Thanks gendanken.

I will be implementing one personal adjustment to the game. The tourney pays top 4 and a cash game will start once the tourney is down to 1 table. Since we play 8 to a table it means those going out in places 5-8 don't cash AND won't have a cash game available when they bust (assuming all 8 players who busted beforehand all stayed for the cash). I expect these busts will occur somewhere around 3+ hours into the tourney so it will be close to midnight and not sure how worthwhile it will be to hang around hoping either someone busts from the cash game or teh touney ends and the people remaining will have the willingness to open a 2nd cash table.

Since I don't want to be in that situation if I'm still in the tournament when we're down to 10 players and don't have a big stack (M < 25 or so) I plan to shift gears to LAG tard and push like crazy. Either I double up quickly with a real chance at the money or show me the way to the cash game Optimal tourney play can kiss my ass.

Given my tight image I expect if this happens people will be somewaht surprised One time let me be the maniac who luxboxes with 2 napkins and puts on the painfull suckouts.

TR from our game last night. It was our first attempt at a mixed game, we played a four game rotation of FL Holdem, Omaha, Omaha/8 and Badugi. I think it went really, really well! Thankfully I have some very competent regulars who helped explain the games to those unfamiliar with them, though of course we still had some hand misreads.

One epic misread was my wife playing in the Badugi round, she stood pat twice while probably our best player drew, they capped the betting on 3rd street, my wife was convinced she had the best hand and bet fourth street. She was so convincing that the other player folded, and she triumphantly showed her amazing hand: 5533, for the two card to a 5. She had forgotten that pairs are bad, though she had got the suits right! She also ran hot at O8, and ended the night thinking that this poker business wasn’t so bad after all. I think it helped that we had a couple of other women in attendance, so hopefully that continues.

I managed to get scooped in an Omaha/8 hand while holding the 2nd nut flush and the 2nd nut low, which is always a terrible if all too common experience! Another interesting hand had top full house against 2nd full house against 3rd full house against flush all rivering someone holding the nut straight on the turn, which lead to the new tagline for the game: Omaha – you lose.

So we had a full table for much of the night, with two new players making it this time. We’re continuing to grow which is great; about 14 different people have played in one of the first 4 games I have hosted. Still a trickle of enquiries and hopefully a few more members who will make it to their first game soon. Long may it continue.

Aidan, I'm glad to hear last night went well. Once the wife is done with her licensing exams and doesn't have to study every night, I'll be able to make your game regularly.

if this isn't already copyrighted, i think i'll begin using it!

No problems at all, nice to keep the solid players out of the game

Haha feel free for sure! It certainly became one of the catchphrases of the game last night.

I was out of town but should make it next time. You should add stud to the mix

Chronic insomniac here, especially on poker night. I can get home at midnight and take hours to wind down.

I think it should be "Omaha - heading home early"

Good stuff! Three new games was enough for one night, but definitely going to do another mixed game in the future and will look at other games as well.

We are wired the same in this respect. It makes me not want to play, because I know I'll be a zombie the next day.

If I lose i replay the losing hands over and over in my head. If I win I'm so jazzed about booking a win that I can't sleep.

True, but I do sleep a tad better when I win.

+1

I actually find it harder to wind down when I have a really good night. If I get really unlucky or play badly, I can get a little annoyed but generally just accept it. But on those nights when it all comes together, I still get a pretty good rush that keeps me awake for a while.

If I ever manage to cash in a WSOP event, I probably won't sleep for a week.

TR: Just need to vent a bit, and this seems like a good place. Just finished possibly my worst session ever, down, well, a lot. I'm sorta glad I don't have the exact count.

Looked like it had the potential to be a great night. 3 deep-pocketed whales, 3 tag-fish, and a couple ABC players. The table was full, had brand new chips to play with, and a case of cold beer. The night even started well, very first hand flopped AA4 with my 44 in a 5-way raised pot (no action, of course). Lost a 100bb pot with a turn/river bluff vs a tagfish (read him right for TP on flop, didn't think the turn king had given him 2 pair). No problem, we all get caught once in a while. A few hands later, whale #1 3bets my TT UTG open. Huge 3bet, AK or smaller PP 99% of the time. I shove, he snaps, AK vs TT. I hold up, and get back a bit above even.

Now things start to go downhill. The nature of this game is to try and see flops with the 90/60 whales, catch a hand, make monies. There is no folding until the river ldo. For 4 hours, I didn't rake a pot. Saw such a heavy dose of Q2o and T3o that it started making 97o and J3s look playable for 12bb pre from the SB. But that didn't matter, cause the flops couldn't have been further from me. You know what I'm talking about; we've all been there. It's probably been about 2 years since I've truly been on tilt. After I flopped TP+OESD and stacked off vs TP+better OESD, turned my straight, and rivered his boat, I was fully tilted. Luckily, I only had 1 buy-in left to lose after that. A couple more limp/call/folds, I squeezed all in with AQs, only to be called by whale's AA. Nothing like watching everyone else stack your brand new chips while you sit out the last orbit of your own damn game...FML.

Any tips from hosts on how to sit out of your own game when you're running bad? I always feel compelled to play it out. Sometimes, it might be nice to not have to stay until the last hand...

Thanks for letting me vent. I guess my red-hot streak had to come to an end, I just didn't expect it to end so spectacularly

And, yes, I know:

Have a cup of cocoa and tell HP all about it.

Yeah, we've all been there. Sometimes you just play your game and the deck chews you up and spits you out.

Don't rebuy and just deal to the other players; I do this a lot when I'm hosting a tourney and bust out. If you don't want to deal, just hang out, grab a beer and relax, whatever, but socialize with your guests. IMO it looks really bad when the host just leaves the room or turns on the TV and doesn't talk to anybody while the game continues.

Our host adapts the same practice on nights when he runs bad. You could even offer to deal for tips and buy back in as soon as you make enough to play. This could be an option for any early bust outs.

a bloody mary will likely work better

TR from last night's tourney:

Some brief history first - this is the 3rd such tournament the group has played since we started these (2-table tournament nights), they occur every 6-9 months or so when the hosts wife is aborad on business trips.
1st one I busted 1st (2nd nuts vs. the nuts) and dropped another 2 buy-ins in the cash game that followed (AK vs. K8 on Kxx, guy turned 2-pair + JT vs. KQ on JT9 flop).
2nd one I had to bail at the last minute because I had to rush to the ER with my baby girl (high fever - ended up just burning a few hours in the ER before heading home).
So I REALLY wanted my luck to change on this one. About half an hour before I am scheduled to head off to the game, walking back from the playground my little girl (she's about one and a half years old now) stumbles and starts gushing in the forehead. I was sure I would have to bail again. Luckily the wife came through (she's a nurse) and didn't think she had to go. On my way to the game I get a call from her saying she decided she will go to the ER to get the thing glued but she got her mom to come over and babysit until she gets back (spouse rungood )

So I GOT to the game. Tournament starts, tourney s/w screws up seating assignments (FYI - tournament supervisor is a crappy peice of s/w) but we get going only 5 minutes late. Start out 16 people. Noticeable hands for me:
Raise PF with T9 and flop a straight-flush draw on a QJx flop 4-way. I c-bet and get raised, ship it and he folds. After he busts he admits to folding KQo (was sure I had a set MINIMUM )
Raise PF with QJs and flop the trips on QQ4-r. I c-b and get c/r. I call and fold to a big turn c-bet. Guy later admits to having 44 for a flopped FH. I asked why he didn't wait another street and he said he was afraid of getting sucked out on. I told him he was a huge favorite and admits to not being the best at all the math calculations. OK...
Finally we get down to 10 people. Next one to bust and they go down to 1 table. The guys who busted are jonsing to play cash and getting anxious. If you recall I said before:

So my M is around 15 and I pick up JJ (my favorite hand which I knick named Captain Jack or just The Captain). I raise and get 3-b by the blinds, well I figure if I'm going out this is the time and what better hand then the captain. I shove, the guy agonizes forever and finally calls with QQ (what was the long debate IDK). He holds up and I'm out just in time to start the cash game

Cash game gets going and I bleed some chips early on. Finally recoup it picking up some cards with KK, AK, AQ etc. getting paid by worse.

Tournament ends as I expected around 4.5 hours in. Winning hand of the tournament is........JJ! "Redemption" I scream in joy and everyone looks at me like I'm nuts I congradulate the guy who took it down and thank him for winning it with my hand.

Finished the cash game up 110bb. Buy-in to the tournament was equivalent to 100bb so overall +10bb for the night and big EV+ on the fun.

And captain jack still won the tourney. WIN WIN WIN!

- Start stocking up on things, cleaning up, and doing other host-related tasks that suddenly develop a new importance

- Retire to the computer, where you're "working on the league standings" while venting here.

- Hold a lighter under the upstairs smoke detector, then chase everyone out "just to be safe"
might want to make sure family is having a sleepover elsewhere

- "Wait, is that a cop car that I see cruising by, outside? I'll watch and see if he comes b.. uh oh, there he is again!"

Good trip report (liked Aidan's also, btw)

Ah, the good ole' daze....

I hosted my monthly cash game last night. I ran like the sun and walked with half of the money. The biggest hand of the night was an Omaha hand where I held AQJ3 and I limped from early position. The HJ raised to $3.50 and we had five players to the flop. The flop was KT2. I led out for $8 and then all hell broke loose. I was re-raised who was then in turn re-raised all in for $23. It was called by the HJ and I raised it up to $65. The HJ raised me all in and I called. The small stack had a set of kings and the HJ had a set of tens. I hit the 9 on the turn and dodged the re-draw for the full house on the river. Gnarly hand. It took me forever to fall asleep last night too. I was pretty wound up.

I'm really upset that the bank was off for the second straight game. I was very careful about taking money and used racks to handle cash outs at the end. I'm baffled as to where it went. It has cost me $70 this month.

Thief in the house, maybe? It's been 3+ years since I've had a short in the cash drawer. If it happened twice in two games, I would be very suspicious...

All the money goes into the drawer in the cabinet where the chips are stacked. You can see it on the right side of this picture:


I handle all transactions from the bank and I always sit right in front of the drawer. If they are that crafty sitting in my game is one of the less lucrative things they could be doing. Plus, these are all my friends. I find it highly unlikely theft is the issue. One of my best friends in the group was there till the end last night and he thought I was super tight with transactions last night. He was confused as well.

I had a streak like that, a while back. I started writing down the buy-ins and checking the money, part-way through the night.

Also, I don't use racks to cash out. I prefer to stack instead. Any chance you're mis-racking by a chip?

If you just make sure to double count the chips, and the money, I suspect your problem will clear itself up.