How to run a home poker tournament online

A tournament gives your poker night a start, a finish and one winner who will not stop talking about it. The structure is what makes it fun or painful, so here is how to pick the numbers before anyone sits down.

Cash game or tournament?

In a cash game the blinds never change and players come and go. In a tournament everyone starts with the same stack, the blinds go up on a clock, and players are knocked out until one person holds every chip. Tournaments suit groups who want a shared start time and a clear result. They also keep the pressure rising: a player who sits tight for an hour will find the blinds eating the stack, so everyone has to play hands sooner or later.

Before you set anything up, answer three questions: how many people are coming, how long you want the night to last, and whether latecomers should still be able to join. Every other number follows from those.

Starting stacks

Think about the starting stack in big blinds, not chips. The number that matters is how many big blinds each player has at the first level:

• 50 big blinds: fast. Fine for a short game after work, but there is little room to outplay anyone.
• 100 big blinds: the sweet spot for most home games. Enough depth for real decisions early on, short enough to finish in an evening.
• 150 to 200 big blinds: deep and slow. Good for a long weekend session with players who like to think.

A 5,000 chip stack with blinds starting at 25/50 is exactly 100 big blinds, and it is easy to count. On PokerClub the starting stack has to be at least 20 big blinds of the first level, so the software stops you from setting up a tournament that is over before it begins.

Blind levels

Two settings control the pace: how long each level lasts and how much the blinds rise. Increases of roughly 20 to 50 percent per level feel natural. Doubling every level is too steep; the middle of the tournament disappears and it turns into an all-in contest.

For an online game, 10 to 15 minutes per level works well, because online hands move faster than hands dealt by hand. The schedule below fits six to nine players, a 5,000 chip start and about two to two and a half hours of play:

Antes join at level 4 to push the action once the early levels have given everyone a chance to play some hands. If your group finishes too early, make the levels longer rather than changing the stack; if it runs late, shorten them. With more players, add levels at the end and keep the same rhythm.

Rebuys and add-ons

A rebuy lets a player who busts early buy a fresh stack and keep playing. It is the kindest rule a home game can have: the friend who lost a big hand in the first ten minutes does not have to spend the rest of the evening watching. Limit it, though. A common setup is one or two rebuys per player, available until the first break.

An add-on is a single extra stack every remaining player may take at the end of the rebuy period, usually during the break. It evens out stacks a little and gives short-stacked players a second wind. On PokerClub the add-on is offered in the break straight after the last rebuy level, so if you want one, add a break at that point in your schedule.

Late registration

Somebody always arrives late. Late registration lets players join after the start, with a full starting stack, for the first few levels. Two or three levels is plenty: long enough to forgive a traffic jam, short enough that a latecomer does not get an unfair deep stack when the blinds are already high. For a scheduled tournament on PokerClub you choose how many levels registration stays open.

Payouts: bragging rights, not money

A tournament needs a result, but it does not need money. On PokerClub the buy-in and the prize pool are both in the club's virtual chips, which have no cash value and can never be cashed out, sold or exchanged for anything. What the winner takes home is a bigger chip balance and a week of bragging rights.

You can let PokerClub split the prize pool automatically or set your own percentages. The automatic split depends on how many players entered:

Many groups also keep a season table on the side: 10 points for a win, 7 for second, 5 for third, 1 for turning up. Tally it in your group chat or a shared spreadsheet and crown a champion at the end of the season. It turns a single night into a running rivalry, which is what keeps home games going for years.

Running it on PokerClub

Club owners create tournaments from the club screen. Two formats are available:

• Sit & Go (SNG): starts as soon as the last seat is filled. Ideal when everyone is online at the same time and you do not want to set a clock.
• Multi-table tournament (MTT): starts at a scheduled time and balances players across tables as others are knocked out. If too few players have registered by the start time, it is cancelled and every buy-in is returned.

As the owner you set the game (No-Limit Hold'em or Pot-Limit Omaha), buy-in, starting stack, seats per table, every blind level with its ante and length, breaks, late registration, rebuys, the add-on, the payout split, the turn timer and a time bank for tough decisions. PokerClub then runs the clock, moves the button, handles eliminations and side pots, and pays the prizes in chips when the tournament ends.

A tip for the first night: run a small Sit & Go with shortened levels as a test. It takes twenty minutes and everyone learns the buttons before the real event.

A checklist for the night

• Agree on a start time and post it in the group chat.
• Make sure every player is an approved member of the club and has enough club chips for the buy-in and any rebuys.
• Share the structure in advance so nobody is surprised when the antes kick in.
• Keep a voice call running if your group likes to talk; PokerClub's table chat covers the rest.
• Decide on the season points before the first hand, not after.

Keep reading: how to play Hold'em and Omaha, poker hand rankings, hosting a poker night online or how a private poker room works.