POLL: What’s the scheduling strategy for your home game? (1 Viewer)

How do you arrange your hosting schedule?

  • “Programmed” dates: every Monday, second Saturdays, etc

    Votes: 14 21.5%
  • Pre-planned: several dates known in advance

    Votes: 11 16.9%
  • Pop-up: random day(s) with some notice

    Votes: 39 60.0%
  • Other (please share)

    Votes: 1 1.5%

  • Total voters
    65

dmoney

Full House
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I was all lined up to host this weekend and had 3 players drop out in rapid succession - so now I’m trying to be more thoughtful about how I try to schedule.

Right now I’m leaning towards picking all the dates that work for me over the summer and creating a digital flyer to text.

How do you arrange your hosting schedule?
 
Usually midweek…I send out a feeler text for a Saturday game…will play with 4…known to play with 3…even heads up if Gilbert is up for it
 
Tournament night every other week. We rotate games between 5 homes and the host chooses whether it is a Friday evening (7:00pm start time) or Saturday evening (6:00pm start time.) The day and time are generally nailed down at least a week ahead of the event.
 
Tournament night every other week. We rotate games between 5 homes and the host chooses whether it is a Friday evening (7:00pm start time) or Saturday evening (6:00pm start time.) The day and time are generally nailed down at least a week ahead of the event.
Interesting idea to rotate among hosts with a core group. I might have an option for that - it would make managing our invite list easier as we tend to play often in each other's games anyway.
 
Now we know at least 3 members with tyrannical wives:p
To be clear, none of these guys dropped out. They were all invited and were 100% clear from the start about their status, no matter what it was.

But I guess saying that doesn’t really address whether their wives are tryrannical!

(Side note @SJFCPK18 and I have sometimes referred to our wives as “the gaming commission” since they have regulating/governance/oversight roles :ROFL: :ROFLMAO::ROFL: :ROFLMAO::ROFL: :ROFLMAO:)
 
Programmed works for my game - third Friday of every month.

I started a home game 7 months ago. I find having a set night every month gives players the opportunity to lock in those nights as “Poker only”. Yes it’s a complete pain in the ass herding these cats but I always get 6-8 every month. I need to recruit a couple more true degens and the game will be easier to organise.

Once I easily fill 8-10 every month I will look at hosting twice a month.

You could poll your regulars on the most preferred night and STICK TO IT. You are the host so the one benefit is you get to make the rules.
 
I host monthly. Invites go out 2-3 weeks in advance. Typically lose 1 maybe 2 players week of. I try to backfill if possible
 
I only host about once a month, always on the same day and time. And I try to plan out the next 4-5 months worth of games in advance and post them to my game's website (nothing crazy, just a google site) as tentative game dates. But the actual date selections are totally based on my schedule & availability.
 
I try to host on the second Saturday of each month, but sometimes the Saturday will shift a week. My invites go out 3 weeks in advance, and I follow up with all the players a week in advance and backfill as needed.
 
I try to host on the second Saturday of each month, but sometimes the Saturday will shift a week. My invites go out 3 weeks in advance, and I follow up with all the players a week in advance and backfill as needed.
Phone calls or text messages or emails?
 
I try to give at least a month's notice ahead of time and send reminders at the two week and one week before mark and a last call message two days before.

I generally have tentative dates scheduled months ahead of time that don't interfere with work schedules, birthdays, holidays, etc. It's crazy to say, but I almost need to keep it this way or else attendance would nosedive if I don't ask folks to set the time aside weeks ahead of time.
 
I generally have tentative dates scheduled months ahead of time that don't interfere with work schedules, birthdays, holidays, etc. It's crazy to say, but I almost need to keep it this way or else attendance would nosedive if I don't ask folks to set the time aside weeks ahead of time.
I think I’m of the same mind…I guess I’m partly trying to figure out if there’s value on just sharing all the dates asap vs knowing the dates and holding them until 3 weeks out.
 
Will add mine to that thread, as inspired by yours! (dates and other details still in draft mode)
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We play every 3 weeks (programmed), with up to 6 months on the calendar (pre-planned). The 3-week cadence may get altered due to holidays, known vacations, etc. So we use the pre-planned dates to help keep guys in the know for what’s coming up.

All that being said, we’ve been known to throw an impromptu game together with 24-48 hour notice.
 
We group text to see if a game for a week is possible and people chime in if they can or cannot make it. If we have enough we will get a game going.

Some games are on Thursday (certain people work weekends) and other games are on Friday (for the people who work during the week but are off on the weekends). Once in a blue moon we'll have a game on a Saturday when we have people in from out of town.

Most of us have kids and between family and work, sometimes we won't have a game for a month or two. Sometimes we have a game every week until we run short on people.
 
Seems as though most people have pop-up dates with a reasonable amount of lead time.

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Many of the guys in the group have families/kids, so I'm leaning towards the "pre-planned/several dates known in advance" route and just picking a handful of dates through the summer. IMO this would allow the max planning time for anyone that would need it - kids scheduling, vacations, "tyrannical wives" etc.

I'd share them all with the group early on, with reminders for each 1-2 weeks out, and a day or so before to see if the game is viable.
 
Many of the guys in the group have families/kids
So, on top of emails or whatsup group messages, you 'll have to make several phone calls in the spirit of:
"Are you coming tomorrow @sshole, or not?- my home is NOT a cardroom; I could arrange something else too, and my wife / family needs to know".
 
It's un-fuckin'-belieavable how invitees consider that your home is always there as a cardroom and your only concern in life is to play poker with anybody, anytime, and they can drop by anytime, doing a favor to poor You.:rolleyes:
Invitees are the scum of mankind:D:):ROFL: :ROFLMAO:
 
So, on top of emails or whatsup group messages, you 'll have to make several phone calls in the spirit of:
"Are you coming tomorrow @sshole, or not?- my home is NOT a cardroom; I could arrange something else too, and my wife / family needs to know".

It's un-fuckin'-belieavable how invitees consider that your home is always there as a cardroom and your only concern in life is to play poker with anybody, anytime, and they can drop by anytime, doing a favor to poor You.:rolleyes:
Invitees are the scum of mankind:D:):ROFL: :ROFLMAO:
This is why I always try to be as clear as possible, as soon as possible if/when I get an invite! Tough to control what other people do though, I'm just trying to manage it better and give myself more outs for better outcomes :cool
 
Two years ago, just before the pandemic, my most consistent and devoted player honestly forgot about the game ('cause I didn't call him on Thursday) and went on a weekend trip.
I texted him "you screwed us all".
My language was considered too harsh, and it took him exactly two years to digest this tragedy and answer to phone calls and emails:)
 
We use a Private Facebook group, and create events. 24 hours prior we call it on or off based on the "Going" count. Works well. 1st 6 always guaranteed after it hits 8 "Going", people know to check in prior to coming, or if bringing a guest.
 

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