Introduction
In 1985, I moved to Las Vegas. I played my first poker game at the El Cortez downtown. It was a .25/1-3 spread 7 card stud game. I would wander the downtown area and often found myself watching the games as a railbird at Binion’s Horseshoe and The Golden Nugget. Back then, I didn’t even know just how colorful the characters I watched were, or how legendary some of those names would become. I was just a kid watching a game that fascinated me.
Well, nearly thirty years later, I’m still fascinated, and I’m still watching. I even play a little bit here and there. Most of my time these days spent on a poker table is watching the action, though. I deal poker games. I deal home poker games. When the stakes are right, it hardly feels like a job, just a chance to laugh and cry with others who share my love of the game.
I spent years working in bookstores, and in my preparation for this book I tried to find other resources for the information I am providing. I had to assume that someone out there, somewhere, had most certainly written a comprehensive guide to running home poker games. Well, I was surprised to discover this was not the case. In fact, I had a difficult time finding even one single reference guide that really provided solid and experienced information. I found a few basic ideas floating around, and someone even turned me onto a reality show where they followed around guys holding underground games, but nowhere did I find a guide such as the one you are now reading.
This book is my best attempt to provide you, the home poker enthusiast, with all the information you need to be able to host a poker game that will be fun, easy and profitable, and hopefully provide you with both enjoyment and income for years to come. Poker is a great game, and hosting a great poker game is something that takes more consideration than might meet the untrained eye. This book will help you to identify all the subjects you will need to cover, and give you a little insight along the way into the mind and feel of the home game player.
This book can also serve as a fairly good reference guide for understanding some game basics and some more advanced poker ideas that you might want to introduce to your current game or bring to your next one.