1. Pick the tournament format
Freezeout is the simplest: one stack per player, busted means out. With rebuys, a busted player can buy a new stack during the first levels, which grows the prize pool and gives the unlucky a second chance. Bounty adds a price on every head, PKO makes it grow with each knockout, and Mystery Bounty hides it in envelopes revealed at elimination. For a first night, freezeout or rebuys are plenty.
2. Set the buy-in and the payouts
Pick a buy-in everyone can lose without thinking about it the next day: €10 to €30 is the home-game norm. Before the first hand, announce how many places are paid and at what percentage. Under 10 players, pay 2 or 3 places; between 10 and 15, four. Our payout calculator works it out from the number of players, the buy-in and the rebuys.
3. Prepare the blind structure
The structure sets the length of the night. Expect about 3 hours for around ten players with 20-minute starting levels, 2 hours with 15-minute levels, 1 hour in turbo. Plan a break every 1.5 to 2 hours. Our tournament structure generator builds the full grid, blinds, antes and start time of every level, for four paces.
4. Hand out the chips
Aim for about 100 big blinds to start and 20 to 35 chips per player, spread over 4 or 5 values. The chip distribution calculator tells you how many chips of each value to give everyone, and how many the set needs to hold.
5. The gear
- A chip set: 300 chips for 8 to 10 players, 500 beyond.
- Two decks of plastic cards, so nobody waits for the shuffle between hands.
- A dealer button, plus blind markers if the table is big.
- A blind timer everyone can see: it is what kills the “what level are we on?” every ten minutes. A screen or TV with the timer, current and next blinds genuinely changes the night.
- A table for 8 to 10, or two tables beyond 10 players, with randomly drawn seats.
6. During the night
Collect buy-ins before handing out chips, and write down who paid. Draw seats, start the timer, and let it run: you don't pause it for a long hand. Record every elimination with its finishing place, that is what makes the final standings. With several tables, rebalance as soon as one table is two players short of another, and merge to one table as soon as you can.
Late in the tournament, the last players may want to make a deal: that is their call, as long as the total doesn't change and everyone agrees.
7. Afterwards: the recap and the leaderboard
A podium, everyone's winnings and the memorable knockouts: that is what makes people come back. Over several nights, a season leaderboard turns isolated games into a championship among friends. Blinder generates the shareable recap in one link and keeps the group leaderboard automatically.