Hey Y'all,

Fantasy Football is over, so I have much less to do with my time. I could get ahead in my lesson planning, but how is that fun? Plus, I don't know where I'll be in 3 days, let alone another month.

Anyway, I got to talking to a few of the fellow dads at a kid's birthday party this weekend. We all need a poker night. Now, we all have kids in roughly the same grade, so this game has potential to run for a long time. However, I don't have a clue as to what their poker experience is. I'd like to send out a short little questionnaire to find out some basic information.

I even checked the FAQ and the stickies for some thoughts. JZ's vetting email is great for new players, but it's a new game. FPAP's How-Tos are great too, but those are for people who have never hosted before.

How's this look so far? I'll set up a Google Form for ease of data collection.

1. What type of poker experience do you have?
a. I've only seen it on TV; never played
b. I've played it a few times at a buddy's house
c. I've played it a bunch of times at a buddy's house
d. I've played it a bunch in casinos
e. Other _______

2. What types of poker games would you prefer to play?
a. Tournaments Only (where everyone starts with the same amount of chips; when you're out of chips, you're out of the tournament; also, only the top 25% of players get paid)
b. Tournaments Only (where everyone starts with the same amount of chips; when you're out of chips, you're out of the tournament; also, only the top 25% of players get paid)
c. Both Tournaments and Cash Games

3. What betting structure are you accustomed to?
a. No Limit (where you can go "all in" at any time)
b. Limit (where there's a specific amount you can bet or raise)

4. What poker games do you know how to play?
a. Texas Holdem
b. Omaha Holdem
c. 5-Card Draw
d. 7-Card Stud
e. Other _______

All thoughts on what I have and suggestions are appreciated.

Deadline: The game is set for Saturday, 1/17, so I'd like to get something out by Thursday.

5. Do you want to play for...
a) fun (low stakes, only a small loss possible
b) bit of fun and seriousness (mid stakes, cant lose too much, but winning is a nice prize)
c) serious (higher stakes - potential to win good, but not cheap)

Obviously the stakes will depends on your average level of income across the players, best to check with them what they feel is low, mid and high stakes - maybe include that question in there too.

Also question 2, a & b are the same, looks like you meant to write about cash games.

Haha, good catch. Copy, Paste, Review, Edit.

2b. (should read) Cash Games Only (where the game is ongoing, the chips equate to real money, and you can add more money to the table if needed)

Also, good call on the stakes.

For #3, I'd add pot-limit and maybe an "other" option as well. People choosing pot-limit could serve as a good flag to let you know of any more experienced players. Someone choosing all three plus "other" and writing in "spread limit" will clue you in to someone who will probably be earning a solid hourly rate in your game.

1) are you free on wednesday?

everything else can be sorted out at session #1, imo. Maybe discuss stakes and games with one or two of the people you expect to be key members of the group. Cut the stakes you decide on in half, and then in half again, and start there. Raising the stakes is easy if the group needs that, but lowering them is virtually impossible if you start too high.

People are flexible animals. I had a group of holdem players (25c + 50c chip types) playing razz with 12.5c and $2.50 chips yesterday, because I invited them over and said "here's what we're doing...". But if you make them part of the committee, they'll be unsatisfied unless they 'contribute' to the outcome somehow.

You never know for sure till you start meeting up who really likes what or knows what, or who is serious and who will quickly opt out. Still the questionaire is a good starting point. This could be the beginning of a good long term crew. This forum is certainly a goldmine for help and feedback. Best of luck to you!

In my experience, the laymen don't always seem to be able to differentiate between tourneys and cash games. If you're dealing with complete unknowns, you may want to describe what a cash game is


Edit: saw your reply about it, so you have that covered...

I thought Gedanken's suggestion was going to be great, but I can't do this. I talked to one of the other guys.

"It's about getting the guys together, not about the money, so why don't we play for like $10."

I responded with, "Can we make it $20 for all the guys who have to hit the ATM first?"

He complied.

With that in mind, we're going to have a $20 NL Holdem (Re-entry if you bust in the first hour) Tourney. None of the other information is needed at all for this type of tournament.

fair enough. if people can't afford a $20 re-entry tournament, they're not likely to be regulars down the line anyway.

I think a cheap nlhe tournament is an excellent place to start, and you can feel out the crowd for their appetite for other games & stakes.

So I used a "less is more" approach. I asked who was available, but mentioned the $20 NLHE Tourney in the original email. We had 6, but about 10-12 who already had plans and were interested in the next one. The one guy who had a clue as to play was seated to my direct left.

So we decided to play a "cash game". We waited for about 20 minutes just shooting the breeze while we waited for #6. I went with the flow as to not seem like an overbearing power nit. We set the blinds at $0.25- $0.25 and played for about an hour before ordering pizza. The only place that delivers wasn't answering their phone, so wifey offered to go pick it up. Atta Girl! So we ate.

Then, around 11, one of the guys (not the one who knows what he's doing) recommends that we go to an ante (instead of blinds) to speed things along. Cash game turned tournament. We doubled the antes every time someone got knocked out. Yuck! But I went with it. We had $160 on the table and we went heads up $82-$78 (my lead) and $4 antes. I went cold and took 2nd (you know, 1st loser) in the winner take all.

Oh well. No joke, I put a list of the hand rankings for a few of the guys on my kids' dry erase board. Looked like this (see below), but handwritten.



Next time, I'm going to take a little more control with the structure.

Well that is a pretty basic beginners home game LOL, But everyone new to the game has to start from there, we all did. Who knows where you might be in a year or two if your crew stays together and plays regularly. You seem patient and willing to build something over time. Good luck.