Tourney What is your tournament director process? (1 Viewer)

ngmcs8203

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So I am considering running Tournament Director through VMWare on my MacBook Pro and screen mirroring it to my TV.

I like that it can track buy-ins, bounties, add-ons and re-buys and present it on the screen. However, in testing it seems like a hassle to have to go to my laptop, pause the clock, make change as the banker, update the app, and then restart.

Is there a simpler way? Should I just use it as a clock and remove all that additional info off the screen?
 
Expanding on what I sent you in PM.

I have tried using a Mac and so far have had no luck. So I keep an in-expensive Windows machine laying around for TD. I am also fortunate to work in IT, so I have access to extra Windows laptops to keep around. But I digress.

If you are able to use VMware and screen mirror from your Macbook I would love to hear how you get it working. But if that works then you should be able to just setup the Macbook near wherever you are sitting and run everything from right there, other than making change as the banker, and that shouldn't last too long into a tournament, with the exception of a rebuy during play. I was lucky that I normally had someone else that could act as banker, so I didn't have to worry about that part of it.

I never paused the clock, unless we were coming out of a break and needed more time, or if we were balancing tables, and even then I didn't pause it unless it was a complicated rebalance. One of the biggest things in learning the hot keys, or adding the TDButtons that you need during game play to your layout. This lets you pull up just the tool to do let's say a bust out, you click the bustee and the buster, determine if tables need to be rebalanced, and go on. No need to pause the clock or update the app, if there is a rebuy period, it should prompt to allow the player to rebuy as well.

If you are planning to use it to keep track of all your users, and be able to keep stats on users from tournament to tournament, TD is awesome. If you are just looking for a blinds timer and display, it is probably overkill.

As for mirroring, if you can screen mirror the VMWare using Apple screen mirroring, that should work. It still might be cleaner to use chrome and chromecasts as I mentioned below and do it all from the VMWare window and not use the Mac for anything but the processing in the background.

Now we can just hope that v.4 of TD will support Macs, and then it will be a new learning curve for me figuring out how to mirror it.


Sent in PM to OP, just in case others are interested in how I use TD.

It depends on how you have it setup. The best setup is a monitor attached locally to the laptop, or 2 monitors on the computer. That way you can put the game screen on one monitor and the control screen on the laptop. Then you can cast or share the 2nd screen to other monitors.

Doing it this way you can perform all the tasks (rebuy/add, bust player, reseating, etc.) and it won't show on the main screen.

The last few times I ran it I was trying to see if I could run wirelessly so that I could sit anywhere with the laptop as long as I have power. And it worked, but when you are doing any of the in-game tasks, the control screen will be shown on all the screens. But I have found it is not that disruptive to the players.

As for casting, the easiest way that I have found is using Chromecasts and the Chrome browser. I just create additional users in Chrome for each chromecast, and then share the whole screen with Chrome. It seems to work pretty well.

When I first started, I just had my laptop and one big tv monitor and that worked pretty well.

Let me know if you need more info or clarification.
 
Apparently latest version of VMWare Fusion doesn't let you use multiple monitors separately. You are stuck with one screen, mirrored. I think the best course of action is to use an old PC laptop or install Parallels.
 
I tried Parallels and had a couple of issues. But that was also on an older Macbook Pro. My newer one with the M1 Pro chip could probably handle it better.
 
Yep looks like boot camp is the solution. Unless I can somehow cast to a google Home Screen as a second device or run a computer monitor into that room (which none have stands), my TV will be the tourney screen. Bummer since I’m sure having some form of entertainment on there would be nice. I guess music is going to have to suffice.
 
I usually walk around and go “hey fucko gimme money for this bullshit tourney”.

Then when I think I’ve got just about enough I tell everyone “fuckos, tournament starts, go shit or whatever”.

I write down the prizes (1st through 3rd because 4th can get fucked) on a paper plate so we can flip it over and eat whatever I ordered from Brickhouse on it afterwards.

I setup the blinds via blindvalet on my phone and yell out to everyone when they change.

As soon as the cash game restarts and I’m knocked out of the tourney I hand off the blindvalet and the paper plate to whomever is either a) the most sober, b) the most responsible or c) most likely to win.

Usually it’s @JoseRijo. He runs a great tournament after I’m done with it.

(None of this was really that much of an exaggeration).
 
Yep looks like boot camp is the solution. Unless I can somehow cast to a google Home Screen as a second device or run a computer monitor into that room (which none have stands), my TV will be the tourney screen. Bummer since I’m sure having some form of entertainment on there would be nice. I guess music is going to have to suffice.
I will have to try that with the test machine I have here. If you figure out a way to cast it let me know. I have used multiple Chrome profiles to cast the desktop to multiple Chromecasts attached to monitors, so there might be a way.
 
Apparently some apps let you cast to airplay devices but it is only a mirrored cast. I don’t mind running an hdmi cable out of my tv to my laptop. I’ll just sit in the seat closest to the laptop with my back to the TV
 
Apparently some apps let you cast to airplay devices but it is only a mirrored cast. I don’t mind running an hdmi cable out of my tv to my laptop. I’ll just sit in the seat closest to the laptop with my back to the TV
I have done that too. Casting is nice if you can figure it out because then you are not tied to a specific seat.
 
I have done that too. Casting is nice if you can figure it out because then you are not tied to a specific seat.
True but then you have to have a table next to you. I suppose if I already had a little table next to me that would be a nice thing to have (mobility). I should probably get something to store bank/chips/extra cards at some point. Someone posted a converted kitchen cabinet on casters. That was cool.
 
Am new to TD and love the freedom of game setup. But took many hours to find a combo of software that worked for casting to the TV.

I have my PC with two monitors. One I use to manage/control the software, the other is what the players see. I use windows inbuilt casting of the player's screen to the TV screen (linked by casting dongle). Then I set up chrome remote assist link between my tablet and the PC. This way I can control the PC remotely on the tablet and do all tasks in the software and the players don't see a thing. Can also use the tablet to control the music playing through the PC.

The one thing that bothers me is the cast to the TV seems to have a slight lag and flicker every few seconds. Not sure if is software related or the casting dongle.
 
New to this thread, but whats the point of using VMware to use TD instead of just running TD organically?
 
New to this thread, but whats the point of using VMware to use TD instead of just running TD organically?
I initially tried VMware after reading this thread but couldn't get that software to work at all. I wonder if the previous thread info is outdated due to software changes.
 
Before using TD I used Dr. Neau on my Mac, and just plugged it to a big TV, for TD ended up using an old Windows 10 laptop like @brewdawg
 
I can write more up later. I’ve used TD for 10+ years. I have a powered HDMI splitter and run to 2 TV’s. Works great.
 

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