Poker Tournament Fundraiser

[softballmomma]

Needs some advice from all you experienced coaches, team moms, parents, etc. ... we are going to be holding a Poker Tournament as a fund raisers. Just curious if anyone out there has done this before. If so, I need a little advise... what was your buy in, what did it include and what was the pay off. We should have approx. 50+ players. Thank you in advance for your input.

[txfpcoach]

$50-$100 buy in depending on the area with set rebuys like $50 in the first 2 hours $25 in the third hour and none after that. Pot and team split the take I.E half is the fundraiser and half is the total pot. 40% to 1st 20% to second, 15%to third, 10% to fourth, 5% to Fifth-Seventh (or somethign along those lines. Put a time limit on it these could go for days so make it say 1am drop dead most chips win. Spell out the rules like relocating players to new tables etc...

something like this

SWING SOFTBALL CLUB
No-Limit / Texas Hold’em
Fundraiser Tournament

BS also has a FULL food menu of GREAT food, so come out and hang out and play some poker this saturday night.

When: Saturday, January 12th 2008
7pm – Midnight (Registration begins at 6:30pm)

Where: BS Bar & Grill
10471 St. Charles Rock Road (Rock Road and Ashby)
St. Ann, MO 63074
314.423.4111

Entry Fee:
- $40 Donation, Includes draft beer, soda, Snacks & $500 in poker chips.
- $20 Donation for Non-poker players.

Prizes: (based on 30 players!)
- $300 First Place
- $150 Second Place
- $50 Third Place
- 50/50 Raffle

Rules:
- Players start with $500 in chips.
- This is a “No-Limit” tournament, so players may wager all their chips at any point.
- Blinds will start out at $5-$10 and increase every 30 minutes. Big Blind sets the
minimum bet.
- All raises must double the original bet. Checking and raising IS allowed.
- Unlimited buy-backs until 10pm. ($20 for an additional $500 in chips.)

[Sftbll4ever]

How about if you are a 501 (3) C and you are now gambling to raise funds for your non-profit? Wasn't this a topic before???

[Skarp]

Put a time limit on it these could go for days so make it say 1am drop dead most chips win.

A drop-dead time isn't necessary, and probably won't be appreciated.

As long as the blinds increase at a reasonably brisk pace, the tournament won't last too long. You can calculate backward from the total amount of chips expected to be in play in order to determine how quickly you will need to raise the blinds. For instance, if you have 50 players who each receive $1,000 in chips (including all available rebuys), then the maximum amount of chips in play will be $50K. A tournament certainly won't last very long after the blinds increase to where 10-15% or so of the total chips are committed in each pot. So blinds of 2,000-4,000 or 3,000-6,000 will end matters very quickly (in fact, the tournament is fairly likely to end before the blinds even make it that high).

So assuming under the above scenario you start with blinds 10-20, and then progress as follows: 15-30, 25-50, 50-100, 100-200, 200-400, 400-800, 500-1,000, 1,000-2000, 2,000-4000, 4,000-8,000--you could allow a full 30 minutes at each blind structure and still conclude your tournament in about 5 hours. If you have more players, more chips per player, or a combination of the two, you can adjust the timing of the increases (e.g., to 20 minutes per round) so that the blinds constitute a suitably high ratio of the total chips by the 5-hour mark.

The main thing is that you want the tournament to move along at a decent clip while still allowing skill to play a part in the outcome. If the blinds increase too rapidly the tournament basically degenerates into a crapshoot, because players are forced to gamble in order to accumulate enough chips to stay ahead of the blinds.

[ssarge]

Skarp makes a great point, and is obviously well versed in the subject matter.

It's a fundraiser, not a meaningful poker tournament, and so it probably doesn't matter. But under optimal conditions, raising blinds is way preferable to a time limit.

Reminds me of a timed blackjack tournament in which I once participated. On the last hand, I pulled a blackjack. As near as I could calculate, it was going to leave me 3rd or 4th in the tournament. And left me with a choice. I could double down on the blackjack - pretty unconventional, to say the least - and move up to first or second if the double down hit. I opted to do that, giving up a sure 3 to 2 payout, in order to maybe gain a 2 to 1 payout. Except I of course drew a 3 and lost the hand. I ended up 6th instead of 1st. Or third. Under the circumstances, I'd probably do the same thing again. But I wouldn't like it.

Best,

Scott

[Skarp]

Skarp makes a great point, and is obviously well versed in the subject matter.

My expertise extends to most of the standard forms of vice and debauchery. I've got some really great tips if anyone wants to run a bordello fundraiser...

[Skarp]

Seriously though, the time-limit thing opens the door for stalling, and would definitely incentivize last-minute goofball plays like Sarge was forced to make in his blackjack tourney. You think drop-dead is bad in softball, try making good decisions all night in a poker tournament only to have the thing turn into a complete farce for the last 5 minutes.

[slomo]

We had a very successful tournement and raised over $5,000. The person that ran the tournement did it for free so that helped. We were able to give them a very healthy tip. We had a $100 buy-in with $50 re-buys during the first hour. We made $2,000 just on re-buys. To insure every family participated, every family had to give the coach $500. People who showed up gave the name of the person that invited them and that family was reimbursed $100 for each person that played up to the $500 they originally paid out. If someone had 2 people come and play, they were out the $300. It made everyone particiate. The $100 included buy-in, food and drink. We accepted donation for drinks. Payout was $1,000, $500, $250 & $100

It was a lot of fun. Keep an email list of those who show so it will be easy to communicate about another tournement you might have.

I hope this is helpful

[softballmomma]

Thank you for all the advice. Now when figuring out the pay offs at the end, do you count all money made or just what was made at the buy ins and rebuys? Are dealers needed or do you deal around the table? Charge for food and drinks or included at the beginning? Are drinks unlimited, cause with some that could be quite costly?

[Skarp]

:P Thank you for all the advice. Now when figuring out the pay offs at the end, do you count all money made or just what was made at the buy ins and rebuys? Are dealers needed or do you deal around the table? Charge for food and drinks or included at the beginning? Are drinks unlimited, cause with some that could be quite costly?

In no particular order, I would respond to your questions as follows:

1) Food and drinks--I would charge extra for everything you can get away with charging for. People understand that this is a fundraiser, and shouldn't mind you making a profit. Personally I would avoid including food and drink charges into the tournament entry fee, b/c it will lower the payout ratio that you can offer and still make a profit. Better to offer a more attractive payout structure and then ding them extra for drinks, etc. I would also avoid "all-you-can-drink" offers--for several obvious reasons.

2) Dealers--I would definitely want to provide dealers, even if that means using team parents and personal contacts for the job. You've got to assume that a good portion of the participants will be novices, and putting the deck in their hands (along with the responsibility of making sure the action/pot is right, etc.) is a big mistake. You're inviting lots of frustration, conflict, and, possibly, cheating.

3) Payouts--tournament payouts should include only the money received from buy-ins and rebuys (and then only the portion that you are not keeping for the team). Income from other sources like food and drinks is separate, and nobody will expect it to be included in your payouts.

Hope that helps.