Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Rocking the New Home Game


People who have following this blog for at least a year might recall that I had a home poker game in town -- one that I called my "international home games" due to the diversity of people who played in it -- that I hem hawed about for months. The game began with low buy-ins and decent poker play, but ended up being basically a bingofest with rides that were awfully wild. Additionally, we were playing in a public building and I was afraid that one day we would either be visited by the local police or would be held up by someone who noticed what we were doing and was looking for a quick score. There were a few other bothersome things associated with the game, so I basically stopped playing in it. Fewer and fewer games were played last spring as the number of regulars dwindled, and the guy who ran the game decided not to run it anymore this past fall.

A few weeks ago, however, one of the old regulars, David, notified us that he was starting a new home game in January. Although he hopes to alternate orbits with NL Hold em and Omaha, he is just starting with Hold em now to get the group going. The first game was last night and I played in it.

David lives in an older house in town and the game was in the basement. Last night it was really c-o-l-d! I was wearing a sweater and still ended up playing most of the night with my winter coat on. Brrrr.

Interestingly, David ran a game much different than the old one. He had a regular dealer who actually was quite good. I don't know what kind of deal David negotiated with the dealer, but tokes were also encouraged. The standard toke was 50 cents per winning hand. The game was $.50/$1 NL Hold em with a $1 maximum rake. David had beer and soda available, along with candy, chips and even a pizza that was cooked midway through the session.

I had originally planned to play for only about 2 1/2 hours, but when the competition is fun and there is at least guy donking off all kinds of money at the table, the urge to stay is strong. The drunk guy virtually giving away money did something to me that I had never had done before: he cracked my Aces with 7-2os!

I jumped out to a nice profit early but then plateaued out for several hours. However, in the last hour, I got the bump I needed when I flopped a set of 5's (presto!) against the drunk guy's overpair. With that win and several other good hands I played, I made a nice profit for the night.

The worst part of the night was going home. It was sooo freakin cold in the wee morning hours!

I was bored a few days ago and decided to deposit a little on Bovada. I have run that up a bit playing Omaha and O-8, so it seems like the run bad streak I recently had at the East Peoria riverboat in late December and early January has grinded to a halt. Poker sure is much more fun when you are winning as opposed to getting your nuts crushed!

I might end up playing a bit at Bovada with Tony Bigcharles. I guess I'll find out then if my winning will continue and if I can felt him a time or two. After all, isn't the Omaha game there so easy that even I can win? What do you think, TBC? lol

Have a great day!

9 Comments:

Blogger angerisagift said...

can u straddle??? mtn dew?? electrical outlets at the tables for my phone/notebook/ipad?? r massages available??420 friendly?? details, sir

1:10 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Careful playing in home games when there is a rake. Law enforcements usually don't care about social poker games. But if a rake is involved then it may be viewed as part of an illegal gambling establishment and more likely to get raided.

1:50 PM  
Blogger lightning36 said...

@anger -- 1) New guy came late and asked to straddle. Only UTG straddle allowed. he straddled on the last hand of the night. : o ) 2) Yes -- Mt. Dew and Coke; 3) No near outlets in the basement; 4) No massages, all smoking done outdoors

Sounds like this is sort of your kind of game.


@Anon -- Hadn't even thought of that. But the liklihood of the game getting raided would be very low. Only one table in basement of house in university town. I was actually more worried about the old game being raided as waaay too much money was involved.

2:39 PM  
Blogger Memphis MOJO said...

one of the old regulars, David, notified us that he was starting a new home game

At least he has a great name!

4:22 PM  
Blogger angerisagift said...

sounds killer. if no smoking then i would just eat edibles , i guess

8:44 PM  
Blogger ~Coach said...

What stakes do you play on Bovada?

11:58 AM  
Blogger lightning36 said...

@~Coach -- I like to play full ring $.10/$.25 pot limit Omaha. I'll also move up one level and/or play O-8 if there are no games available. I sometimes play at higher stakes, but that is certainly more risky for me now since I don't play online like I used to several years ago.

12:06 PM  
Blogger Iron Mike Sharpe said...

That home game sounds great; even lightning36 won!

3:54 PM  
Blogger ManInBlack said...

IS Bovada safe? I am looking for a new site since Ultimate left Nevada

5:44 PM  

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