How big is your list? (1 Viewer)

longflop

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Out of curiosity, how many guys do you have on your list for tournaments or cash games you host? I've got 47 on my email list and that usually gets me between 15-18 players for a monthly game. About 10 of them have never played, but they want me to keep them on the email chain. I was thinking about trimming it down, but its just an email, and we're all friends, so its fine with me to keep them on there.
 
I have about 40 people on my text list, but I’m always looking for more players. I usually don’t need to go past the first 25 to get a game filled up.

I like to send to everyone about once a month just to keep it in their minds that I have the game so that they will text me when they do want to play.
 
My list fluctuates... My main poker invite list is about 95 right now, but I'd say the core group is about 50-60 players (of which only 25-30 are regular/rotating players). When I try to host my "big games" in June and October, I borrow some other lists and hit 140ish. But that's a lot of folks I don't know, which isn't ideal.
 
Currently have 19 on the A-List, not counting Mrs Zombie and myself. Usually see 14 of them show, for two full tables of 8.

The B-List is currently at 7, but they seldom get the invite anymore.

Miss too many events, and all but the best and brightest personalities will stay on the list. The Zombie Poker Club should be something you want to go to, not just something that you do because nothing better is going on.
 
I have 27 and I generally get 12 to 18 yeses each week. We are very selective, so our list has been constant at 27 for a couple years now. Plus, I do not want to add a 3rd table (managing 2 every week is more than enough), so we are at the sweet spot for our group.
 
Our list is 101 players, usual turnout is between 25-40 players.
 
Other than hotdog rollers, any tips on finding players and keeping them? I've tried different days of the week, different stakes, etc...

As far as finding players go....play venues away from your house and identify players that you like hanging out with. Eventually invite them to play at your house.

I started with neighborhood friends, and then "selectively" added players from other groups that I played with at other venues. I say selectively because we have never had much luck bringing in players that enjoy simply playing poker, but don't necessarily like hanging out with others in the group. Playing with us is as much (or more) of a social outing as it is a poker game. Joining the group and becoming a regular requires a 100% yes vote from all other members.

It sounds like you've tried a lot of things, but the thing that I find attracts the most participants is VARIETY. Kicking off with a small tournament (we usually play $20 buy-in with a $5 bounty), and then following that with cash is always popular. We play purely no limit hold-em, and I have had zero luck introducing new games to the mix. But that's okay, we all love hold-em, and that's what the group is comfortable with.

I also find that playing various types of hold-em tournaments is very popular.

  1. Alpha Shootout - this is a monthly tournament consisting of 12 games total. The winner each month gets 10 points, 2nd gets 9, etc. We keep a cumulative score throughout the year and winner (highest 12 game cumulative score) gets a $10k entry in the WSOP Main Event + $1400 in expenses. The buy-in is $150 per month, 10 players. We pay out $550 to the top 3 each month, and set $950 aside in the bank to cover the entry fee.
  2. High Roller Tournament - $100 buy-in, $20 bounty. This one is especially popular because it is a deep stack tournament (400k to 500k starting stacks). Payout is 50% to 1st, 30% to 2nd, 20% to 3rd.
  3. Low Roller Tournament - $20 buy-in, $5 bounty. Payout is 50% to 1st, 30% to 2nd, 20% to 3rd.
  4. Cash Series Tournament - From Labor Day through Super Bowl Sunday we play a cash game tournament every Friday and keep a running score.
    1. Scoring is based on your winning and losings each week. If you buy in for $100 and cash out for $200, you get 100 points. If you lose your $100 buy-in, you get -100 points. Allowing negative points keeps people interested that can't play every week.
    2. The 1st $20 buy in requires a player to contribute $3 to the pool. Every $20 worth of buy in after that requires $1 into the pool.
    3. At the end of the season, we pay out the top 4 players in the series.
Every tournament is followed by a no limit hold em cash game. The mix of tournament and cash in the same night appeals to a wider variety of players.

I would also "honestly" assess why you think players don't come back. Do they not like particular players? Maybe the game is too serious, or not serious enough? Our game is NOT serious. We have a number of drinkers, and a number of serious players. I let everybody know right up front that this is a "Social Club", and we just happen to play poker :) Nothing worse than bringing in a new player that is annoyed by the loud, drunk, stupidly aggressive players.

Good luck, and don't forget...be very selective about the players you invite over. If you wouldn't enjoy hanging out with them away from poker, then probably not a good fit.
 
Other than hotdog rollers, any tips on finding players and keeping them? I've tried different days of the week, different stakes, etc...

Friends.

People that want to visit you will attend far more events. While it's easy to put out a call for all degens, degens are going to go where the best profit is. Co-workers (that are cool) neighbors, whatever - word of mouth is responsible for most of my first visits. After the first visit though, it's all about making a new friend. Someone you wanna hang out with, have a beer and a laugh. The cards... they're just an excuse to get together.
 
I have an A list of about 15 that I can almost always fill up my weekly 1/2 cash game with.
Then I have a B list of 10 after that if needed to round out cash (good people and players but they just do not come as often as the others so I give first dibs to the ones who come most often)
Finally I have a list of about 50 others outside A & B for large tournaments and I can fill 40 seats about 1 to 2 times a year. Most of these players are the (a few time a year tournaments types and would not show up for weekly cash)
 
As far as finding players go....play venues away from your house and identify players that you like hanging out with. Eventually invite them to play at your house.

I started with neighborhood friends, and then "selectively" added players from other groups that I played with at other venues. I say selectively because we have never had much luck bringing in players that enjoy simply playing poker, but don't necessarily like hanging out with others in the group. Playing with us is as much (or more) of a social outing as it is a poker game. Joining the group and becoming a regular requires a 100% yes vote from all other members.

It sounds like you've tried a lot of things, but the thing that I find attracts the most participants is VARIETY. Kicking off with a small tournament (we usually play $20 buy-in with a $5 bounty), and then following that with cash is always popular. We play purely no limit hold-em, and I have had zero luck introducing new games to the mix. But that's okay, we all love hold-em, and that's what the group is comfortable with.

I also find that playing various types of hold-em tournaments is very popular.

  1. Alpha Shootout - this is a monthly tournament consisting of 12 games total. The winner each month gets 10 points, 2nd gets 9, etc. We keep a cumulative score throughout the year and winner (highest 12 game cumulative score) gets a $10k entry in the WSOP Main Event + $1400 in expenses. The buy-in is $150 per month, 10 players. We pay out $550 to the top 3 each month, and set $950 aside in the bank to cover the entry fee.
  2. High Roller Tournament - $100 buy-in, $20 bounty. This one is especially popular because it is a deep stack tournament (400k to 500k starting stacks). Payout is 50% to 1st, 30% to 2nd, 20% to 3rd.
  3. Low Roller Tournament - $20 buy-in, $5 bounty. Payout is 50% to 1st, 30% to 2nd, 20% to 3rd.
  4. Cash Series Tournament - From Labor Day through Super Bowl Sunday we play a cash game tournament every Friday and keep a running score.
    1. Scoring is based on your winning and losings each week. If you buy in for $100 and cash out for $200, you get 100 points. If you lose your $100 buy-in, you get -100 points. Allowing negative points keeps people interested that can't play every week.
    2. The 1st $20 buy in requires a player to contribute $3 to the pool. Every $20 worth of buy in after that requires $1 into the pool.
    3. At the end of the season, we pay out the top 4 players in the series.
Every tournament is followed by a no limit hold em cash game. The mix of tournament and cash in the same night appeals to a wider variety of players.

I would also "honestly" assess why you think players don't come back. Do they not like particular players? Maybe the game is too serious, or not serious enough? Our game is NOT serious. We have a number of drinkers, and a number of serious players. I let everybody know right up front that this is a "Social Club", and we just happen to play poker :) Nothing worse than bringing in a new player that is annoyed by the loud, drunk, stupidly aggressive players.

Good luck, and don't forget...be very selective about the players you invite over. If you wouldn't enjoy hanging out with them away from poker, then probably not a good fit.


Thanks, I like #3, we mainly have been doing cash, it was $1/$1, then moved it down to .25/.50 seemed to get a better result and moved from Thursday to Friday or Saturday 8pm start and would go until about 2/3am. Main reason I think would be lack of money, and feeling like an underdog walking in. Or just busy/can't get away from wife/family.

Do most do a text group? Or email group? Facebook page/event?
 
We primarily do Facebook Private Events. Not everyone wasted their day on FB though, so those get Text or Email as they prefer. However, FB works best, as it generates excitement leading to the event by popping up in your newsfeed over and over again, while emails get buried.
 
I'm at 35 - about 12 reg/semi regs, another 10 or so occasionals (like 25% of the games) and a few others who have maybe attended once or twice.

It's only now I'm at the point where I can regularly fill my game and don't fear having to cancel. Still haven't gotten to a multi-table tourney yet.

Friends vouching for friends has been effective at growing my list with the types of players I'd like to have around. Nice people who take the game seriously enough without being too serious tend to know people who are similar. I'm dreading the day when someone brings an actual A-hole.
 
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I'm at 35 - about 12 reg/semi regs, another 10 or so occasionals (like 25% of the games) and a few others who have maybe attended once or twice.
I'm dreading the day when someone brings and actual A-hole.

Don't dread it. I've had a couple over the years. The group as a whole will let you know, even in muffled tones, when someone is not a good fit. Not inviting them is easy, and all you have to do is tell the person that invited them "Darrin is not a good fit". Chances are great that the friend will agree. However, if the asshole is their spouse...
 
Thanks, I like #3, we mainly have been doing cash, it was $1/$1, then moved it down to .25/.50 seemed to get a better result and moved from Thursday to Friday or Saturday 8pm start and would go until about 2/3am. Main reason I think would be lack of money, and feeling like an underdog walking in. Or just busy/can't get away from wife/family.

Do most do a text group? Or email group? Facebook page/event?
I use Mailchimp to send out emails, but the RSVP page resides on a website I built. We use a secret group on FB as well, but a number of my peeps don't use FB.
 
I have about 30 on my list for a two-table tourney which happens twice a month. Average attendance is around 15. We have a private Facebook group, which helps with reservations and housekeeping notes, but most of my RSVPs are still via text. A few people want to get an email, but that is really dropping off.

Of the 30, there are 7-8 who are super regular, while it is a crapshoot as to who else shows to fill things up. Maybe 10 of them are people who only show up maybe 4-5 times per year.

I am always looking for new, good players to become regs, but am pretty choosy about it at the same time. Work, illness, kids, old age get in the way and the list withers if it is not kept up in my experience.
 
Note: With texts, I do them one at a time. It’s a pain, but it means people's phones don’t blow up with all the responses. I do it from my computer, so it isn’t quite so annoying. Been looking for a way to do a mass text where replies don’t go to all... anyone?
 
1. Alpha Shootout - this is a monthly tournament consisting of 12 games total. The winner each month gets 10 points, 2nd gets 9, etc. We keep a cumulative score throughout the year and winner (highest 12 game cumulative score) gets a $10k entry in the WSOP Main Event + $1400 in expenses. The buy-in is $150 per month, 10 players. We pay out $550 to the top 3 each month, and set $950 aside in the bank to cover the entry fee.

Have you posted elsewhere on the site about how exactly this is structured, point system, other rules, etc.? I’ve been working on such a plan myself... Biggest questions are (a) the most equitable point systems, and (b) how to commit people to playing the later tourneys if they are mathematically out of the running to win the WSOP ticket. Was thinking of some sort of profit-sharing incentive where if the player cashes for more than [X], a certain % gets kicked back to the group based on what proportion they contributed to the WSOP buy-in.
 
Note: With texts, I do them one at a time. It’s a pain, but it means people's phones don’t blow up with all the responses. I do it from my computer, so it isn’t quite so annoying. Been looking for a way to do a mass text where replies don’t go to all... anyone?

This is easy, i do it from android every week. I will get a screenshot when I can edit it on a pc and cut out personal info but for android just uncheck group conversation at bottom.
 

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