Interested in learning what makes a game fun to play for recs.

And also, what is a big turn off when deciding whether to stay in a game or not?

Ofc there's a lot of assumptions (lots of talking players, loose action, etc), but would like to hear some actual opinions.

Walk up to a table and see headphones, backpacks, bringing your own water or food, not talking of social interaction, giving a poor player crap for sucking out or playing a trash hand and beating you with it (that is 100% what you should want happening).

Good games have NONE of the listed above.

Look for beers being drunk, friendly chatter, straddles here and there, laughing, full stacks...

Home Games most of the time are fun.

Though I went to a game one time that was hosted by a rec and it was terrible... No action, high rake, tried to get the players to pay for food lol

Thank you.

And how important would the actual action be?

Are the external factors (talking, drinking, no toxicity, etc) more important than the action (loose recs, gambling, etc)?

the external factors are correlated to the action. typically, players drinking beer and talking about football give more action than players with backpacks and headphones who only speak up to berate people.

'Rec' could be a pretty broad category, but IMO it's someone who just wants to sit down and kill some time and play the game .. with profit as a secondary consideration. For those folks you want to have amenities in place, food/drink, atmosphere and good staff/host.

My categories for Players are Rec, Reg and Pro ... with a lot of Regs being Recs that really do want to turn a profit and/or take the game serious.

Just like sending your kids to school where you can't 'control' who their classmates are, one Player change at a poker table can turn it one way or the other. A rules Nit, an action Player or a 'critical' Player will can flip a table on it's ear in less than an orbit!

There's a fine line between letting the Players run the game, allowing the Dealers to control their tables .. and setting a tone of 'by the book' in a room. Regulated rooms do have to watch their P&Qs to a certain degree, but some take it too far.

IMO 'Recs' can put up with a lot, but a table with stoic/grouchy 'serious' Players and/or 'over-enforcement' of the rules would be at the top of my list. GL

Talk to me, show some interest in who I am and why I’m there.
Laugh with me, share a joke or two.
When I win a hand because I got lucky, suck it up, keep me smiling and you’ll get longer to try to win it back. Don’t tell me about how badly I played the hand.
Give some action, that way you might get some back.

Mostly, make the game a social occasion. At the end of the session I want to feel that any losses were worth it for the entertainment I got.

By the way, one of the most intimidating things you can do as a game starter/host is to sit down with the absolute maximum buy in. By all means be capable of covering everyone, but you can almost certainly do that with a lot less than the maximum pull up. Be open when you add to your stack as others join, or build theirs.

Yes, the actual action is less important than those other things. A couple of examples:

1. A nitty pro that is always talking and engaging with the other players and maybe even drinking does not seem like a nit to recs. They want to play with this pro much more than the pro that plays exactly the same, but never says a word.

2. Many recs will sit and/or stay in a game where even they know they are not a favorite if everyone is having a good time.

Rec here (formerly tried to consider myself better, but I wasn't and still am not)

I don't want to sit with people I *perceive* as nits. As mentioned above there are ways to hide nittery. I don't typically consider fun people as nits no matter how they play.

Headphones/phones/tablets/books/laptops are no-gos. Those people are no fun to play with. Sometimes they change their tune when they realize I'm not that good and try to open up to me. But that's patronizing and **** those people.

In the end - I'm sitting for entertainment. I want my money's worth. Of course I'd like to win, but I can lose this money and my life won't change. I don't care if you trash talk me for sucking out. In fact I enjoy talking a little trash myself. Good humored trash talk is fun, but I don't want you to be rude. Keep it good natured.

No yelliing/fighting, big stacks, and people who like to rely on their gut rather than math. Games that aren't consistently slowed down by 1 or more player. Games where people are having fun (even though they're losing).

As a competitive rec player, I actually like sitting in games with good players to test myself, as long as it's not a snooze fest. I don't want to sit with ***holes, even if they are bad players.

I mean, I care about money, but it's mostly for "keeping score." The money I make in poker is not life changing, and if I were losing by the same amount, I'd be upset more about the losing part than the reduction in my life roll. Winning a stack in a tough game is worth more "points" to me than stacking a donk.

That said, I'll go take money from the donators, rather than sit at bigger game that might test my skill if it's full of silent grinders and grumpy old men.