In This Chapter

Setting up a successful home game
Choosing the type of game
Deciphering poker etiquette

Setting Up a Home Game

A successful ongoing home poker game requires good planning and well- thoughtaut rules. The key to a good game, of course, is a friendly, fair game that people will want to keep coming back to on a regular basis. This section shows you some key considerations for establishing a fair and fun game.
A good home game has rules established well before the game begins to avoid any controversy. Try to follow the rules that normally apply in card clubs and casinos so as to not confuse people who play in both. Your rules should encompass answers to at least the following questions: Is checkraising allowed?
How will antes be put up? By each player or only by the dealer? What is the best low hand? (The great majority of card clubs say that A-2-3-4-5 is the best low, even though it's a straight.)
If you play a high-low game, how will the parties declare their hand?
Who splits the pot if a player going both ways wins only one way?
What constitutes a misdeal?
What happens if there is a misdeal?
If the pot is split up betw~en two players, who gets any odd chip?
Think about putting your rules on paper. Memories fade as to what was agreed upon, s o it's helpful to bring out the rules in the event of any controversy.
Dealer's choice

Many home games involve a variety of poker games, but dealer's choice is usually the deciding factor on the actual game to be played. That is, the dealer can choose the game she wishes to play for that hand or for a round. The dealer may also designate any special rules such as:

Whether there will be a high-low split.
Whether the betting will increase in certain instances.
Whether there is a wild card.
1/ Whether there is a bet or not after there is a "declare" of low or high in split games.
Of course, the dealer's decisions should be reasonable. You can't have a situation where the rules unduly favor the dealer.

Wild cards
v Most poker purists play without wild cards, but some games do incorporate wild cards. A wild card is specified by the dealer and can be used to greatly improve a hand. So, if you are playing with a wild card or cards, you have to expect the hands to be better than those in regular poker. Gauge your betting accordingly.
The typical choices for wild cards are:

Joker: The joker can be used as any card or, alternatively, for only aces, straights and flushes.

Deuces: Each 2 card is wild. So a hand consisting of 442-2-5 is 4-44l-J.
Oneeyed jacks: The jack of spades and jack of hearts have only one eye each, and these jacks when played as wild cards can be any card you wish.
Our preference is to play without wild cards. Wild cards introduce a high ele- ment of luck. So if you are a great poker player, you don't want to introduce a greater luck component in your game that your opponents can benefit from.

Full chapter only in the printed book