Starting a Tournament League (2 Viewers)

[Gojira777]

A little backround for context:

I‘m very new to hosting poker. I have gathered a few friends and friends of friends to play in my first STT last month. The second one is planned and I‘ve got a full table registered again. My player pool is slowly growing, people seem to like it. I‘m very happy.

So I‘ve had this idea in my mind for a while and I don‘t know if I can make it work.

I want to start a tournament league in the future. I have this idea (probably read it on here sometime) of a league where you have a big championship game at the end of the season. But not with regular starting stacks, with chips you earn through your season points. So for example, I have this point formula that I really like. I found out it‘s pretty common, it 10x(square root of players/place). For a STT, which I will probably stick to for a while, this would give first place 28 points and then down to 10 points for last place. We play 8 handed. My idea is that the 28 points would be 28k chips for the championship game. And you earn your chips throughout the season. I‘d do the championship game on a T500 base. We usually play a T25 base.

Are there any hosts on here that have done something like this?

My first concern is you‘d need to find a day everybody that qualified for the championship is free. This could be an issue.
Another one would be that players that played really well all season could still bust their huge advantage in the final game and leave with nothing. I‘m afraid players won‘t like that.

I like the idea of different size starting stacks, like you would have in a big multi day tournament. The league pool would make the prize pool for the championship game. I find that idea more fun then to just give it to the best ranked players at the end of the season.

I could aim for how big I want the championship game to be simply by how many tourneys I play in a season.

Please give me advice/feedback on why this would or would not work, as I don‘t have a lot of experience hosting, but I love to plan stuff like this. What could go wrong? What could become challenging? (Besides buying an extra chip set)

 

[GGHank]

I think it's a cool idea! My worry would be that the guy with the biggest starting stack in the biggest tournament is also the guy who regularly does better than everyone else throughout the season. Maybe 7th and 8th seat might be bummed if they don't feel like they have much of a chance in the final tourney depending on how much smaller their stacks are compared to the big stack. I guess a lot of that depends on how many players are in the pool and how close you expect the top 8 players to be by the end of the season.

 

[Gojira777]

That‘s a fair point.
I‘ll consider total players when I actually start the league. I‘d like to grow my player pool more and have more routine in my regular games first.

 

[Gojira777]

Maybe a way to counter this a bit would be a minimum stack size. So you need 100k to qualify for example.
With my current player pool I wouldn’t expect the final leaderboard to be that far spread. But that of course is just speculation at this point.

 

[Rakrul]

Yeah, don't give the winner too much of an advantage. It's a winning player so they don't need too much incentive to play anyways. What you need to cater to is the fish. If they can win a tournament once in a while that be great. Even better if they ding the championship game. If you cut their artieries immediataly they won't come back and you'll end up with a nit-fest.
Fish usually don't play to profit, they want fun and excitement so make sure you get rid of misregs if you have any.

 

[Gojira777]

I‘ve read stuff like that a lot too. To not reward the winning players even more and punish the weaker. Makes absolute sense. I wonder if there is another way to have some sort of season progression like this. Maybe with progressive bounties or bounties depending on season rank or something like this…

 

[Rakrul]

In my league, I have top 8 or so that qualify. The 9th seat is the biggest loser (since we're doing rebuy torneys). You can do e.g. hitman (fish tends to do poor calls and get lucky).
I also threw in a wildcard game at the end so those who hadn't qualified had one more shot, and those who are qualified can win the tournament to limit number of players at the championship game. I.e. if a non-qualified player wins, he gets the 10th and final seat. If a qualified players wins, there will only be 9 players at the championship game.

 

[Gojira777]

In my league, I have top 8 or so that qualify. The 9th seat is the biggest loser (since we're doing rebuy torneys). You can do e.g. hitman (fish tends to do poor calls and get lucky).
I also threw in a wildcard game at the end so those who hadn't qualified had one more shot, and those who are qualified can win the tournament to limit number of players at the championship game. I.e. if a non-qualified player wins, he gets the 10th and final seat. If a qualified players wins, there will only be 9 players at the championship game.

That sounds fun!

 

[Rakrul]

I‘ve read stuff like that a lot too. To not reward the winning players even more and punish the weaker. Makes absolute sense. I wonder if there is another way to have some sort of season progression like this. Maybe with progressive bounties or bounties depending on season rank or something like this…

One common thing is to give bonus points for participation-streaks. This incentivies players to come and keeps the game going. I also do more points, the later in the season it is, so it's not hopeless for those who are further down rankings. First 1/3 = 100% points, second 1/3 = 150% points and last 1/3 gives 200% points. This means winning the later tournies are much more important which again incentives everyone to participate even if they're dead last..

 

[Gojira777]

One common thing is to give bonus points for participation-streaks. This incentivies players to come and keeps the game going. I also do more points, the later in the season it is, so it's not hopeless for those who are further down rankings. First 1/3 = 100% points, second 1/3 = 150% points and last 1/3 gives 200% points. This means winning the later tournies are much more important which again incentives everyone to participate even if they're dead last..

I like the idea to give more points for games later in the season, never thought of that.
I think I‘d find attendance streaks more fair when I have a second table. That way I don‘t punish someone who would‘ve wanted to play but couldn‘t because the very limited 8 seats were full.

 

[Gojira777]

What type of tourney do you play for season games vs. championship game? I love the idea to have it at much higher chips than usual. For example the T500 base vs the T25 base we play with regularly. I want it to feel special.

 

[Rakrul]

I like the idea to give more points for games later in the season, never thought of that.
I think I‘d find attendance streaks more fair when I have a second table. That way I don‘t punish someone who would‘ve wanted to play but couldn‘t because the very limited 8 seats were full.

It does incentivies signing up early though.

Downside is people will sign up immediately and then drop-out which is a bit of extra administrating.

What type of tourney do you play for season games vs. championship game? I love the idea to have it at much higher chips than usual. For example the T500 vs the T25 we play with regularly. I want it to feel special.

We do turbo rebuy (1 hour rebuy and try to limit the tourney so it's done in 3 hours). This "combats" skill to some level.
For the championship game we still have T10.000 startstack but much slower structure so it lasts about 5-6 hours (rewarding skilled players). League winner get 16k, 2nd gets 14k, 3rd gets 12k, rest gets 10k. One re-entry within the first 2 hours, no rebuys, add-ons or anything.

Downside with the long structure on the championship game is that there's usually no cash game afterwards.

 

[Gojira777]

It does incentivies signing up early though.

That‘s what I thought too…

Downside is people will sign up immediately and then drop-out which is a bit of extra administrating.

Yeah that sucks… I play Magic The Gathering and that is a huge thing where I live. Very annoying for everyone involved. We’ve had events cancelled last minute because of this. Even worse when hosting I can imagine, since my player pool isn‘t that large yet. Thinking I have more than enough players and in the end I have to find the last few to fill a table sounds annoying.

We do turbo rebuy (1 hour rebuy and try to limit the tourney so it's done in 3 hours). This "combats" skill to some level.
For the championship game we still have T10.000 startstack but much slower structure so it lasts about 5-6 hours (rewarding skilled players). League winner get 16k, 2nd gets 14k, 3rd gets 12k, rest gets 10k. One re-entry within the first 2 hours, no rebuys, add-ons or anything.

I see. So some sort of reward in the form of more chips for higher ranks.
Personally I am not a fan of turbos, although I have only tried them online. Maybe my group will like them. We usually play 4-6 hours.

Downside with the long structure on the championship game is that there's usually no cash game afterwards.

That‘s not an issue yet, since I only host tourneys. I am currently planning to buy my first cash set, maybe that will change things in the end…

 

[Jaxen]

We do 6 tournaments each year and a summer cash game series that we give tournament points for based on +/- (I don't publish the cash results). Simple formula is based on Dr. Neau's: square root of the prize pool / finish position + 1. Only top 5 scores count. Top 7 in the points move on to the championship final, and 8th-12th can play in a wild card for the 8th seat to prop up the prize pool. Only bonuses offered are a 10% chip bonus to the outright winners (no chops) of any 2-table tournaments or the cash series (sliding scale if it's 1 or 3 tables). Otherwise all players begin the final with same stack.
In 2025 I believe we had 24 unique players, most tournaments ran with 12-16.
As for finding a date that works for all qualifiers, I start reaching out to them right after the last tourney (mid Nov) when the top 7 are set. We shoot for early January. Finding one date isn't too hard that way. If there's a wild card, it's the night before.

 

[Gojira777]

We do 6 tournaments each year and a summer cash game series that we give tournament points for based on +/- (I don't publish the cash results). Simple formula is based on Dr. Neau's: square root of the prize pool / finish position + 1.

Oh so you mix in cash game results in the tournament league? That sound wild.

 

[Jaxen]

Oh so you mix in cash game results in the tournament league? That sound wild.

If you make the most money over the 3-4 cash games you "won the tournament" and get the same points as you would for winning a $40 tournament. You must play at least 2 of the 3-4 to get points. This'll be the 3rd year we've done it and it works well (enough).

 

[Gojira777]

If you make the most money over the 3-4 cash games you "won the tournament" and get the same points as you would for winning a $40 tournament. You must play at least 2 of the 3-4 to get points. This'll be the 3rd year we've done it and it works well (enough.

Very interesting!

 

[Dodger]

I run a league with a Championship Game (CG) setup. Players earn points throughout an 8-game regular season. Points equate to starting stacks for the CG.

I describe CG starting stacks like a seeding system. Don’t like that you have less chips than the guys that played well all season? Play better to earn a ‘higher seed.’

We are about to complete our 6th season. Along the way, I’ve made small changes each season to improve the player experience, as well as prevent staleness.

We drop worst score. Players need to attend at least 4 regular season games to be eligible for the CG, or they can outright win a regular season game. Eligibility does not guarantee a CG seat. Players still need to finish in the Top 24 in points. Our CG caps at 24 players. Yes, we do a 3-table CG.

It’s a lot of work, but a ton of fun and one of the reasons I believe our game has grown and thrived. We started with about 8 in our player pool, and now have nearly 40 players in just 6-7 years.

 

[phys]

Dodger's point about the seeding framing is spot on, and worth expanding on for anyone designing a league from scratch. The reason points-based starting stacks work better than "top X qualify with equal stacks" is that it keeps the regular season meaningful all the way to the end. Flat equal stacks at the championship mean you just need to make the cut — the regular season becomes a long qualifying round. Points-based stacks mean the season leader has a real advantage to protect, and everyone else knows exactly what they're playing for. The whole season has narrative arc instead of just a cutoff line.

The key design question is the ratio between top seed and bottom seed. If your season leader comes in with 3x the chips of the last qualifier, you risk the whole room ganging up on one stack, and it feels unfair to newer or weaker players. Somewhere in the 1.5x to 2x range keeps the advantage real but still leaves the championship genuinely open. Rakrul's progressive scoring approach solves the same problem from the other direction by compressing standings in the final stretch, which is another valid way to keep everyone invested late in the season.

 

[Dodger]

The whole season has narrative arc instead of just a cutoff line.

I like this line of thought.

In a home game setting where 10 hour tournies, or multi-day tournies really aren’t feasible, points-based starting stacks can give that de facto feel of a multi-day tourney.

You've played multiple days leading to the ‘final day’ (aka, championship) and players will have different starting stacks on that final day in those multi-day tournaments as well.

 

[Gojira777]

I really like your ways @Dodger @phys!

I got to find out a good way to get the stack sizes right. I‘m thinking of doing freezeout tourneys for season games. Maybe a bit more deep-stacked, so that everybody has a fair shot without rebuying, as I have some players that don‘t like rebuys. I do limit my rebuys for regular tourneys to 1 per player.

What are your thoughts on including bounties into the point system? Maybe knocking out higher ranked players for more points could be a fun dynamic that changes how people play and also help with balancing.

Also, how much of the buyin should be for the league pool?

 

[Dodger]

@Gojira777 If you are just starting, keep your points system simple…and simple to understand from a player’s perspective.

Here a good discussion on league points - https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/how-do-you-keep-points-during-a-season.114952/#post-2365393

And there are numerous others throughout PCF as well. The more complicated the points formula, the more you need to keep track of and audit to make sure all the data is calculating correctly.

As for format of regular season tournaments, we mix it up throughout the season. For 8 games, we do 2 freezeouts, 2 bounty events, 1 progressive bounty event, 1 deepstack, 1 shootout, and 1 pre-buy event. Most of these are 10K starting stacks with T25 base. Deepstack is 20K to start.

I don’t recommend starting with this many formats. Pick 3 and do each twice for a 6 game season. This will help you get your feet wet and help you understand the work it takes to keep things running. As you gain that league manager experience and become more comfortable with everything, you can introduce other variables that you’d like to see in the league.

Also, how much of the buyin should be for the league pool?

This will depend on your group’s stakes and what you are comfortable with. I’ve seen anywhere from 5-20% of regular season game buy-ins go to a championship pool.

 

[bigdonkey]

I agree about keeping the points system simple. I've been using pretty much the same points for 20ish years, and while it's much more linear than most here would like, it works great for our more social league.

Regarding championship chip stacks, it's based off of points. The points leader gets T1MM, and everyone else gets a percentage of chips equal to their points vs the leaders. So if the points leader finished with 400 points, someone with 300 points would get 750K in chips. Our points work out so that most players start in the 90% to 75% range of the leader.

We play 10 regular season events across 8 nights, with starting stacks as follows:
1. T25K rebuy + add-on optional
2. T2K
3a. T1.5K turbo freezeout
3b. T1.5K turbo rebuy
4. T2K rebuy
5. T100K bounty
6. T2K rebuy
7a. T1.5K turbo freezout
7b. T1.5k turbo rebuy
8. T2K rebuy
9a. T1MM Championship (everyone qualifies)
9b. T500K Dealers Choice Tournament of Champions (players who won a tournament plus the points leader if they didn't win one)

Regarding scheduling, the league runs Sept. - May. Our schedule is announced at the championship game for the next season so players have max time to plan their schedules. Can't please everyone, so the best you can do is give them a year in advance to clear their schedules.

One thing I added 2 years ago that has been a hit is that the top 10 in points each get to chose the games played for next season. Options include Hold 'em, Pineapple, Hollywood, Omaha, O/8b, 2 or 5 Omaha, 7 Card Stud, 7CS/8b, Razz, Single Draw, Triple Draw, Badugi plus HORSE or custom mixed-games. The championship game is a 4-game mix with one game each from Hold 'em, Omaha, Stud and Draw groups. The championship game winner gets to pick the games for next year's championship but can't chose the same that they just won.

Again, it's a social league so buy ins are only $10 + $2 for championship pool. To make accounting easier in me, anyone who pays $20 (10 games x $2) upfront gets a 10% bonus to their championship stack. That way I'm only dealing with $10 buy ins and no singles each night.

I don't remember if I missed anything so feel free to ask if you have any questions.

 

[TheLemursReturn]

We do points-weighted stacks for our annual "free" championship. We reserve 20% of each month's prize pool for the championship. Since we have 10 games, that means the championship pool is about 2.5x as big as a normal month (depending on how our investments do). Works great.

Players need to play 3 games or win one to qualify. Lowest two scores (or absences) drop. When it comes time for the championship anyone playing gets 50BB automatically. Then we calculate 200BB per player and distribute that pool of chips based on points. This means no one starts *too* short, nor do the best players start with too giant a stack.

Here's our leaderboard page with all the rules and the data from 2025. But we did change a few small things for 2026.

We used to allow normal rebuys, but that only lasted 2-3 games. It gave an unfair advantage to the deep pockets. Now they're allowed, but only under an alias, meaning your first finish is what counts for league points. After rebuying, you're not playing for points. This has worked well to discourage loose play while still allowing early losers to build the prize pool.

Scheduling the championship is not an issue if your schedule is permanent and set from the start. We play every second Saturday and the championship is always in January. Everyone knows this, so if anyone can't make it, that's on them.

 

[Rakrul]

[,,,]

What are your thoughts on including bounties into the point system? Maybe knocking out higher ranked players for more points could be a fun dynamic that changes how people play and also help with balancing.

[....]

I have a bounty on the league's current leader which is 5p first 3rd, then 7p and finally 10p the last 3rd. The point increase is done to match the progressive points I have and puts a bullseye on current #1.

 

[HiveKueen]

I finally have a minute to reply to this. Here are some ideas from what I do in my league.

First i use Tournament Director to run the game and manage the league particulars ( seasons, points, etc.)

8 game seasons, season championship. Championship qualifiers are the high 8 point getters for the season.
the regular season games are 20 players max (averaging ~16 right now), 22 buyins max (to keep game from running super late), starting stack is 160BB. Game lasts ~4 hours.

My point formula is attached as a picture.

The starting stacks for the championship are graduated. The starting point for calculating the starting stacks was that I want the 8 person game to have as many chips in play as a regular season 20 person game. For our purposes, that is 30,000 chips. I want the average starting stack to be 30000 /8 = 3750. And I want the stacks to each be ~3% less than the next higher stack. Thank goodness for spreadsheets!

My starting stacks worked out to be 4205, 3950, 3830, 3715,3600, 3490 and 3385.

The graduated stacks ensure players stay interested in all 8 games. that said, the big stack really doesn't have a huge advantage and it is not uncommon for the smallest stack to win the game ( i did for the most recent season). So having the biggest stack is more for bragging rights.

Additional perks for the point leader include choosing the chip set we play with (2 options), choosing her/his seat at the table (but not where anyone else sits!) and starting out on the button.

There are so many things you can do in a league. It's a blast thinking up new ideas.

My latest innovation is to run two per season Casino Nights - casino themed chip set, cards, dealer buttons, blind structure (BB ante), etc. I can tout these games as practice ground for playing in casino tournaments. So far very popular !

Let me know if you have questions.
HK

 

[thePokerClub]

@Gojira777 welcome and check my resources out in the SeasonStack subforums.

I run a tournament club and we are in our 3rd Season. I have evolved us to a good spot over 4 years and pay a combination of cash and points. Take $1 off of every entry for a Trophy Pool and also a % off of every tournament pot after rebuys/addons for a Winners Pool. This year we are doing a race-to-100 points and Winners Pool is projected to be ~$7,000 for a single table Championship.

Make sure you enhance the club EVERY YEAR to keep it fresh. Bump the entry little by little every Season as more players come to you. This should happen by word of mouth if you are managing things well.