kickback for the host

[grandgnu]

Some people recommend you give 10% of your winnings if you place 1st, to the host. Some people don't give squat.

I personally host games, and did so without any rake/house fee. I was providing a nice spread of chips, home baked cookies and sodas at my own expense. Plus the purchase of all the equipment to run it, and the time spent setting everything up (many hours go into keeping in touch with people and keeping the events full)

It's a lot of work, and it can be pretty expensive up-front when you're just starting out. I eventually added a house-fee for awhile, but decided to drop it.

Instead, I found a nice way to encourage people to attend more frequently, and to increase competition.

I added a Tournament Leader Board, and 5% of every prize pool was taken out to fund a championship prize pool for the top five players at the end of the year (my events can hold up to 16 players each night)

10% of the prize pool would've built up our leader board fund much better, but 5% is barely noticed when it's taken out. I place it in a separate interest-bearing bank account designated for the poker event.

The top five players at the end of the year will be able to play for this prize pool, each player winning something, and I'll likely offer bounties out of the prize pool (i.e. you eliminate another player and you win 25 bucks or whatever)

The expected prize pool for them to play for will be between $500-$1,000 or so. This is because of a few things:

1. I was holding half my events at 7-stud tourneys, and they aren't as popular or well attended. I've since dumped them and my cash games and we're unfortunately going all NL hold em tournies

2. The TLB main event will be in September, because I'm getting married in October (otherwise if would've been in December, increasing the prize pool available)

Anyway, as host, this gives me a little better shot at making that main event and having a shot at some extra money, without taking any house fees. I'm always going to play all the events I hold, while other players may or may not. While I've recently taken back 1st place on the leader board, other players are nipping at my heels, and one player who's only attended three events has made the top 5, so there's time for me to get bumped out. Luckily I play fairly well, so I should be able to make it into that event and get some extra dough for my efforts.