how do you keep your players informed of your games? (1 Viewer)

[saleen121212]

Is there anything on the recipients end that they have to download or have on their phone?
I have tried several apps before and several of my non-tech guys have got confused not knowing what it was or thinking they had to download something etc...

Yes but you send everyone a link. They click it and download the app from the link which puts them in your group. Then they get a notification of new events and click yes or no. Try it with a few people first to see if you like it. I assume anyone could learn this app it's so simple

 

[saleen121212]

 

[Rhodeman77]

Text primarily. Lately that is all I have needed to fill my games.

When I couldn’t get the game full from text only I would use the local Meetup poker group or the FB groups I’m in to post the game. But I don’t like making general posts about my games because I don’t like some of the people in our larger network of players and would prefer they not sign up. One player tried to get in that way and I had to tell him he wasn’t welcome.

 

[Coyotesetter]

Canadian poker forum FTW!

Although despite it being all of Canada, it's basically Ontario poker forum :/

This is a thing? Man I have been in the dark.

 

[v1pe]

http://www.homepokersystem.com/

I use this website to track my league results, but haven't thought about using the invite function.

 

[hdgeno]

Does Canada have the jokes about "flyover country" like the US does? I live in the city only because my wife requires it.

That’s Saskatchewan & Manitoba here imo

 

[Himewad]

I use this too now, also good to keep standings.

I created an account for this, and like it for the most part. The only thing I don’t like is you can’t set a limit for maximum number of accepted invitations, and you don’t have a date/time stamp to know who were the first people to sign up. So if you’ve got an 8-person table and 10 people say they are coming, you don’t know who we’re the last two.

 

[allforcharity]

View attachment 363569

Epic!

I guess carrier pigeons aren't as practical as they used to be.

 

[DoubleEagle]

Texting app. Too many in our group don’t use or bother to check their email.

 

[1A25R]

WhatsApp group
Email
and sometimes Doodle to let people choose the best date out of 2 or 3

 

[Frode789]

Facebook event. Everyone has it. First come first serve (to press "attending").

 

[justsomedude]

Wow. Loving BAND app so far!!! Thank you!!!

 

[bhofeld]

How do you guys recruit new members and vet for them beforehand?
New to my city and trying to not get robbed.

 

[toynoob]

How do you guys recruit new members and vet for them beforehand?
New to my city and trying to not get robbed.

Find games at places like Eagles, VFW, etc. Play with them a handful of times. Start to make poker friends. Once you get a couple you can trust you can tap into all their trusted players. That's what I did lol. I now have a solid 12 degens

 

[CraigT78]

I like signupgenius as it lets me keep it to 20 and add a wait list. I need capacity control.

 

[OKChips]

We use the GroupMe app thats available on both Apple and Android. This app is popular with my kids' sport coaches as well - its perfect for organizing group events. Its like a giant group text. If you someone doesn't download the app it comes across like a normal text message.

https://groupme.com/en-US/

 

[PlaidDragon]

how do you keep your players informed of your games

I employ the archaic methodologies of an email distribution list and then phone text messages to the stragglers who don’t reply.

 

[surfik]

Did not have too. Everyone know wher to find me on Friday Night

 

[glynn]

Resurrecting this thread. Like a few others here, I have been using Mailchimp. It's been great for managing my player list, automatically handling onboarding and unsubscribes, blasting out polls, tracking open rates and RSVPs. It does everything I need it to do, and all for free, except...

...I get too many reports from my players about emails ending up in spam folders Mailchimp leaves it up to the user to figure out why, and I have nether the patience nor the numbers to run A/B tests as they suggest. Unfortunately, this is a disqualifier.

So I'm wondering how you are managing your lists and games nowadays. I am trying to avoid any solution that requires my players to download an app or sign up for a website. My current plan is to simply BCC my list, as it Just Works™.

 

[Dodger]

We have a small group of 8 regulars, so group text works for us. We do a monthly game where the dates are set for 3-4 months out. There’s a reminder text one month out and another about 10 days before next game. The week leading up to game night may see some more back and forth in the group text. But nothing that has anyone too annoyed.

I’ll individually text non-regulars 2 weeks out if it looks like we may be short.

Resurrecting this thread. Like a few others here, I have been using Mailchimp. It's been great for managing my player list, automatically handling onboarding and unsubscribes, blasting out polls, tracking open rates and RSVPs. It does everything I need it to do, and all for free, except...

...I get too many reports from my players about emails ending up in spam folders Mailchimp leaves it up to the user to figure out why, and I have nether the patience nor the numbers to run A/B tests as they suggest. Unfortunately, this is a disqualifier.

So I'm wondering how you are managing your lists and games nowadays. I am trying to avoid any solution that requires my players to download an app or sign up for a website. My current plan is to simply BCC my list, as it Just Works™.

Wow - found my post here from 2019.

Our game has grown quite a bit and I have since moved away from group text and implemented the Band app. Super easy to use. I can put all games on the calendar within the app ahead of time, set a max # of attendees, create a waitlist, etc.

We have about 20-24 regulars and 36 total guys in the app. We run a league part of the year and cash games the remainder of the year. League updates are posted within here as well. Everything housed in one spot and searchable if needed.

The most difficult part is getting guys to initially download and hop in there. Seamless after that.

Makes it easy for regulars to invite new guys as well with a simple text invite link.

You may not like the idea of an app, but everyone has a smartphone, and makes it super simple for guys to check-in quickly when needed.

 

[Fran]

I use a doodle and set a limit to the seats available then I post a link to my WhatsApp group for regulars or send it to the occasional guests when we don’t reach the number of seats opened.

 

[SteveEH]

My game is small, 6 max, so I connect with everyone individually via text message.

 

[upNdown]

I’ve been doing this pretty consistently for over a year now and my approach is very low tech. Mostly because I don’t want people to have to download anything, I don’t want to clog/annoy them with group texts, and I don’t think I could trust them to proactively check a website every other week.
So if I want to have a game on Friday, I’ll send texts or PCF PMs to the most likely regulars on Monday or Tuesday. Once I know how many more seats I need to fill, I’ll start sending texts or pcf PMs to the next group of guys. And sometimes I’ll just post here and @ likely locals.
I’m sure this is no help because it offers no solutions to anybody. I only post it to say yeah, trying to fill a table every other week does sometimes feel like a lot of work for me. But I do it because it’s worth it - poker is fun!

 

[4SUMERZ]

I have an 8 person table, with many more than that will play if asked. I send an e-mail to my 8 regulars a week prior, and let them know that they must respond that they can play or not by a certain day. If they do not respond, I then go to my sub list. I have no problem filling the table.
90% of the time, the 8 regulars are in, and they will let me know within a day of the e-mal sent.
Texting would be my choice, but half of the older guys I play with do not have a dedicated cell phone, or facebook.....crazy isn't it?

 

[glynn]

You may not like the idea of an app, but everyone has a smartphone, and makes it super simple for guys to check-in quickly when needed.

The subscriber feature that you described elsewhere might be enough to close the gap. That's pretty cool and was what I hoped to see.

If I were starting out fresh, this would be a snap-call. The problem is that I am telling 30+ people of mixed tech ability: "Hey, just kidding about the email solution that required no effort on your end. Instead, go download yet another app on your phone." I was expecting some otherwise avoidable attrition of semi-active players, which sucks, but again the Band subscriber feature might be the cure.

Thank you very much for the rec.