How to Host an Online Poker Home Game
Everything you need to run a private Texas Hold'em night with friends online: choosing a format, good settings, inviting players, and reviewing every hand afterwards.
1. Choose a format: cash game or tournament
| Cash game | Tournament | |
|---|---|---|
| Joining | Anyone can sit down at any time | Everyone sits down before the start |
| Blinds | Stay the same all game | Go up on a timer |
| Running out of chips | Rebuy and keep playing | You are out, with a finishing place |
| Ends when | The host ends the game | One player has all the chips |
| Best for | Relaxed nights where people drop in and out | A set start time and a clear winner |
2. Pick your settings
Cash game
- Blinds: the numbers do not matter much since chips are free; 10/20 is easy to read.
- Buy-in: between 40 and 100 big blinds (800 to 2,000 chips at 10/20) is the classic range. Deeper stacks mean more post-flop play.
- Time to act: 30 seconds keeps the game moving; choose 60 or 90 for newer players.
Tournament
- Starting stack: 1,000 chips with 5/10 blinds gives everyone 100 big blinds, which leaves room to play.
- Blind levels: the default schedule (5/10 up to 100/200 over eight 10-minute levels) suits a game of roughly an hour and a half. For a quicker game, choose 5-minute levels. Under Advanced you can set each level's blinds and length yourself.
- Time bank: give each player a few 30-second extensions for tough decisions.
Seats: pick 6-max for small groups so the table feels full, or 9 for a big crowd.
3. Create the table and invite everyone
- Go to Play, choose cash game or tournament, and press Create table.
- Click Copy invite link and send it to your group chat.
- Pick a seat yourself. Friends open the link, type a name and choose a seat.
- When everyone is seated, press Start game.
4. Running the game
- Pause freezes the table instantly, mid-hand or right after one. It is handy for explaining a hand to newer players.
- Blind schedule (tournaments) shows every level and the countdown to the next one.
- Sit out / step away lets players take a break without leaving their seat.
- Remove a player from the host menu if someone leaves without saying.
- End game ends the game once the current hand is finished, and unlocks the full hand history for everyone.
5. Review the game afterwards
Every action is recorded. Press Download hand history to get a spreadsheet with five sheets: a summary with the final chip counts, per-player stats (VPIP, PFR, 3-bets, how often each player went to showdown and won, aggression), every hand, every player's cards and result in each hand, and every single action with pot and stack sizes.
While the game is running, the download only includes your own hole cards and cards shown at the table. Once the host ends the game, everyone's cards are included, which makes it a great way to look back at the big hands together.
Questions
Is it free to host a poker game on Plus2Poker?
Yes. Creating a table, playing and downloading the hand history are all free, and there is nothing to buy.
Do my friends need to sign up?
No. They open your invite link, type a name and pick a seat. There are no accounts or passwords.
How many people can play at one table?
Between 2 and 9 players. When you create the table you choose heads-up (2), 6-max, 8 or 9 seats.
Can we play on phones?
Yes. The table works in any modern mobile or desktop browser, so players can mix phones and laptops in the same game.
Is real money involved?
No. Chips are points for keeping score. They have no cash value and cannot be bought, sold or exchanged.
What happens if someone loses their connection?
Their seat is kept. When they reopen the link they are back in their seat with the same chips. If it is their turn while they are away, the turn timer checks or folds for them.