How can I get more players? (1 Viewer)

try .25-.50 with a 20$ min buy. yes it’s not ideal but unless you have a few very reliable regulars you have to farm new players. it helps to be known as the “poker” guy if you are creating new players, because if enough people know ie you’re social enough, some people eventually want to try it out. I had a feeder game like this and it worked really well, some people moving up to more serious higher buyins and some just started their own game because they learned enough to know they needed to stick with beginner competition. also if you do this with the spirit of really providing a fun time that doesn’t feel serious, it will come through and people will like to come again and again, just like a pleasantly hosted get together. If and when you want to have a more serious knife fight kind of game, you can do that on a different night someday. that’s another chapter in relative noobs losing rent money, asking for coaching, recommending books etc.
 
The chips won't matter, for chippers sure but for regular folk they won't really care one way or the other
The tables, space, and chairs help.
Having offerings of beer/beverages, some kind of snack whether it's a hot dog roller or popcorn machine, soft pretzels and nacho cheese... it may take a bit financially to get things going, you can ask your players to bring donations but I would let them get to that stage on their own. The biggest thing is the environment and the people, having a good crowd. Players that show up on time, players that don't disrespect other players. Being organized, (for tournaments) have your starting stacks ready to go when people arrive, offer on time bonuses (generally a single 1k chip or something of the nature) to encourage people to be on time, have a clear display of your time clock and blinds (just throwing out ideas, you may already do this)
Also having clear house rules, and handling any situations that may arise in a timely and fair manor will also bring better players and a better environment.
I agree with maybe starting on a week night when more people are available, have friends inquire with friends to bring new players. If you get solid recruits, have them reach out to friends and family they may know. Once your game becomes solid, switching back to a Friday or Saturday night will be easier as people will want to come.
Never be afraid to tell someone not to come back if they disrupt the comfort of your game or players. I agree that maybe starting out getting things going with the football season approaching may be a good way to branch out, just be careful of folks getting distracted by TV action during a hand. I also recommend using an evite or group text, the evite is great as it offers yes, no, and maybe along with reminder emails the week of. Last minute cancellations are ok sometimes, but if you have 2 regulars that bail more often than not don't waste your time. Just be honest with them, a simple hey I need more commitment or I will be obligated not to invite you as our game is dependent on you being here. As the game grows them showing up occasionally won't have such an effect.

Do you play primarily hold em for cash games? Maybe introducing mixed games slowly, or bomb pots and straddles, different things to keep the game fun (if you don't already do these things, just brain storming)

Also, please don't take any of the above in offense as I don't mean to come off that you don't know how to host a game, just thinking of smaller details that really do make a difference in regards to getting more players, and good people.

Edit- I also agree with the above, perhaps knowing the stakes, and pay outs would be a bit helpful as well
This post is MINT! Couldn't agree more. Was gonna post but then read what Brie had to say here...

I also started my club on a weeknight, despite some difficulty with wife and baby in the home and a few people not happy with it, I went ahead with a Thursday thing. It turned out awesome! I did lose 3-4 players over it, but the majority, still came to play.

Fancy Paulson chips would have made NO DIFFERENCE!
 
To the OP: you have a nice setup.

Tips that have improved reliability of attendance and more importantly enjoyment for me:

pre-game campfire, food, then drinks + cigars. People at my game like to relax and ease out of the workday/week. We play craps or shuffleboard while we wait for the table to fill up for cash games of wild card stupidity. None of my players care about the chips. Hotdog roller is a winner every time. Flat screens are cheap and I have them on each wall playing movies like the matrix, good bad and ugly, godfather, braveheart, goodfellas etc.
 
Finding players is what's hard for me. I've been playing with friends and co-workers, but it's feeling like it's dried up, to the point of the game this Friday I might end up canceling as I'm currently at 3 (including myself, LOL), and really want to get 8+, but will definitely hold the game with 6+. Things could come together last minute, but...ugh, LOL.

I'm not big on bowling. Pool is fun but I'm totally garbage at it and don't have a table. My plan is to join a local bar league and see how that plays. Maybe I can recruit from there. It's actually held at a bar attached to a bowling alley, so maybe it'll kill 2 birds with 1 stone! LOL.

I've had 2 +1s come and neither have stuck surprisingly. Both seemed to like poker. One I think might have fallen into the camp of too good at poker to play a tournament at low stakes with mostly filthy casuals. The other seems to be pretty anti-social and also busy with his girlfriend a lot. Who knows - their loss.

As for setup, I think a good table is huge. Far more important than good chips or cards. That said, I don't buy the "if you build it, they will come". That's just not how things work. If you have a reliable game with people who enjoy poker, it's "if you build it, they (and you) will appreciate it".

I think the Pandemic has created a lot of hermits out of people. It's weird. I thought there would be pent-up demand for social outings like poker nights, but it seems like some people just want to hole up.

Also, I finally picked up How to Win Friends and Influence People (well, it's in the mail). I'll be reading that to hopefully improve my game of finding people and getting them to come back and have fun. We'll see!

I'm working on my own mental/social fortitude as well. It's draining to wrangle people for a poker night. I think it's best to detach from the whole process somewhat mentally. As in, keep the mind set of, it's their loss. And on game night make sure you are having a ton of fun! Bring the energy!
 
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Well, things have drastically changed with regard to finding players for my games.
Shortly after I posted this, I decided to make a private group on Facebook called “Glace Bay Poker”, and I added everyone on my facebook that I knew played poker, along with anyone else that I thought “you never know, they might play”, and I also posted in the group that if anyone had anyone they thought would be interested in ever playing, that they could feel free to add them to the group.

The facebook group is currently at 111 members, and my last game had 22 players.

This is not the best solution for everyone, but it sure worked great (so far) for me, since I have 3 tables and can accommodate up to 30 players (can only have up to 25 right now though with the current covid restrictions).
 
I agree with the regular time and place and yes have free goodies, good food, and a full bar. Might even offer a trophy to the big winner of the night or month.

Yesterday, the owner of Casino Chico here in California made a video to attract people. Not that we’re ever empty, I think he just likes the limelight. Anyways…

He usually offers sex, nonsense, and much more but this week he stepped up to a 25k straddle. Crazy. These videos he makes are NOT SAFE FOR WORK AND VERY VULGAR which unfortunately is just how we like it here. Please beware this video. Click at own risk, and yes he did a 25k straddle first hand and he always does several K blind all night. Hit me up if u ever wanna be on the list, just don’t forget to Bring your big boy pants and ask for me, they call me the Goat.


Hahahahaha. How did I miss this??? So what happened? Did the 25k straddle happen?did he shove that tail up his ass? Hahaha.
 

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