Should You Rake Your Home Game?

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Anyone who has ever hosted a home game understands the issue. Paying for everything. Taking the time and making the effort to pull the game together week after week. To a man, everyone in your game undervalues your efforts. In their view; it’s BYOB so your only expenses are a bag of ice, a fresh deck of cards, and a little electricity which amounts to next to nothing. As for the “better than casino quality” equipment and killer entertainment system you’ve invested thousands in, your friend’s figure it’s your hobby. According to this breakdown it sounds like your weekly expenses to host the game are about $10.

For over 20 years now I have hosted poker games at my home. Hosting a poker game is really a lot of work. Anyone who has not hosted a regular poker game in their home cannot truly appreciate the effort required to pull off a smooth game each week. Ironically, a smooth game means your efforts are invisible, no one has to think about how the ice got there, or where the new decks of cards come from.

It’s inevitable that every week someone shows up at the game that forgot their drink mixers, or didn’t get to the liqueur store in time, or forgot their Diet Coke, blunt wrap, or whatever. You end up being the backup supplier for these things. Some of them are nickel dime, some aren’t. They add up in a hurry.

Rake the game to cover your game expenses. Sounds illegal, but it doesn’t have to be. In many areas it is illegal to run a game for profit. And since a rake is associated with all for profit games, many assume that all raked games are illegal. Now I’m not a lawyer so don’t take this as legal advice but it seems to me that if you rake just enough to cover game expenses you would be within the law.

Make your game “all inclusive”. It doesn’t cost that much. For most games if you rake $100, you will be able to run a VIP style poker game that includes an open bar, food, and all the other little things that make playing at your place appealing. In most games with a rotating deal if you rake 10%, one dollar max per hand, you are going to end up with about $100 in the kitty at the end of the night. Or you can cap the amount raked so that once that amount is reached you stop the rake for the rest of the night.

Raking the game makes dealing with all your game expenses easy. One common objection that will come up is from the players that don’t drink. “Why should I pay for an open bar when I don’t drink?” Answer: Cheap bastard syndrome; players that would not drink much if they feel like their paying for it will drink like fish when it is included for “free”. The sober player benefits from the money loosening effects of this “free” booze and as such should have no problem chipping in for it.

Most players will quickly realize the benefits of running the game this way. Your game becomes easier to play in when all a player has to do is show up at the game with cash in hand.


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