hosting big home tourney today

[hayjamawas]

as im typing this i have 45 people signed up for my $50 buy-in and i can seat 50.  if that number holds it will be the biggest tourney i have hosted/run.  this will be the 3rd yr i have run this tourney and have gotten nothing but positive comments from the 1st two yrs ive run it.  so i hope i can keep impressing these people and have em wanting to come back again....even starting thinking about making this a twice a year ordeal since ive been getting asked why i dont run these tourneys more often.  i tell them its a time issue...i have none...lol

[GoingGray]

My biggest home game was 24 players, and in my small room, it was a VERY tight fit.  But it went of perfectly.  Big games are tough to do, and those that have never organized a three or more table tournament don't realize how much work the host does.  But we do it cause we LOVE to do it!  If I had more room, I would DEFINITELY offer up five tables.

Good luck with your game!  Hope you have fun.

Ask some of the players that attend that if they want to help organize more events, you would interested in offering more of them.

[hayjamawas]

My biggest home game was 24 players, and in my small room, it was a VERY tight fit.  But it went of perfectly.  Big games are tough to do, and those that have never organized a three or more table tournament don't realize how much work the host does.  But we do it cause we LOVE to do it!  If I had more room, I would DEFINITELY offer up five tables.

Good luck with your game!  Hope you have fun.

Ask some of the players that attend that if they want to help organize more events, you would interested in offering more of them.

thanks GG!
my biggest hurdle i have is not rounding up players or chips, its coralling up enough chairs to have this many players.  i have 4 tables and like 25 chairs but i had to to 4 different people's houses yesterday to get me enough chairs...lol  the 5 the table i borrow from a buddy of mine and its never a problem. 

[Jaxen]

Are you playing in it? I can't imagine running a 50-player event and TDing it at the same time. You'd have to pause the event (or sit out yourself) to balance or break down tables, unless you have capable assistants who can "table captain" them.

To have tables break down themselves, you'll need seat assignment cards. When a player busts out, they take the card to the first table that's going to break down. When that table has the same number of cards as players, pass the cards out random and the players go to those seats. I don't know how you'll keep 5 tables balanced though; I had a hard enough time with 3 tables once while I played. The nightmare scenario is when the 1st table to break loses 2 players right away; you have to send a player from another table there for the brief time it's in play before breaking.

Good luck, dude.

[holdemholmes]

Good luck and enjoy....45+ is a great turnout for a home game.

[hayjamawas]

Are you playing in it? I can't imagine running a 50-player event and TDing it at the same time. You'd have to pause the event (or sit out yourself) to balance or break down tables, unless you have capable assistants who can "table captain" them.

To have tables break down themselves, you'll need seat assignment cards. When a player busts out, they take the card to the first table that's going to break down. When that table has the same number of cards as players, pass the cards out random and the players go to those seats. I don't know how you'll keep 5 tables balanced though; I had a hard enough time with 3 tables once while I played. The nightmare scenario is when the 1st table to break loses 2 players right away; you have to send a player from another table there for the brief time it's in play before breaking.

Good luck, dude.

jaxen  i have tournament software on my computer that helps me buy-in players, seat them, balances tables as needed and i can break down tables in certain orders.  so that really is not a big issue.  however the cluster**** that arrives right before the tourney starts and buy-in is kinda of pain but not much i can do about it with or without help.  I did play in the tourney and thankfully no issues came up on my table when i was in a hand needing a ruling.

the tourney last night ran pretty well no issues what-so-ever.  I had numerous compliments on how well the tourney was run and how organized it was.  everyone seemed to be in awe that i had a tournament blinds software running on my 26" flat screen showing all the stats, # of players left, average stack, pay-out schedule, and and blinds time remaining and time till next break, lol. 

had 45 players playing for a $2250 prize pool.  paid out top 7. even got compliments on my pay-out structure.  1st was $900, 2nd $540, 3rd $290, 4th $180, 5th $140, 6th $110, 7th $90.   when we go to the final 3 players they decided to take a 3 way chop for $500 each and play out for the remaining $230 winner take all, when one player busted out the other 2 decided to chop that as well.

[Jaxen]

Awesome. Glad everything went so well.

Didja cash?

[hayjamawas]

Awesome. Glad everything went so well.

Didja cash?

no i didnt  couldnt get anything going...my stack was around 6k with the blinds at 400-800 with 75 ante and made a move on a player i read as weak.  i was right with my read but wrong about getting him to fold...oh well...thats poker.

[Muley05]

Glad to hear that your tourney went well.  My biggest games are usually about 20 players, but I have had up to 30 a couple of times.

For chairs, I was able to find some cheap folding chairs on Craig's List for a buck each a couple of years ago.  But most people don't have more than 4-8 chairs.  For my league games now that aren't at my house, I ask everyone to bring their own metal folding chair.  Most people are able to do this, and then the host usually has extras for those that forget or don't have a chair.  It works really well.

[Detroitdad]

I finally broke my Tourney Win less streak. I took first on our $5.00, 6 player Thanksgiving Family Tourney 

[Dr. Neau]

I finally broke my Tourney Win less streak.

Is that a streak where each tournament you win less than the one before it?