Are "Home Games" Worth It? (With A High Rake) 

Would you ever play in a home game with an extraordinarily high rake?

Nailed it! I only have home games with close family and friends with no rake. I usually run .25/.50 with a $50 max buy in and a $100 max reload. This usually keeps the game fun and light without having to fear of potential theft. I like to think of it as an NFL player playing football with his family and friends. He's not gonna tackle them in a football field, he's gonna play flag football with them in the park. Keep it light, keep it fun and leave the big money for the casinos.

If you're worried about not being able to cash out your chips, you're playing in some really sketchy home games.

this is the most practical real life conversation you have ever had Bart, thank you... I live in Alaska.. there aren't any casinos here.. and my friend told me that you can't beat the rake around town.. its mostly hit and run... thank you for your content!

Me getting invited to a birthday party, bringing a gift and proceeding to lose 5k lol. 😂😂 Bart had me rolling lol.

Thank you so much for your content Bart. Videos covering topics like this have saved me a ton of money and headaches.

More rake is better, of course it will be a great game

Poker is just becoming more and more difficult to profit from your edge if you're a small/mid stakes player. You can be a 5bb/hour winner at this game and still lose money, its ridiculous. It's kinda sad how the returns to skill are becoming smaller and smaller and at the same time skill gaps are becoming narrower with all the training content out these days. It's not out of question that in the near future you will have to be multiple levels above your competition to even break even at the poker table. This is really a bleak reality for those of us who would like to be playing lots of poker in the near and distant future.

Bart, great content. The man's name you were searching for at the end is Houston Curtis. I have played in some massive private games (up to $100-$200-$400) where the rake has been 10% with a $300 cap per hand AND the girls/dealers were getting taxed 40-50% AND the big winners were slow paid. The overwhelming majority of the time, you're better off in a casino.

So glad you brought this topic up. Alot of these home games are essential soft scams that hussle a bunch of people!

I play in home games that are rake free. 1-2 nl and 8-16 big o. The dealers don't get paid. The one 'stipulation' is to tip dealers better! If I'm going to tip $1, tip 2-3 instead. It's still saving you 3-6$ per hand depending on what your local casino's rake is.

I live in nyc so I don't have the same access to casinos as many do. Parx is about 1.5 hrs away, ATL city is 2-3 hrs away. I play in a lot of home games in nyc because of access and I've worked out deals that make it ok for me to do so. In one 5/5 game my friend deals and he doesn't rake any pot that I win. He's only of 3 dealers there but it balances out for me. In another game the house puts my buy in up so that if I lose I just pay him later whenever I happen to win. And in any game I go to the food and drinks are free and they pay the uber for me. So even in these games, some of which are 10% uncapped rake it's ok to go and try to make some money since the action is insane. There are also a couple I've found recently where the cap is $20 or $25 and action is decent also. If the game is not good just get up and leave immediately because you won't make anything. Obviously if I had better access to casinos I would almost never frequent a house game unless it was a true home game with no rake.

Any Vegas regular. Can you tell me if the rake is displayed on the table when you play in Vegas ?????????? . If not where is it displayed.????? Thanks

There's a lot of private club home games in LA. Usually like in the Valley because people don't want to sit in high traffic for an hour trying to go to the Commerce. I liked the atmosphere, free drinks, free food and action but I always had my suspicions. Thanks for the vid Bart.

Whatever happened to the friendly home game where you byob and order pizza. Keep serious games in the poker room casinos and online. 30 dollars is insane. Not possible to win in the long run.

nailed it, great video. home games are the wild west, many are sketch. proceed with caution obv.

Is it legal to run a home game for profit in USA?

Bart, with home games, I mostly agree with you in regards to holdem. However, in my experience, PLO home games are almost always worth it vs casino/card rooms. Another aside though, if the rake was 3x (5/5 PLO) what it is here, then no, I don't think I'd play in them either. Since Covid, many semi-private and home games popped up with increasing rake. A lot of them died off because of it. 2-3BB is more than fair for what most home games offer. Some more things to consider.... 5/5 plo, Match stack, up to $25 straddle utg or button, average stack is normally 4-6k (usually 2-3 always adds to cover). It also isn't a standard game, more multi-way 3-4bet pots and multi-way all-ins pre than standard. If you are just a tight reg though any home game will be tough, not only to beat the game but even to get invited (or re-invited) without loosening up and giving action.

Quick question I’m able to play in a 2/5 game that’s 5% rake up to $16… you mentioned 10% rake up to $16 being better than an $8 drop every hand. So I’m guessing the 5% rake is a really profitable game? Especially because I get free food & drinks?

Every home game I’ve ever played I cash out at the end of the night? Is that not normal outside NY? I play a 1/3/5 600 max with a 10% up to $10 with a $1/HH/Jackpot/Jackpot. $13 drop max total.

For the last 18 months the casinos in Holland are closed, I'm playing home games but I fckn hate it because of the reasons Hanson gave.

The Mint in south Houston charges $10 an hour for a "seat rental" and gives out free food and drinks. Alcohol included. Hard to beat.

In rural Canada a $1/$2 home game is raked 10% to a cap of usually $4 or $5. The casino charges $7 and $2 of it is the bad beat jackpot. Definitely pays better to play the home games if there is one you trust and the poker community is small enough that you can usually find out what you need to know. For that reason, I do play several home games - when I can get in. As a winning rec. the hard part is finding a game that wants a winning player 😂

Curious about home game players who play higher than 2/5: isn’t the amount of money present a significant security issue? It’s either super private and people are running markers and you have to trust the host gets paid, so you get paid or you have tens of thousand in cash lying around and it’s a huge security issue. How is that managed? Seems sketchy unless it’s super private.

This past weekend I went with a friend to a home game. The game was 1-2 NLH, turns out the rake is 5% uncapped!! The dealer was taking $50 for every $1000 pot, and $20-30 for small pots. When I asked some of the players if they know about this, they just rolled their eyes and kept drinking. I'm obviously never stepping foot in that game again.

I run my own 2-5NLH home game. The max rake is 10% $10max. $1 goes to a splash pot and $2 goes to a high hand promotion. I tell all my players, if you see my dealer over-rake a single dollar to call them out and they’re fired. Am I unreasonable? Plz let me know cause I actually care what you all think

I play in the LA area as well and I only ever HEAR “how high the rake is at home games” ... but I’m glad someone finally put a $ value on it... $30/hand playing $5/5 is LAUGHABLE no matter how many free drinks & half naked SWers they can fit in the penthouse to serve them to me 🤣

Why would you play in a game where players can use a marker and not pay in advance?

I recently played at an underground poker game for the first time. Rake was 10 percent cap at 50.... a 5/5 game

A lot of the app games are running 10% 3 big cap.

I recently played in a small cash game where I suspect that they colluded against me. One of them went All-in pre-flop four hands in a row, on the fourth time I called with pocket tens (he had 5, 2 of hearts) I won a pot of £1430 and left the game. I'll never play in such a game again, I have enough to think about without having to worry about collusion!

3:22 - Bart's anecdote here about tipping a minimum of $5 dollars a hand should end all comments like, "Omg he won 2k pot and tipped only 5 bucks, yikes." I played a 13 hour session recently at 1/3 with a max buy in of $500. I tipped anywhere from $1-5 for every pot that I've won. At the end of the session, I had tipped $86 dollars and ended the session losing $106 dollars. How sustainable are larger tips at 1/3 and 2/5?

I've never heard of a home game taking tips from the dealers....

The first thing I do when I get invited to a home game is ask what the drop is

It is never worth it . Twice in my life in NYC unlimited 10% and the other was 15% with $10 and no $1 or $2 chips

Charging rake is illegal in home games in CA.

Highest rake game I’ve ever played in was 8$ a hand max

Hey Bart... I would love to hear your hand analysis of Teddy KGB vs. Mike McDermott, just for fun if you would have time for something like that what was KGB repping?.. I watched Daniel Negreanu talk about it not long ago

man the $5 chips thing since you cant tip $1 -- great point. Been there and do not like it

Lol, Rake in our Casinos in EU (5% Cap 30$) is your homegame rake 😢

I play a 5 /10 2500 max buyin rake is $ 25 and $5tip min.. believe it or not it's beatable only because it plays so loose and the players aren't the best at times..not ideal but thats home games.. and they give out alot of credit.. not that I have that problem but alot of the guys playing keep rebuying and make the gm so good..

1/3 home game in my area is 15% with $30 cap

Home game rake? O_o ... Where I played everyone bought in cash and that cash paid out same day... no take. The home owner played. If he won, he won... if he lost, he lost.

There’s 5/10 LA home games with a $75 rake cap.

Typically, dealer tokes are spread across all the dealers, and converted to an hourly rate that's paid on top of their normal salary. So no, the casino does not take 80% of $4k. Dealers typically rotate game style based on their skill set, so they aren't always dealing poker. Sometimes, it's blackjack, or Caribbean stud, etc.

Most 5/10 home games take $125 per hand now.

Home games are fools gold IMo... the bad play and unlimited money is off set by safety/legal issues. I get tilted when i cash out and have an IOU. Its a trap to get you to keep coming back.

I don't charge a rake in my home game. I'm the best player at the table so there is really no need for me to charge one.

Are you guys doing as thou wilt, yet? The templars are already deep in the do as thou wilt game. You have a lot of catching up to do.

when your only choice is driving 2 hours to the casio and paying $30 in tolls or going to a home game 20 minutes away then it's always going to be home game...

I run a home game with the same rake as the casino, give beers, jack daniels, desserts for free, much better service, game, tables, dealers, etc and most of my regulars argue about the rake. I'm sending them the link to this video 😅😅

Also, taking a rake is illegal in a home game…lol! At least in California.

There are games all over Toronto because there is no casino poker.

Funny how they both laughed at $30 rake in a 5/5 game, that's actually the standard here in Switzerland lol. My local casino even has a $30 rake cap in a 2/2 game aswell as preflop rake. Obv. the tipping culture is a bit different over here but still, pretty interesting

Yes, a very high rake actually keeps the pros and really good players away from the game, so you to win even more.

I caught a cheater at a home game and recorded him cheating. Check it out

Of course home games are worth it for these reasons alone : 1. A lot of rich fish from your city 🌃 who don’t give a F about money as they have full time jobs & make a ton of money , if u are a good poker player, don’t have to be the best , I’d say a good poker player who can beat 2/5, u can beat the rake & make ton of money in home games. 2. Relaxation factor : You sit in a home game , u don’t have to worry about the noise in a poker room in a casino 🎰, 30 tables going at a time , players & floor walking around all day, annoying OMC(old man coffee) that always talk about back in the day stories or their bad beat stories. Home games u don’t have such players , u get to relax in a room , drink 🍺 whatever u want , have good conversation & jokes etc. 3rd. Friends & Co : Sometimes I just wanna get away from those miserable 😩 poker rooms with all those regs who just cry losing with a set or AA every F time, all they do is put their misery & say I can’t win, this donkey sucked out etc & NIT regs that always say no to a button straddle & just play like 3% of their hands to begin with like top-15 hands & fold KQo or lower. Who literally wants to play someone that plays so tight & don’t give action or say no to straddle?? Only annoying thing in home games is they rake double of what u usually get raked in the casino. I’m not saying u have to play home games everyday , but once in 2 weeks isn’t bad especially if u are tired & want to have a good laugh with people u know & just wanna relax. I play a home game(5/5) atleast twice a month & the line up is a mix of rich 🤑 fish 🐠 & couple of good players , of course they rake a lot , but I never had a bad time or never felt annoyed like I sometimes do in a casino or poker room where some players smell so F bad like they dint shower in a month & people coughing all over the poker room it’s just disgusting 🤮

Home games good action but way too many politics, ppl banning you from playing because you win, ppl moan and get angry more because there’s no security and every game I’ve played in at least one reg and one fish couldn’t pay up after running up huge five figure debts.

Ten dollars in blinds and eight of it is confiscated?! Yet people play. I guess a conspiracy of dunces can make it playable.

30 buckkkkkks

Thirty bucks a hand count me the fuck out lol!!! I dont care how good is the game thats ridiculous rake!!!!

Im telling your guys, home game is much easier to beat

Fuck the $30 rake.....for that kinda money, why not just buy a used leaf blower?

CA casino rake is massive 😡 unless you play 5/10$. 7$ or 8$ per hand, no matter how small the pot is, plus the “mandatory” tip, means that 200-250$ are leaving the table every hour. A “European style” 5% rake with 30 cap is cheaper for the players, if you play 5/5.

they don’t invite nerds to home games anyway

No there not