Rory, I appreciate your comments. I think the ultimate problem I have
in Greg's game is not whether or not I'm thinking about EV. It's that
specifically I am looking for something else from a home game experience
than most people are. I get the feeling that many people treat a home
game as a "chance to make money from fish in your own hometown". I have
never felt home games should be that; I feel they should either be purely
social events, or, if they are "serious poker," it should be an
opportunity to play with good players and learn from each other (ala
Holden's Tuesday Game). I have often treated Greg's game as a latter, but
I may be deluding myself that it could be that.
The whole point is I don't think about home games solely in terms of
making the correct poker decisions. I realize that I give up some of my
edge by trying to make home games an enjoyable social experience, and am
willing to give that up for the social experience. I believe Nick feels
the same way about home games, too. However, if everyone else in the game
is looking for an edge, and is using the social aspects we're bringing to
the game as an opportunity for edge, then the whole social experience is
at least, in part, defeated.
As a side note, I tried once to get a in-person poker discussion group
going, and offered to host it and invited a few people, and no one was
really interested. I thought that might be a better way to bring a social
side to poker (i.e., don't play while trying to socialize).
Perhaps the fundamental mistake I'm making is believing that there can
be a fun social side to poker. Perhaps it's naive to think that when
money is involved, people will treat the game as anything but
dog-eat-dog. As I said, sitting a casino, all the psychological
manipulation that bugs me at Greg's, I can totally transcend. But at
Greg's, I want it to be as much a social club as it is a poker
game.
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Re: Become Still
Date: 2005-01-01 22:37 (UTC)Rory, I appreciate your comments. I think the ultimate problem I have in Greg's game is not whether or not I'm thinking about EV. It's that specifically I am looking for something else from a home game experience than most people are. I get the feeling that many people treat a home game as a "chance to make money from fish in your own hometown". I have never felt home games should be that; I feel they should either be purely social events, or, if they are "serious poker," it should be an opportunity to play with good players and learn from each other (ala Holden's Tuesday Game). I have often treated Greg's game as a latter, but I may be deluding myself that it could be that.
The whole point is I don't think about home games solely in terms of making the correct poker decisions. I realize that I give up some of my edge by trying to make home games an enjoyable social experience, and am willing to give that up for the social experience. I believe Nick feels the same way about home games, too. However, if everyone else in the game is looking for an edge, and is using the social aspects we're bringing to the game as an opportunity for edge, then the whole social experience is at least, in part, defeated.
As a side note, I tried once to get a in-person poker discussion group going, and offered to host it and invited a few people, and no one was really interested. I thought that might be a better way to bring a social side to poker (i.e., don't play while trying to socialize).
Perhaps the fundamental mistake I'm making is believing that there can be a fun social side to poker. Perhaps it's naive to think that when money is involved, people will treat the game as anything but dog-eat-dog. As I said, sitting a casino, all the psychological manipulation that bugs me at Greg's, I can totally transcend. But at Greg's, I want it to be as much a social club as it is a poker game.