How to run a home poker league

A league turns a regular game into a season: the same group, points every night, and a champion at the end. It works best when the rules are short and settled before the first night.

Set up the season

Decide four things and write them down:

1. How long. Eight to twelve nights is a good first season. Monthly games make a year-long season; weekly games, a quarter.
2. Who plays. A fixed group, or open to anyone who turns up. Decide whether a guest can play a night without joining.
3. What counts. Every night, or your best nights (for example, the best 8 of 10), so one missed night doesn't end a season.
4. What's at the end. A trophy, a title, a final table for the top players, or a season prize the group sets aside each night. If you keep a prize, the commissioner can set it up as the league's season pool, and Pokr Club keeps its ledger.

Pick a points system

Start simple. These three are the most common, and each is a preset in Pokr Club:

• Finish order. The winner scores the number of players; first out scores 1. The most common system there is.
• Finish order, top-3 bump. Finish order, plus 6 for the win, 4 for 2nd and 2 for 3rd. Winning matters more than surviving.
• Podium only. 10, 6, 3 and 1 for the top four; everyone else scores nothing. For short seasons and title chases.

A worked example

Eight players on a night:

• Finish order: 1st scores 8, 2nd 7, 3rd 6, 4th 5, and so on to 1 for the first player out.
• Finish order, top-3 bump: 1st scores 14 (8 + 6), 2nd 11 (7 + 4), 3rd 8 (6 + 2), 4th 5, and so on to 1.
• Podium only: 10, 6, 3 and 1 for the top four; 5th to 8th score 0.

Over a season, finish order rewards turning up and lasting; podium only rewards winning nights.

Ties

Agree the tiebreak before the season. Pokr Club's order is most wins first, then most cashes, then the most recent result.

Keep it honest

Post the standings after every night, with the points for each finish, so anyone can check their own number. Pokr Club works out the points from the results the host records and shows the same standings to everyone in the league.