Run your first tournament in under 2 minutes

What you need

• A modern browser (a laptop is ideal for hosting; a phone works for smaller games).
• Optional: a TV, projector, or second screen for dual-display hosting.
• Optional: speakers or TV audio if you want spoken level alerts.

You do not need an account to run a home-game or club night clock.

Setup workflow: dual-display hosting

The recommended host setup keeps controls private and the clock public:

1. Open pokertd.com and open tournament settings on your laptop.
2. Move the main tournament display to an extended screen — a TV or projector — and put that display in fullscreen so blinds and time fill the wall.
3. Leave settings and host controls on the laptop so you can edit the night without players watching every tap.

Host tip: Dual display lets you run the tournament privately while the room sees level, time remaining, and blinds without asking. If you only have one screen, fullscreen on a laptop pointed at the table is a solid fallback. Cast / mirroring quality depends on your browser, OS, and display hardware.

Fill in tournament details

Before the first hand, set the basics of the event:

1. Give the tournament a clear name (editable in-app — not this page's headline).
2. Choose your currency (USD, EUR, GBP, and other local options).
3. Enter the buy-in and any house fees.
4. Set the starting stack — how many chips each player begins with.
5. Configure rebuys and add-ons. If your night has none, leave those amounts at zero. If they are allowed, set the rebuy amount, chip count, and add-on details so the prize pool stays honest.

Blinds, antes, durations, and breaks

Build a structure that matches how long you want the night to run.

Blind levels

• Review the default blind structure and keep it if it fits — or reshape it for your field.
• For each level, set small blind, big blind, and ante (use 0 until you start anteing).
• Set each level's duration — home games often land around 15–20 minutes per level, then adjust if the field is deeper or shorter than expected.
• Add or remove levels so the structure ends roughly when you want it to.
• Start at level 1 before kickoff. You can jump levels later if the room needs it.

Breaks

Insert break levels between blinds (dinner break, color-up, stretch). Set break duration and let the public display announce it so players stop asking “are we on break?”

Chip context

Use starting stack, average stack, and total chips in play as a sanity check that the structure still makes sense for the field size.

More on what the product covers: Features.

Live entries, players remaining, and the clock

1. As players register, update current entries.
2. Track rebuy and add-on counts when those are in play.
3. Set players remaining equal to entries at the start, then lower it after each elimination.
4. Start the timer when cards are in the air — shuffle up and deal.
5. Pause for rulings, mid-level food breaks, or chip color-ups that are not on the structure yet. Resume when play continues. Reset the timer if a level needs a clean restart.

Host tip: Entries, rebuys, remaining players, and the clock can all change in real time while the tournament is running. Keep the overview visible so prize pool and next break stay one glance away.

Payouts

1. Wait until the prize pool is locked — after buy-ins, rebuys, and add-on periods are finished.
2. Generate a standard tournament payout structure from the prize pool and places paid.
3. Review the amounts before you show them to the room. Customize the structure if the automatic split does not suit your night.
4. Put the payout table on the main tournament display so the bubble and final table are not a surprise.
5. As players finish, update the current payout position so the next prize is highlighted.

If payouts look empty or pending, finish prize-pool inputs (buy-in, entries, places paid, and related fields) first, then regenerate.

Voice / spoken alerts

Enable spoken level alerts if you want the browser to announce level changes with built-in speech synthesis. Especially useful when:

• The TV is behind players' backs.
• Music or conversation drowns out a silent clock.
• The host is dealing and cannot watch the timer.

Mute or disable voice for late-night quiet games. Spoken alerts depend on browser support for speechSynthesis.

Ops tips while the night runs

• Keep host controls on the laptop and the main clock on the TV or projector.
• Update player counts after every elimination.
• Use voice announcements so level changes reach the table without a shout.
• Pause and resume freely; reset a level when the structure needs a clean slate.
• Keep the current payout position current as the final table pays out.
• Mid-stream edits to blinds, antes, breaks, and entries are normal for home games — rarely does the night match the first spreadsheet.

Local-first by design

PokerTD keeps core tournament state in the browser's localStorage on the device you're using.

• No signup required for the timer, structures, payouts, voice, or display features described here.
• Your blind structure and night-in-progress live on-device, not as a claimed cloud-synced league database.
• Clearing site data, switching browsers, or using a different device starts fresh unless you keep the same browser profile.

Honesty check: Sending product feedback may call a feedback API. Site analytics (such as Vercel Analytics, if present) may collect aggregate usage — separate from storing your tournament in “the cloud.” PokerTD does not claim cloud sync or a native mobile app as part of core use.

More context: About PokerTD.