[mr.stamper]

Hi Pokerplayers!
I know many players in my town who would like to play a game. So I sent them all a mail which contains a link to a site, where they can enter the dates when they have time. (that takes about 20s) My problem is, that all of them are so damned lazy that they don't do that! I don't want to phone about 20 players.
How do you manage such situations and how do you make the invitations?
Sincerly your mr.stamper

[AlbinoDragon]

Sorry to hear you're having a tough time getting a game going.

In my case, I did the initial "invite" in person with my regular players. They all know when the regular day and time is, but some weeks my work keeps me away from town and being able to host a game. For this reason, I send out an email to these players letting them know when a game is on (I try for about four days before the planned date).

The laziness is something that's impossible to get around though. I ask in that email for them to RSVP so I can get a head count. It's been a few months since I've had anyone reply! They wind up showing, but I don't have any clue in advance who is or is not going to show.

It sounds like you're trying to get a game initially set up (figure out dates and general availability). Unfortunately, if my experience is a reference point, you're going to have to be more direct than a general email. Getting the game going is tough.

I hope others here have suggestions. I'd be curious to hear how other games got started.

Good luck with this!

[Felix]

Since about 8 months i am organizing my weekly homegame with the help of homepokertour.com. During the last 4 month the regulars figured out, that the best time is tuesday evening. So i set up a tournament on hpt.com and every member of my group gets an email to rsvp. Then i have a rough count about how many players will participate. Mostly there are some lazy people who dont rsvp, so if we are less than 7 players i phone the people who likely want to participate but did not rsvp.
Sometimes i host additional cash-games spontaneously if i have spare time. Then i also send a mail around with HPT.com and phone players who are likely to play but didnt rsvp.
After an establishing phase and some discussing, that i dont want to phone 14 guys every time i host a game, the people got used to it and it works quite well.

[hachkc]

I use Invitations, Free eCards and Party Planning Ideas from Evite to send out invites and track who's replied. I always try to send out the invites at 5-7 days ahead of time. We don't run a regular game, just when someone feels like hosting which is usually at least once a month.

[ttflyr]

Originally Posted by AlbinoDragon

The laziness is something that's impossible to get around though. I ask in that email for them to RSVP so I can get a head count. It's been a few months since I've had anyone reply! They wind up showing, but I don't have any clue in advance who is or is not going to show.

It sounds like you're trying to get a game initially set up (figure out dates and general availability). Unfortunately, if my experience is a reference point, you're going to have to be more direct than a general email. Getting the game going is tough.

Good point. I don't like not having a head count, so I require confirmation. Problem is, It's hard to get people to commit. I played at the local bar and picked out a few people I thought would fit into a relaxed homegame. It's easier to find commited players when your at a poker game then asking people at work or on the phone. I got lot's of polite yes's. The problem it it was still slow starting out. People not showing. After 2-3 semi-succesful games (and people start to hear about it) I changed my approach. When I started asking people(while at a poker game), I would ask like this. "I'm having a game at 6:00 Saturday. I currently have 4 people confirmed, and 6 seats open. Let me know if your in or out". Within 2 weeks I had 8-12 steady players, who would call me to hold a seat before I went to the "bar" poker game. I had all my confirmations that day, I added 1 or 2 extra players just in case. Worked perfectly. If I had open seats, I knew early in the week, and people would find me instead of me looking for them.
Hope this helps...
tt

[dano]

Mr. Stamper- I'd suggest choosing a date and time, then sending out the invites. You'll likely have a better response rate if your potential players know for sure that something is in the works. Good luck with it.

[abby99]

Originally Posted by dano

Mr. Stamper- I'd suggest choosing a date and time, then sending out the invites. You'll likely have a better response rate if your potential players know for sure that something is in the works. Good luck with it.

This works. I also give a deadline for responses. If I don't have a confirmed quorum by the cutoff, I cancel the game. Gotta show some tough love.

[guinness]

I've been hosting a weekly game for 10 years or so. I've had player seats recycled many times over. This is what I do:

Maintain an email list of people who say they want to be on the list. I send out an email invitation weekly stating time, place and phone number. That is it.

What I do NOT do:
1] Feel out who can come before declaring a game. I declare a game then send invites.

2] I do not (usually) have RSVP requirements. When people ask "Hey is George coming?" I just say "probably" or "Yes he is" if the person will attend based on George's attendance. If George doesn't come over, too bad for him.

[4ceps]

what dano said probably makes a lot of sense...and it happens to be what i did as well

i started by setting up a date & time and then sent out an email to all my friends, family, co-workers and wife's coworkers. i had about 5 people confirm only to have a freak tornado storm hit that night and i had to cancel the game.

i prefer to have confirmations because i have a limit on how many players i can fit in my place.

a couple of months after my first try, i got a game started with 7 players...then next month i had 16 players, then 23 players...etc...

make sure you run a well-organized game, especially if you do tournaments like i do. as players enjoy your well-run game, they will start inviting their other poker-playing friends and then your game will grow.

i also write on a blog that sets out the dates, the summaries & photos of each game and our league standings.

good luck

two and a half years after my first attempt, my game now fills out at about 18-22 players regularly.

[ink_junkie]

evite is a poker host's best friend! It's great for sending out the invites and tracking responses. I prefer it to e-mail because it does all the tracking so I don't have to keep track of all the emails from people saying the can or can't play. Allows for decent follow-up/reminders prior to the event as well. With a quick visit to the site you can see who's seen the evite, who's in, who's out, and so on.

I'd recommend trying to have a regular schedule for the game. I think that makes it more likely that people will plan for it. For example, we do ours on the first Saturday of every month. People know when the game happens every month, so they plan other things around it.

Good luck with getting your game together. It's a lot of work hosting a game, but well worth it.