What Happened to Kitchen Table Poker?

One of the side effects of the rise in popularity of Texas Holdem was the loss of the “Home Poker Game” or as I like to call them, Kitchen Table Poker. Nowadays when people gather around a table in their home for a game of poker it’s usually for a Texas Holdem tournament, when in the past it’s been “Dealer’s Choice” style games, with wild cards and progressive pots.

I like Dealer’s Choice games because not only does it break up the monotony of Texas Holdem, but it also adds a lot more enjoyment to the game, and lightens the atmosphere. It also exposes players’ weaknesses a hell of a lot more than Texas Holdem does. The basics of Holdem are very easy to learn, and if it’s the only game a person plays than even a casual player can be a pretty proficient player; on the other hand, the basics of Holdem, Omaha, Stud, Draw, and split pots games is a lot more information to recall than just Holdem. And when you throw in all the different variations you can be certain that a casual player will not have a very good grasp on most of these poker variations.

For instance, when you’re playing a game of 7-Card-Stud Chicago -the one where the high spade in the hole splits the pot-and a player is calling away with just a pair of Queens and no spade, you know you have just found an ATM machine.

When you throw in a wild card or two casual players generally have a hard time reassessing the strength of their hand, where a player with the knowledge base to adjust to these factors will realize that when wild cards are added anything short of a Full House is mediocre at best.

Kitchen Table Poker favors the well rounded player, who has a good grasp of POKER fundamentals, not just No Limit Holdem fundamentals. But even more than the profitability, Kitchen Table Games are so much more fun! Playing progressive games like Guts, or Control, builds huge pots and a single win can change the night for you. It also functions as a sort of lottery for casual players; it gives them the chance to win big just once, instead of having to win pot after pot of No Limit Holdem, and end up a winner for the night.

Even the pros add some of the “carnival games” into their rotations, or will take on some weird variable where they play another player’s discards, and we’ve all seen the crazy prop bets they engage in. Basically, if you take the fun out of poker; you’re taking poker off of a casual player’s to-do list.