Bar games
September 15, 2026
Slot reels, blackjack totals, and the house edge
Why the house edge exists on a home table: slot reel math, blackjack totals, and the physical reasons the counter keeps a small share.
There is a gap between the games a home bar buys and the games a home bar plays. The pong table comes out twice and then lives behind the freezer. The dartboard is hung by eye, plays wrong, and quietly stops being used. The poker set is bought for nine people and the room seats six. In every case the equipment was fine and the setup was not.
This section deals with the setup: the dimensions that are fixed and the ones that are not, the floor, the light, the clearance around a throwing lane, and the honest criteria for whether a game will survive being played next to full glasses. The measurements here come from the standards the games are actually scored to, so a board hung this way plays like the one in the pub.
Tables and boards first, then how to choose what gets played. Newest at the top.
Bar games
September 15, 2026
Why the house edge exists on a home table: slot reel math, blackjack totals, and the physical reasons the counter keeps a small share.
September 8, 2026
Forty questions, one sheet per team, a marking swap at the end: the home pub quiz that works is the one with a clean answer sheet.
August 25, 2026
A bracket, a score sheet and a table that seats eight: how to run a small card tournament at home that ends before midnight.
August 13, 2026
Dice and cards have been filling the same table role for five thousand years. A short history, and how to keep a luck game friendly.
July 9, 2026
Length, height, the shim trick for a sloping garage floor, and why the surface matters more than the table you put it on.
May 14, 2026
How many people actually fit, how many chips a home game needs, a blind structure that ends on time, and the housekeeping to settle before the first deal.
February 26, 2026
The two measurements that are not negotiable, the surround that saves your plaster, and where to stand so the board is not in the traffic.
October 9, 2025
Six criteria for a game that works next to full glasses, and the categories that pass. Footprint, turn length, and what happens when a drink goes over.