Tournament Director alternative
Move your tournament to a connected room.
The Tournament Director is a deep piece of software, but it lives on one Windows PC. Poker Hawk is the modern alternative: the same tournament fundamentals, synchronized live across Mac, Windows, phones, and the TV over the table, with a free app for every player.
Free for players · Free single-table hosting · Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, Fire TV, Google TV
Why hosts switch
Bring your familiar structure to a new setup.
Start by checking the parts of your current setup you want to carry over: blind levels, breaks, entry rules, payouts and league scoring. The Tournament Director has extensive configuration, so review any custom formulas rather than assuming a direct match.
Poker Hawk has no automated Tournament Director file import. Recreate the setup in the editor, verify the numbers and run a practice event in the sandbox. Pro and Elite can save blind structures and clone tournament setups.
Once the setup is ready, connect the screens you want to use: a Mac or Windows host, mobile apps for players and staff, and a TV or browser display for the room. Share your club join code to bring the group together between games.
What you get
A familiar tournament, with connected tools.
Explore the controls and club features before choosing the right plan.
Full tournament clock
Levels, blinds, antes, breaks, audio cues, saved structures. Auto-advances and keeps running through Wi-Fi blips.
Custom blind structures
Recreate blind levels, antes and breaks in the structure editor, or generate a starting point and adjust it for your game.
Payouts, rebuys, bounties
Payout schemes update as entries change. Pro and Elite add ICM, chops, bounties and other advanced payout tools.
Free player app
Players can follow the live clock, their assigned seat and the payout structure in the free mobile app. Their results and personal statistics stay with their account.
Native TV displays
Fire TV and Google TV apps (or any browser) mirror the clock for the room. No HDMI cable snaked across the kitchen.
Table balancing & seating
Review table balance, seat waiting players and move players between tables. Connected player views update with their assigned seat.
League & season tracking
Persistent club rosters, POY leaderboards, lifetime stats, and results that post to your club feed automatically.
Mac and Windows, equally
The host desktop app is native on both. Use either operating system with the same Poker Hawk account.
Select a feature to explore it. See which plan includes it.
Switching
Make the switch in three steps.
The Academy has a guided path for rebuilding and checking your Tournament Director setup.
Rebuild your structure
Recreate your favorite TTD blind structure in the editor. Pro and Elite can save reusable blind structures and clone tournament setups.
Create your club
Create your club, set its discoverability and join approval preferences, and share the join code with your regulars.
Run the next night on Poker Hawk
Start the clock on desktop, put the TV app on the big screen, and let players follow along on their phones.
Feature by feature
Poker Hawk and The Tournament Director.
The same comparison used on our homepage. The Tournament Director column checked 7 October 2026. Features and prices can change; use the sources below to check your requirements.
| Feature | Poker Hawk | The Tournament DirectorWindows desktop |
|---|---|---|
| Native Mac + Windows app | Included | Windows only |
| Native iOS + Android apps | Included | Not available |
| Installable TV app (Fire TV / Google TV) | Included | Not available |
| Offline tournament play | Partial | After license validation |
| Live clock on every player’s phone | Included | Not available |
| Real-time sync across every device | Included | Not available |
| Public results page, no account needed | Included | HTML export |
| Table balancing | Included | Included |
| Rebuys, re-entries, add-ons, bounties | Included | Included |
| Persistent club roster with roles | Included | Local database |
| League standings & points formulas | Included | Included |
| Club members self-register | Included | Not available |
| What a host pays | Free · from $14.99/mo | $49.99 once · $299.99/yr commercial |
| Free tier for hosts | Included | 30-day trial |
| Players never pay | Included | n/a |
Partial means that limits or conditions apply. Poker Hawk features vary by plan; compare plans.
Sources & comparison notes
We make Poker Hawk. This comparison uses published product information, not a claim to have tested every competing product. “Not listed” means we could not confirm a feature in the cited documentation.
- The Tournament Director: official website
- Tournament Director: personal and commercial pricing
- Tournament Director: activation and offline license requirements
Found something out of date? Tell us so we can correct it.
FAQ
Switching from Tournament Director
The questions TTD hosts actually ask before moving.
Is there really no Tournament Director for Mac?
Correct. The current version of The Tournament Director supports Windows. Poker Hawk's host desktop app is native on both macOS and Windows, and the account is the same either way, so a mixed Mac/Windows household just works.
Can I import my TTD blind structures?
There is no automated file import, but the structure editor makes rebuilding fast. Level duration, blinds, antes, and breaks are a single screen, so you can check the recreated structure before using it. The "Switching from The Tournament Director" path in our Academy walks through it step by step.
How does the price compare to TTD's one-time license?
The Tournament Director lists a one-time $49.99 version 3 personal license and a $299.99 yearly commercial license. Check its licensing terms for your event. Poker Hawk Basic hosts a single table for free; Pro and Elite add more tables and advanced hosting tools, starting at $14.99 per month. Founder prices belong to eligible accounts for good, even after cancelling and returning.
What is actually better about a synced platform for a home game?
The clock and payouts stop being trapped on one screen. Players see blinds, their seat, and the money on their own phones; rebuys and eliminations update the prize pool everywhere instantly; and the TV display needs no cable. You stop being the person who reads the screen aloud all night.
Does Poker Hawk handle leagues and points like TTD?
Yes. Clubs have persistent rosters, configurable points/POY leaderboards, lifetime player stats, and results that post to the club feed automatically after each event. TTD's stats engine is deeply configurable and some exotic formulas may not have equivalents yet; if yours is one of them, tell us in Support & Feedback.
What happens if my internet drops mid-tournament?
The host's clock is local-first: levels keep running on the host machine through Wi-Fi blips, and phones/TVs resync automatically when the network recovers. Tournament Director can run events offline after license validation, but its official FAQ also requires initial online activation and periodic online validation. Neither product should be described as permanently disconnected.
Keep exploring
Related
Make the switch
Your next game night can run on Poker Hawk.
Free to start, no credit card to look around. Rebuild your structure, invite your regulars, and see the whole room in sync before you commit to anything.