How to Host a Poker Tournament at Home

Hosting a Texas Hold'em Tournament at your home is a fantastic way to have fun with your friends and family. It’s a relatively simple process if you follow these steps.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• friends and family
• home
• table (poker table or table top optional)
• drinks and snacks (optional)
• dealer button (optional)
• timer (manual or software)

1. Set the date. You have to choose a time and date for the event so people will know when to show up. Make sure it's a convenient time and one that will encourage people to attend.

2. Pick your spot. The location is important. There must be ample room to play. You'll also need to figure out if you need more than one table.

3. Decide the structure. There are many kinds of tournaments. Will the event be a freezeout or rebuy? Will you play for money, bragging rights, prizes or the like? How often will the blinds change? What is the blind structure? Will you start really low like $.01/.02 or higher like $1/$2 for example?

4. Invite friends by publicizing your event. If people don't know about it, they can't go to it. Email them. Send out invitations using free tools like Evite or social media such as Facebook and/or Twitter, but base your invites on the amount of space you have. Overcrowding is no fun in poker.

5. Prep the homestead for the party. Do you need to clean the place? What about drinks and snacks? Make sure there are enough chairs for everyone who wants to play and that your 'tournament tools' - timer, dealer button (if you're using one) and so forth - are handy.

6. Pick a tournament director (TD) if you don't decide to monitor the action yourself. This person can play as well, but he/she must keep an eye on the time and announce blind raises. Of course, if you opt to be the TD, you can ask someone else to help or take over during the event especially if you make the final table.

7. Shuffle up and deal. Start the event and see it through to the end! Make sure to have fun in the meantime.

Tips & Warnings

• The name of the game doesn't have to be Texas Hold'em. You can play a mixture of games such as Razz (low ball stud), 5 Card Draw and more.
• Due to gaming restrictions in many areas, you should check with your local authorities or State Attorney General's Office if necessary to determine what you can and can not do legally. Some locations don't allow money to be exchanged even in a home game. Know the law so you can minimize your liability.

Resources

• Home Poker Tourney
• Robert's Rules of Poker

[thebestintown]

on 3/21/2009 A-1 Bingo supplies (http://www.a-1bingo.com) might be the type of place that you’re looking for. If it’s entertainment supplies such as a casino night type setup or a poker fundraiser. Hey, they even rent out a photo booth which is pretty cool. I don’t know exactly where you’re located, but they are based out of Grand Rapids, and concentrate on the West Michigan are, but I believe they are more than happy to make arrangements based upon specific situations.