No, you do not need a membership to play at YoungstownPoker. The charity events are open to the public. You must be 21 to participate.
YoungstownPoker offers both tournaments and cash games for charity fundraising.
Texas Hold'em is played in tournaments with varying starting chip stacks, buy-ins, and times of levels. Check the schedule on the website for tournament times and stakes.
Cash games are $1-$3 Texas Hold'em at all tables, with a Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) game offered on the first Tuesday of each month. Visit the website for operating times and dates.
There are no special house rules at YoungstownPoker; standard poker rules and etiquette apply.
- No splashing the pot. Bets are placed in front of the player and all bets are pushed into the middle after the round of betting is complete.
- No string bets. Players' bets are the chips in hand which are pushed forward in one motion; the player cannot go back to the stack to retrieve more chips to bet UNLESS the amount of the bet was made verbally before any chips were pushed in.
- Making change from the pot. Do not take change from the pot for your bet until the round of betting is complete.
- Raises must be at least the amount of the last bet's increase. For example:
- A raise pre-flop must be at least 2x the big blind.
- If Player1 bets $10 and Player2 raises to $25, then Player3's re-raise must be at least $40, the difference of $25-$10 ($15 + $25).
- If a player is not at the table and not in sight when the hand is dealt, that player's cards will be mucked.
Texas Hold'em cash games buy-ins are $100 - $400, or up to 75% of the largest stack at the table.
Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) games are offered on the first Tuesday of the month and are $200 - $1,000 to get in.
Add-ons are permitted at any time to bring your chip stack up to the aforementioned levels.
Players are able to "straddle" from either the button or under-the-gun positions, with the button getting priority. YoungstownPoker allows unlimited straddle amounts, but must be twice the blind at a minimum.
A straddle is a voluntary blind bet before the cards are dealt essentially acting as a third blind to create a larger pot or to gain position in the hand.
Get the straddle basics from this video by Color Up Poker (this is not an endorsement of Color Up Poker):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO7QR_9pdNA
YoungstownPoker provides charity fundraising events and rakes $1 plus 10% of pots, up to a maximum $6 at cash tables, plus up to $2 for promotions (high hand, bad beat, etc.). If the pot is won before the flop, no rake is taken (known as "no flop, no drop").
No, you can't use PayPal, CashApp, Venmo, Zelle, or other electronic payments.
Cash Only.
There is an ATM available on-site.
Various promotions are offered throughout the week including paying the high hand per 4-hour period, instant high hand awards drawn from the "bucket," and bad beat (quad 10’s or better and be beaten). See the website for updated poker promotions.
Tournaments start at 11:00 am and 7:00pm on operating days. Tournaments typically last 3-4 hours. Check the schedule on the website for tournament times and sign up to be included on the distribution list to keep updated on upcoming events!