New Home Poker Tourney Host From WA State! But I have a problem... (2 Viewers)

[Swisspiss]

First off, I salute the work you put in as a host! Great job!

First a question on this:

Was this really the case, though?

No, you are correct. When I first pitched the idea, the general response was "if you host a game, I'll be there" so me being me just assumed that if I hosted the game, they would all be there. It wasn't like 4 of them told me they were down to show up days before the tournament and then cancelled last minute. Although that is what if felt like. I organized everything including the amount of food I bought and cooked and the amount of pop and beer I bought for an 8 - 9 player table and ended up with 4. It was like over 100 dollars in food and drinks alone plus I bought in, and re-bought and bought an add-on just to fluff up the prize pool then played super loose and donkeyish so that someone else would win and be stoked about it.

Like I said before, I still had fun and so did the other players but it felt like a slap in the face to have some of your best buddies tell you they will show up if you host a game and then just not show up like it was no big deal. I appreciate the feedback and I am going to try and get that player list to 20 before the end of the year. Thanks again.

 

[Coyotesetter]

So pure. Welcome. Remember your innocence a year from now.

 

[Old State]

As others said you need a much larger invite base and most people generally aren’t dependable. Once you get 8 to show up on a regular basis the other will be more likely to play from FOMO.

Myself and 3 others used to host larger 30-40 people tournaments 15-20 years ago when poker was booming. We had an invite list of over 100. First few times people took forever to reply to the evite then one time it filled up in a few hours. After that people would sign up the moment they saw the evite and we would have a waitlist. If you showed up late you got a warning the first time and were banned the second. No shows were banned on first offense…and we did this to guys we knew well or played with regularly at other games. In the end it worked. People don’t like to commit but also don’t want to miss out.

Another piece of advise….a single table tourney is a very hard sell…even more so if you have people driving a bit. The first people knocked out have a short night and are less likely to play again. Tournament poker was never really intended for a small group.

I personally despise small tourneys. I play in one in the neighborhood just because they are nice guys and I could walk there.

I HIGHLY recommend a small stakes cash game. Some may be afraid of cash but once they play most will prefer it. Play .25/.50 or even .25/.25 with a $20-40 buyin.

After marriages and families our regular $1/2 cash fell apart. After a 5 year hiatus I brought back a .25/.50 $50 buyin cash game with some (mostly) new players which is now $.50/1 $100 buy in. I usually invite around 12 to get 8-10! Cash players are easier to find!

 

[Highli99]

Cash games are bread and butter to build regulars. Occasional tournaments are nice to draw in players who are nervous about cash, but during those tournaments you should be recruiting those visitors to the cash games. Especially the degen players. Not the ones that grind to the bubble every game.

 

[Mr Winberg]

When I first pitched the idea, the general response was "if you host a game, I'll be there" so me being me just assumed that if I hosted the game, they would all be there

This. Is. So. Me!

Or was, until the harsh realities caught up to me. I'm a lot more cynical these days.

 

[Johnblue]

No, you are correct. When I first pitched the idea, the general response was "if you host a game, I'll be there" so me being me just assumed that if I hosted the game, they would all be there. It wasn't like 4 of them told me they were down to show up days before the tournament and then cancelled last minute.

Maybe they were bluffing, did you consider that?

 

[SaucyAussie]

I think you are doing everything right, just keep at it. I like the idea of switching to a cash game until your group expands a bit.

Do you have a World Tavern Poker location by you? These people play for free every week and many would jump at the chance to play in a low stakes tourney. Plus you will learn a lot about how to run a tournament and also the rules of poker. Play in a few of these and maybe you will identify some good candidates to invite to your game.

 

[SpaceMonkey420]

What Skagglio said. A solid invite list of 15-20 is probably required for an 8 person game.

Text about 50 around here in Cali and get 8 to 10. Consistency helps. Make it every (insert date here) - At some point It’s simply a numbers game. Treat them right when players are there. Enjoy it. Give it time. If only two people show up make sure those 2 players feel amazing and welcomed and most importantly have fun. Micro stakes cash or bigger? I think starting small and building is always the way to go. Growing pains will happen. Might as well grow together, And when in doubt throw them out. By the sound of your passion, and nice pics seem Classy not trashy and I’d bet your on the right track. Keep up the good work. How far is the closest card room from your home game?

 

[SpaceMonkey420]

Yep, it's a function of your list size. A 40% attendance rate is a dream — the problem is that your list is eight-deep if we are counting your fiancé. Attrition is always a factor, so you should always be recruiting.



Yeah that would be me, and I love playing poker. Text messaging is supposed to be asynchronous. Group texts opt me unwillingly into a back-and-forth between two or more people who are not me, and the notifications appear between my normal async chats. I would say that this isn't a big deal among a handful of close friends, but at least two of yours were turned off enough to ask you not to include them, and it's certainly not scalable anyway. Find another communication method.

Also, hi Nice cave.

This is magic. Even at the highest VIP nightclubs in vegas we didn’t get 40%. More like 20% if we were lucky.

 

[Rakrul]

Cool idea with the name badges, just a small tip from someone who has been to a lot of seminars with those badges - put the name on both sides. They have a tendency to always end up with the backside out, no matter what you do.

 

[SteveEH]

Welcome from a few hours North, eh.

You've put a lot of effort into this so far, and I feel your pain. Or I should say, I felt your pain as my game is in a good spot now

A lot of advice here has been to recruit "poker players," but you mentioned "your buddies." Are your friends poker players/gamblers? Most of my friends aren't, but I've managed to keep my game going. Lots of details here if you're interested: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/sustainable-game-with-friends-that-arent-poker-players.94681/

 

[Saoliver]

Hi everyone,

I just recently had the itch to start running poker home tournaments so I talked to some friends to get the initial thought of playing some home games and the result was pretty positive. I had 7 buddies and my fiancé that all said they would be down to play a casual, $20 tournament. So I bought an inexpensive table, got some free dining chairs from Offer Up, bought 1,000 set of decent chips, and began the process of turning my garage into a poker room / man cave. I had about 4 dump runs to do, a lot of clean up, a lot of organizing things to utilize the space as best as I could. Set up two TV's, one for a tournament manager and one for shows or sports. I don't have cable so I subscribed to ESPN+ to get some sports options. I even bought inexpensive little 1st place trophies, one for each month left in 2022. I created a blind structure, printed out house rules, basic poker etiquette (I have a couple friends that are brand new) I bought a whiskey glass that came with SS whiskey stones with little aces on them and a little white board so I could do a fun "High Hand of the Night" prize.

All in all, I spent about 1,000 dollars over 2 months or so to bring this to life. I love cooking so I made 2 lbs. of candied bacon, 3 lbs. of party meatballs, put out chips and dip, a pickled peppers and things tray, a cheese plate, bought a variety box of small bags of chips and a package of donuts. I filled the garage fridge with water, seltzers, coke, mountain dew and three different varieties of beer. I started letting people know the date of the first tournament about 2 weeks in advance. When the night before poker night came, 3 buddies said they were in, 2 buddies said they were out and the other 2 didn't respond at all. The night of the tournament, only 2 of the 3 showed up. So we had a 4 player tournament. Ugh... It was still a lot of fun but I was pretty disappointed in the turnout.

I sent the invitation for the 2nd tournament which is coming up this Saturday, and I now have 2 buddies tell me to just take them off the group text completely, 2 more that say they aren't coming again and 1 that is not responding. I have the same two that showed up the first time coming again because they said it was super fun and they had a blast. Have any of you guys experienced this? I feel pretty let down after spending so much time, effort and money to make a fun night happen and having everyone just blow me off. What should I do? Scrap the whole thing? 4 player tournaments kind of suck, its short, the money isn't there to make it worthwhile and while I love hosting and don't want to stop but, I also don't want to keep having 1/2 table tournaments. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

* The picture of the poker table is staged btw. My garage was much cleaner on the night of the tourney.
** The picture of the food table was taken after a coupe people grabbed plates so it's not as pretty as it was.
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Where in WA? I'm in Tacoma. There is a good group on here from Seattle/Bellevue/Woodinville.

 

[dennis63]

People can be flaky at times. At one of my earlier games, I had six people say they would be there and one show up. I've actually had someone say he'd be there "if (he) didn't have anything better to do."

You are doing everything right. I wish I lived closer. Simply invite more people.

 

[Highli99]

Some of my best degens will respond “maybe” to my evite literally an hour before the game. These squirrels live by the seat of their pants I’m telling you.

 

[Dodger]

Case in point. Have our league opener tonight. 31 guys on the invite list. Max 20 seats available. For the last 2 weeks, we’ve had 18 confirmed. In the last two days it’s jumped up and down, up and down. Now down to 15 confirmed just hours before game time. And I still have 7 who have yet to reply at all.

You aren’t doing anything wrong. People are people.

 

[grantc54]

Yes, my last game (which is my annual bigger game) went from 30 to 28 to 27 to 28 to 26 to 28 to a final attendance 29 the week before the game.

Depending on the degen level of player (aka how they prioritìze poker) I find a guarantee 10-30% of people will drop before the game and half of that will be recaptured by last minute additions.

I had one guy show up for a game who never responded to ANY of my invite emails. Since someone had bailed the morning of I was glad to see him.

 

[Swisspiss]

Ok guys, great advice and pretty good news on the game... I offered the two guys that showed up last time the option of doing a tournament or, if they just wanted to play a 25c/50c cash game and it was pretty one sided. They wanted to just play the cash game. So we did that and it turned out great! It was tons of fun.. We started around 7pm and played until almost 11pm. My buddy that's brand new actually caught some pretty good hands and at one point was on the high hand board with 7's full of 9's. He lost it to k's full of 9's by the end of the night but he still left with 20 bucks. He bought in for 40 and was pretty stoked to leave with 20. My cousin who also bought in for 40 left with 95 bucks and the whiskey glass high hand prize so he was over the moon! I bought in for 40 but threw another 20 in the box to give my fiancé an additional15 and me another 5. She busted out but I left with 60 bucks so that's cool.

I pitched the idea of the name badges and it didn't really fly. According to the responses on got on here, I wasn't really surprised. Doesn't sound like name badges, no matter how cool they look, is something anyone wants to wear. So no big deal, I think I'll just print my QR code for the wi-fi and put it up on the board so people can scan it and forget about the name badges. I also asked both of my guys if they had one person that might like to show up with them next time. They both said that they did and they would ask. I've already got a guy that will show up for me (hopefully) if I ask him. I've been talking to him about poker and it sounds like he's down. He's a single guy with no other commitments besides work and fishing. So, I will hopefully add 3 more to my player list by next month.

All in all, you guys were right. About pretty much everything. I appreciate all the awesome honesty and advice I've gotten. I haven't received a single negative comment or a "you're stupid, go home kid" type of response that one expects from reddit and the like. So glad I joined this community. I think this game is gonna work out and we will just rotate between cash games and tournaments. I think I'll save tourneys till we have at least 8. Again, I thank all of you who responded and gave some solid advice. Also, I'm about 7 beers in so I hope this doesn't sound too emotional..

My cousin matt who left with the most money and the high hand prize and a happy Tyson (me) with my table after the party and everything was cleaned up.. Face to the name and what not.

P.S. Hopefully my eyes don't get you pregnant..

P.P.S. Matt has also told me to set up a donation box which I have yet to do but he did pitch me $3.50 of his winnings. Is this something that is normal? A donation box for providing the house, table, drinks and food? I honestly don't know but he told me that people should donate to help out. This is on the verge of making an illegal poker game for me so I'm kinda iffy... What do you guys think?

 

[Mr Winberg]

Damn you!!! I'm putting my two small children to bed, one fell asleep and the other was really close, so I thought it safe to slip out the phone and check PCF. Then I read this

P.S. Hopefully my eyes don't get you pregnant..

LOL!!!

Now they're both wide awake

 

[navels]

Where in WA? I'm in Tacoma. There is a good group on here from Seattle/Bellevue/Woodinville.

Echoing this . . . we have a solid group of reliable, good peeps in the Seattle area that would love to help you get your game off the ground!

 

[JMC9389]

Ok guys, great advice and pretty good news on the game... I offered the two guys that showed up last time the option of doing a tournament or, if they just wanted to play a 25c/50c cash game and it was pretty one sided. They wanted to just play the cash game. So we did that and it turned out great! It was tons of fun.. We started around 7pm and played until almost 11pm. My buddy that's brand new actually caught some pretty good hands and at one point was on the high hand board with 7's full of 9's. He lost it to k's full of 9's by the end of the night but he still left with 20 bucks. He bought in for 40 and was pretty stoked to leave with 20. My cousin who also bought in for 40 left with 95 bucks and the whiskey glass high hand prize so he was over the moon! I bought in for 40 but threw another 20 in the box to give my fiancé an additional15 and me another 5. She busted out but I left with 60 bucks so that's cool.

I pitched the idea of the name badges and it didn't really fly. According to the responses on got on here, I wasn't really surprised. Doesn't sound like name badges, no matter how cool they look, is something anyone wants to wear. So no big deal, I think I'll just print my QR code for the wi-fi and put it up on the board so people can scan it and forget about the name badges. I also asked both of my guys if they had one person that might like to show up with them next time. They both said that they did and they would ask. I've already got a guy that will show up for me (hopefully) if I ask him. I've been talking to him about poker and it sounds like he's down. He's a single guy with no other commitments besides work and fishing. So, I will hopefully add 3 more to my player list by next month.

All in all, you guys were right. About pretty much everything. I appreciate all the awesome honesty and advice I've gotten. I haven't received a single negative comment or a "you're stupid, go home kid" type of response that one expects from reddit and the like. So glad I joined this community. I think this game is gonna work out and we will just rotate between cash games and tournaments. I think I'll save tourneys till we have at least 8. Again, I thank all of you who responded and gave some solid advice. Also, I'm about 7 beers in so I hope this doesn't sound too emotional..

My cousin matt who left with the most money and the high hand prize and a happy Tyson (me) with my table after the party and everything was cleaned up.. Face to the name and what not.

P.S. Hopefully my eyes don't get you pregnant..

P.P.S. Matt has also told me to set up a donation box which I have yet to do but he did pitch me $3.50 of his winnings. Is this something that is normal? A donation box for providing the house, table, drinks and food? I honestly don't know but he told me that people should donate to help out. This is on the verge of making an illegal poker game for me so I'm kinda iffy... What do you guys think?


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This one's a keeper.

That god damn Loch Ness Monstah!

 

[Swisspiss]

Echoing this . . . we have a solid group of reliable, good peeps in the Seattle area that would love to help you get your game off the ground!

I'm down here in South Hill, Puyallup. Near 176th and Meridian. It may be kind of a drive for folks coming from Seattle or Bellevue but I'll leave that up to them.

FYI, my fiancé was a little sketched out when I mentioned inviting people she doesn't know to the house but, I told her that the game will stay pretty stagnant at best unless we are open to it. I want a full table. I'd like two full tables. A nice 4 hour tourney that pays out 3 or 4 places where first place can actually leave with 7 or 8 times their buy-in. That sounds great to me, it doesn't have to be people I've know for years. I have known very few poker players in my life that are straight up assholes or make you uncomfortable to be around. (I have met a few though, as I'm sure we all have)

So, what I'm saying is I'm open to it. I would like my invite list to reach 20 by the end of the year. The way I see it, your best friends were strangers until you met them right?

 

[Swisspiss]

Now they're both wide awake

Sorry Bro! These things are always getting me in trouble... One way or another.

 

[navels]

Just don't tell her we're chip collectors . . . then she'll know we're nuts

Okay 45 minutes from me so a bit of a stretch but not impossible.

 

[Swisspiss]

Just don't tell her we're chip collectors . . . then she'll know we're nuts

Okay 45 minutes from me so a bit of a stretch but not impossible.

Yea, I knew it would be a bit of a drive. I drive a ton for my position at work and my territory runs north/south from Seattle to Olympia. I even go as far west as Port Orchard and as far east as Greenwater so I'm no stranger to long drives. I get it. If it's a trek you wouldn't mind making though, let me know and I can try to organize something with you. Maybe as soon as next month.

 

[Saoliver]

I'm down here in South Hill, Puyallup. Near 176th and Meridian. It may be kind of a drive for folks coming from Seattle or Bellevue but I'll leave that up to them.

FYI, my fiancé was a little sketched out when I mentioned inviting people she doesn't know to the house but, I told her that the game will stay pretty stagnant at best unless we are open to it. I want a full table. I'd like two full tables. A nice 4 hour tourney that pays out 3 or 4 places where first place can actually leave with 7 or 8 times their buy-in. That sounds great to me, it doesn't have to be people I've know for years. I have known very few poker players in my life that are straight up assholes or make you uncomfortable to be around. (I have met a few though, as I'm sure we all have)

So, what I'm saying is I'm open to it. I would like my invite list to reach 20 by the end of the year. The way I see it, your best friends were strangers until you met them right?

Easy drive for me.

 

[umbkcshah]

P.P.S. Matt has also told me to set up a donation box which I have yet to do but he did pitch me $3.50 of his winnings. Is this something that is normal? A donation box for providing the house, table, drinks and food? I honestly don't know but he told me that people should donate to help out. This is on the verge of making an illegal poker game for me so I'm kinda iffy... What do you guys think?

Solid efforts. Everything takes time. Alot of great advice already given.

I'm not sure about a donation box, a little tacky. Hopefully if/when it becomes a regular crowd, people will bring a 6 pack/bottle/etc., donate their 'change' (odd amounts <5 or <10 depending on person), offer to supply something to offset some costs.

 

[Swisspiss]

Easy drive for me.

Oh sweet, well maybe you could come by one of these nights and play.

 

[Josh Kifer]

Easy drive for me.

Just don't ask him to ship you anything quickly.....

 

[Saoliver]

Just don't ask him to ship you anything quickly.....