I wish there was an easy way for me to collect my outstanding debts Jimula... I'd be ecstatic if I only received half of the money I was owed back, since I really need it for poker.

And to the people telling me off for ratholing: this was a $1/$1 game full of drunk guys that I met at a pub... I really doubt they see ratholing the same way that you guys see it. They have no concept of effective stack sizes and fail to understand how a 20bb strategy is different to a 200bb strategy. I was pretty open about what I was doing and no one said anything so it's safe to assume that they just didn't give a ****. They just wanted to get drunk and gamboool. Combine that with the fact that I was the deepest stacked player at the table even after all the ratholing that I did, and it made no difference at all.

If this kind of thing is really acceptable by your crew , then whatever other folks here think is not so important. Personally, I don't do it and always discourage others at our game from doing it, but that's our business. As far as dealing with home game rules, structures and dynamics, the old saying "when in Rome" seems appropriate. If a group does or condones something really annoying you should just seek out another game.

I never loan money, I give money if a friend needs it. If that money happens to end back in my pocket, that's a bonus. If you are not a close friend, find someone else. Simple.

I NEVER lend money at the poker table, EVER...one of two things can happen, both bad:

1. Player loses money and now you have to chase him down for money. If it's a friend/social acquaintance, then, it's awkward and uncomfortable. Plus, of course, sometimes they flake completely. If it's a stranger, good luck!

2. The Player wins, and takes money from your stack. This has happened a lot to me early in my poker playing days (mostly college/post college)...we weren't playing for much money, and it was all limit (NL was not played much in the 80s!).

The only good result is that the game keeps going...but in my world, we're degenerate enough to play three handed, or even heads up, so that really isn't an issue

Never lend money to anyone. This cannot be emphasized enough.