How to make sure enough players show up for poker night?

[crabsgalore]

So.....? How would you do it differently?

[Accident]

I provide a nice environment to play in. KEM/Copag cards. Casino quality chips and tables. Food sometimes. Icechests and fridge. I send out an email to about 15 players in advance about 2 or 3 days out. Then there are about 10 more people that have to be called. I call another poker games host and tell him to call all those guys. Kind of a network of card players. Had 3 regulars cancel out last friday and still had 8 for the tourney and 7 in cash afterwards. Give them what they want and they will come. Oh, yea, and overinvite. Most I've had show up is 14.
Accident [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

[grandgnu]

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So.....? How would you do it differently?

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Let everyone know in the emails that you will start at a certain time. If anyone isn't there at that time, their hands will be dealt and folded, along with any blinds/antes.

Anyone not arriving an hour after start time will have their remaining chips removed from the table.

I used to do the whole chasing people down stuff as well, constantly calling people right before the event to ensure they were indeed coming. But over time the popularity of my events has helped to reduce those issues. I've got over 100 email contacts for my events, so finding players usually isn't a problem (if you don't mind allowing newer strangers into your events)

But require people to RSVP for a seat if they want to play. And if they don't RSVP, then they can't play, simple as that.

[DerryABU]

A local cardroom I've played in offers 10% extra chips to people who arrive at least 10 mins early.It seems to work,might be worth a try.

[LetsRock]

You can't make anybody do anything. All you can do is provide a game and invite people.

My group uses a web site called Evite for our invites. It let's everybody rsvp and you can get a headcount as the date approaches. It works very well.

If it looks like you're not going to get enough players, you can just cancel the game. If you do that a couple of times, the players will get the hint that you're serious about them respecting your game.

As far as food goes, we started out having the host provide some food and asking for donations to help cover costs. It started out with pizza and sandos, but after a few hosts got stiffed, we've pretty much gone to a "bring it if you want it" policy. It work out fine. Some of us will throw out some munchies once in a while and if we have a particularly long session, we'll take a break and make a burger run.

[smartalecc5]

Call them.

[Lottery Larry]

Of any list of available players, expect to get 40-50% on average, on any given night. Less on cash game nights, more for tourneys.

That's my experience anyway. You might want to expand your invitation list

[mrmookid]

Well one of the first things we did was make Thursdays Poker Night. That way, there's no question. If the calendar says it's Thursday that means it's Poker Night. We didn't want a weekend because some of the non-geeky players like to go outside the house.

I used to call everyone (about 20 people) but now I send out an e-mail to everyone. Around 75% confirm over e-mail and I track down the remaining 25%.

Most of us have known each other 20+ years so I have very few no-shows.

[warewulf]

People will show up when they feel like it unless their seat is taken when they do show up.

I run a game and have a small place, 8 is cramped. I just take all the rsvp's and stop when I reach 10. Once I started responding to people that the game is full and they are on a waiting list, they started responding more.

If they want to flake, they only have to let me know a few hours before the game starts, no hard feelings, no questions asked. If they don't let me know in advance that they can't make it, I will not hold a seat for them and they will be bumped if someone that is reliable and has rsvp'd shows up.

[theRealMacoy]

[ QUOTE ]

My group uses a web site called Evite for our invites. It let's everybody rsvp and you can get a headcount as the date approaches. It works very well.


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my group also uses evite, wich is free, and it works great. all the hassles of emails and phone calls are no longer an issue. also i post the address of the game for that week (as we have rotating hosts). i can even send out messages to the entire group, those who are signed up or those yet to sign-up with ease.

we still have a problem with people showing up late and damn can it be frustrating. although, now most people are pretty good about calling to let us know so we can get started. i considered some kind of penalty/tax for the perenial late arrivers but since our game is still tenuous for members it doesn't seem like it would work. once/if it gets more popular then those kinds of things will be much more readily accepted and easier to enforce. finally, the biggest progress we made was when some of the other regulars started to bitch about people being late when they came it, rather than me doing it (peer pressure can be more powerful than the organizer).


good luck with your game

cheers,
the Real Macoy