Home Game Structure with Season LeaderBoard + Freeroll Championship — Anyone Else Doing This?
I’ve been running a private home game for a few years now and wanted to share a structure we’ve refined that’s worked really well for keeping players engaged and coming back consistently.
Here’s how we’ve set it up:
Tournaments run weekly or bi-weekly.
Players earn LeaderBoard points for participating and placing (scaled by field size).
20% of each tournament’s buy-in goes toward a Championship Pool.
At the end of a set “season,” the top LeaderBoard players qualify for a freeroll final using that pool.
It’s added a layer of long-term competition that keeps the group tight and motivated. No-shows dropped, regulars have more skin in the game, and the freeroll final has become a big event.
I’ve been managing everything manually (Google Sheets + Venmo ledger), but I’m starting to think about packaging the system — rules, templates, maybe even automation down the line.
Has anyone here run something similar? Would be curious to hear what structures or point systems you’ve used for home game leagues.
7 Replies
Or; another way to put it, only idiots play in your game unless they are regulars. Great once you have grown the game enough but horrible until you do.
I used to be in a league that worked like this. First place in the end of season championship was a WSOP buy-in. I can't remember if everyone got to play the championship with your number of chips determined by your leaderboard points, or if only the top X players got to play.
It was very motivating, but it also meant you could really abuse the "bubble" as folks nitted it up trying to get more leaderboard points.
Polarbear, even after the 20% comes off for any given tournament, I have been paying 4 places and averaging $700 for 1st so even if someone is a late comer to the season there is still value in playing for that amount it seems. Also, because of the way the points are tiered, a few takedowns even coming in mid-season could put you in the top 8.
Not idiots. Perhaps you like a less complex game because less thinking needed?
Garick, yes, I have found the enhanced competition really helps with motivation and the guys love the banter and bragging rights.
I've been part of a league like this at a buddy's place that we've been running for 12 years now. 20% of prize pool to season long points race. Usually get around 30 players per event. 13 tournaments with a range of buy-ins from $50r to a $300 main event. This year we had one $2k package and three $1.5k packages for the WSOP. I was fortunate to come 4th and played the $1k Mini-Main event last week.. busted after 7 hours, short of the money! Great fun though. We usually have a group head down to Vegas from BC, Canada and play some events every year. 20% of profits go back to the group so everyone has a little sweat in how the guys do.
One thing we do different is we have a "wild card" the week before the final freeroll.....the players who didn't qualify with enough points all play a tournament for the last spot. Winner gets into the final freeroll.
You have to have minimum attendance to play the wild card.it tends to keep the bottom of the leaderboard still active, instead of them dropping out after they're mathematically eliminated.
Yep! www.holdemhive.com
We are having a blast!
