that's not horrible.

I just prefer to reward the winners a little less, rather than to punish the losers a little more. As I said above, some percentage of the chips were accidentally worthless. On average, the chips ended up being worth a little less than their face value. I like to make it as painless as possible to lose money.

Sure, somebody got a freeroll, but it was essentially random because we don't know who it is. We're improving procedures to make sure nobody can exploit this problem, right?

What about the guy who went busto, or the guy who left early? Does he have to chip in? What about the guy who bought exactly one rack for $100 - and cashed out later for exactly one rack and $100 - does he have to help fix the bank?

That seems even less ideal than the guy who likely screwed it up having to fix it.

As a guest at a game, I don't mind chipping in to help when something like this get flummoxed, but to suggest that I'm somehow obligated to take money out of my pocket when other people can't count seems silly.

In other threads where we've discussed other solutions - where simply paying up out of pocket wasn't a possibility [hey, it's missing, and I don't have that kind of cash...] I'm an advocate of percentage-based payouts.

Either pay off the short stacks and then give everyone else $0.82 on the dollar, or just give everyone $0.79 on the dollar and apologize and make someone else bank next time.

...yes, it sucks.

...yes, I'd pay out of pocket first if I could.

No, you can't have everyone chip in, because everyone doesn't deserve to pay for your mistakes.

Both the guy who left early and the guy who bought in and cashed out for exactly one rack contribute equally. Call it the cost of being in the game. Our home game is a group of regulars .. we have about 20-25 and 14-18 show up on any given game. Some host a lot. Some never host. Some always bring something. Some never bring something. But everyone wants to be part of the game and keep it going. In order to do so, we agreed to equally share the cost of a shortage. The same few guys always bank because they tend to do the best job of it. We also have very few shortages. I suppose if we had more shortages, we'd have to find a different solution.

The other part of it is that I trust everyone in my home game. If I didn't trust them over $500-$1,00 (it's a 2-5 game with buy-ins $200-$500) then I wouldn't let them in my house to begin with. I have a strict rule of not inviting any new people into the game unless they are known well by a regular.

In a home game where there are lots of friends of friends and looser connections, then sharing equally might not work.

Well, that's just too bad for the host and banker. If everybody kicks in every time the bank is short, then what's to stop a banker from pocketing some extra cash from time to time?

Part of hosting a game involves ensuring that it's fair. This means paying full value for chips sold.

There's little to no risk if they keep good procedures. A game with a clean and consistent bank is a game that others want to play. The upside to taking responsibility for the bank is that others feel safe in the environment into which you're inviting them. That's a hell of an incentive right there.

Why did I never think of this? I used to giggle that everyone would let me walk to the bathroom (which was between the table and the front door), with the entire bank in my pocket, but it never occurred to me to be "a little short" each time until I got fired from the job.


at least you've explained why I ever wanted to be the bank in the first place, which, honestly, I was wondering about.

OP - what Larry said about the chips is serious. Dice chips are incredibly easy to sneak into a game, whereas a custom set eliminates this problem. Go back and count your set. If you have extra chips - say ten greens too many, you have a cheater.

Because you're a moran who should have some skillz by now?

Really, I'm disappointed in your lack of hosting slicks. I might have to call your mother and complain about her lack of training....

I understand what you're saying, and I don't completely disagree ... I'm just saying that there is a downside to banking with no upside. So the others feel the game is safe ... great. How safe do they really feel? Apparently not safe enough to trust that when it's short they should have to kick in equally for the mistake. After all, it must be an honest mistake -- right?

I'm the one who usually organizes and hosts these things. I see the same pattern repeated: these 4 guys always host. These two always bank. These two always bring some extra food. These 3-4 hang around after and help clean up. The other 8-10? They show up, play, cash out, go home. The game doesn't run without the host, bankers, food providers, etc. I just think it's an unfair burden to put on the banker.

I recognize I'm in the minority....

go ahead. she's the one who taught me the advanced levels of appearing innocent.

OK, just for the sake of argument, let's posit that ~70% of people are cattle. Would we just throw up our hands and pray for human nature to spontaneously change, or would we step up and ensure that the game continues?

The upside is that you have a clean, safe game. Yes, hosting requires some work. I ran a 3-table game for three years. Part of hosting is having a clean bank. It doesn't have to be the host doing it, but it has to be someone. If you have good procedures, you'll never have to worry about it.

I participate in one shared bank game, but the people have been doing it with the same group for many years, and we're fastidious about making sure people are watching up cash in and out. There is no other game in which I would accept this as the procedure. I am not touching the bank, ever. As such, my chips are worth 100%. That's all there is to it.

If you're not prepared to go the extra step to host a game - which includes insuring the bank - then don't host. For my own sake and my own games, the bank will never be under the control of more than one person. I keep organized racks, so that if the bank ever needs to be transferred, it's easily and instantly verified.

The procedures I've outlined may seem complicated, but I assure you that by following them I have made the bank much easier to manage, allowing me the most time possible to attend to other hostly duties... and every now and again play a hand of poker, too.

Are we TRYING to discourage people from hosting?

Wait .. now I'm confused. I thought you were adamantly opposed to a shared bank concept?

pap -- writing down the amount that everyone buys in, i think, gives someone the opportunity to double count his chips, and speak up quickly if there's a discrepancy. if people are all throwing money at the banker at once: "Gimme $100 more...." "Gimme $50 more...." "Did you say $50? You're $10 short..." "No I said $100 and you only gave me 3 stacks of 20..." "No, I gave you those 4 stacks of 25... He gets the 3 stacks of 20 and gimme back 2 reds..."

you can see how a confusing situation can easily pop up.
writing it down will certainly help, if nothing else, slow things down to make sure they're done right.

No, we're trying to encourage people to host successful games. A suspicion of foul play can quickly kill a game. Also, as I said, my procedures actually make it easier. Much like taking a few minutes to learn how to shuffle a plastic deck makes it easier. These other methods may be more familiar and immediately comfortable, but in the long run they're a lot more work and hassle and headache.

I'm opposed to a shared bank in any game I host, and I'm opposed to a shared back in any game anybody reading this hosts.

The one I mentioned is the only one where I'm not suspicious of anybody, because enough people are taking responsibility for the bank, by watching people cash in and out, etc. Other games where there's a shared bank, I do not touch it at all, and if there's ever a discrepancy, I will not volunteer to help cover it.

Yeah, fair enough. I have other methods that prevent the kind of thing you mentioned, but they all result in the same thing.

I still don't like writing it down as a way of doing it, because that just encourages, "Oh, wow, Bob, that's your fifth $100 buyin tonight!" but oh well.

Well, since we are all friends, Im 99% sure it was an honest mistake.

At this point, I think it was my mistake. After I got home and posted I found a few hundred bucks in my JACKET pocket. Now, Im pretty sure that I never put the cash from the game in my jacket that night, but its possible I did for a single buy in ($200). Also, I usually have several hundred in there anyway for buying in and paying for food and drinks and whatnot. I only bought in ONCE on this evening. So Im not 100% sure this cash was the missing cash as I didnt count my personal money before the game started, but after talking to all the regulars Im about 90% sure it was and somehow I missed it until the day after.

Cliffs: just because you are sober doesnt mean you cant still make a simple mistake. To err is human.

Probably KITN due to the banker/host, if that happens.