Private Game "Etiquette"
so, i had the chance to play in a private/home game.
10/10 PLO, with kind of a variable straddle (20-40), loosing or action players in general opted to straddle for 40 obv., so the game was much bigger than 10/10.
rake 5% capped at 50, so pretty expensive, but drinks and food free (and it wasn't just a buffet, they had a cook who made stuff fresh for you; pretty good), but of course people tipped a 5 now and then to the waitress.
chips in play were only 5s, 100s and 500s (for unknown reasons to me), so 5 was also the only amount you can tip.
game was pretty good, not as wild or good as advertised (from the guy who brought me in), but that's expected i guess, there were 3 guys who were clearly pros and 2 of them were really good, but also a bunch of recs with deep pockets, who played a ton of hands pre for whatever raise-amount, so definitely a game i wanna play in.
couple of things things that bothered me: officially there was no smoking at the table, but people stepped away a few steps, and it was one big room, so at the end it was very smokey in there, for a non-smoker like me for sure very inconvenient.
also, especially the whales had the right to basically make up their rules like they wanted, for example, one of them after he lost a big pot wanted to play a bomb pot for 200 each (normally it was 50), and everybody went along with it (so me too of course). a while later, after he just had won a very big pot, he opted to not play the bomb pot at all (he also would have ben in the small blind for it). gives a bad taste imo ...
then, at the end when i cashed out, i (of course) had a random amount of chips, that didn't add up to a 100. (7825)
the guy who cashed me out more or less "urged" me to tip that 25 to the waitress (we don't have any small change...), as a one time tip pretty big, but even more so, bc i tipped a couple of times during the evening already (always 5 each). seeing that the rake is very heavy (50 capped), you kind of expect to get the service (drinks and food) for free on top (so i was thinking).
but, of course i went along with it, being it was my first time in that game, and i didn't wanna close the door for the future over stuff like that.
now, my questions (since i've never played in a private game before):
is this just how it goes, i have to accept all that to be invited back in? or is there a line i can/should draw somewhere?
18 Replies
A lot of it depends on why you got invited in. Is the guy who invited you in a friend outside of poker? Did they seem to have trouble filling a table? Are you famous enough that people will want to play just to say they played with you?
People get invited to private games for different reasons. Unless you are the fish or are bringing them in, you'll have to live with the way it is managed or stop getting invited.
if you're in the game strictly to make money then you need to look at it from a different perspective - think of whales and the host as your employers and then decide whether a compensation of $200+/hr or whatever your perceived hourly in that game after all expenses is enough for you to overlook all the inconveniences that you mentioned
the job description is what you experienced in that game and it will not change, so either keep working there or don't
if you're in the game strictly to make money then you need to look at it from a different perspective - think of whales and the host as your employers and then decide whether a compensation of $200+/hr or whatever your perceived hourly in that game after all expenses is enough for you to overlook all the inconveniences that you mentionedthe job description is what you experienc
Yeah, kind of what my own thoughts also were on the subject … just wanted to get confirmation or someone tell me something differently
...the guy who cashed me out more or less "urged" me to tip that 25 to the waitress...seeing that the rake is very heavy (50 capped), you kind of expect to get the service (drinks and food) for free on top (so i was thinking).
I would never assume that a server wouldn't be tipped, no matter how expensive the rake/cover was.
Also, wouldn't you feel silly being dropped from the future invite list because you didn't tip the server 0.3% of your cash out?
...the guy who cashed me out more or less "urged" me to tip that 25 to the waitress...seeing that the rake is very heavy (50 capped), you kind of expect to get the service (drinks and food) for free on top (so i was thinking).I would never assume that a server wouldn't be tipped, no matter how expensive the rake/cover was. Also, wouldn't you feel silly being dropped from the f
You might have missed what I said in my og post:
Of course I tipped the waitress, multiple times actually.
The additional tip at cashier just felt off/forced
For what its worth, I play in many private games or home games with great action, decently large stacks, no chefs or anything though just a nice spread of food. players typically kick in Some money at start of night to cover things.....
At cash out I've seen this go down multiple times...
Player cashes out for something like $2133
House only has 20s, nothing smaller.
Player goes around asking random people to break a 20 so they can get that 13 bucks, rather than let the host keep it for hosting and running the game.
The player is never, not ever ever ever, seen in that game again.
Think of that spare change as your investment to be invited back again.
i get all your points, for sure ... but nobody really mentioned the unusual high rake that they take there (5%, cap 50).
shouldn't that make up at least a little bit for all that??? (food, service, etc.)
The inconveniences are just that. Inconveniences. They either are or are not worth putting up with to you. To me the $25 thing is no big deal, although it's possible the host gets kicked back a percentage of tips and is pressuring you for that reason. Even then, it's whatever and not worth making a big deal over. The smoke could be a deal breaker to me, depending how bad it is and how poorly ventilated the room is.
To me though the biggest question is whether you can actually beat the $50/hand rake? It's possible if the game is juicy enough but PLO is high variance with relatively low edges. You said there are other pros which would imply the game is profitable, but sometimes they have a rakeback arrangement where they get a percentage of the rake kicked back to them. Also watch the dealers because sometimes $50/hand rake turns into $100/hand if no one is paying attention.
Also just because the rake is extreme doesn't mean any of it is going to the "staff." Usually the dealers and waitresses don't get paid anything and are just there working for tips.
Also just because the rake is extreme doesn't mean any of it is going to the "staff." Usually the dealers and waitresses don't get paid anything and are just there working for tips.
This is not America … we in Europe actually pay our people ;-)
But other than that, I get your points.
Also just because the rake is extreme doesn't mean any of it is going to the "staff." Usually the dealers and waitresses don't get paid anything and are just there working for tips.
This is not America … we in Europe actually pay our people ;-)
But other than that, I get your points.
Oh OK, I knew you were in the US a while back and was just assuming you were still here for some reason. Is that true that they pay people even in a private game environment in Europe? Over here it can be pretty predatory where the game hosts sometimes make the dealers and massage girls pay just for the privilege of being there. That's what I was implying with the part about them potentially having to kick back a percentage of their tips.
Oh OK, I knew you were in the US a while back and was just assuming you were still here for some reason. Is that true that they pay people even in a private game environment in Europe Over here it can be pretty predatory where the game hosts sometimes make the dealers and massage girls pay just for the privilege of being there. That's what I was implying with the part about the
Yep, and the payment is actually pretty decent (know one dealer privately), tips go on top of that.
Also (as you probably know): Tipping culture in the US and Europe is vastly different.
I wish tipping culture was more like Europe over here. Years ago most people here got a decent wage and tips were To Insure Prompt Service and reward excellent service. At that time the culture made more sense. It was a way to reward the best staff and show appreciation. Now it's evolved to where employers don't pay anyone and tipping is expected for bare minimum service since it's basically their wage.
I wish tipping culture was more like Europe over here. Years ago most people here got a decent wage and tips were To Insure Prompt Service and reward excellent service. At that time the culture made more sense. It was a way to reward the best staff and show appreciation. Now it's evolved to where employers don't pay anyone and tipping is expected for bare minimum service since
Totally agree, the cruelty is in the system.
And on top of that, the greed is going insane, like, the Burger Place at Aria, they got rid of the staff a while ago, you can only order yourself via a machine … and then the machine asks you for a tip :-)))
Yeah Las Vegas especially is insane. I experienced the same thing at Gordon Ramsey Burger. They can't even be bothered to take your order in person then the machine asks for a tip after you hassle to enter your own card number and everything for them online... And a burger was like 50 bucks!
Corporations have trained us to be suckers and for the most part people just accept it.
Anyway sorry for the derail.
Pretty normal situation imo, especially since breaking down smaller chips can be inconvenient.
Yea - its annoying, and it would be more appropiate if it were 5 or 10 instead of 25, but just a spot where you can't do much and keep and eye out if you think this host is sort of double-dipping you too aggressively with rake + tips.
Best alternative could be to give the 25 to a dealer instead of the waitress.
Oh but there is one thing:
Its totally fine to sit out some bomb pots, especially an oversized one, and no one should give you a hard time about that.
Just don't only dodge bomb pots in EP and play them on tbe button.
This really sounds like a private game I played in for years. There were usually few good players, few nits, and others loose fish. Same rake as you described and some food and drinks provided by the host. Also smoking allowed, but I put up with it because I was winning big most of the time.
At cashout I always rounded down, and told the host to keep the rest. These are really small details that will keep you invited to this good game. Play as many hands as you can so others don't complain that you're too tight, straddle, play bomb pots, always tip dealer on bigger pots...
