Run your first tournament
The whole flow, start to finish — from creating an event to declaring your winner. Follow along and you’ll have a real tournament on the clock.
This is the one guide to read first. We’ll build and run a complete tournament together — no prior setup, no guesswork. Every step below has a matching how-to if you want to go deeper, but you can finish a real event just by following along here.
1. Create the tournament
From your dashboard, start a new tournament and give it a name, a date, and a rough player count. That’s all it takes to get an event on the books.
2. Build your blind structure
The blind structure is the heartbeat of the night — it decides how long the tournament lasts. Start from a template that matches your target length, then tweak if you want.
3. Set the buy-in
Set what players pay to enter and, if you’re covering costs, a small house fee. Poker Hawk shows you the live prize pool as you type so there are no surprises.
4. Add your players and check them in
As people arrive, add them and run check-in. Checked-in players get a seat and a starting stack, and you’re ready to deal.
5. Start the clock
Open the live controller and start the clock. The blinds advance automatically; you can pause, add a break, or nudge a level any time from here.
6. Set the payouts
Before you’re down to the money, confirm how the prize pool splits. Pick a payout shape (or set each place yourself) and Poker Hawk does the math.
7. Crown your winner and finalize
As players bust, mark them out. When you have a winner, end the tournament — results post to every player’s profile and your club history automatically.