Player Scorecards for Hosts (1 Viewer)

[thePokerClub]

Running a poker club means managing more than just cards and chips - you have a vision for what the ideal club should be and you are striving for that.

Over time, I've found that tracking player behaviors has become one of the most valuable things I do as a host.

Why? Because the players who make your club sustainable aren't necessarily the best players. They're the ones who RSVP on time, show up when they say they will, don't cause drama at the table, and contribute to the experience beyond just taking a seat.

The Case for Scorecards

I've been developing a host-only SeasonStack scorecard system to track player engagement and citizenship behaviors. The idea is simple: give hosts a private, objective way to evaluate their player pool based on what actually matters for running a healthy club.

This isn't something players see. It's a tool just for you as a host/club manager for when you need to make decisions like:

• Seat allocation: 28 people want to play, you have 24 seats. Who gets priority?
• Identifying flight risks: Which players have referred others? If they leave, who might follow?
• Addressing problem patterns: Is someone consistently late? Frequently argumentative? Easier to act on when you have data, not just a gut feeling and you have
• Rewarding good citizens: Who contributes without being asked? Who supports newer players? Who participates in any club incentive opportunities (more to come on this concept later).

The Framework I'm Working With

I've organized behaviors into three categories:

1. Reliability - Do they respond to event inquiries? Register on time? Show up when they commit?
2. Table Etiquette - Are they respectful during play? Do they manage themselves well (phone use, volume, handling losses)?
3. Citizenship Behaviors - Do they contribute to the club beyond just showing up? Participate in programs you offer? Refer other players?

Each category gets weighted based on what matters most to your club, and behaviors are scored objectively - counts and yes/no answers, not subjective ratings.

What are others doing?

SeasonStack will be releasing this as a tool in our Resources/Tools section soon but first:

• What behaviors do you track as a host (formally or informally)?
• What situations have made you wish you had better data on your players?
• Is there anything in my three categories that's missing - or something that doesn't belong?

Drop your thoughts below. If you've been hosting for a while, you've probably developed your own mental scorecard already. I want to hear what's on it.

 

[thePokerClub]

Here is where I landed for a final Player Scorecard.

This Google Sheet Template is also posted in the SeasonStack Tools - Quick Reference Guide Section.

Feel free to make a copy for use in hosting your club games. Good for Cash and Tournaments. Categories and Behaviors are fully customizable, just be sure to run the Apps Script if any changes made off of the Configuration tab.

Follow instructions for inputing responses to questions based on variable Type. For example, a numerical response versus a Y for Yes or N for No.

SeasonStack Player Scorecard

Here is a quick snapshot of the scorecard section for each Player. These roll up to a Summary Tab for simple viewing and ranking.

Any questions or need any help with the template just ask!

- Chris

 

[DrStrange]

Using the "stick" on prospective customers is an unorthodox business plan. Most business use a "carrot" system. Sure, there are some exceptions where a business wants to "86" an unsavory customer or two but those are very much exceptions, not the business plan.

Business owners who feel they are doing the customer a favor by allowing them to visit the store best be VERY right about where the balance of power lies. This is as true (or more so) for a poker room as it is for a nightclub, gas station or grocery store.

I wouldn't recommend the "stick" approach to someone hosting their private home game. A commercial gambling venture has far more trouble with customer retention than a home game. Seems to me that leadership of a poker lounge would find their time & effort better spent trying to keep their customers happy and coming back. -=- DrStrange

 

[upNdown]

Stop the insanity.
You're not alone, so maybe you're not wrong. But I'll never understand hosts who are obsessed with amassing data on their guests.

 

[Poker Zombie]

I love amassing data, but if you are looking to cut someone (or just B-list them) you don't need numbers to quantify that.

If Bob is continually disruptive, and Jim occasionally signs up after the soft deadline you will simply "know" these things. If it happens so infrequently that you need notes to remember, it's clearly not a big enough of a deal to cut them.

 

[thePokerClub]

Using the "stick" on prospective customers is an unorthodox business plan. Most business use a "carrot" system. Sure, there are some exceptions where a business wants to "86" an unsavory customer or two but those are very much exceptions, not the business plan.

Business owners who feel they are doing the customer a favor by allowing them to visit the store best be VERY right about where the balance of power lies. This is as true (or more so) for a poker room as it is for a nightclub, gas station or grocery store.

I wouldn't recommend the "stick" approach to someone hosting their private home game. A commercial gambling venture has far more trouble with customer retention than a home game. Seems to me that leadership of a poker lounge would find their time & effort better spent trying to keep their customers happy and coming back. -=- DrStrange

Thanks Dr., I agree with you actually. A few caveats here...

These are meant for the Host's eyes only. I find that whatever tools/templates I put out whether Player Performance Scorecards or this tool (perhaps I need to rename it so there is no confusion around overlap) the assumption seems to be that everyone sees the info - not true.

All the tools in the SeasonStack tool bag were built out of necessity as I run my club.

A few months back, I had a player that got very upset with another player during an All-In hand. It was a 2-table tourney that night and I was on the other table. I only caught the tail end of the argument with one player very upset and it was a bit tough to understand what had happened and why without interfering with continued game play.

The player that was upset reached out to me post-game complaining about the other player.....so I did a mental check on whether I could recall similar instances with this player. In all honesty, my mental look back came back with nothing that helped.

Both are regulars and so I decided I needed a system to keep a 'running tab' only my players - this is what I came up with. So, I update it after each Event. Sometimes there are changes and sometimes there are not.

Also, I actually use this to keep track of good engagement - so it works both ways in helping me track both the good and the bad.

 

[thePokerClub]

Stop the insanity.
You're not alone, so maybe you're not wrong. But I'll never understand hosts who are obsessed with amassing data on their guests.

Yeah, I get it. I think tracking some kind of data as a host is inevitable - really the main thing is how do you use that data, if at all, for something beneficial.

Not sure if you looked at the tool, but within the Category of Citizenship behaviors I have an activity related to Sponsors. I have local small businesses that sponsor my Events so I want to track how my members engage with them. Sponsors provide prize overlays and food.

My members get in-game incentives for visiting sponsors between Events so I want to track who is actually doing that because it helps me maintain that relationship and build the club out. This is just an example of one of the many 'carrot' items mentioned by Dr. Strange in their response.

 

[thePokerClub]

I love amassing data, but if you are looking to cut someone (or just B-list them) you don't need numbers to quantify that.

If Bob is continually disruptive, and Jim occasionally signs up after the soft deadline you will simply "know" these things. If it happens so infrequently that you need notes to remember, it's clearly not a big enough of a deal to cut them.

For sure, no, not to B-list anyone. In fact, I have never had to actually do that.....yet.

But, I have found them useful in keeping tabs on and promoting desirable behaviors. It goes both ways.

 

[Poker Zombie]

For sure, no, not to B-list anyone. In fact, I have never had to actually do that.....yet.

This is what a B-list would look like:

Seat allocation: 28 people want to play, you have 24 seats. Who gets priority?

While you may not have B-listed anyone yet, you advocated the tracker to do just that.

Sure, you can use it to take note of exceptional contributions. I provide a main course, my players pot-luck in the sides. While I could track who brought what, I can tell you without a list who has repeatedly gone above and beyond (30 baked potatoes with fixings for the potatoes that would make a buffet blush) and who always arrives empty-handed.

When the group grew to the point that I needed to make a B-list, I didn't need to check a list. I knew that I could "cut" those that attended 1 game a year, the players that didn't "vibe" with the group, and the freeloaders. I'm certain the same people would have been cut if I checked a list.

If a friend asked "why am I not invited anymore", I wouldn't want to pull out a list. It would be a simple "you rarely attended" or "you didn't contribute". I would ask them if they would like to be reinstated, and if they said yes, they would now know why the were B-listed and could correct their behavior.

Now imagine someone was cut because that had a full bingo card of bad behaviors and they aren't the type of person that tells "woe is me" stories. You wouldn't know why they had amassed the following collections, and since this isn't their job they didn't feel the need to explain:

• They arrived late once (car trouble)
• They registered late once (they were on vacation)
• Got angry once (still steamed about some work thing)
• and so on.

The list may score this person a terrible person that should be cut, while in fact they are just having a bad year and need time with friends. I've been divorced. A "bad year" is a very real thing, and until the separation none of my friends would have had any way of knowing. Moreover, if they were cut, they don't have any behavior they can correct if they wished to rejoin the group.

 

[thePokerClub]

The list may score this person a terrible person that should be cut, while in fact they are just having a bad year and need time with friends. I've been divorced. A "bad year" is a very real thing, and until the separation none of my friends would have had any way of knowing. Moreover, if they were cut, they don't have any behavior they can correct if they wished to rejoin the group.

This last paragraph has some very valid points.

My overall goal with this was to zoom out and objectively keep tabs on everyone against the things ideal for me as a host. Coming up on my 24 capacity max and don't want to make any decision on B-lists without some kind of system.

 

[HiveKueen]

"... Coming up on my 24 capacity max and don't want to make any decision on B-lists without some kind of system.

I'm coming up on my 20 seat max. I'm planning to do first come first serve using paid buyins via Venmo. i will need a "if you cancel ..." policy.

 

[thePokerClub]

I'm coming up on my 20 seat max. I'm planning to do first come first serve using paid buyins via Venmo. i will need a "if you cancel ..." policy.

Memory serves you are a tournament right?

I don't have a cancellation policy but you might consider breaking participation points out of your scoring formula (If memory serves there to I recall you have a formula for your points/standings and participation is a weighted factor in there.....correct me if I am wrong).

I break Participation Points out specifically from my points-for-finishing tier. Everyone gets a flat 2 Participation Points for each Event they play in and registration closes 2 days before the Event. My payouts are tiered based on the number of players that register and so I tell players 'if you think you will miss, don't register - don't pump the points for others'.

But, in the rare Event someone cant make it, they still get their 2 base points but they are the only one penalized really because they miss out on the opportunity to earn additional points for finishes.

It is worth mentioning I have a Missed Participation Points policy and if a player cannot attend due to a conflict, they can pickup the 2 Points they missed (or more in multiples of 2 for the successive Events they missed) by paying the cost of the seat they missed at the next Event the physically attend. If at the next Event they physically attend they choose not to pickup whatever points they have available.....they expire the next day. This is a key part of this because it prevents gaming/sitting on points until the end of the season, etc.

Having THIS policy I think has really reduced the number of players that register 'hoping to make it'.....so.....fewer no shows/cancellations.

 

[Poker Zombie]

Memory serves you are a tournament right?

I don't have a cancellation policy but you might consider breaking participation points out of your scoring formula (If memory serves there to I recall you have a formula for your points/standings and participation is a weighted factor in there.....correct me if I am wrong).

I break Participation Points out specifically from my points-for-finishing tier. Everyone gets a flat 2 Participation Points for each Event they play in and registration closes 2 days before the Event. My payouts are tiered based on the number of players that register and so I tell players 'if you think you will miss, don't register - don't pump the points for others'.

But, in the rare Event someone cant make it, they still get their 2 base points but they are the only one penalized really because they miss out on the opportunity to earn additional points for finishes.

It is worth mentioning I have a Missed Participation Points policy and if a player cannot attend due to a conflict, they can pickup the 2 Points they missed (or more in multiples of 2 for the successive Events they missed) by paying the cost of the seat they missed at the next Event the physically attend. If at the next Event they physically attend they choose not to pickup whatever points they have available.....they expire the next day. This is a key part of this because it prevents gaming/sitting on points until the end of the season, etc.

Having THIS policy I think has really reduced the number of players that register 'hoping to make it'.....so.....fewer no shows/cancellations.

I doubt it.

I have had one no-show in 17 years. Clearly far below your average. There must be a culture to "no-show" for it to even be acceptable. If your child was heading over for dinner and didn't show, would you just shrug it off? Treat your players like friends/family. They will do the same back.

 

[HiveKueen]

Memory serves you are a tournament right?

yes

I don't have a cancellation policy but you might consider breaking participation points out of your scoring formula (If memory serves there to I recall you have a formula for your points/standings and participation is a weighted factor in there.....correct me if I am wrong).

I've changed my formula and the participation reward is much lower now, relative to points for rankings. Also, if you don't play you don't get any points.
As of right now, i don't have a problem with no shows.
When i'm filling my 20 seats, i'll also have a waiting list. If someone doesn't show and doesn't let me know in time to fill their seat from the waiting list, I will impose some sort of penalty though I don't know yet what that will be - probably a X games suspension and, if it happens again, a ban.

If a new player were ever to sign up and not show, they would never be allowed to play.

HK