GO: Heart Of England

Games Night: Central Boardgaming (Walsall)

Venue: The Black Country Arms, 9 High Street, Walsall, WS1 1QW. We aim to sit Upstairs.

All levels of experience welcome. We play fortnightly on Fridays, so don't forget to RSVP to earlier and later event iterations too!

Our members have a great collection of modern tabletop board games to choose from. We rotate them each time, so there will always be variety. Please feel free to bring along similar games of your own.

This is intended as a low-cost evening, but please do keep the owners happy with something from behind the counter/bar.

To make it easiest for you to jump into a game straight away, it's best to arrive at the start of the session and stay on, plus it's worth trying new games as well as ones we already know how to play.

Location and parking
Parking is possible in nearby roads, though perfect for public transport. The venue is a distinctive building on your left as you pass through the Markets area coming from the bus or train stations, opposite Asda.

New Members and Guests welcome! Please RSVP separately to each event you plan to attend.

ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
If you'd like to be added to our MESSENGER chat group, for discussing what games we're playing etc, please directly message Paul (host). Or join our new Facebook group, on www.facebook.com/groups/25625012123847895

Attendance: As with all events, please RSVP courteously, which means that no-shows and withdrawals in the last 24 hours are impolite. We need to reserve just the right amount of tables and seats.
Also there are occasions when we need to communicate with attendees, so if you aren't on the list, we can't message you with any important updates which occasionally may occur.

Thank you for your understanding.

Texas Holdem Poker sociably!

The venue is The Bull Inn, 1 Price St, Birmingham B4 6JU. Please arrive promptly at 12:15, especially if you need to brush up on the rules or the betting system

We will play friendly Texas Holdem Poker for low stakes (e.g. maximum loss £3 per game of 45-60 minutes), so suitable for beginners as well as those who already enjoy poker. Cash not credit/debit card, bring change or get change at the bar.

We aren't expecting a huge meetup, which should suit those preferring more modest attendances, though our previous poker afternoons have been very popular, and the event has consequently been re-requested on a frequent basis (monthly or two-monthly, except bank holidays)

We do need to ensure there is a healthy number participating to complete games, so please don't abandon us mid-way through a game.

Minimum attendance = 6, Maximum attendance = 20 (if there are 2-3 tables with enough players fully familiar with the game). We have multiple sets of poker chips and cloths if required.

Texas Holdem: Notes for Beginners

(*) Hand rankings
https://www.pokerstars.uk/poker/games/rules/hand-rankings/
(*) Rules
http://www.briggsoft.com/docs/pmavens/Rules_Holdem.htm
(*) Best Start Hands
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.yourpokercash.com/website_images/8574/misc/handchart1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://icpf662janean8orso.blogspot.com/search/label/Texas%2520HoldEm%2520Poker%2520Hands&h=382&w=609&tbnid=wnCR3QC8sW_jfM:&docid=zNIBzpSFs4frHM&ei=n-dNVsa6EsiBU6aVjfAH&tbm=isch&ved=0CCoQMygnMCc4ZGoVChMIhoaa3OOcyQIVyMAUCh2mSgN-

Omaha Poker:

If enough people wish to play Omaha Poker as an alternative, we will assign one table for this purpose.
Differences to Texas Holdem: Omaha has the same rules and house rules as for Texas Holdem, using just the 2 official game differences:

1. Every player gets four cards in Omaha (instead of two in Holdem)
2. You MUST use two of them to make your best poker hand
   https://www.pokerlistings.com/poker-rules-omaha

House Rules (either version):

The aim here is to keep things simple and fair. If you are new, these will be explained, do not be put off!

1. £3 game entry fee, we then play with chips. Games length is 60 minutes completing the final hand, with winner taking 2/3rds of the stake money and second place taking 1/3rd.
2. Small/Big blind values are 1&2 initially, doubling every 15 minutes, with a minimum raise always being the size of big blind
3. During the pre-flop, pre-turn and pre-river betting rounds, only one raise per player who hasn't previously checked/passed during that round
4. During the showdown (4th) betting round, multiples raises are allowed, per player who hasn't previously checked/passed during that round
5. During pre-flop betting, the maximum raise is what is on the table, and 'going-all-in' is prohibited until the flop is visible
6. Private supplies of chips are kept visible and off the playing mat, and folded hands are placed out of reach on the discard pile.
7. Chips may be exchanged for equivalent value chips to allow an intended bet to be made.
8. Cards are shuffled between hands to counter card memorization
9. Called player must reveal their hand, other players are only obliged to reveal theirs if they claim to have a better hand.
10. In the event of betting continuing beyond the means of one or more players, a split pot will apply.
11. To avoid re-setting and re-dealing once a game has begun, we normally deal up to 6 hands per table, allocating further arrivals to a new table (unless subsequently found we have, say, 13 in total).

Attendance: As with all events, please RSVP courteously, which means that no-shows and withdrawals in the last 24 hours are forbidden. Thank you for your understanding.