Tourney So I'm hosting a charity tourney (1 Viewer)

[CraigT78]

Well I've been recruited to host a poker tournament for our local elementary school and I am looking for some input on how to go about it. I'm looking to have a max of 40 players as I will be doing this out of my house. Here are my initial thoughts - the tourney isn't until September so I have plenty of time to nail down details.

• $120 buy-in - $50 to charity - $40 to prize pool - $10 to bounty - $20 to food & beer (Catered event)
  
• 6 hours play time
• Starting stack - 10k to 25k?
• Rebuy/Add-on - More $$$ the better

Any advice or tips you could offer? I've hosted plenty of 2/3 table games, but this would be my largest to date. I'd like it to run smoothly as it becomes a yearly event.

 

[T_Chan]

I can provide you some input later tonight if you like. I've run 100+ charity events. Gotta get some rails upholstered first.

 

[CraigT78]

I'd like that, thanks Tony!

I can provide you some input later tonight if you like. I've run 100+ charity events. Gotta get some rails upholstered first.

 

[Wils]

Initial reaction to "hosting a charity tourney"

 

[DJ Mack]

40 people, for charity. Cool. Definitely go with what Tony advises, he's the pro. However my personal opinion, I'd probably do away with the bounty but you definitely want to allow rebuys much deeper than you normally would. Shove fests are OK and you want people doling out the cash.

Nonetheless you're going to have people busting out; that's how tournaments work, right? Give thought to running a raked cash game with those that bust out but still have money in hand. Give them an incentive to stick around. Strippers arriving at the three hour mark always works but may not be appropriate for a school fund raiser.

Maybe hit up some local restaurants for gift cards in the $20-$50 range. You can raffle those off at set intervals, winner must be present. Again, that keeps your early bust outs around so they may as well join the cash games.

Also be sure to post the date here - there's a chance I'll be in Dallas in September visiting my sister and family. If that comes to fruition and you've got seats to fill day of I'd probably drop in.

 

[BGinGA]

First thoughts:

Dump the bounties, as they provide no value to the charity and suck cash away from the goal.
Use a T100-based set (ditch the T25 chips).
Use smallish 50bb starting stacks (100/200 opening blinds with T10K).
Use a aggressive blind structure that encourages re-buys.
Allow up-front add-ons in increments of T5000 - lots of ways to provide incentives for people to do this.
Allow re-buys when busted and add-ons when at half-stack or less (< T5000).

It's tough to find the sweet spot for entry and re-buys -- too high, and you won't get as many initial entries or many re-buys. Too low, and you lose appeal to some players looking for a big payday.

Regardless of what you choose, make sure that it rarely involves making change for entries, re-buys, or add-ons..... which typically means making things in increments of $20 bills. Personally, I like $80 initial buy-ins (40 charity, 40 prize pool), $80 re-buys (40 charity, 40 prize pool), and $40 add-ons (20 charity, 20 prize pool). Tack on an extra $20 up front for food/hospitality for an even $100 minimum outlay to play.

 

[T_Chan]

I won't go into too much detail, but my experience is as follows:

$40-$60 buy ins
Half price for rebuys
Half price for add-ons.

$5k starting stack. $5k rebuy stack. $10k add ons. Unlimited rebuys, but only 1 add on per player.

Blinds: 15 minutes.

25/50
50/100
75/150
100/200

150/300 (quick break for chip ups after this level can be done but it's hard to get 40 people back in their seats)
200/400
300/600
400/800
Break - End of rebuys - offer Add ons. Chip up.

600/1200
800/1000
1000/2000
1500/3000
2000/4000
3000/6000
5000/10k
10k/20
Blinds double after this. This can be more relaxed if you have more time, but this format has proven to be a good 5 hours.

Sell food. Pizza is the usual suspect, sell by the slice. Sounds like you're catering it which is great too. Don't be afraid to charge a bit extra for the food to go towards the charity and let people know that. It's all for a good cause.

Sell booze, get the proper license for that if applicable. This can be a huge part of the revenue. Sell 50/50 tickets, it's very popular around here but might not be so much in other parts. Toonie toss (for Canadians anyways), everyone throws a $2 coin at a bottle across the room and the closest one wins the bottle.

As BGinGA said, dump bounties. They can be fun but don't add to the fundraiser portion unless people start donating their won bounties to the charity.

YMMV, different crowds can really dictate a good outcome vs a great outcome. This is just a quick and dirty of how the games I've run are typically structured and usually do quite well.

 

[T_Chan]

Few more notes:

Use 2 decks. With short blinds it's important to get a lot of hands in.

50/50 split on buy ins, rebuys and add ons between prizes and the charity.

Give a short speech at the start thanking anyone who helped, say a little bit about the charity and to outline general rules.

Emphasize to everyone that it's a charity fundraiser and the goal is to have fun and to not be shy about opening their wallets.

 

[DJ Mack]

Three other non-poker related things to consider:
1. Bathrooms - That's a lot of people having to hit the can at break time in a household setup.

2. Security - With 40 people supporting the local elementary school this is not going to be a secret event. Going by your numbers and a few rough assumptions on re-buys you'll probably have between six and ten grand in cash sitting in your house. You need a plan for handling this during and after the event. Your players might all be legit folks but they're not the only ones who will know about the potential cash on hand.

You might consider hiring an off duty LEO to be present, and include that in your advertising. Rates vary by department but they're usually about $40 an hour with a two or four hour minimum. As a bonus, they're ready to handle anybody who won't give up their seat for a richer player

3. Insurance - If something happens, like a guy trips going down the basement how is this covered? Will the foundation or whatever you're raising money for cover this, and if not, does your homeowners insurance have some kind of exclusion for running an event, albeit not for profit, out of your home? Just something to have worked out ahead of time.

 

[CraigT78]

40 people, for charity. Cool. Definitely go with what Tony advises, he's the pro. However my personal opinion, I'd probably do away with the bounty but you definitely want to allow rebuys much deeper than you normally would. Shove fests are OK and you want people doling out the cash.

Nonetheless you're going to have people busting out; that's how tournaments work, right? Give thought to running a raked cash game with those that bust out but still have money in hand. Give them an incentive to stick around. Strippers arriving at the three hour mark always works but may not be appropriate for a school fund raiser.

Maybe hit up some local restaurants for gift cards in the $20-$50 range. You can raffle those off at set intervals, winner must be present. Again, that keeps your early bust outs around so they may as well join the cash games.

Also be sure to post the date here - there's a chance I'll be in Dallas in September visiting my sister and family. If that comes to fruition and you've got seats to fill day of I'd probably drop in.

Raked cash game would be a great idea, but 100% illegal here in Texas. I'll still do a cash game, but it would have to be free to play. The gift card idea is a good one, I will task someone with getting donations for a raffle. I haven't picked the date yet, but I'll be sure to post it in here for any locals or drop ins.

First thoughts:

Dump the bounties, as they provide no value to the charity and suck cash away from the goal.
Use a T100-based set (ditch the T25 chips).
Use smallish 50bb starting stacks (100/200 opening blinds with T10K).
Use a aggressive blind structure that encourages re-buys.
Allow up-front add-ons in increments of T5000 - lots of ways to provide incentives for people to do this.
Allow re-buys when busted and add-ons when at half-stack or less (< T5000).

It's tough to find the sweet spot for entry and re-buys -- too high, and you won't get as many initial entries or many re-buys. Too low, and you lose appeal to some players looking for a big payday.

Regardless of what you choose, make sure that it rarely involves making change for entries, re-buys, or add-ons..... which typically means making things in increments of $20 bills. Personally, I like $80 initial buy-ins (40 charity, 40 prize pool), $80 re-buys (40 charity, 40 prize pool), and $40 add-ons (20 charity, 20 prize pool). Tack on an extra $20 up front for food/hospitality for an even $100 minimum outlay to play.

Sounds like bounties are a bad idea for a charity - thanks. I know my players love them, but you all make a good point about the waste of $$ that could go to the school.

So you would recommend a crappier blind structure for this than I would use in a home game? If I ditched the 25s and started at 100/200 (which saves a color up, I like that) what schedule would you suggest for a 5/6 hour event?

I like the $20 suggestion - making change would be a huge PITA..

I won't go into too much detail, but my experience is as follows:

$40-$60 buy ins
Half price for rebuys
Half price for add-ons.

$5k starting stack. $5k rebuy stack. $10k add ons. Unlimited rebuys, but only 1 add on per player.

Blinds: 15 minutes.

25/50
50/100
75/150
100/200

150/300 (quick break for chip ups after this level can be done but it's hard to get 40 people back in their seats)
200/400
300/600
400/800
Break - End of rebuys - offer Add ons. Chip up.

600/1200
800/1000
1000/2000
1500/3000
2000/4000
3000/6000
5000/10k
10k/20
Blinds double after this. This can be more relaxed if you have more time, but this format has proven to be a good 5 hours.

Sell food. Pizza is the usual suspect, sell by the slice. Sounds like you're catering it which is great too. Don't be afraid to charge a bit extra for the food to go towards the charity and let people know that. It's all for a good cause.

Sell booze, get the proper license for that if applicable. This can be a huge part of the revenue. Sell 50/50 tickets, it's very popular around here but might not be so much in other parts. Toonie toss (for Canadians anyways), everyone throws a $2 coin at a bottle across the room and the closest one wins the bottle.

As BGinGA said, dump bounties. They can be fun but don't add to the fundraiser portion unless people start donating their won bounties to the charity.

YMMV, different crowds can really dictate a good outcome vs a great outcome. This is just a quick and dirty of how the games I've run are typically structured and usually do quite well.

LOL @ Toonie toss.

Good ideas - but it looks like there is some differing opinions on the blind structures. You structure looks more like a home game, where BGinGA is suggesting a more aggressive structure. Pro's & Con's?

Few more notes:

Use 2 decks. With short blinds it's important to get a lot of hands in.

50/50 split on buy ins, rebuys and add ons between prizes and the charity.

Give a short speech at the start thanking anyone who helped, say a little bit about the charity and to outline general rules.

Emphasize to everyone that it's a charity fundraiser and the goal is to have fun and to not be shy about opening their wallets.

Thanks for the input! Do you find that people gripe about a 1/2 price rebuy? I plan on the speech, I have the PTA president all set for that.

Three other non-poker related things to consider:
1. Bathrooms - That's a lot of people having to hit the can at break time in a household setup.

2. Security - With 40 people supporting the local elementary school this is not going to be a secret event. Going by your numbers and a few rough assumptions on re-buys you'll probably have between six and ten grand in cash sitting in your house. You need a plan for handling this during and after the event. Your players might all be legit folks but they're not the only ones who will know about the potential cash on hand.

You might consider hiring an off duty LEO to be present, and include that in your advertising. Rates vary by department but they're usually about $40 an hour with a two or four hour minimum. As a bonus, they're ready to handle anybody who won't give up their seat for a richer player

3. Insurance - If something happens, like a guy trips going down the basement how is this covered? Will the foundation or whatever you're raising money for cover this, and if not, does your homeowners insurance have some kind of exclusion for running an event, albeit not for profit, out of your home? Just something to have worked out ahead of time.

Thanks! I have all three of these covered. 5 bathrooms available - 2 down and 3 up.
Our neighborhood hires an off duty DPD officer to patrol, so I will hit him up and offer him some $$$ to sit outside.
Insurance - good question. We have an umbrella policy as my wife is a business owner from home, so I'll have to see if it's covered.

 

[T_Chan]

With the blind structure I outlined, players have 2 hours or 8 levels to rebuy as many times as they want. The levels are slow and low to start so that everyone gets a chance to play some normal poker. After the 1 hour mark, you tend to see a lot of rebuys. With a T5k, by level 4-6 you'll be doing more rebuys and by level 7 and 8 players start dropping like flies. At 400/800 players are rebuying for only 6BB so what you get is players rebuying only to bust out again shortly after then rebuying again trying to stay in it until the break to get their 10k add on.

After the break the blinds increase significantly, that's where you want the blinds to become aggressive. All the money's been made so now it's time to finish the game.

For the cash game, you don't have to rake it like a casino, but you can ask that anyone who plays in the cash game puts ~10% of their buy in towards the charity as a donation.

I know you have space constraints, but I think it would be a good idea to have a waiting list rather than capping it at 40 and turning people away. If some players get knocked out and do not rebuy, they can take their seat as a late entry up to the 2 hour mark.

 

[DJ Mack]

I know you have space constraints, but I think it would be a good idea to have a waiting list rather than capping it at 40 and turning people away. If some players get knocked out and do not rebuy, they can take their seat as a late entry up to the 2 hour mark.

All the more reason to have that cash table up and running.

For the cash game, you don't have to rake it like a casino, but you can ask that anyone who plays in the cash game puts ~10% of their buy in towards the charity as a donation.

Raking is legal in charity games here, but funny story. The local parish has a festival that includes a casino tent. One time a ringer got all upset when he found out that the church was taking 10% off the top. The full-blooded Irish priest stepped in. Without missing a beat he leaned in and loudly proclaimed "Aye me lad, waz this 'crazy rake' you speak of? I see no rake here, no shovel, and not even a hoe for that matter. However the church does thank ye for paying your tithes promptly and properly."

 

[CraigT78]

Bump this thread.

Working on the format now. Trying to plan my breakdown for 3, 4, 5, or 6 tables. Here is what I have to work with.

What kinds of starting stacks can I do? I designed the set for 40 max players with a 10k stack of 8-8-4-7, but what can I use if I need to bump this to 60 players with re-buy and/or add-on?

I liked @T_Chan format posted below for the structure, might adjust to dump the 25 like @BGinGA suggested and start with a 100/100 or 100/200 level.

$5k starting stack. $5k rebuy stack. $10k add ons. Unlimited rebuys, but only 1 add on per player.

Blinds: 15 minutes.

25/50
50/100
75/150
100/200

150/300 (quick break for chip ups after this level can be done but it's hard to get 40 people back in their seats)
200/400
300/600
400/800
Break - End of rebuys - offer Add ons. Chip up.

600/1200
800/1000
1000/2000
1500/3000
2000/4000
3000/6000
5000/10k
10k/20
Blinds double after this.


Any thoughts?

 

[T_Chan]

With that number of chips, I would suggest you stick with the T5k or even shrink it down to a T3k if you want to fit in more players. The lower denom chips really dictates how many players you can have. Looks like 40 players with 8 of each T25 and T100 is it, I wouldn't suggest giving any less. I've found players play looser when they have more chips, which equates into more rebuys.

For my T5k games I usually hand out 12-12-5-1, and for the first rebuys I give out the same stack. When blinds start to go up I just dish 10x$100 and 4x$1000 and eventually just 5x $1k chips. With your chips, 8-8-4-2 works well, and hand out rebuys in T1k's. You are however, limited to 40 players with your chip count.

You're totally right about getting a ton of people to sit back down in their seats after a break. I usually do the same as you've outlined, where the first break is after level 8. At level 6 though, I usually walk the room with racks to chip up the bigger stacks of 25's. There's nothing more annoying than players with a few hundred $25's using them for all their betting.

 

[justsomedude]

If your goal is to get money for the school, I'd end rebuys/addons earlier - since the goal is to encourage them.

Rebuying with 5k into 600/800 is only 6 BBs. I just don't see any player opting for that. Even if they went for the Rebuy + Addon, they'd be sitting with 15,000, which is still only 18 BBs.

Maybe push your first break to 200/400 (it's still only 90-minutes into your tourney), and cutoff the rebuys there. Some one doing a Rebuy + Addon would be sitting with 25BBs going into 300/600 which, while still being short stacked, is still workable.

Again, since rebuys are encouraged for the charity goal, I'd recommend allowing "chip surrender." Which is, even if a player still has chips in front of them at the Rebuy cutoff, they can surrender all of their remaining chips to the house (and essentially be "busted"), so they can Rebuy with a fresh stack if they so choose.

 

[CraigT78]

With that number of chips, I would suggest you stick with the T5k or even shrink it down to a T3k if you want to fit in more players. The lower denom chips really dictates how many players you can have. Looks like 40 players with 8 of each T25 and T100 is it, I wouldn't suggest giving any less. I've found players play looser when they have more chips, which equates into more rebuys.

For my T5k games I usually hand out 12-12-5-1, and for the first rebuys I give out the same stack. When blinds start to go up I just dish 10x$100 and 4x$1000 and eventually just 5x $1k chips. With your chips, 8-8-4-2 works well, and hand out rebuys in T1k's. You are however, limited to 40 players with your chip count.

You're totally right about getting a ton of people to sit back down in their seats after a break. I usually do the same as you've outlined, where the first break is after level 8. At level 6 though, I usually walk the room with racks to chip up the bigger stacks of 25's. There's nothing more annoying than players with a few hundred $25's using them for all their betting.

Could I use another sets 25/100/500 chips on two tables to keep the breakdown the same? These chips would not see another table, and could be colored up if needed to move a player. I don't want to limit my number of players if I don't have too.

 

[T_Chan]

If your goal is to get money for the school, I'd end rebuys/addons earlier - since the goal is to encourage them.

Rebuying with 5k into 600/800 is only 6 BBs. I just don't see any player opting for that. Even if they went for the Rebuy + Addon, they'd be sitting with 15,000, which is still only 18 BBs.

Again, since rebuys are encouraged for the charity goal, I'd recommend allowing "chip surrender." Which is, even if a player still has chips in front of them at the Rebuy cutoff, they can surrender all of their remaining chips to the house (and essentially be "busted"), so they can Rebuy with a fresh stack if they so choose.

You'd be surprised... level 7 & 8 at most of the fundraisers I run are when I get the most rebuys. It doesn't seem to go through many players' minds how many BB's they're getting for the rebuy. The 1/2 price helps with that, plus the gambooool factor. If players don't want to rebuy because they don't think they're getting enough chips to play at that blind level, then they can opt not to but at least the opportunity to do so is there. Keeping the window open for the longest amount of time for collecting funds is the goal.

The chip surrender is a good idea. I've also seen some fundraisers where they allow you to rebuy if you have less than 1 or 2 BB's left so that you don't have to be completely busted out to get back to a healthy stack.

 

[T_Chan]

Could I use another sets 25/100/500 chips on two tables to keep the breakdown the same? These chips would not see another table, and could be colored up if needed to move a player. I don't want to limit my number of players if I don't have too.

2 different sets of chips is challenging if you don't want to mix them. Moving a player without an even number of chips can be difficult and wastes time if you're trying to swap their chips. How do you move a player who has $7,875 chips when you've already used up all your 25's & 100's from the main set? You're already going to be busy with 40+ players to manage. It's doable, but makes more work for you. You can do a color change for players who have excess 25's & 100's so that you have them in the bank to do it, but again... logistics.

If you think there are players who might bust out and not rebuy, you could offer a waiting list for those empty seats. Otherwise, it might be best to try to find another bigger set of chips to use for the day.

 

[CraigT78]

2 different sets of chips is challenging if you don't want to mix them. Moving a player without an even number of chips can be difficult and wastes time if you're trying to swap their chips. How do you move a player who has $7,875 chips when you've already used up all your 25's & 100's from the main set? You're already going to be busy with 40+ players to manage. It's doable, but makes more work for you. You can do a color change for players who have excess 25's & 100's so that you have them in the bank to do it, but again... logistics.

If you think there are players who might bust out and not rebuy, you could offer a waiting list for those empty seats. Otherwise, it might be best to try to find another bigger set of chips to use for the day.

Yeah - after some thought a mixed set is a terrible idea. I guess I will just cap it at 40 and offer a wait list, or not cap it and figure out the chips when I see the people signed up. I guess this is my excuse to add on to my set for future years

 

[WedgeRock]

The *only* issue I see with a surrender is someone surrendering, say, 3BB and getting a full stack on the BB of a certain person. Opens up to targetting one player. Not really much different than just shipping with 3-5os, but something to consider.

Yeah - after some thought a mixed set is a terrible idea. I guess I will just cap it at 40 and offer a wait list, or not cap it and figure out the chips when I see the people signed up. I guess this is my excuse to add on to my set for future years

Buy moar chips, duh