How To Set Up Private Poker Tournaments Online

private poker tournaments

Private Poker Tournaments Online

Over the past year, we’ve all seen less of friends and family with social events such as getting together to play poker with friends, prohibited. Many poker players have moved online to play but playing against anonymous people over the internet doesn’t have the same appeal to the more casual players. 

However, you may not know that some poker sites allow you to set up private poker tournaments and poker leagues. You can add your friends to so that you essentially create a private poker club. This means that you can play poker online with friends from the comfort of your own home for stakes and buy-ins of your choice. 

Some players who have adopted this approach have even set up Google Meets, Teams or Zoom calls so that participants can interact whilst playing at their private tables. Below, we have listed the best sites to play texas holdem online with your friends and family. You can also find more at whichbookie.

Pokerstars (Pokerstars Home Games)

Pokerstars was launched in 2001 and is one of the biggest and most popular online poker sites. The brand also offers an online casino and sportsbook which were launched at a later date.

Pokerstars allows customers to set up private poker tables and leagues via ‘Pokerstars Home Games’ which in our opinion, is the best option available to do so. With Pokerstars Home Games, you can invite players to join your poker club. You can set up private tournaments, set the buy-ins and speed of blinds, record player statistics and much more.

Pokerstars Home Games is only available on the desktop version of the product so you will have to download the standard Pokerstars software to your PC or laptop to play. Once it’s downloaded, load the software and click on:

More > Create a Poker Club

This will allow you to set up your private poker club and get an invite link which you can send to friends or family to join. You’re allowed up to 501 members in your club which is more than enough for most people. Once your club has been set up, you can schedule new tournaments. There are various options to choose from which allow you to customise the game such as start time, buy-in, blind speed, rebuys and game type.

Players who finish in money positions at the end of the game or tournament will have the fund automatically credited into their Pokerstars accounts. League positions are displayed after each game for which players can set up their own season-long prizes if they wish

888 Poker (Play With Friends)

888 Poker is another poker site that allows you to set up private poker games. It works very similarly to Pokerstars.

After downloading the 888 Poker software, log into your account can click on ‘Play With Friends’. You can then set up a new private game or tournament which you can invite others to. Again, there are several customisable options such as setting the number of seats at the table, buy-ins, start time/date, prize pool structure, rebuys, player action time and more.

After setting up your game, you’ll be given an invite link that you can share with others that you’d like to join.

Both Pokerstars and 888Poker are reputable poker sites with decades of experience in the industry. Their unique ‘play with friends’ features are perfect for when you and others are unable to get together for a game of poker in person.

There you have it, private poker tournaments in a nutshell and how to set them up on two of the most popular online poker sites.

Narciso Baldo is the Director and Head Coach of Texas Hold'em Questions. He has been playing poker for over 16 years. After spending many years as a professional, he now runs UK poker training site Texas Hold'em Questions. Narciso regularly writes poker articles sharing tips, strategy, news and experience with gambling enthusiasts. Narciso also writes for reputable gambling portal Casino City Times, (bio here). Contact: info@texasholdemquestions.com