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Poker Hawk

Poker Hawk vs NextBlind

The fastest way to start one game, or the way to run a season.

NextBlind gets a table playing faster than we do, and its free tier covers a full nine-handed game. It also stops where a club starts. Here is the honest split, including the parts that favour them.

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NextBlind features and prices checked against nextblind.com on 31 August 2026
The short version

They win the first five minutes. We win the season.

Start with what NextBlind does better, because for a lot of people it is decisive. Its free tier covers up to nine players — a full table, forever, with no card. Players join by scanning a rolling QR code: no app, no account, nothing to create, and the code rotates so only people in the room can use it. Tables rebalance themselves, rebuys and add-ons are one tap, and the whole thing is a browser link on any screen. If your poker life is one table of friends every few weeks, that is close to the shortest path that exists, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.

What it does not have is the layer above a single night. There is no league or season standings, no persistent club roster, no member history that accumulates, and no bounty format. Every game starts from zero. That is a deliberate product shape, not an oversight — it is why it is so quick to start — but it means the tenth night is exactly like the first.

Poker Hawk is built the other way round. It costs you an account, and in exchange the nights add up: a club with members and roles, seasons with points formulas, a leaderboard that crowns somebody, lifetime stats and badges per player, and a public results page anyone can open without an account. It is also native where NextBlind is a browser tab — Mac and Windows for the host, iOS and Android for players, Fire TV and Google TV for the room, with the host clock running local-first so a Wi-Fi drop does not stop the game.

So the question is not which is better software. It is whether you are running a game or running a league.

Where Poker Hawk pulls ahead

What the account buys you.

NextBlind matches us on real-time sync, self-balancing tables, rebuys and add-ons, and a blind structure builder — so none of those are listed here.

Seasons and a leaderboard

Points formulas, drop-worst scoring, a standings table that persists across the year, and a champion at the end. NextBlind has no league layer at all.

A club that remembers people

A persistent member roster with staff roles, invites and RSVPs. On NextBlind every player is anonymous and every night starts empty.

A lifetime record per player

ITM rate, ROI, final tables, cash streaks, 26 badges and a career history. A QR-join guest leaves no trace by design.

Native TV apps

Fire TV and Google TV apps for the room display, rather than a browser tab in kiosk mode on whatever you can plug in.

Native desktop and mobile

Mac and Windows apps for the host, real iOS and Android apps for players. NextBlind is browser-only on every surface.

Local-first clock

The host clock keeps running through a Wi-Fi drop and resyncs everything after. A browser tab is only as good as its connection.

Bounties and PKO

Bounty and progressive-knockout formats with the money tracked properly. NextBlind logs knockouts but does not model bounties.

A results page anyone can open

Every finished tournament gets a public page — winner, podium, full placements — that needs no account and no install to read.

Feature by feature

The head-to-head table.

Read from nextblind.com on 31 August 2026, pricing verified twice. Trademarks belong to their owners; tell us via Support & Feedback if anything here is out of date and we will correct it.

Feature
Poker Hawk
NextBlind
Browser-based · free to 9 players
Runs in any browser, nothing to install
Players join with no account at all
Free tier covers a full 9-handed table
Real-time sync to every device
Automatic table balancing
Rebuys, re-entries and add-ons
Blind structure builder
Bounty / PKO formats
Native Mac + Windows host apps
Native iOS + Android player apps
Native Fire TV / Google TV apps
League standings and season points
Persistent club roster with roles
Lifetime player stats and badges
Public results page, no account needed
Runs with no connection
FAQ

Poker Hawk vs NextBlind — the honest answers

Starting with when you should pick them.

When is NextBlind the better choice?
When your game is one table and you want it running in the next two minutes. Nine players free forever with no card, and players joining by QR with nothing to install and no account to create, is genuinely the shortest path from "let us play" to cards in the air. If nobody in your group wants to sign up for anything, and you do not care whether tonight is connected to last month, take NextBlind. It is good software with a clear idea of what it is.
What is the actual difference in what players get?
On NextBlind a player scans a QR and watches the clock, with no account and no trace afterwards. On Poker Hawk a player has a free account, and it carries their seat, chip stack and projected payout during the game, then their result, lifetime stats and badges after it. That is a real trade: they spend a signup, and in exchange the game remembers them. Which side of that is better depends entirely on whether your group plays again.
How do the prices compare?
NextBlind is free up to 9 players, $7/mo up to 20, $29/mo for unlimited players with commercial use allowed, and $149+/mo for white-label multi-venue, with roughly 20% off annually. Poker Hawk is free forever for every player, and free for a host running a single table; multi-table hosting starts at $14.99/mo, about half that for life with Founder pricing during Early Access. For a single table of nine, NextBlind and Poker Hawk both cost nothing. Above that the comparison depends on whether you need the club and league layer, because that is what the money is buying on our side.
Can I run a league on NextBlind?
Not as of 31 August 2026 — there are no season standings, no points formulas and no persistent roster on their site, and every tournament stands alone. If you want a leaderboard that runs across a year and crowns somebody, that is the clearest reason to look at Poker Hawk instead.
Do my players have to install an app to use Poker Hawk?
No. The free player app is where most of the value is, but a player who installs nothing can still be checked in at the door and follow the game on the TV display or the web HUD. The app is what gives them their own seat, stack and payout view, plus the stats and badges that accumulate.
Is a browser tool not just simpler?
For starting, yes, and we are not going to argue with a QR code. For the rest of the night the native apps earn their keep: the TV app needs no cable or kiosk-mode tab, the host clock survives a Wi-Fi drop, and each player follows their own seat rather than a shared screen. Poker Hawk also has browser surfaces — a web HUD and account management — so you are not locked out of the browser either.

Related

Compare all software

The whole field, ranked honestly.

Poker Hawk vs Blind Valet

The other modern browser-based club system.

Poker Hawk vs Tournament Director

The legacy Windows incumbent.

Blind structure generator

Free, no account, runs in your browser.

Poker club management

The league layer, in depth.

Pricing

Plans, tiers and Founder pricing.

See it live

Run one night, then see whether you want the season.

Free to start, no card required. Single-table hosting stays free, so you can compare the two on the same game.

Build a structure free