Is it normal for some "home"* games to not actually require cash to buy in and only settle when leaving the table? I have no problem with this, but I found it odd.

*Yes, this is actually a raked underground game, if that matters.

As long as someone is good for it, then it's fine. I would never accept an IOU on cashout.

If this is a hosted underground club, then the host is responsible.

Yes, there are some games that do that, especially raked underground games. The intention here is to keep potential issues to a minimum when it comes to raids, either by cops or someone trying to rob the game. There are a few I know of in Atlanta where no money ever exchanges hands at the game itself.

As for an actual home game, I wouldn't have a problem with it provided I was comfortable with everyone there or knew that the host would make good on things if for some reason people didn't come through.

Thanks for the info.

I actually did accept an IOU, but we have a set day for it and I'm certain I'll get paid.

I actually thought it was good there wasn't a lot of cash on hand for the reasons mentioned, it's just not what I expected.

As a host, I'll offer a loan or a marker and cover the money at cashout. I've seen guys write checks. As long as things get repaid, it's all good.

I played a few times in a home game where the host kept a tally of everybody's buyins in a notepad, then at the end of night, anybody who was down, paid him and then he paid out the winners. A bit odd, but it worked.

It wasn't an all-night kind of game. It normally kicked off at 7 pm and ended around midnight.

I guess it could be a lil safer as long as everyone agrees to all call it quits at the same time. It could be difficult for the banker if a couple of the winners want to leave before a couple of the losers pay up. Then the host would have to front the cash or act as a banker.

When I bank a game, I never give credit or take IOUs. Cash for chips, chips for cash, period. I will never play in a game, club or home, where the bank extends credit or asks players to take IOUs.

However, I have loaned players money out of my own pocket when they were short. That is an entirely different type of transaction, because the money in my pocket is mine to loan. The money in the bank is not.

This is what I do also. I have "the book" ! Additionally sometimes the lendee gets hot and wants to pay me back in chips. The chips stay on the table in my stack till we finish and cashout. I sometimes segregate them, but they ARE in play

I would never play in an underground game that operated this way unless I kne wthe operator of the game was trustworthy and guaranteed me cash when I left regardless of whatever collection problems he might have from the others (Of course that is theoretical cause I never win).

As for a home game.....certainly not for anything more than trivial money. It seems like a good way to break up a game. Somebody gets in debt and then stops coming ....

I'm a little different, I suppose. To show up on time the other night for a tournament, I played on credit, and ended up having to give $100 to one of the guys who cashed three or four days later -- but I've known them all long enough were we wouldn't burn bridges for $100.


I'm not suggesting it's good form, but my core players are all close enough that we'd all accept the responsibility for winning a marker from any of us.


...or I'd have driven to the ATM if a player who needed the cash that night had won.


Generally speaking though, "In God we trust, all others pay cash."

It's odd to see an underground game without a rake let players play on credit. You're much more likely to see it in a raked game where the cost of loan collection is less than the cost of not having games run because credit players can't prop up a game. Remember that tables rake a hundred dollars an hour as a baseline (and much more depending on a variety of factors), so having a player leave in debt may still have been a good idea for the house.

years agfo we used to play dealers choice and only settled at the end of the night.. We were all friends, so it didn t matter really.

For a underground club like yours, I would never play like that. I see alot of problems by not actually using cash for buyins

As a host, I'm never doing this. I will, however, take cash from my pocket and put it in the bank, if it's a regular player. The bank is always right. Any credit I extend is 100% on me.

As the host, it's the same thing. You're responsible for both. A loan is a loan... and a short bank is a short bank.

You have to handle the problems with both, in the same manner, regardless of where the money came from.

What kills me is those fools who think that those debts shouldn't 'count', or are 'different'.... as if I didn't loan them the money.

bastards...