Quote:
Originally Posted by ArcadianSky
Thanks man!! GREAT meeting you the other night.
Can't wait to play again. I have 3 interviews in the next 2 days and then I'm looking at another 40 hours this week at my current gig so I have to be fresh and on point.
Plus I ran good on ACR last night, so that scratched the itch for now haha.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArcadianSky
A lot of us are friends (just through the game), but we play harder against each other than most strangers do. If your post was meant to imply collusion or team-play, you couldn't be wrong in your assumption.
This pretty much sums up the game. The story of Rich was not the norm. The game is reg central and mostly everyone has a job. And it's true that the other regs play harder, much much harder, against each other.
The level of competition is similar to the $300 PLO game at Commerce.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArcadianSky
In general, as a host, there's a vast, often indistinguishable, moral gray area in certain situations... this particular instance is probably the only instance I've faced (in four years) that was clearly beyond the gray area. However, it's still relatively complex. Rich is going to lose this money elsewhere (every time I've cut him off, he's immediately driven drunk to the Commerce or Bicycle, and lost the rest of his money there). At least in my place, he gets rebated, and won't drive home drunk.
It's a situation that has no upside, which is why he's banned (and why I've removed myself from this equation altogether in the future).
OP is a terrific and a generous host. I understand some of the anger in this thread, but there is a misunderstanding going on here.
I walked into the game, and he was very welcoming and accommodating. There was alcohol/soda/bottled water/ice bucket/candy/chips all for the players to enjoy. Nightclubs charge A LOT of money for that kind of treatment. That is basically the VIP room. OP didn't charge a cover, and would refuse to accept tips from the players. He even bought everyone tacos and covered the expense out of his pocket. There was also another new player there that night, and OP went out of his way to make sure that both myself and the other guy felt at home.
I was nervous about being in a home game with people I didn't know for the first time but got settled in and shook the cobwebbs off. The Yankees were playing on the flatscreens and there was music playing in the background. This is an amazing home game. The story of Rich was an exception and not the norm.
As far as the story of Rich goes, OP made the right call and dealt with the situation accordingly.
Is a home game host suppose to cut people off? What about the players that are losing generally. Do they get banned? Is the host suppose to tell the players to read Sklanskys NLHE and play tight aggressive? Ask the players how they got the money to buy into the game? That is ridiculous. The players know what their getting into. They don't have to be there. No one was lured and induced into the game. People are free to make their own decisions. How someone buys into the game is their business. When they decide to stop playing is their decision.
The story of Rich was told because it was an astonishing example of what can happen to someone who has lost self-control and is a cautionary tale. There was no Rich or anyone like that when I played.
It's a good game with competitive players who have been friends for years with disposable income and with a generous host.