What a ****ing tool. "Just stay until you lose it all back" is probably what he meant. It's not like he needs you there to keep the game together. I guarantee that if you were to stick around until the wee hours crushing the game, you'd be hearing about that too.

Probably two stupid babies who can't deal with losing and take it super-personally when they see "their chips" leaving the table. The host is a moron for even talking to you in response to their demand. Any host with a head on his shoulders and even an ounce of balls would (politely) tell them to suck it up or find another game.

My first thought after reading the OP was that the host prolly approached you because some players complained about you winning too often / too much.

It's weird, but for a lot of players there's a huge difference if somebody takes "their" money out during the game instead of cashing it out at the end of the night. No matter if the seat at the table goes to somebody who brings the same amount of money or even more. It's just "their" money they hate to see leave.

A couple years ago I played in a home game that basically consisted of people from a wide circle of friends. All players were either friends or friends of friends. Some people were not super thrilled about having me in the game because they knew that I played seriously, even though I never won big in that game and usually was just a modest winner in a game were money was flying around. One day I ran super hot, especially against a super loose bad player who got pretty upset and started spewing away money. Not really a friend of mine, but we knew each other from clubbing with the same group of people regularly. Long story short, after somebody felted him he got a fresh 200BB and the very next hand stacks off pre with 98s against my KK. Fast forward 1-2 hours later, around 1AM, when I tell people I'm about to leave. Guy is still steaming and tells the table if I'm leaving with his money before the end of the night he won't ever be back unless I get banned from the game. That created such an uncomfortable situation that I decided the only thing to not upset everybody was for me to stay until the end of the game.

I disagree with this. The host's principal job is making sure he has enough bodies to fill the table. Job 1a is ensuring that some of those players are fish who can afford to lose the money. If two fish that play a lot with a lot of money to burn want Hero out of the game, the host really needs to take that seriously, even if it's whiney and not fair (and it is whiney and unfair).

It's hard to say without being in the moment, but if I'm the host in this situation, I think I'm racking this guy up on the spot and telling him to get out.

If I (or you) don't get at least a heartfelt apology by the time invites go out for the next game, he's not getting one. Have fun finding a game where they welcome sore losers who resort to this kind of behavior.

I also agree that this staying late thing is probably all an excuse for you being a winner and people not wanting you in the game because of it. That sucks but not much to be done about it.

I'm sure you've met a problem gambler or two in your life, and if so, you know that they're often not rational people when it comes to their vice of choice. They tend to be prone to outbursts, perpetually dissatisfied, and emotionally/socially immature—to say the least. It's not like they're making a reasonable demand in this case. OP didn't cheat or angle-shoot or harass anyone. They may as well claim he should be kicked for having cooties.

What's moronic isn't the host taking the whining seriously. It's the host bringing the issue to OP as if it's OP's problem. What he should have done is deal with his whiners on his own, offer them some kind of comp, whatever—the same way casinos do with house games to keep the suckers sucking. Instead, he set the precedent that all it takes to swing the banhammer is a couple of sore losers bitching about the guy who won from them.

It's POKER! People are going to win and lose at literally every game. It's madness to let the losers have the run of the place every time they pitch a fit about nothing, and if you do it once, they'll be pushing you to do it again and again.

Have a conversation with the guy who runs the game and try and level with him, if it doesn't work ask him for how long you'd want to stay

That's good advice.

However, I think the real problem is simply that the Guy-Who-Runs-The-Game doesn't want Keaton to play... and the reason is a couple of whiner/loser/regulars have complained about Keaton being a winner.
The Guy-Who-Runs-The-Game, not wanting to lose his good customers in favor of someone who takes money from the game has made a business decision.

He didn't want to tell Keaton the true reason he wasn't welcome, because then he comes off as a jerk. He wants to be a nice guy so he told a little white lie. He didn't want to tell Keaton the reason Keaton wasn't welcome was because Keaton was a consistent winner. But I think that's the simple truth of it.

3.5-4 hours is plenty of time to play. Keaton knows that. So do all of us, and so does the Guy-Who-Runs-The-Game.

Just my opinion.

Buzz

If that were true telling him he has to play longer would be the worst way to go about it. Just tell him he isn't welcome at all

This is true. Thanks Buzz. I posted on here because when the conversation took place, my initial response to the host was "I'm sorry I've hurt your game, I had no idea and it was totally unintentional, I had thought playing for 3.5/4 hours was ok" and his response was basically "C'mon, you know better than that. Leaving that soon obviously isn't ok at all, etc". So it really made me question myself and whether I had been out of line or not to leave when I did...

Anyways, upon further reflection, I think your post is spot on. Appreciate the thoughts from everyone who posted. I haven't taken the interaction personally and have moved on to other similarly ridiculously raked but exceptionally juicy NYC cash games! Case closed.

Good move. You can't stay at a game where they will only want you if your are a bigger loser to benefit the house. As I said before that's "carnival joint" thinking by the host. He has the right to try this on you, but you shouldn't make his game better for him at your expense.

I am trying to find an underground game in NYC instead of driving to Parx or Mohegan Sun so often...Keaton can you hook me up plz?

I've been in plenty of NY games. This is a glaring sign that you should just move on.

The fact that in your original post you were pretending to be someone else, plus your disparaging quote below lead me to believe that perhaps the situation was not as black and white as you described it...

Bingo Bango Bongo

The... game... is... raked. If you want me to stay longer, have incentives ready. If not, gg, I'll find someone else that wants my business. If the host has a steady stream of players (part of why Im paying rake) this should be a non issue.

Gamblers can be such weirdos when people leave a home game. They seem to not understand a very simple truth that the second you put money in the pot, it's noongrr your money.

If the real reason was because he was a consistent winner, grow a pair and be honest of the situation in the most polite way possible. I can't even imagine this at the home games I play.

Sure, DM me and tell me a little more about yourself, and I should be able to connect you.