I would love some advice as to how I can run a "boiler room" style poker room out of my basement suite.
I'm not even trying to make a profit, just pay the rent for the place I would run the game. That way I could run the game all day and live elsewhere.
The whole point of this is because I really don't enjoy playing in casinos, but love the social aspect of the game.
I want to run a low stakes game (25/50 cent blinds) so that new people to the game can play without losing a bunch of cash or feel intimidated.
I have run a weekly game for almost 10 years now with a great group of guys. Now I want to expand on that. Tuesday's are my favourite day of the week because it's poker night. Help me make every night Tuesday night

Why not play the game at your home, unraked, so that you don't have to recoup rent money?

Also, I'm curious, since you apparently can't afford to pay the rent on this place, how can you afford to run this game every day? How will you pay your living expenses, if not through a rake?

I won't even go into how you'll pay rent on any place raking a .25/.50 game. To me, none of this adds up.

Can you explain more about this to us?

UGH UGH UGH

You want to open an underground poker club, rake the pots and make profit.


How much is rent per month?

Do you intend to collect extra for other expenses? How much more (and how often) do you expect to need?


My advice. Don't screw up a good thing (Tuesdays). Be happy to have what you have. Think about why there aren't other $0.25/$0.50 underground games. It's because you need to rake too much for there to be any chips left in play.

The social aspect of a friendly home game isn't going to be replicated in a commercial setting. The title says a lot - if you turn your friendly weekly micro stakes poker night into a boiler room style business proposition everything will change. It isn't going to be easy money. The income from a micro stakes table isn't going to cover expenses. Worst of all, you will likely quit having fun.

Running an illegal poker room full time is hard work. It will be nothing like having your buddies over for a once-a-week few hours of fun, booze and cards.

There has to be a better way to get some extra money -=- DrStrange

Where do you meet for Tuesday night games? (I'm guessing since you run the game, it's at your place).

When you write "out of my basement suite," does that mean you want to run the game "somewhere other than my basement suite"? If so, why?

Why would you (or anyone) want to do that?

Whatever. Rent in the area in which I live would be prohibitive... even for a garage. And if you run the game, you're responsible... responsible for safety... responsible for the stuff in the place... responsible for cleaning up the place.

Not my cup of tea, but to each his/her own. If you can figure out a way to make it work for you, more power to you. (I play for the pleasure of friendly competition too).

Buzz

An underground room that spreads a .25-.50 game will not attract that much interest, or at least not enough to cover the costs. Most games at that level of stakes are simple , rake free ,social home games. Like the one I host weekly. Why would anybody pay you a seat fee or allow rake of pots when rake free games are everywhere? Running an underground room is risky and time consuming, so it has to be nicely profitable to make it worthwhile. Don't think you can get there at those stakes. Economics can be annoying!

Thank you all for your input.
To further explain, I guess this is what I'm looking for...
After reading comments and talking with friends, it seems I should try this out of my own place to see if I can cover cost of a separate venue first.
I want to spread a micro stakes game with a weekly tournament perhaps.
I realize the rake would need to be really low (suggestions are welcome) but maybe money could be recouped by selling food as well?
I am really just looking for suggestions here.
Imagine this could work? How would you do it?
I totally realize this is likely a bad idea and I'm not committed to anything.
I just have a dream

I would not say a totally bad idea, just likely not very realistic. I will not run a raked game personally , but if for some reason I did , I would go the route of charging players some kind of seat charge rather than trying to rake pots at the stakes you have quoted. Remember, however, a seat charge structure is just as illegal most everywhere as raking pots is. So it comes with many of the same problems and pitfalls.

Unless you live in some very isolated area, I don't see how you are going to fill seats at a rate to make this work. There are just too many social, rake free, secure games at these stakes, being spread in most areas that folks will prefer. I am not trying to be negative about your "dream", just my honest opinion based on years of hosting a home game.

Though OP states he's not trying to make a profit, this thread is still one of those "How do I run an underground poker room?" that are against HP policy.

OP, you've gotten a lot of good advice in this thread, which is why I'm not deleting it outright. Play at home, forget the rake, and keep it fun.