Four Tips for Hosting Multi-Table Poker Tournaments

Hosting a multi-table poker tournament is no easy feat. With players, chips, and money constantly shuffling around, it’s easy to become confused. Luckily, you’ve come to Nevada Jacks, where we have all of the supplies you need to run a successful multi-table tournament and several helpful tips to get you started off on the right foot.

Use Custom Poker Chips

If your budget allows, purchase custom poker chips, especially if you aren’t familiar with the players in your game. Let’s face it: the poker chips you’re using will likely be white, red, green, blue, and black. How hard would it be for someone you don’t know entering your massive multi-table tournament to sneak a few extra chips into his stack? Answer: Not hard at all. Accordingly, purchase custom poker chips from Nevada Jacks, which alleviates this problem entirely.

Not only will your chips stand out because they are casino-grade, but also because they’ll say something obvious like “Jim’s Card Emporium” on the front. When you notice a player toss out a plain chip, it’s time to start asking questions. If nothing else, make the most valuable chips in play custom-made. That way, you’ll know your game is legit and can make it as large as you want.

Custom chips for poker home games aren’t as expensive as you might think, especially if you plan to use them quite a few times. We can sell you a 500-piece custom poker chipset for less than $400. Remember, these are durable, casino-grade chips that you’ll be able to pass down to your children.

Tournament Clocks are a Must

You cannot operate an efficient multi-table tournament without a tournament timer. Moreover, you’ll need exactly one timer for the entire room. Don’t let players individually keep time on their watches or purchase clocks for each table. Instead, use a laptop and a piece of free software like The Poker Timer to log the blinds and time remaining in each level. Perch your computer somewhere where everyone can see it and issue your “Shuffle up and deal” command. Some programs, like the Home Game Poker Clock, are web-based, which means you don’t even have to download any software.

Whoever the tournament’s host is should handle all aspects of the event, from passing out your custom poker chips to hitting the start and stop buttons on the timer. If a person isn’t playing, but attending the game and knows the basics of poker, then he or she may be a prime candidate to manage the game for you while you play. It all depends on who attends and their level of poker know-how.

Information is Power

Displaying as much information as possible during a multi-table tournament is critical. With players of varying skill levels gathered under one roof, it’s a smart idea to buy a big dry erase board and write the following information so everyone can see:

Current blind level
Next blind level
Poker chip values
Payouts and number of places paid
Game-specific rules
Number of players remaining
Total prize pool
Buy-in and rebuy amounts

Now that everyone is on the same page, your poker home game is likely to run quite smoothly. Although many tournament clocks display the above information, make sure to post it where everyone can see it, even from afar.

Follow the Rules

Review the basic rules of your game with everyone before you begin. If rebuys are only allowed during the first hour, say so. If you’ll be coloring up the white chips after the second break, go over that as well. If you want to tell your friends that you bought your custom poker chipset at Nevada Jacks, do that as well. Just lay out all of the groundwork for a successful game ahead of time. Your sanity will thank you.