Top-4-Poker-Tips-You-Need-to-Know-Before-a-Home-Game

Top 4 Poker Tips You Need to Know Before a Home Game!

Poker is a fickle game that relies on your ability to read other players, keep a straight face and a good deal of luck. In a casino, you know that the other players around the poker table should know what they’re up to, but in a home game there is a chance you could come up against a total novice.

As any poker pro will tell you, novices will either take you to the cleaners with beginners’ luck or get wiped out very early on. So, with that in mind, use these top 7 poker tips before entering a home game, after all, you don’t want to get wiped out by a newbie!

Make Sure You Know How the Buy-ins and Cashouts are Handled

This could be the most important tip that you will ever get before attending a home game. Make sure you fully understand how the cashouts and buy-ins are handled. If you’re playing on credit, find out when you pay as you don’t want to forget to pay before you leave. Additionally, find out how your winnings will be paid so you can bring the relevant information if needed.

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Finally, make sure there is enough cash in the kitty to cover your winnings should someone decide to stiff the game. Make sure you have answers to all of these questions before you sit down, as knowing what you’re getting yourself into is critical in home games – you don’t have the safety of the casino to support you here.

Will There Be Security at the Game?

Home games can vary between small stakes and high stakes games, with high stakes games often becoming the target of armed robbery. Before you accept the invitation to the game, ask the host if there will be any security. If there has been some form of advertisement of your mid to high stakes home game, you can almost be certain that unsavory people know it’s happening. It’s no fun being robbed at a poker home game, and while it doesn’t happen often, these robberies can end badly for the players if the host doesn’t give up the cash.

Play Tight and Improve Your Edge

Home games will often have a handful of experienced players and a number of rookies – after all, everyone likes playing against the little fish. If you can find a game where players are throwing money onto the table with weak hands, you can quickly capitalize on their lack of experience. Play tight and drive value into strong hands preflop and you will increase your edge massively. If you have a weak hand, don’t be afraid to throw it away, no matter what the other players at the table say.

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Don’t Doubt Your Hand Too Easily

One of the worst things you can do in a home poker game is fold when you have the better hand. Unfortunately, there are often lots of novices in the world of home poker games that can bluff like a pro as they have no idea that their hand is bad. So, if you are fairly confident you have the best hand, see it through and try your best not to fold – especially if the player is new to the game. Back at the Poker Stars Shark Cage event, we saw Miss Finland go head to head with poker pro Ronnie Bardah. Miss Finland had Ace two with Ace high card, while Ronnie had trip 4s. Ronnie then folded, leaving Miss Finland to take home most of his chips. This is exactly what you want to avoid in your home games.

There you have it, if you take these 4 tips with you into a home game, you will likely come out the undisputed champion. Just make sure you’re kind, courteous and tip well, otherwise you probably wont get invited back for another game. If you want to brush up on your poker skills before heading to a home game, you should try out the poker on offer at BitStarz!