Larold
Pair
This is probably common across most home tourneys - the conversation in my tourneys tends to quiet down / dry up a little bit (or a lot, if the prize pool is big) as soon as the freeze-out period starts.
I'm at an age now where, while I thoroughly enjoy the poker, the comradery is equally important to me. I've stolen some ideas from other threads in the forum, and here are ways I've come up with to attempt to keep things social and the room(s) buzzing for the whole event.
- Offer side games, with equipment and tables set up ahead of time. (I don't know why, but I always have trouble getting enough interest for critical mass. I'm even considering offering a small cash incentive for people who bust early to get a game rolling. Perhaps because of the age the crowd is - energy, kid obligations / babysitters back home needing to leave, etc.)
- Get folks to bring drinks, particularly booze
- Social breaks. If the window is long enough, maybe a meal break with chatting. (But this doesn't directly address the before-rebuys -> freezeout transition.)
- Flatter payout structure
- Chatting non-poker with the folks around me even after the freezeout to keep some kind of conversation in the air.
- Have non-obtrusive peppy music in the background. Maybe if there's some good game on people are interested in, get a big TV in the room. (Never tried this.)
So my questions would be:
- What do you think of the effectiveness of any of these ideas?
- What have you tried that works successfully that's not already on this list?
Thanks!
I'm at an age now where, while I thoroughly enjoy the poker, the comradery is equally important to me. I've stolen some ideas from other threads in the forum, and here are ways I've come up with to attempt to keep things social and the room(s) buzzing for the whole event.
- Offer side games, with equipment and tables set up ahead of time. (I don't know why, but I always have trouble getting enough interest for critical mass. I'm even considering offering a small cash incentive for people who bust early to get a game rolling. Perhaps because of the age the crowd is - energy, kid obligations / babysitters back home needing to leave, etc.)
- Get folks to bring drinks, particularly booze
- Social breaks. If the window is long enough, maybe a meal break with chatting. (But this doesn't directly address the before-rebuys -> freezeout transition.)
- Flatter payout structure
- Chatting non-poker with the folks around me even after the freezeout to keep some kind of conversation in the air.
- Have non-obtrusive peppy music in the background. Maybe if there's some good game on people are interested in, get a big TV in the room. (Never tried this.)
So my questions would be:
- What do you think of the effectiveness of any of these ideas?
- What have you tried that works successfully that's not already on this list?
Thanks!