Starting a brand new Bar Poker League

DasCoupe

I am meeting next week with a long retired TD of a successful bar-league.

From what I gather, there is currently a successful monday night game at Pub A, a dwindling tuesday night game at pub B, and a small but successful game thursday at pub C.

Pub B was a great large game 5-6 years ago when the now-retired TD ran it, there was lots of young people, entertainment, points, etc... the current TD caters to the older people that drink water, rulings, etc... they have outdated dirty gross chips, tables, etc. too. She's just not that into it.

I own a business, and so does a poker friend of mine. She proposed the idea to me last night at our bi-weekly cash game that we could pretty easily start our own league, and judging by the way the current ones are managed, it should and could be very successful.

My thoughts are to find a pub that would do a wednesday night game (one that doesn't do wing nights or at least has enough room for 3-4 tables in addition to normal patrons), and wait until I can get into the tuesday night slot at Pub B. I think we could turn that back into a 30+ player game, instead of a 18-25 person game.. using social media and networking through the poker community here.

Just like a business, I would like to create a brand, not just a guy hosting a game, I am a member of PCF and would get cheap ceramic or cheap plastic custom logo'd chips, either used decks from the local casino, or buy bulk Copags or something online when they go on a big sale. I would build my own folding table toppers with a bit of a rail to aid in dealing, since this is all a self-dealt game. (Unless I could get dealers too, but that ain't likely).

Rewards would be a GC to the pub for 1st, as well as a points system that goes through a season to a final table with cash prizes paid for by our league.

What do you guys think is the more important aspects when you attend a bar-league game?

One thing I like at the thursday game at Pub C is they do a top-up at the beginning for how much you spent last week, as well as a top-up at first break for how much you spent so far... definitely gets people eating and drinking, which the pub loves.

Any input is appreciated!!

BlondeFish

Are you likely to have one or two locations in BC? So many bar leagues have come and gone in Canada. The only two that I know have survived are Red Hot Poker Tour / Red Club, and WPT League. Are you going to have any other revenue than what the bar is willing to pay?

pkrfce9

BlondeFish;402177 wroteAre you likely to have one or two locations in BC? So many bar leagues have come and gone in Canada. The only two that I know have survived are Red Hot Poker Tour / Red Club, and WPT League. Are you going to have any other revenue than what the bar is willing to pay?

Carpool?

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DasCoupe

BlondeFish;402177 wroteAre you likely to have one or two locations in BC? So many bar leagues have come and gone in Canada. The only two that I know have survived are Red Hot Poker Tour / Red Club, and WPT League. Are you going to have any other revenue than what the bar is willing to pay?

I own my own business from Mon-Fri 7-5pm, so this is purely an extra source of entertainment with income. I'm not trying to become the next Red Hot Poker Tour, not looking to do this fulltime or even more than one or two nights a week.

However, I do have a friend that would make a good partner in this that lives in a similar city 40 minutes away, so she could run games there as well to broaden the 'business' to at least a couple nights per week.

From what I've gathered, the pub will pay anywhere from a hundred to three hundred a night depending on how many people are there and how much they spend? That is a large part of why I am bringing on the ex-TD to help with negotiations, she had it running great back in the day and I think she was compensated well for it.