Useful Tips to Undersanding About Where to Play Legal Poker
The number one consideration, from the point of view as an attorney, is whether or not the game is legal. Laws vary from state to state in the U.S., in many others the game is legal as long as ALL of the money goes to the players. If a non-player is getting a fee for hosting, dealing, promoting, or arranging the game, you may be in trouble.
Next, think long and hard about whether you will be playing primarily for fun or for profit. Of course you want to have fun either way, but the stakes, players, and types of games may not suit both objectives equally. For example, sometimes I play in a Friday-afternoon, No-Limit Hold’em, single-table tournament with business contacts.
On the other hand, you may see the home game as another source of income. If so, keep these principles in mind:
Games with wild cards or too many cards increase the luck factor, so they are bad from a profit-seeking perspective. From time to time, my usually conservative home game degenerates and someone deals “Lotsa Pasta.” For those who haven’t yet had the displeasure, this idiotic game is played like Omaha hi-low, but with each player receiving 6, 7, or even 10 cards, depending on how many participants there are. Generally, the first cry of “Lotsa Pasta” is my signal to head home. The readers who play a lot of Omaha know what a river game it is, but in Lotsa Pasta, quads and straight flushes are downright common.
Don’t play for profit with people with significantly less regard for the dollar than you have. That means people who are much wealthier, as well as people who typically gamble for much higher stakes. You won’t be able to bet them out, but they may be able to bluff you out when they raise or re-raise the maximum. My home game went through a rough stretch when someone (we haven’t yet been able to convict the guilty party)Consider all of the convenience store heists you’ve heard about, even though those stores DO have security cameras, and the usual policy is to keep no more than $50 in the register.
Don’t be afraid to leave when you are ahead. If you initially decided to play for profit, take your profit and go home to enjoy it. We all know that no matter how good you are at poker, the luck element always exists. Whether you will admit it or not, generally you have gotten at least a little lucky on a profitable night, and luck tends to flow around a table. Turn a deaf ear to the losers who say you are cheap, scared, or playing “hit-and-run.” They are just trying to cajole you into staying so that your luck may turn and they may recoup some of their losses.
A related point is having a set time to finish the game. The losers NEVER want the winners to depart with their cash, and if you listen to them they will keep you playing until luck, fatigue, or both pry the profit from your wallet. If you are starting a game, get clear agreement among the players about a drop-dead, walk-away ending time. If you are joining an established game, find out when it ends and make it clear that you will honor that and expect everyone else to do likewise. If the game you are joining has no set ending time, don’t play unless you are comfortable packing up your winnings and leaving when YOU want to go home, not when the losers want to LET you leave!
Finally, know when to say “when.” Everyone has bad nights, and they aren’t the ones in which you continually get dealt bad cards. The worst nights are those in which you repeatedly finish second, so you lose the most on each hand. There are no silver medals in poker. Before you start playing, set a stop-loss and adhere to it religiously. Your family, banker, and accountant will appreciate it, and you’ll be able to enjoy longer the great game of poker.
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