Organize a Charity Poker Tournament

Looking for a fun and profitable way to raise money for a charity? Consider a poker tournament where the proceeds are split between the players and the charity.

Steps

  1. First, you need at least five people who know how to play poker. At least ten or twenty people is even better. You'll also need several decks of cards, sets of chips, and people who are willing to be dealers.
  2. Set the rules. Decide which type of poker will be played (Texas Hold'Em is a popular one), what the buy-in will be, what the prize pot will be worth, and whether people who lose can buy themselves back in (and for how much).
  3. Spread the word. Let everybody know what's going on and invite everyone you can. The more people enter, the more money the charity will make.
  4. Once everybody has registered and submitted their buy-in money, divide people up into groups. This will depend on how many people you have, but separating people into tables of six to ten players will work. Do not lock the tourney line-up in advance of game day; take seat reservations in advance, but a tourney will see a lot of walk up players on game day if it is well-publicized.
  5. When people arrive on the day of the tournament, give them their chips and start the games. Everybody should begin with the same amount of chips.
    • People will play until they run out of chips, and then they can either buy back in (paying more money for a fresh stack of chips) or quit.
    • As play continues, players will bust out and choose to leave. When you are playing multiple tables, it is unfair to have a large disparity in the number of players at each table. During play, the tournament director should re-seat players at different tables to keep a reasonable balance. If at a three table tourney where 10 players start on each, a particular table experiences a rash of bust outs and is left with 7 players while the other two lose only one between them. Players at the table of 7 are playing 30% more hands in the blinds, which causes irritation to the players. Refer to Reseat Players in Poker Tournaments.
  6. Eventually, there will be one table left with the best (or luckiest) players at it. Keep going until one person has won.
  7. The last person standing gets the prize pot, but you might want to award some money to second and third-place finishers, too. Whatever money doesn't go to the winners is for charity.
  8. Clean up, thank the dealers, send off the money to the charitable organization, and you're done. Hope you had fun.

Tips

  • Have lots of snacks and drinks available. Except at professional levels, poker is a social activity and should be fun.
  • Have some extra decks of cards handy, in case a deck gets damaged.
  • Even if the players at the table perform dealing duties during the early rounds, consider having an experienced, dedicated dealer for the final table to keep the game moving settle disputes.
  • Definitely offer re-buys and add-ons when running a charity tournament. Re-buys occur in one of two situations and only within a certain time limit - usually the first hour of play. When a player busts out, the dealer offers a re-buy. Alternatively, at any point where a player has fewer chips than the starting amount, he may request a re-buy. The decision of what kind of re-buy is offered must be made before play begins. Generally, re-buys attract more players than they offend - often considered bad-beat protection. Add-ons are performed at the first break - where players have the option to purchase the initial stake, usually at a discount. A standard re-buy & add-on tourney structure: Initial buy-in $50 for 1500 chips. Unlimited re-buys until the break $25 for 1500 chips. Add-on at the break $25 for 1500 chips.
  • Make sure the dealers are quick and practiced. If not enough of your friends can be dealers, consider hiring some professional ones. There are even companies that will bring all their own equipment, including dealers, tables, cards, and poker chips.
  • Call charity poker halls in your area. They can help you get your license and ensure legal compliance, they provide the dealers, run the games, and there will be a bunch of players. You have the potential to make a lot more money while doing a lot less work.

Warnings

  • Consult your local laws to make sure you're doing this legally. Charity tournaments are legal in many municipalities, as long as the only recipients of the take are the charity and the players.
  • Think twice before serving alcohol at the tournament. If you choose to have it available (consider charging for it to make more money for the charity), don't serve it to children, don't let anybody drive home after drinking, and definitely don't continue to serve anybody who seems drunk.
  • Have somebody responsible to look after the money, and keep careful records.

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