I think at the end of the day, you need to know what your players want. If they tend to get hungry and want to order food, then maybe start providing it. If they like to booze it up, have what they like. If they are snackers, the HotDog roller is a must, but put a few things out. Want sports everywhere, add a TV or 2 somewhere. It's really up to what the do each week. Start with 1 thing, and see if they really need anything else.
For my tournaments, I've added a few things over the years to help improve the flow.
- I use starting tubes for all starting stacks.
- people come down the stairs, and I put a table right there. They buy-in, I give them the tube and an on-time bonus chip if applicable.
- Now I've added a thermal printer which prints your table & seat when you check in. no more questions.
- Adding players cards and a bar-code scanner next, so, I'll take money, give them the bonus chip and the players card. they scan, it buys them in, they take a tube and receipt, and sit down.
- I've got a ton of helpers that help me color up quickly.
- I have a loaded bourbon cart with custom glasses (see picture). people usually bring bottles to fill the empty spaces, which is great.
- I have a freezerless fridge that has 3 shelves for beer, 1 for soda, and 1 for bottled water. it's BYOB, but I don't mind if they have one or more of my beers.
-- Most of all, it's all about the players though. Once you get a good group and a solid base, its about growing the game and keeping everyone happy. I think
@Ben8257 has mentioned before that he likes playing at my place, and I appreciate that. I appreciate everyone that comes into my house. They all know the rules, and it works perfectly.
I don't usually host many cash nights. Baseball schedules are usually brutal (Fall baseball from Aug - early Nov; winter workouts from Jan-Mar; HS season runs March to May, and Travel is May to early August), so finding time to host 2 games can be tricky.
For Cash nights, when I do run them, it just put the 2 TV's on whatever games they want to watch, fire up the dog roller, and make sure there are plenty of libations for all.
Mark
--edit -- added pictures (with humble treehouse brag from 2020)
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