Too Many Poker Players For My House
2 October 2009Too Many Poker Players For Your House
When you first start a poker night the most common problem you are likely to have is how to find poker players. However, since a good poker game often draws a crowd, you could soon run into the opposite problem and have more people who want to play poker than you have seats. So what do you do if you have 12 Poker players on your list but your poker table can only seat 9 players? Here are some options on how to organize your home poker game.
First Come – First Served
A tried and true option. If you have more potential poker players than seats, give seats to the first people who come to your game. It encourages people to show up on time, which will keep the game from starting late and running late due to lack of players. If you are playing a cash poker game, then late comers can join the waiting list, so when people bust out or decide they have to leave, a new poker player can join.
A nice feature about making your game first come first served is that many people aren’t reliable about showing up. It might take 15 people who say “I’ll probably come” to fill a poker table for 9 people. If you do consistently get too many people, and have people waiting to play, you can set up the list the day or week before so the poker players are guaranteed a seat, or know they will be on the waiting list. If anyone promises to come, and is then a no-show, they get moved down the poker waiting list for next time. Also, you can make a rule that anyone present at the cash out is able to pre-register for the next game. This will encourage rebuys and play to the end of the night. It also ensures that your game gets filled with a core group of regular players.
Get A Second Table
Do you have enough poker players to get 2 games going? If so, perhaps you should get a folding table and some chairs for a second game. The second table can serve as a waiting area for people waiting for a seat for the main table, or it can be a table for people who want to play a different poker game, or want to play at higher or lower stakes.
Raise The Stakes
If you have too many people who want to play poker, and you don’t have enough space to set up any more tables, you can begin raising the stakes on your poker game. This is a good option if you are a more experienced poker player and are playing at lower stakes than you would like for the sake of your friends. As you raise the stakes people will begin to decide that they don’t want to play, and you will reduce your player list down to the number of poker players who can fit at your table.
Move The Venue
If your poker game is getting too big for your house, maybe you need to find a new place to play. Are any of the other poker players willing to host?
Play More Often
If you have a fairly infrequent poker game, and are only playing monthly or bi-weekly you could switch to a weekly poker game. Many players won’t be able to come every week, so your list of poker players that used to be too many will likely now just fill up a single table.
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