Poker Essays
Organising
a Live Poker Tournament
From
Learn-Texas-Holdem.com
September 2008
Poker tournaments are a lot of fun. It's fun to watch
them on television, when you can see all the cards
and how the pro's make the decisions that win them
millions of dollars on shows such as the World Poker
Tour and the World Series of Poker. They're fun to
play in too. It's becoming more and more common for
people to host their own live poker tournaments, as
a poker tournament is a wonderfully entertaining,
highly social activity for an evening with friends.
Here are some considerations for those of you planning
to arrange your own live Texas Holdem tournament.
First,
you should be aware that in most jurisdictions hosting
a poker tournament is legal as long as the host is
not making a profit from the game. Still, to be safe,
you should look into your local statutes regarding
this subject.
Make
sure you have all the equipment set up and ready to
go before your competitors arrive. This includes two
different colored decks of card for each table, tables
to accommodate all the competitors, enough chips for
all the players, and some way to time the rounds.
If you want to hire professional dealers that's great,
but usually players can deal for themselves. It's
also nice if you have some refreshments available.
It's okay to have each player put in an extra dollar
or two to chip in for this.
You
can play in your own poker tournament if you want,
but realize it will be difficult because you will
have many responsibilities. It's up to you to break
down tables as seats open up, and to move players
if tables need evening out. You'll also have to settle
all disputes. If you are playing, you should appoint
someone else to handle disputes in case you are one
of the players involved in the dispute.
Make
sure the buy in for your tournament isn't so high
that players are going to be miserable if they fail
to cash. In fact, depending on how many players you
have, you should probably make the buy in low enough
that you can get in two or three tournaments in an
evening. Typically, tournaments pay 10 percent of
the players, with the winner getting a little more
than a third of the total prize pool. You can distribute
the prize pool however you like, but make sure the
players know and approve of the prize distribution
before you start.
Finally,
be sure to have something for players that are knocked
out to do. Nothing is worse than to be the first player
out of the tournament and have to sit around twiddling
your thumbs for hours while you wait for the tournament
to end. Televisions tuned to sporting events, computer
terminals available for online Holdem play and separate
tables for cash games or "losers" tournaments are
all great options to entertain early exiting guests.
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