Here's the situation. There's a home game that I play in that's been going strong for over 3 years. For the most part we have no problem with stalling at all. I should add that this is a raked game and just not a get together to have fun.

There is one guy. Who knows, he must of watched too many seasons of the WSOP or WPT but anyway every time he is in a hand it seems to take 5 min. It's so sick sometimes. Like one time he took about 3 min. to bet 25 dollars into a 300 dollar + pot with quads when the other guy would of snap call anything up to 75 and possibly more.

Here are some of the rules that I have proposed. Please let me know if they are to harsh or unfair.

1.) After 2 warnings about stalling your hand will be exposed after the hand is completed. This way we can see if the person really had a legitimate decision or was just holding up the game.

2.) if Clock is called we can tier the clock. ie. If it's to called a standard quarter bet you would have no more than 20 sec. 100 bucks up to a half min. Over 300 bucks up to a minute.

Any other ideas except pulling out a pistol or threatening bodily harm will be considered.

Dealer should call "Time" to let the guy know he is taking to long...

if no response, then have the dealer say "you have 30 seconds to act"

Issue players some HTFU chips from ABC.



Once a HTFU chip has been thrown in the pot, the active player has a minute (or whatever).

Limit players to 1 or 2 chips max. Don't worry. Other players have one too.

I use a timer in my home game---we've got a player who does the same thing except that I'm pretty sure he's just thinking and it isn't Hollywood. He'll take 2 minutes+ for just about any action if left to his own devices. I just started punching the button and saying 1 minute, 30 seconds, 10 seconds.... almost every time it was his turn to act.

The timer makes it so you aren't the bad guy---it just is what it is. Obviously if there is a bigger decision (large bet, all-in, etc) you've got to use some discretion.

What you have proposed is reasonable, but I hate installing a rule for everyone because of one person.

You could make it so everyone gets less time each time they get clock called.
1st time: 30 seconds
2nd time: 20 seconds
3rd time (and beyond): 10 seconds

For habitual offenders, they don't get the benefit of the doubt when the pot size grows.

It's like getting a technical foul (or a yellow card) for doing something stupid in early on. You have to be careful not to do anything worth a second technical (or yellow card) resulting in an ejection.

Clock = 1 minute.

Done and done.

First things first
Second part means that the first part is incorrect. You have a raked game that happens to be in a house.


Secondly, as for the guy- uninvite him if he won't listen to a warning. Though, he's doing you a favor by stalling- you're paying less rake.

Nice subtle jab at your opinion of OP's winrate


If it were a true home game among friends, normal social interaction should take care of this, the same way you could take care of inappropriate jokes, too much drinking, not enough showering, or whatever. I wouldn't like getting too formal with the clock at a friendly game. You have much better tools available, like giving the guy a snarky nickname.

If it's a pseudo-casino, though, the guy is a customer and the house will have to set policy somehow. That might mean barring him at the door or putting up an official clock, but they might decide he's worth the slowdown for some reason, too.

The clock should be a part of any game, although rarely used. How about "Dude, you need to play faster"? He may not be even realize that he is so slow. He may even think that his "deep thinking" makes him a more serious player. I just prefer the direct approach to most problems. Usually, people are just unaware of how they come off to others. If he does realize this, then his db tendencies must be dealth with. (clock or door)

Have you actually told him he plays too slow and that it's a bit unfair on the other players?

Usually it literally just takes one person to point it out and then it stops. Sort of similar but one player at our local pub game used to go through the mucked cards to 'see what he would have made' with his folded hand. (He's a nice bloke but angle-shooting is not beneath him).

One week this p*ssed me off so much that he was seeing what cards the other players were folding so I told him I found it unfair. He said sorry and now he doesn't do it anymore.

Simple.

The clock according to the TDA is 70 seconds. 60 seconds first, then a 10 seconds voiced countdown. At zero the hand is dead.

When can you call the clock? Whenever you want?

After a reasonable amount of time has passed. There is no fixed amount.

Surely this has caused many an argument over how much time is 'reasonable'?

Win

Someone does this in my home game too. Everytime it's on him he'll have a puzzled look on his face and stare off into space, so annoying. We really can't call the clock everytime its on him. We just badger him to make decisions quicker, it's helped a little bit. I've seen a couple players like this though, I think they like the attention is all.

it s ******ed to think like what hand he got is the factor in taking a decision, invite me to your game plz

I mean wtf, you gonna all blame him for taking a while deciding to rebluff with J hi? and if he had one pair crap kicker you congratulate him?

Yes, I'm sure he'd get pissed at you calling the clock but doesn't mind constant badgering.


It's simple. Just get a clock. If the guy is taking a long time on a basic decision, set the clock for a minute.

Don't used a tiered system to give less time each time the clock is called. getting the clock called on you is not a penalty. If a guy gets the clock called on him a few times, then someone bets into a huge pot and calls time when he only has 10 seconds to think, you've created an angle-shooting disaster.

Your goal shouldn't be to punish slow playing, it should be to move the game along in a timely manner. Anything other than a timer is subjective and will cause arguments, and badgering a guy when he thinks he's making a significant decision is really, really rude and inappropriate.

Just think about what you want. If you want to drive players out of your game, create a penalty system. If you want the game to speed up without pissing anyone off, just get a timer.

You can call the clock immediately if you want. Which is what I'd do with a habitual offender. When action gets to him just say clock. Which typically gives him one minute to act. Do this a couple of times and then stop and see how quickly he acts in turn. If he continues to take awhile go back to calling clock asap.

Timeout penalties, FTW.

My thoughts exactly. I would probably let him slide in a big pot/big bet situation, but for routine decisions, clock him every time until he speeds up.

you really want to give a guy a minute every decision? Give him an ultimatum, speed up your overall play or GTFO.

Have them visit moki's moat, in the future.

Uninvite the guy.