House rules for poker? (1 Viewer)

Eeyore

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It seems as though every party that the wife and I attend/host has a poker game break out. This past Saturday my Wife and I hosted a 40th birthday party for a friend and, of course, a game broke out.

Every time we play poker I find myself wishing that a list of house rules was posted so that folks are not put into the position of figuring out what should be done and so that uncomfortable situations are avoided.

We had an issue this weekend that a husband and wife were sitting next to one another and were cleaning up. It happens but during the three hour game they never once played during the same hand. They were also pulling off some amazing hands. strings of 4-5 full houses in a row etc...

For this reason I like the rule that significant others should not be allowed to sit at the same table or, if only one table is used, they should sit with one person, who did not ride in the same vehicle, between them. (see my "and the horse you rode in on" rule)

We also had an issue with them on dealing. We would take turns dealing because nobody wanted to be a full time dealer. They would make mistakes and turn up cards while folks were still betting. For this I like the rule that such a mistake forfeits the dealer's hand (and the horse they rode in on).

They would also bet out of turn in an attempt to sway the decisions of others when they are deciding what to do. Lots of folks would fold during such things. [ Any suggestions about what should be done here?]

There were also several instances where they would lay down their hands before betting had ceased. [I'm thinking that this should forfeit the hand. "and the horse they rode in on".]

We usually do a chip count at the end of games because it takes too long to find a true winner. At these times spouses will go all in when they see their "other" bet big. This ensures that one of them gets the money. [Any suggestions for penalties here?]

My "and the horse you rode in on" rule is that if you are playing at the same table as a person who came with you they will suffer your penalties. If you forfeit your hand so do they. If you get caught cheating and are asked to leave, so are they.

Any other house rules or potential problems?
 
Rule #1- Collusion of any kind will result in forfeit of all chips.

Problem solved.
 
Wow. Nice friends and such you got there. Suggested house rule: no poker games for money, strip poker only. Then you'll see some REAL cheating. (just a suggestion)
 
Dude, forget house rules...you guys just need rules.

Look it is this simple:

Draw cards for position on the table. ie, 8 players= pull out cards Ace -8, whoever selects the A chooses thier seat and the rest follow in order.

As for finding a winner. Man, no poker game should ever go without a winner. You need to have blind structure and increase them ever 10-15 minutes. Till you guys figure it out, figure your blind starts out in which that players have 100x the big blinds, ie. Start with 5000 in chips, blinds start at 25 and 50. Every fifteen minutes, double your blinds...50/100 100/200 200/400 etc. Again, once you figure it out, you can throw in some intermediary blinds like 150/300.

Try these simple rules for now.
 
Dude, forget house rules...you guys just need rules.

Look it is this simple:

Draw cards for position on the table. ie, 8 players= pull out cards Ace -8, whoever selects the A chooses thier seat and the rest follow in order.

As for finding a winner. Man, no poker game should ever go without a winner. You need to have blind structure and increase them ever 10-15 minutes. Till you guys figure it out, figure your blind starts out in which that players have 100x the big blinds, ie. Start with 5000 in chips, blinds start at 25 and 50. Every fifteen minutes, double your blinds...50/100 100/200 200/400 etc. Again, once you figure it out, you can throw in some intermediary blinds like 150/300.

Try these simple rules for now.

We already do these things but we raise blinds every 30 minutes. I want to take luck out of where spouses/significant others sit. Despite raising blinds and antes the games, often go on too long.
 
We already do these things but we raise blinds every 30 minutes. I want to take luck out of where spouses/significant others sit. Despite raising blinds and antes the games, often go on too long.

outside of assigining seat positions this is your best bet (pardon the pun)
cut the blind raises to 20 or so

as far as the dealing and betting thing
know what you're doing or you're out
 
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im a poker dealer here in florida and we used to see this same thing at some of our house games. couples would use hints and other little signs to try and cheat the game. since there is no real way to resolve this (without losing players in your game) is best to just play for very low stakes, drinks or an agreeded upon prize. that way its more of a fun activity or party game and not one played for profit. but trust me ive been dealing for years and as long as the game is played for money it will attract cheaters. just my 2cents.
 
These are pretty much considered to be the standard rules of poker. Pay particular attention to the proper behaviour section.
http://www.lasvegasvegas.com/poker/rules.php

To be honest this games seems completely out of control and not one I would bother playing in for anything more than 5 bucks of fun.
 
We already do these things but we raise blinds every 30 minutes. I want to take luck out of where spouses/significant others sit. Despite raising blinds and antes the games, often go on too long.
Raise the blinds to a higher amount every 30 minutes or take the starting stacks down some percentage. I don't know how you assign chips values and starting stacks and blind structures and such, but you should just start out giving everyone 100 chips and start the blinds at 1/2 chips.

Every thirty minutes have the blinds go up to 2/4, 3/6, 4/8, 5/10. This will likely finish a tournament with a clear cut 1st, 2nd, 3rd place, etc. at around 2-2.5 hours.

The way you're doing it now is rewarding collusion by saying whoever has the most chips by a certain time wins. You'd also run into a problem where a person has most of the chips on the table and has no incentive to play anymore. Why wouldn't people play by these rules correctly and try to preserve a win?

As far as spouses go, I'd make it a point to have them sit directly across from each other at the table. That will keep someone's wife/husband from folding their small blind into the big blind and giving him a walk, or raising the big blind from the small blind and moving money that way.

I understand that you want to keep it fun and not make it a super high stakes proper poker game, but you need to have rules to ensure that the game is played correctly.
 
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My main house rule is to not play poker with a bunch of cheaters.
 
I just don't play with a bunch of people who know each other.

I play quite a bit at the casinos.
 

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