If you’re planning to host your very own poker home game, then you’ll need to decide what format to use. Will it be a single-table tournament or does your group’s size warrant multiple tables? Or, maybe a cash game is in the offing. Let’s take a look at some of the more popular poker home game formats and assess the pros and cons of each.

Single-Table Tournament

Single-table tournaments are the most common form of poker home game and involve a group of players sitting around one table vying in a tournament format. Typically, between four and ten players will battle under a pre-determined structure and the top two to three places will pay out. It’s an easy way to have a relaxing evening with your friends and family.

Pros: A single-table tournament is a very intimate home game format. The game has a finite starting and ending point with a structure that will likely be easy for players to follow. Each entrant can only lose a limited amount of money; if you’re playing a freezeout, for example, once you lose your starting stack, you’re out. Single-table tournaments don’t require a lot of space or supplies since only one playing area is used and, as players are eliminated, they can start side games to their hearts’ content.

Cons: If you don’t structure a tournament such that the blinds escalate quickly enough, the game can drag on with no end in sight. To counter this problem, use a commercial game clock or computer program in order to keep the price of poker going up. Starting blind levels and chip stacks should depend on how long you want your game to last, so consult a pre-made program or sample tournament structure and adjust accordingly. Most single-table home games last about three to four hours and feature blind levels ranging in length from 20 to 30 minutes.

Multi-Table Tournament

If you have ample poker supplies, like chipsets, playing cards, and game clocks, then a multi-table tournament is feasible. Remember that you’ll need ample space to host more than one table in your living room or basement.

Pros: Multi-table tournaments can mean major cash prizes, as 15 to 25 entrants are common. If you have enough players and plenty of seating and supplies, then a multi-table tournament can be easily set up and carried out. Multi-table tournaments can provide a fun, lively atmosphere, adding even more enjoyment to your home game.

Cons: It can be quite complicated to run a game with 15 to 25 players. Essentially, your game becomes a miniature World Series of Poker Main Event, with the action sprawled out and players with different skill sets and poker know-how colliding on the same felt. Finding enough seating, supplies, and room to host a two or three-table affair is much more difficult than it sounds. Finally, the sheer volume of players can cause disruptions to your housemates and neighbors, who are forced to deal with issues like parking and noise.

Cash Games

Cash games provide the ultimate in flexibility and come in all shapes and sizes, from high-stakes No Limit Hold’em to micro-stakes Dealer’s Choice formats. Cash games populate the houses of poker fans across the world.

Pros: Tournaments require several hours to complete, but cash games allow players to come and go as they please. Even prospective home game participants with only an hour or two to spare can enjoy a cash game and then depart whenever they’d like. Cash games can be tailored to the participants’ bankrolls and only require enough chips and cards as their number of entrants requires. Because players aren’t racing against escalating blinds, cash games are comparatively low-stress. Finally, ring games can allow you to play multiple poker games in the same sitting in a loose structure.

Cons: The amount of money that can be won by any single player in a cash game is limited. Overall, the maximum amount players that can expect to win from each other is lower since no big “jackpot prize” exists. Additionally, determining the game and stake for your table may prove difficult if players have different experience levels. Cash games can also be quite difficult to pay out without the presence of smaller bills and, sometimes, coins in order to pay out odd amounts.