What is your preferred method or app to group chat? (1 Viewer)

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High Hand
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Currently, we have a group text chat of 10 guys to try get games going. Very hard when a few of them say they can’t.

There are a few more outside this group that could be added, but I feel a group text chat with 15-20 is too much and there are better methods to approach this.

My thoughts were Discord, Slack, maybe a Facebook group chat.
What would you recommend?

Thanks.
 
I still find spamming friends via text is best. I have those apps but I often forget to check them.

If I have a cash game I’m trying to build I’ll do a group text or maybe have 3 group texts with 3 different groups.

I’ll send out the details and end the text with DO NOT REPLY PLEASE. So people don’t get annoyed. Then I’ll follow up w individuals the next day/leading up to game day.

I also usually send the texts during lunch time, 3-4pm ish or late late evening. Those are the best times to get peoples attention. I bet if Tommy shared PCF website traffic it would also show that’s when people visit the site.

Most my friends appreciate hosting and putting a game together. They know it’s a lot of work and don’t mind the group texts. Ending it with a simple do not reply has really helped avoid it become a nuisance.
 
Signal is what our entire club uses.

All hosts can control their own games, flyers, etc. So much control inside the app, plus it’s secure, unlike WhatsApp which is owned by Meta….

Plus the Club chat, where shit talking occurs :ROFL: :ROFLMAO:
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We use the Band app. I find it extremely easy to use. I can schedule games for multiple dates in advance, and guys are asked to RSVP within those events. So I can see ahead of time what the player count may look like. I can also place a limit on number of players and the app will automatically create a waitlist if we go over that cap.

Outside of the scheduling/RSVP features, I can post reminders/updates or message individuals or groups of individuals directly within the app.

If a regular wants to invite a new player, he just uses the invite feature within Band. No need to start a new group text because we added one guy. New player gets all the updates and can see the calendar of future games.

Finally, you can set quiet hours as an admin or as an individual - meaning you won’t get notifications during the times you set. This is important as guys don’t want their phones constant pinging with notifications if they are at work or late at night.
 
WhatsApp even though there's like two guys I know who refuse to use it because of Facebook.
 
Mostly texts. I have a text thread with most of the regulars that get first choice. After a few hours I send out a bunch of individual texts to the next level of players. If I still have a seat or two left I will post in the FB messenger chat or the FB private group. I try to avoid those last options as there are some people in those groups that I would rather not have play in my home.
 
We use GroupMe for our league members communication. There is a board for the group to chat it up. And we can send out calendar events and members can rsvp if they will make it or not. It is simple but gives us a place for our league to communicate.
 
What's wrong with a text group chat? What's the benefit of a separate app?
Adding/removing people from those chats can be a burden. Often have to create a new thread. Also, for some, there is an annoyance level with a group chat. A separate app is easier for some folks to turn off notifications, or to check at their convenience.

Lastly, some apps provide more features than just messages - such as creating events on calendars, RSVP tracking, etc.
 
Adding/removing people from those chats can be a burden. Often have to create a new thread. Also, for some, there is an annoyance level with a group chat. A separate app is easier for some folks to turn off notifications, or to check at their convenience.

Lastly, some apps provide more features than just messages - such as creating events on calendars, RSVP tracking, etc.
Well this I understand. I can't remove people from a couple of my group chats. I really dislike group chats so I just mute all notification from it. That works.
 
I have been using GroupMe and Overall pleased with it because I can create events inside the chat. People can post photos of the game and I always include a cash out report to show who was up or down for the night.
Many pros that are similar to what has already been mentioned by others.
Cons:
-some people don’t want to download another app
- doesn’t have a waitlist or maybe attending feature
-removing users gets time stamped in the group so I feel like a jerk when I remove someone.
Overall I am happy with it.

Another user in a different thread recommended Partiful app and I am very tempted to switch to that in the future. It sends invite in a text and list is specific to that event plus only a phone number is needed to signup/register…solves most of my problem with GroupMe.
 
People are odd ! I started a Whatsapp group of my 15 or so old poker pals and a few friends that might be interested. 5 of them have said nothing over the last 3 weeks of invites and game reports but haven't removed themselves from the group either.

I start a new group for each game with those who have said yes or possible, where final details are sorted.
 
I just send individual texts to my list. People get annoyed when they have to see everyone else’s replies.

There are some players in my group who are close friends with each other, so with those I’ll sometimes send the invite to 2-3 people as a bunch knowing they are interested in whether their pal is playing.

The ages and tech savvy of my regs vary a lot, so getting them all to use a certain app would be tough. A few of them are on Discord or Slack constantly, others have no idea what those are and would need help installing / setting them up.

And then they would forget to check the app and wonder why I stopped inviting them.
 
Discord is my preference because of channel and role management which most other apps don’t have.

All my regs have been using it for more than 10 years so it works for getting player lists started. After that it’s turning to social media group chats to source more from the B-list.
 
I just send individual texts to my list. People get annoyed when they have to see everyone else’s replies.

There are some players in my group who are close friends with each other, so with those I’ll sometimes send the invite to 2-3 people as a bunch knowing they are interested in whether their pal is playing.

The ages and tech savvy of my regs vary a lot, so getting them all to use a certain app would be tough. A few of them are on Discord or Slack constantly, others have no idea what those are and would need help installing / setting them up.

And then they would forget to check the app and wonder why I stopped inviting them.
Concur.

Signal. Discord. What’s app. Telegram. Email. Fbook group.

Too many apps for me to get all of my players on one so just have to text and be conscience time and day and as few group chats as possible but like @Taghkanic said a few friends are in groups so they can see if eachother r playing.

Also I’m at the point now where for the most part I don’t text until the day before we play. People don’t plan a week out anymore.
 
I have been using GroupMe and Overall pleased with it because I can create events inside the chat. People can post photos of the game and I always include a cash out report to show who was up or down for the night.
Many pros that are similar to what has already been mentioned by others.
Cons:
-some people don’t want to download another app
- doesn’t have a waitlist or maybe attending feature
-removing users gets time stamped in the group so I feel like a jerk when I remove someone.
Overall I am happy with it.

Another user in a different thread recommended Partiful app and I am very tempted to switch to that in the future. It sends invite in a text and list is specific to that event plus only a phone number is needed to signup/register…solves most of my problem with GroupMe.
When I get back into hosting I'll be using Partiful, I tested it by sending an invite to my wife and it was super simple. Click a link, enter phone number, reply. The end.
Maybes will get alerts to remind them to RSVP. People confirmed will get alerts reminding them of the upcoming game. Couldn't be easier imo
 
Many years ago when I ran a big membership organization, I often needed to reach several thousand members at a time, with a certain degree of customization in the message.

This was a good 20+ years ago, by I remember using a shareware program I found which let me send these out in small batches over the course of several hours via email or SMS (or whatever the protocols was back then). This prevented the mass-messaging from running afoul of my internet provider / carrier.

It required a little tech skill, but I assume that such programs have only proliferated and vastly improved over two decades. For a list of 15-30 people it wouldn’t have to be particularly robust.

Anyway the beauty of it was that it didn’t require anyone to have a new program. I just used the notification preference for each member in my database.

There probably also would be a way (using automators) to automatically process replies and provide updates on RSVPs to those requesting them.

Maybe Partiful or other options already offers the same capabilities? I’ll take a look.
 
The other nice thing about Partiful is you can set how many players you want and it handles the wait-list for you. Someone drops out, you can see who is next and reach out to them
 
The other nice thing about Partiful is you can set how many players you want and it handles the wait-list for you. Someone drops out, you can see who is next and reach out to them
Band does this as well. If there is someone on the waitlist, and then someone drops, there is no manual adjustment. The first person on the waitlist is moved to the open spot.
 
Currently I just make a new text group chat for the upcoming month. Usually consists of everyone who played the previous week and then I’ll send out individual texts if we have multiple cancellations. I hover around 8-10 players for every session. If the game grows to the point of bi weekly sessions or 2 table sessions then I’d consider looking into an app to handle the workload but text threads are the easiest option so far.
 
If you want face to face create private game on Poker Now and you can talk all you like, but I belive there is a limit of players or participants
 
What's app. I created a community and turned off comments. Folks can thumbs up for confirmation. Or send a PM.

I organise my games via a Whatsapp Community as well.

The way I do it is create a new Group for each game named along the lines of "Sat 8th Feb - £20 Mixed Deepstack Tournie from 3pm", or "Sun 9th Feb - 5/10/25p Circus Cash from 4pm" etc, give it an icon of one of my chips and add any other info in the description and then make a post in the Community Announcements to draw attention to it. Anyone can join the Game group and say "I'm in".
 

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