Simple question, Im starting a raked house game from fresh... Ive heard pretty conflicting view points on the issue of providing alcohol for the players. What do you guys thoughts?

booze=looser play=bigger pots=more rake. I would start with providing drinks and see how it goes. If people get out of hand ban the player or stop serving. I thimk you need to provide some sort of ammenities to justify a rake.

What's with all the raked games on here lately?

Sounds more to me like you're staring a business here.

And yes of course absolutely you need to provide alcohol and food. Tho' I doubt any of this is terribly legal.

Exactly what i was thinking, i cant imagine taking a % of each pot and pocketing it for myself as a host

Yeah, I am offering a ton to the players. 3 flat screens, Chef catered meals (plus late night snacks and food runs). All the pop, water and energy drinks you can drink. Nice chips, Table and pro dealers. Not to mention house provided jackpots and Sunday ticket.

The question was more to see what peoples experiences have been in games with or without provided alcohol.

neither can I

I think it depends on how serious you want the atmosphere and why you are hosting the games.

Personally I like to get a bunch of guys together, have some beers, play some poker and have some laughs. Yes, we take the game serious and we want to win, but the main emphasis is blowing some steam after a week at work and catching up with some mates (who all enjoy a game of poker).

We have never charged a rake, I arrange that each person bring a platter of food or some wine or beer (those who don’t might chuck in 5/10€ for next time), I have a basement set up as a poker room and we all have fun. I guess a rake and professional dealers is taking to the next level, I will never go there. If we wanted that we would go to a casino…

Alcohol is good!

Thanks for the response. Yeah there isnt a casino in our area. The closest NL game is 1.5 hrs away. There is a few home games in the area that charge rake but I think they arent run as well as they could be.

Yeah I understand. However there is a difference between providing a place for friends to gather and play poker.... and providing a club atmosphere in an area that doesnt have other options for such.

I am just a simple Aussie living in Belgium, but wouldn't you be breaking the law (I am no expert on American law), maybe I am wrong, but I get the impression you are talking about an underground card club... Not my problem, but I would be cautious mate.

joints, white russians and cold beer are standard at any private poker-game IMO

well, you have one out of three anyway

wtf are you talking about- I can imagine it, every single time I'm up until 4 a.m. or so, cleaning up afterwards....

Yep, there's a difference alright....

I do not think you can charge a rake and not provide something besides the Sunday ticket. Beverages of all kinds should be available imo. That being said I feel the need to mention that if something were to happen after someone left your game.... something as simple as a routine speeding ticket. It could turn into "serving alcohol without a license" charges, as well as any gambling related offenses. It may sound far fetched but it is a possibility.

Obviously. As I stated Im offering way more then the Sunday ticket. I am worried about the possibility of problems with serving alcohol... I think legally it could pose more of an issue the running a game in my area.

Serving achool could present legal problems with the club type setting you plan to provide. Serve non achoolic drinks instead. Adjust your rake accordingly. You don't want someone leaving your house drunk after you served free booze and then having them get into an accident.

The thing is people like to have a beer whilst they play poker (if it is casually), what are the legalities if it was BYO?

If you are this worried about the potential problems associated with the alcohol, I think the first question you need to ask is "Will I be able to fill the table(s) without offering alcohol?" If the answer to this is yes then you dont need to offer it. If the answer is no, then you need decide if the risk is worth it to you to run a successful "home game"

Honestly with all the ameneties you are broviding how much will alchool really cut into your bottom line? Its not like food where it will go bad if it isn't drank, and you seem to have all the things to go with alchool (pop & engergy drinks).

Ask your players what they drink, but you really can't go wrong with just buying a case of miller (bottles), handle of vodka, a fifth or rum, and a fifth of whiskey and see how your players react. Assuming you drink it isn't like any of these items are going to go bad anytime soon so if your players don't take them you can surely enjoy them. I played in a raked home game for a bit which ordered catered food, one of the players was vegeterian so the host always seemed to accomodate him. If I am paying rake I will def enjoy the host going out of his way to ensure I am happy.

EDIT: Just read the question about legality. Running a raked home game is illegal. I'm assuming you wouldn't be charging for alchool so it is not diffrent then if I host a freindly non raked game and I offer my freinds beer. Just don't serve minors and watch that your players don't drink excessivley and drive.

You can have some drinks but you shouldn't get them wasted offc. ;-)

Illegal, racist ban and essential

You run a raked home game?

you could just always have a bunch of alcohol at your house, and say friends in your house are welcome to have a drink or few. i mean, i do that with everybody already anyway. Don't you guys?
hands off that cookie jar though.

just don't make a swell about it, and you should be fine, i'd think.

i'd hope this wouldn't be considered some kind of distribution, but i wouldn't be shocked if it were in some states.

no, he doesn't. He was making the point that sometimes after putting in all the effort to run a quality game a little rake might be nice.

The the OP - yes, a raked home game better have a tonne of beer/booze. It loosens the game up and attracts more casual players. Certain players don't seem to mind losing a few buy-ins if they also get drunk. "Well, I would have spent $200 at the bar anyway" is the line I've heard often repeated.