How can I keep the donkeys interested in my league?

[Crawland]

Some friends and I started a league a couple years ago. None of us are really that good, but about five of us are decent. The other 6-7 guys are really not that good and we've had a couple others drop out because they realize they don't have much of a shot at making the money.

We are just doing the league to add a little bit of interest to the monthly game. We're not trying to send anyone to the WSP.

They way we play now is $10 for league players each month goes to the final tourney. Points are awarded simply. Last place gets 1 pt. 2nd to last 2 points...etc. We award 1 point for kills and 2 bonus points for killing the previous game winner. I kept it simple in the beginning so I didn't scare people away with some complicated point system.

At the final tournament chips are based on your points and the top three cash. The winner of the regular season takes home some cash too.

The problem is as people are starting to realize they don't ever win, and don't have much shot at winning, they're starting to bail. I'm looking for something to give people a little incentive to keep playing. Maybe adjust the payout at the end? Any ideas?

[j p frog]

bounty chip is what we have used. Each player can buy one at the beginning of the night...the player to take anothere player out gets the chip....and at the end of the night, even if they lose their own chip by being taken out...they can cash out the chips they have won by taking out other players...usually a 5-10 buck/chip bounty is how we set it up...gives a bit more action as players are jockeying for the win to get someone out...even if they are a weak player, they can win this.

[Wedge Rock]

High hand jackpot? You don't need to be good to get dealt a good hand once in the season... Maybe make the high hand jackpot a payout at the end of the year.

Also, try pizza. I ordered pizza for my home games and suckered Detroitdad in. Now he donates his buyin regularly... We don't even do pizza any more!

[Trann]

An 11th (or 10th, if the group is small enough) Wildcard Seat? Selected at random, drawn from a hat.

Each time a player has been to a regular tourny game, their name in put into the hat. More games = more chances to be drawn.

Further incentive: weight the draw entries more to the end. The 2nd last game gets you 2x entries. The very last game gets you 3x entries. Scale to N-(Final Table) games accordingly.

[Crawland]

So If I start offering pizza DD would come to my league instead of yours? That's an idea.

Trann, since we only have 12 players in the league everyone plays in the final tourney right now. I would cut it to a top ten thing if we got around 15 or 16 people, but right now that isn't a concern.

The problem with bounty chips is that it usually rewards the better players still. We give points for bounties now and it's usually the top 4 players that get most of those points.

[Wedge Rock]

Send me some details... I might make a South Lyon game or two... Then again, I've been telling Shadow I'll make his game for going on two years now.

[MsprinM]

Are you doing tournies or cash games? If not doing a cash game start a low stakes, .5/$1 game or even lower to get guys to come. Most of the fish realize they suck at tournies but not as many have figured out they suck at cash games yet.

[JbaIV]

bounty chip is what we have used. Each player can buy one at the beginning of the night...the player to take anothere player out gets the chip....and at the end of the night, even if they lose their own chip by being taken out...they can cash out the chips they have won by taking out other players...usually a 5-10 buck/chip bounty is how we set it up...gives a bit more action as players are jockeying for the win to get someone out...even if they are a weak player, they can win this.

This is a good idea.

Do you play any cash games at all?
How about playing diffrent kinds of poker instead of just holdem. Something the group isnt used to playing so it brings it back to a more even playing feild.

[MsprinM]

Oh and make sure the fish know they are your best friend and will be missed if they dont come play. make them feel wanted, loved and appreciated.

[Crawland]

We play tournies for the league, but we always play cash games too. The fish still come to play, I just can't get them interested in playing in the league. We do a $20 buy in tournament, plus an extra $10 for league players that goes to the tournament at the end of the year (which I won this year.:mrgreen:)

They figure they're already losing $20, they don't want to throw another $10 away.

[j p frog]

time to switch ponds and gather new fish I guess.

[MsprinM]

We play tournies for the league, but we always play cash games too. The fish still come to play, I just can't get them interested in playing in the league. We do a $20 buy in tournament, plus an extra $10 for league players that goes to the tournament at the end of the year (which I won this year.:mrgreen:)

They figure they're already losing $20, they don't want to throw another $10 away.

Perspective is an interesting thing. In the groups that I play with 10 dollars is not unusual for the dealer tip for 1 hand.

[Crawland]

Yeah, we're not exactly high rollers.

[Crawland]

time to switch ponds and gather new fish I guess.

The problem is, in any other pond, I would be the fish!

[Richard Cranium]

I wonder on average what the life is of a normal home league. The one I played in lasted around 3 years and declined quickly after that.

[Blake]

I wonder on average what the life is of a normal home league. The one I played in lasted around 3 years and declined quickly after that.
My league made it 2 years....now I practically have to beg people to play once every few months

[Wedge Rock]

I'm going on 5 years... combined with another league after 3 years, but more to share hosting responsibilities than because we had numbers dwindling.

[Richard Cranium]

I would like to play in a league again but I don't know of any that are close. There is one I know of that I play in on occasion, but its an hour away so I don't go that often.

[Richard Cranium]

An 11th (or 10th, if the group is small enough) Wildcard Seat? Selected at random, drawn from a hat.

Each time a player has been to a regular tourny game, their name in put into the hat. More games = more chances to be drawn.

Further incentive: weight the draw entries more to the end. The 2nd last game gets you 2x entries. The very last game gets you 3x entries. Scale to N-(Final Table) games accordingly.

This is a really interesting idea, and would keep players in a larger league to keep coming even if they were on the low end of the rankings. I really like this idea.

[Zemo]

If this is a freindly game, why not try to improve their play? Something as simple as sitting around having a few brews discussing strategy, maybe even after the game.

[Iamdead]

Hookers and Blow

[T]

My league made it 2 years....now I practically have to beg people to play once every few months


same with me. We played 2 seasons, with the 2nd being better than the first, as we knew wtf we were doing.

Reasons I can think of why my game died:
a) The poker boom is dying/on life support
b) The economy sucks, and many people don't have the extra $$$ to piss away playing cards
c) Everyone is getting older, getting married, having kids and shit like that. Poker takes a back seat.


I thought things were run very well on my end. For season 2, if you played in the game, well then you became part of the league. We took out $3 per $20 buy in and put it in the TOC pot. Points were awarded based on finish, with the money earning spots heavy on points by doubling and tripling for the winner. I say don't give them the option to join the league.

For the ToC, I also gave out "bonus" chips based on attendance and finish in the standings. Everyone was welcome to play in the ToC, everyone put in $20 for the standard # of chips. This gave the guys who were regulars (not always the best players) a chip advantage over some guy who showed up 2x and then for the final game and the big pot.

T

[Blake]

Reasons I can think of why my game died:
a) The poker boom is dying/on life support
b) The economy sucks, and many people don't have the extra $$$ to piss away playing cards
c) Everyone is getting older, getting married, having kids and shit like that. Poker takes a back seat.

I think B and C were the main reasons for my game dying like it did, mostly C. Several of the guys got divorces and always seemed to "have the kids and no baby sitter" on poker nights. Or they just had their first kid and have "new father guilt" with going out ONE night to play cards.

When I ran my league, $5 a game went into the TOC pot. You then got points for paying your fee, knocking people out and finishing in the top 3 to 4. The higher you finished, the more points. I kept the points simple, 1 points for buying in, 1/2 point for knocking a person out and then anywhere from 1 to 4 points for finishing in the money spots. You then got $100 in chips at the TOC for each point. There were 10 games in teh series before the TOC so as long as you played in every game you would get $1000 in chips. I even allowed none league players into the game. For them it was a $50 buy-in for $1000 in chips (basically teh minimum investment by a league player). I even had 2 rebuys and an add-on for the first hour at a discounted rate to try and sweeten the pot and pull more people in. The first year was great, everyone was constantly checking the point standings, play got really competative, but friendly...I loved it.

The first year I institued the league I had 18 people in the TOC all league players. The second year I had 12, 8 of which were league players. The 3rd year after 6 games I didnt' even have 30% involvment so I just gave everyone their money back and disbanded the league. This year, no league and I can't even get a full table of 10 to show up just to play cards once every few months. Its irritating cause I'll have guys saying "Oh man when are you having a game, we need to play again" yadda yadda yadda, but when I put a game together they all back out for one reason or another.

[Quads]

With the money I give away at the poker table, once I start playing in your home game, the donkey's will follow. Trust me.

[IFLOPPEDITSUCKER]

I put my email and general location on home poker games dot com. That got me started. Every year we have open season for new entrants. Been running 20 person tournaments pretty consistently every 3 weeks for 4 years, tracking points, top 16 get into the TOC for a freeroll at $4K.
There's a ton of players in NoVA though, so not sure if you country boys would be able to sustain it.
Bratwurst, quit being a bitch and make the drive....

[Richard Cranium]

I put my email and general location on home poker games dot com. That got me started. Every year we have open season for new entrants. Been running 20 person tournaments pretty consistently every 3 weeks for 4 years, tracking points, top 16 get into the TOC for a freeroll at $4K.
There's a ton of players in NoVA though, so not sure if you country boys would be able to sustain it.
Bratwurst, quit being a bitch and make the drive....

I don't get your invites anymore. Gotta add me to the list.

[IFLOPPEDITSUCKER]

Probably b/c after 20x asking a girl out, and being slapped down with a no or zero response, I start to feel like a stalker...I'll add you again.

[Slev]

I don't know if you got my PM Craw, but if you need another player let me know. I'm right down the street and can fulfil your donkey requirement