair to the recipient of a misspoken verbal bet. If a person announces raise, they must raise. If they say fold, they must fold - there shouldn't be any exceptions.

In the end, keep in mind that it's a home poker game and to not take things too seriously - especially in the beginning. Get a feel for your fellow players. If there are many new players, you're going to want to ease them into rules like verbal betting. If most of your home poker game is comprised of poker regulars, you'll probably want to mimic casino rules so that your games will be as professional as possible. Remember that the key is to have fun. Don't be afraid to liven up your home game with some trash talking - just make sure it's all fair and in good fun.

Don't Lose and Leave, Stay and Support

9/12/2007 12:30 PM

When playing a home poker tournament, some people are bound to get knocked out early. If you're one of those people, you may feel like packing up and heading home, but out of respect for your fellow players and especially your host, you should probably stick around.

Leaving not only makes you look like a poor sport, it also removes you from the other perks of a home game - enjoying the company of others while improving your game. Even if you're not playing, you can join in on the trash talking and poker cheers. You can also take that chance to study your opponents, finding weaknesses that you may be able to exploit next time.

Another thing you can do is try and set up a cash game with fellow eliminated players. This way you'll be able to continue to play some poker and perhaps win back some of that money you just lost. The great thing about cash games is that you can quit at any time so there's no pressure of having to finish when the tournament is over.

Obviously there's exceptions with legitimate reasons for leaving, such as living very far away, needing a good night's sleep for whatever reason, etc. However, if you continually leave right after you're knocked out when everybody else stays, you may quickly find yourself not being invited back (or at least being talked about behind your back). So do your friends and yourself a favor and stick around next time you're eliminated.

8 Snack Ideas that are Surefire Home Game Hits

9/10/2007 11:43 AM

Home poker games are great excuses to pig out on junk food, but not all snacks are suitable for poker play. I've picked out 8 surefire snacks that will help keep the players playing and not using hunger as an excuse to leave. The key to the list below is that the food is generally mess free and is easy to snack on before, during, and after poker hands.

Tortilla chips
Unlike potato chips, tortilla chips are much less greasy and should prove to be a much cleaner snack at the poker table. However, many people like dip with their tortilla chips, and that dip adds a potential messy factor.

Pretzels
Pretzels are great at the poker table because they're clean, easy to pass around, and don't break apart very easily.

Beef sticks and jerky
If you're looking for something with a little more meat (pardon the pun), jerky and beef sticks should suit you well. They can be a little greasy depending on the kind you get, but they are clean snacks at the poker table and are often an item people don't expect but instantly appreciate.

Cheese and crackers
Crackers are generally a clean and tasty poker treat. Add cheese and you've got a fairly fancy spread for your poker buddies. You can add other toppings as you see fit (salami, peanut butter, etc.)

Cookies
Who says you can't have sweets at the poker table? Cookies are great because they don't leave much of a mess, though depending on the type you get, you can get a lot of crums. Cookies like Oreos or other small, solid cookies work best.

Mini candies
Large candy bars don't work very well since the chocolate can be quite messy. Candy lovers fear not! The bitesize versions of your favorite candy should keep your poker chips clean and your poker pals coming back for more. You can also put Skittles, Reeses Pieces, or M&Ms in a large bowl and pass those around.

Bagel bites
If you want a more substantial snack at your poker table, bagel bites may just hit the spot. They require some time in the microwave or oven, but these bitesize pizza snacks leave no mess and are enough to satisfy the hungriest of poker players.

Vegetables
Ok I, personally, am not a fan of vegetables, but many people are and since they are grease free they make for a perfect snacking alternative to the unhealthy junk foods listed above. You don't want vegetables to be the only option, as eating unhealthy junk food is part of the allure of the home game!

The above list is obviously only a small sampling of the possibilities. If you've got some killer poker snack ideas of your own, post them in the comments below so your fellow poker enthusiasts can try them out at their next home games.

Chip Counts, Starting Stacks, and Chip Denominations

9/6/2007 2:18 PM

Previously I posted some information detailing the types of poker chips you can buy. Today I'm going to cover how many chips you should buy, how many different colors (and how many of each color), and how many chips you should start people out with.

First, here's a loose breakdown of the chips you'll need depending on the number of players.

200 poker chips for 2-4 players.

300 poker chips for 4-6 players.

400 poker chips for 6-8 players.

500 poker chips for 8-10 players.

You should start seeing a pattern above. For most tournaments, a good starting stack is about 25-50 poker chips for each player. Obviously no two tournaments are the same, so you'll want to consider your blind schedules as well as the style of play you're looking for. Basically, you want people to feel like they have a good amount of chips, but not too many that stacks get too big too soon as players get eliminated. This could mean starting everybody with 100 chips or more or perhaps as low as 20.

Of course, you don't want to buy chips of all the same color as that'll limit your options when it comes to chip values. For smaller tournaments (2-6 players), three colors should be good. For larger tournaments you may want to add another color or two.

Below are some common color breakdowns. The numbers listed are the ratios of each color that go in order of lowest denomination to the highest. For instance, 4/3/2/1 would mean 200/150/100/50 chips for a 500 chip set.

4/3/2 - A good three color choice as it gives you a good breakdown of higher and lower denominations.

2/2/1 - With this breakdown you're given an option as to which color should be the lowest as well as making it easier to combine colors for the same value.

4/3/2/1 - This allows you to have a good amount of each color while also making sure you have more of the lower denominations.

4/2/2/1 - This common color breakdown gives you a good amount of your lowest denomination while giving you an option to change your second and third denominations.

Again, the above amounts are to be used as a general guideline. There is no "correct" amount, just make sure you have at least three colors and make sure you spread out the amount you have for each color. Your first thought may be to have the same amount of each color, but this could limit your options as you wouldn't have enough of the lowest denominations to make change and to balance out the higher value chips.

As for the denominations, you should usually try and increase the value of each colored chip by a 4 or 5 times the value of the the previous. For example, a 4/3/2/1 color breakdown of chips would probably work well with the values being $1, $5, $25, $100. Sometimes people don't like working with chip values that raise so much, so you can go with $1, $2, $5, $10 as well. The key is that you want to keep the values fairly even so that when blinds raise you'll have a good amount of the right denominations to handle it. Another route for small tournaments is to just make all chips worth the same. This makes it easier to distribute and track chips, though you'll probably need more chips than normal to handle the small denominations.

As with just about everything else, you're going to want to get a feel for your home games and find out what will work best for you and your friends. Key points too keep in mind is to have at least three colors and to have a different amount of each of those colors. From there, you can fine tune denominations and starting stacks.

Not All Poker Chips Are Created Equal

9/4/2007 12:19 PM

One of the best ways to make your home poker games feel a bit more professional is to make sure you're using casino quality poker chips. While casinos all use different chips, you can be sure they aren't using those cheap plastic ones you played with as a kid. Most casinos use clay, composite, or clay composite chips that usually weigh 9 to 11.5 grams. While these chips will cost you more than those discount plastic chips, you'll definitely see and feel the difference.

Clay
Clay chips, while hard, often have a soft feel too them that many players will notice and appreciate immediately. This quality will usually cost you as they are generally the most expensive chip.

Composite
Composite poker chips are generally cheaper than clay chips, though they are still a huge step up from the cheap plastic chips. The main difference is in the feel of the composite chips as they are generally much smoother than clay chips. This smooth feel often makes the composite chips harder to pick up than the softer feeling clay chips.

Clay Composite
Clay composite chips are usually soft like clay chips yet nearly as inexpensive as composite chips. The quality varies greatly with these chips so you'll want to test them out before buying.

Size Matters
Like I mentioned above, casinos usually use 9 to 11.5 gram poker chips. The general rule is the heavier the chip, the better. You can get 13 gram chips if you really want to splurge, but I, personally, recommend the 11.5 weight.

Try Before You Buy
You're probably going to want to buy your chips online as online supply stores are considerably cheaper and offer a wide variety of designs. However, you'll definitely want to try out some weights and styles before you buy. Now, you don't need to actually play a full game with the chips, but you should make sure you hold the different weights in your hand so that you know what you want. You also want to try composite, clay, and clay composite as they all have a distinct look and feel. By trying the chip out first, you may decide that 9 gram composite chips are perfect, thus saving you some money.

Online Suppliers
Below are some online poker stores that I've found to have good deals on a good selection of poker chips.

Poker 'n Stuff

Pokershopping

Amazon

For help on the number of chips you'll need and of what denominations, check out post on chip counts and starting stacks.