[wptdreamer]

I needed some advice from you fellow poker players. I don't know very many people who play poker personally. A few friends, but if you put us all together we don't have enough for a game. So every once in a while one of my friends will tell me about someone they know who is having a game. In the past year I have been taken to only six home games. I have only been invited back once.
#1 Two mini tourneys $10 buy-in eight people...second and first
#2 One mini tourney $20 buy-in second...cash game won more than the tourney winner did
#3 4 person $10 buy-in...first, then 14 person $10 buy-in...first
#4 Went back to #3...luck won out, did not cash
#5 Eight person $20 buy-in...first
#6 Two mini 6 person $10 buy-ins...first and first

In most of these little tourneys second wins their money back and first gets the rest. I've only played in one other cash game that wasn't at a house, it was at a local bar which was a $25 buy-in tourney. Only 20 people showed. I got second.
The point of me telling you all this isn't to brag. I don't win much anyways. Online I don't win like this. Basic live games at a house are easier for people like you and me. If you are a member of a poker forum and you also play online you should crush home games where the playing experience is almost nil in comparison. My question is, if I keep winning like this how can I expect to be invited back? The same two friends have invited me to 4 of the six. So they have seen me winning the money. One of those two friends is highly competitive and keeps inviting me to prove he is better than me. The other keeps getting outdrawn so I think he blames the losses on bad luck. Anyways, back to the question. How can I expect to be invited back if I keep winning? Should I just win if I can or should I tone down my play to make it seem more luck? Would that make them more comfortable inviting me back? I'm really not sure what to do. I play tight/aggressive, so it seems to them that I always win big pots and always lose small pots. That's my goal, but it makes the invitations disappear. What do I do?

[Lytspeed]

Hi WPT,

I think the solution here is to think outside the home game box. It sounds like home games are a great place for you to make money, but the field gets pretty thin. As for the bar game, I don't know what the laws are where you live, but I suspect you live in the U.S., and if you play bar games, you stand the chance of being picked up in a raid.

I think your best choice is to move up to "real" tournaments in casinos. Again, depending on your locale, there may be legal casinos near you that host Hold 'Em tournaments. If that's not the case, I suggest searching going to Home Poker Games - Listings of home poker games and checking for home games in your region. You might find some games with bigger fields of entry that sustain themselves from week to week. A bigger field not only means more money (potentially), but more anonymity. You are more likely to get invited back to tourneys with a larger number of entrants simply because you may not win as much, or your wins may be more camouflaged.

Hope this helps.

[Acorn89]

My suggestion if you want to get invited back is to play a looser agressive style. This way you will give people alot of action so they will probaly want to play with you more. Plus it will also give you a chance to work on your agressive gear which can be helpful if you ever wanted to change gears in a session, which can be a very important aspect of your game.

If your looking to just make the money I would agree with Lytspeed to find out where some local casinos are and play there.

Hope you keep crushing the Homegames

[wptdreamer]

Thanks guys, good advice. I went to the website, already found some games I will check out. I think it is what I need to build my game to work towards my overall goal. I don't think strictly online play is good enough, and weak competition live isn't either. I'll let you know how it goes. Good idea Acorn, that is a good strategy that I would make it seem as if I were more of a lucky winner.

[Laurie]

It's not legal where I live either but we do it anyway. Don't worry about not being invited back. You got valuable experience playing both types of the game. Tourney and live action. Might I suggest you invite a few of these fish to your own home game/tourney? Like you our firehouse/bar has been holding these tourneys for a little over a year and they have gone from 20 some people to over 80 every Fri/Sat. nite. Go to as many of those that you can afford but if you have family obligations see to them first Good Luck at the tables.