Home Poker Tournament Setup

Many of you play in poker tournaments either online or in your local casinos. Some of you even play in home tournaments that you run with friends. I had the opportunity to play in a home tournament earlier today and it was extremely well run compared to some of the home poker tournaments I have played in in the past. Some of those tournaments did not have a defined structure, re-buy periods were altered once they had been established and many small things that easily could have been addressed with a little more attention to detail.

Here are a few things you want to nail down before inviting your buddies over to play in a home poker tournament:

1. Establish the buy-in and / or re-buys and stick to it. If you let everyone know and they agree on a particular buy-in stick to it. Only make a change if EVERYONE is in agreement with the buy-in or re-buy change.
2. Have enough chips available for the number of players in the tournament. This is a situation that can easily be avoided by knowing how many players are coming out Usually I have enough chips for at least 5 additional poker players and that way if we get a few more than expected it's not big deal.
3. Have a clock and running levels on a computer and place it where it can be seen. You can accomplish this buy using a small projector. In my case I simply plug my laptop into my big screen TV and everyone can see how much time is left in that level.
4. Make sure you have enough food and snacks. Nothing like being fifteen minutes late and all the food being gone. Stock up on the snacks. Nothing real expensive but make sure you have enough for everyone.

If you can follow those three simple setup rules you will more than keep your friends happy playing your home tournament.