How To Host A Poker Tournament
Hosting a poker tournament is a great way to get your friends together and have some fun. Although it isn’t very difficult to invite a couple of people over and get a poker game going, with a little bit of preparation you can make your home poker tournament much more competitive and enjoyable.
1) Things you need to do before the tournament
Choose a tournament Structure – You need to decide what game you are playing and what format you are going to play. The most common game to play is No Limit Texas hold-em. But if you want a change of pace a couple good alternatives are Pot Limit Omaha and HORSE. The best format for your tournament will probably be full table games with a rebuy for the first hour. Divide the number of guest you have by 10 and that is the number of tables you’ll need to set up. Allow a rebuy for any player who busts out in the first hour, both to get more money into the game, and to ensure that even the worst players can have some fun during the night.
Choose a buyin for your tournament – Make sure that you decide how much your tournament is going to cost to buy in before people arrive. Ideally you should tell people how much it will cost when you invite them. This will ensure that your tournament will begin on schedule and no one will be forced to gamble more than they are comfortable.
Invite Poker Players – Maybe you hang out with a lot of poker players and finding enough people for a game won’t be a problem. If you do have trouble finding the 7-10 people minimum required for a good tournament then consider inviting friends of friends. Ask your friends if they know anyone who would be interested or ask your coworkers. Alternatively you could go to a poker forum like Cardplayer or Two Plus Two and place a post saying that you are looking for players. If you do that you will have no trouble filling a game.
Get Chips and Cards – Make sure that you have enough poker chip sets and decks of cards for your tournament. You will need two different colored decks (red and blue) for each table and a reasonable number of chips for each player. You can find out how many chips you’ll need here. If you need to get a poker set you can get anything from cheap poker sets to top end poker sets.
Arrange for refreshments – If you are having 10 people or so over for poker it is generally your responsibility as a host to provide some kind of food and beverage. If you are hosting a large poker tournament you may wish to take some money out of the buyin to pay for the refreshment costs. If you do that make sure you let people know ahead of time and be aware that it might not be legal in all areas. In terms of food, chips and pretzels make good light snacks. I have found that a platter of lunch meat and some bread generally work better than pizza for a meal. People are more apt to dig in, and it won’t make the cards and chips greasy.
2) At The Tournament
Deal out chips – When people arrive begin taking their money and giving them chips. You should be the only person handling the money and the chips. Place the money somewhere visible and secure. It is a good idea to count out each beginning set of chips ahead of time and to place them in a zip-lock bag. That way you can quickly hand each player their chips and you won’t slow down the tournament.
Announce the house rules and blind structure – Go over any special rules before the game begins. i.e. Check raises are legal, if two players bust out at the same time they will split the prize money, etc. Announce your blind structure and how quickly the blinds will increase. Announce if there will be rebuys or if it is a freeze out. Make sure you post the rules and the blind structure where everyone can see them, preferably one at each table.
Seat the players – In general you should have a maximum of 10 players per table (11 is sometimes acceptable) and a minimum of 5. As players bust out of the tournament you will need to condense the tables to keep them full, unless you are playing a shoot out. At the beginning you will prepare a deck of cards. If you have 3 tables of 10, for example, you will have the A-10 of spades, the A-10 of hearts, the A-10 of diamonds in the deck. Each player will draw a card, and that card will be associated with a specific seat. Aces sit at the head of the table and you proceed clockwise from their.
Begin the tournament – If you have a small number of guests you should be able to play and manage the tournament at the same time. If you have more than 3 tables, forget about it. If you have more than 30 guests you will be responsible for settling disputes, moving players, breaking tables, and you won’t be able to play at the same time. Less than that you will be able to keep track of the blind structure and reseat players while you play.
Take breaks – Make sure that your tournament has a scheduled break every 3 hours or so. Give 10 minutes for people to get up, talk, eat, and stretch out.
3) Tournament End
The tournament will end one of two ways, either play will continue until there is a single winner, or the surviving players will cut a deal on how to distribute the prize money. Making a deal to end the tournament and split the money is perfectly valid as long as every player with chips left agrees to the terms. As tournament host it is not your responsibility what kind of deal is cut, only that no one is bullied into accepting a deal if they do not agree to the terms or would like to continue playing.
That is all it takes to host a home poker tournament. For other tips on running a tournament and perfecting your poker game, keep browsing the site.
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