PPL University: How to Run a Poker League Like a Pro

The live blind timer is the heartbeat of your game night. It runs the clock, shows the current level, and tells everyone when blinds are about to go up, so no one has to track it on a napkin. The live timer is available on Check-Raise and up.

Getting it running

• Pick the event you are running and open its timer.
• Choose the blind structure you want for the night (we cover building one in the next lesson).
• Press start. The timer counts down the current level, then advances to the next one automatically.

While the game is live

• Pause and resume for breaks, a chop discussion, or a rules question.
• Skip or go back a level if you started late or need to slow things down.
• Players can follow along on their own phones, so everyone sees the same clock and the same blinds.

For the big screen at your venue, cast or run the timer in kiosk mode so the whole room can see it (kiosk is an All-In feature). One handy safeguard: the timer now saves its state. If your app closes or crashes mid-game, just reopen the timer control screen and it recovers the running clock, recomputing the real elapsed time so you pick up right where you left off. It is still smart to keep the device running the clock awake and plugged in. Set it, start it, and let it carry the night.

The clock runs on the server, not on a phone

Blind levels advance on Power Poker League's servers, on schedule, no matter what any phone in the room is doing. If the organizer's device dies, sleeps, or leaves the building, the level still changes on time and every display follows, including the big-screen clock. The organizer's Timer Control screen is the remote: start, pause, resume, skip, and time adjustments all live there, and organizers can also pause and resume right from the Live screen without switching away. Best practice is still a dedicated, plugged-in device on Timer Control for the night, with the big-screen clock on the TV (Lesson 5.8), but the season no longer depends on it.

A good blind structure decides how long your night runs and how the action feels. Build it once, save it, and reuse it for every event. Blind structures power the live timer, available on Check-Raise and up.

What a structure is made of

• Levels, each with a small blind, big blind, and an optional ante.
• Level length, the number of minutes each level lasts.
• Breaks, added wherever you want players to stretch, chop, or grab food.

How to build one

• Create a new blind structure and give it a clear name, like "Friday Turbo" or "Main Event Slow."
• Add your levels in order, setting the blinds and ante for each.
• Set how many minutes each level runs. Shorter levels mean a faster night; longer levels give more play.
• Drop in breaks where they make sense, for example after every few levels.
• Save it, then select it when you start the timer.

Build it fast, and reuse it everywhere

• Structures are league-wide: build a structure once and reuse it across every season and every event. You set it up once, then pick which structure an event uses.
• Auto-Generate from a pattern: instead of typing every level by hand, tap Auto-Generate and choose a starting small blind, the number of levels, minutes per level, the speed the blinds climb, how often breaks land, and whether to include antes. The app builds the whole structure with clean poker numbers, and you can fine-tune any level afterward.
• No level limit: add as many levels as your night needs. The editor scrolls and stays clear of the keyboard so long structures are easy to build.
• Assign it to an event: pick the structure you want when you create or edit that event, so game night starts with the right clock.

A few tips from running real nights: start your blinds small enough that early play feels comfortable, and raise them gradually so the jumps are not jarring. If your nights tend to run long, trim a couple of minutes off each level rather than cutting levels. Keep a turbo version and a deep-stack version saved, and you will be ready for any crowd.

QR check-in is the fastest way to get a room seated and counted. Instead of a clipboard, you scan players in at the door and your event roster updates instantly. QR check-in is available on Check-Raise and up.

How it works

• Each player has a personal QR code in their profile, on their own phone.
• You open the check-in scanner for the event and scan their code.
• The app marks them as checked in and adds them to the live player count for the night.

Running the door

• Open the event you are running and start the check-in scanner.
• As players arrive, scan the code on their phone. A confirmation tells you it worked.
• If a player cannot pull up their code, you can still check them in from the event roster manually.
• Watch your count climb so you know exactly how many seats and tables you need.

A few pointers: have players open their QR code before they reach the front of the line to keep things moving, and check that your camera has permission so the scanner opens cleanly. Accurate check-in feeds everything downstream, your seating, your pot, and your payouts, so it is worth getting right at the door. Scan them in, and let the night begin.

Once players are checked in, seating gets everyone to a table fairly and keeps the night flowing as people bust out. A little structure here saves you a lot of mid-game scrambling.

Getting players seated

• Use your checked-in roster as your seating pool, so only players who are actually there get a seat.
• Assign players to tables and seats, spreading them evenly across your tables.
• Let players know where they are sitting, either by calling it out or pointing them to the app.

Handling table moves

As players are eliminated, tables shrink unevenly. The goal is to keep tables balanced so no table is short-handed while another is full.

• When one table drops well below the others, move a player over to even them out.
• Break a table entirely once it gets too small, and redistribute those players to open seats.
• Keep moves fair and predictable so no one feels singled out.

A few habits that help: balance tables at natural breaks rather than mid-hand, and announce moves clearly so players know where to go with their chips. Smooth seating and clean table moves are what separate a casual home game from a night that feels like a real tournament. Handle it calmly and your players will notice.

Vision seats (accessibility)

If a player is vision-impaired and needs a clear view of the board, PPL can guarantee it without giving up the random draw. In Manage Members, set your Vision seats: the seat numbers at every table with the best sightline (say, seats 4, 5, and 6). Then tap the eye icon next to any member who needs one. From then on, the table draw assigns that player a random seat from your vision seats only, and spreads flagged players across tables so each one gets a proper seat. Everyone else draws normally. If a draw ever has more flagged players at a table than vision seats, the app tells you so you can adjust.

Manual table tools (when you want the decision)

• Break a table: every table card has a small Break button. Tap it to preview moving that table's players into open seats at the remaining tables, then confirm. It works whether or not the automatic recommendation agrees with you.
• Move one player: tap any player's seat row on the table draw to open a picker of every open seat at every table. One tap moves them, notifies them of their new seat, and logs the move.
• Seat late arrivals: after the draw, checked-in players without a seat appear in a Late Arrivals list. Seat them one at a time, or tap Finalize Tables to place everyone at once. Each player gets a push with their table and seat.

One thing makes all of this work, automatic or manual: the app has to know who is still in. Record bust-outs as they happen (next lesson), and the balancing math always has real numbers.

Two things happen at every game night: players bust out, and someone shows up who was not on the registration list. Handling both quickly keeps your standings accurate and your night moving.

Self-elimination

When a player busts, they can mark themselves out, which records their finish and frees you up to keep running the room.

• The player marks themselves eliminated from the event when they bust.
• Their finishing position is recorded automatically as part of the live player count.
• You can always confirm or adjust an elimination from the event if something needs correcting.

Walk-in players

A walk-in is anyone who shows up to play but did not register. You do not have to turn them away.

• Add the player to the event so they appear on your roster.
• Check them in like everyone else, then get them a seat.
• They are now part of the count, the pot, and the standings.

A couple of pointers: encourage players to self-eliminate honestly and promptly so finishing order stays correct, and add walk-ins before you seat them so nothing slips through the cracks. The smoother you handle exits and last-minute arrivals, the more your results can be trusted, and trusted results are what keep players coming back season after season.

Busts recorded live: the golden habit

Players can now mark themselves out right from the Live screen with the I'm Out button, no navigating required, and organizers can eliminate anyone from the event roster in two taps. Between flurries, the scoring screen's Save Progress button records the finish positions entered so far without ending or scoring the event. Whichever mix your league uses, make "record the bust when it happens" a table rule: live bust counts are what drive table balancing recommendations, payout previews, bubble and final-table announcements, and the players-remaining count on every screen in the room.

Audio milestones turn your timer into a show. Instead of staring at the clock, the room hears when blinds are going up, when a break starts, and when other key moments hit. It adds energy and keeps players informed without you announcing every change.

What audio milestones do

• Play a sound at key moments, like a level change or the start of a break.
• Give players an audible heads-up so chips are ready before blinds rise.
• Make the room feel alive, especially when the timer is up on the big screen in kiosk mode.

Custom audio

Custom audio lets you swap the default sounds for your own clips, so your league has its own voice. Custom audio is an All-In feature.

• Choose which milestone you want to customize.
• Set the clip you want to play for that moment.
• Test it before your event so the volume and timing feel right in your venue.

A couple of tips: keep clips short and clear so they cut through table chatter, and do a quick sound check on the device that will run the timer for the night. Done well, your audio becomes part of your league's identity, the sound players start to associate with your game night. Have fun with it.

Live commentary is how you give your game night a little broadcast energy. It lets you share the moments that matter as they happen, a big knockout, a chip leader pulling away, the bubble bursting, so the room stays engaged and the night has a story.

Why it matters

• Keeps players who busted early still tuned in to the action.
• Builds rivalries and bragging rights that bring people back next time.
• Makes your league feel like a real event, not just a game in someone's garage.

How to use it well

• Call out the big moments as they happen: knockouts, double-ups, and the final table forming.
• Keep it short and lively; a quick note beats a long paragraph.
• Mix in personality, the running jokes and nicknames your league already has.
• Recognize the bubble and the winner so everyone gets their moment.

A few pointers: do not try to narrate every hand, just the highlights that get a reaction. And tie commentary into your other tools, the timer up on screen, your audio milestones, your standings, so the whole night feels connected. The leagues that grow fastest are the ones that feel like an event worth showing up for, and a little live commentary goes a long way toward that. Have fun with the mic.

Real card rooms do not run their clock on somebody's phone. The wall is the clock, and everyone plays off it. Power Poker League gives your league that same setup: a full-screen tournament clock web page that any TV, laptop, Chromecast, or HDMI stick can display. It shows the level, the blinds and ante, a giant countdown, players remaining, and a big PAUSED banner when the organizer stops the clock. Between events it shows a countdown to your next game night, so it doubles as a lobby screen. It stays correct on its own: even if every phone in the room goes dark, the server keeps the levels moving.

Set it up once

• Get your league's clock link: it is your TV Clock URL, published with your other embed links (League Settings, then Marketing and Stats). It follows whatever event is live, so one link works every game night.
• On game night, open that link in the TV's browser (or cast it), tap once on Sound so the level-change and one-minute chimes can play, then tap Fullscreen.
• The page keeps the screen awake by itself. Plug the device in and forget it.

Give it an easy address (optional, recommended)

Instead of a long link, give the clock a home your players can remember, like clock.yourleague.com:

• Log in wherever your league website's domain is managed (your registrar or website host).
• Find the forwarding or redirect option for subdomains, and create clock.yourdomain.com forwarding to your full TV Clock URL (paste the whole link, including your league id).
• Give it a few minutes to take effect, then test it on your phone. From then on, "pull up clock dot yourleague dot com" is all anyone at the table needs to know.
• All-In leagues that want the address fully branded (no redirect) can contact [email protected] and we will connect the subdomain directly.

One good habit: make the clock part of your setup checklist, right next to chips and cards. TV on, clock up, sound enabled, fullscreen. Your league instantly looks like a tour stop.

Getting into a league takes about a minute. Your league admin runs the show; your job is to get on the roster so your registrations, check-ins, and standings all count.

How to join

• From an invite: if your league admin sent you a link or a code, open the link or enter the code in the app. That points you straight at the right league.
• By searching: if your league is public, look it up by name inside the app and request to join.

Once you tap to join, one of two things happens. If the admin set the league to open, you are in right away. If they require approval, your request goes to them and you will be added as soon as they accept it. Either way, you do not have to do anything extra; just wait for the green light.

After you are in

• You will see the league's upcoming events so you can register.
• At game time, you can use QR check-in to mark yourself present.
• As events are scored, you will show up on the standings and your player profile starts tracking your results and achievements.

If you joined with the wrong account or cannot find your league, the fastest fix is to confirm the email on your account matches the one your league admin expects. Still stuck? Reach out to your league admin first, or email [email protected] and we will help you get seated.

Your league is only as good as the people at the table, so let's fill those seats. Inviting players is simple, and you have a few ways to do it depending on your crowd.

Ways to invite

• Share a join link or code: the fastest method. Send it by text, email, or group chat, and anyone who taps it lands right on your league.
• Make your league discoverable: if you want walk-up players, you can let people find your league by searching its name in the app.
• Print it on a card or flyer: drop your join link or a QR code where your players already gather. Great for the home game or the back of the bar.

Tips for a smooth start

• Decide up front whether new players join instantly or need your approval. Open joining is great for trusted regulars; approval gives you control for public leagues.
• Invite in batches. Send the link to your core group first, confirm they get in, then widen it out.
• Ask players to sign in with the email they actually check, so registrations and event reminders reach them.

If you are on the All-In tier, you can take invitations further with the PPL CRM, automating welcome messages and reminders so new players get a warm, branded first impression without extra work from you. Either way, a clear link and a quick personal note go a long way toward a full table.

As your league grows, you will want help running it. That is what roles are for. Power Poker League gives you three levels of authority so you can share the workload without handing over the keys to everything.

The three roles

• Admin: the league owner. This is the person who created the league and holds the highest level of control: billing, league-wide settings, seasons, payouts, member management, and branding. Every league has at least one admin.
• Organizer: a trusted helper who runs events day of. Organizers handle the live blind timer, check-in, scoring, eliminations, and table balancing, and can send push broadcasts to the league when needed, so you are not doing it all alone. They cannot change league-wide settings.
• Member (also shown as Player): everyone else in the league. Members join the league, register for events, view the standings, and play.

Changing a member's role

• On Manage Members, an admin taps the member's role badge (or the menu on their row) and picks Admin, Organizer, or Member.
• Only an admin can change roles, and there must always be at least one admin in the league.
• A Roles and Permissions reference is built right in: tap the help icon in the top corner of Manage Members to see exactly what each role can do.

How to think about it

• Keep Admin for yourself and anyone you fully trust with the whole league.
• Give Organizer to the people who help you run nights: your timer operator, your check-in person, your scorekeeper.
• Leave everyone else as Member; they still get the full player experience.

The Organizer role requires the Check-Raise tier or higher, which is where multi-person operations really start to shine. A good rule of thumb: hand out the least access someone needs to do their job well. It keeps your league tidy and your settings safe, while still giving your crew everything they need to run a great game.

If you set your league to require approval, every new player waits for your okay before they are on the roster. This is great for public or growing leagues where you want to know exactly who is at the table.

How approval works

• A player taps your join link or finds your league and requests to join.
• Their request lands in your pending list, waiting for a decision.
• You accept to add them to the roster, or decline if they are not a fit.

Staying on top of requests

• Check your pending requests regularly, especially right after you share an invite or run a busy event. A player who gets approved quickly feels welcomed.
• Approve before game night so new players can register and use QR check-in without a holdup at the door.
• If you recognize the name, approve with confidence. If you do not, a quick message to confirm who they are never hurts.

Once approved, a player immediately gains everything a member gets: event visibility, registrations, check-in, standings, and a player profile that tracks their results. If your league is built on trusted regulars and approvals feel like extra work, you can switch to open joining in your league settings instead. On the All-In tier, the PPL CRM can even send a friendly welcome the moment someone is approved, so their first impression is a warm one.

Your member list is the heart of your league. It is where you see who belongs, who helps you run things, and how everyone is doing. Keeping it clean takes just a few minutes here and there, and it pays off all season.

What you can do from your member list

• See your roster: everyone in the league in one place, so you always know who is in. Admins also see each member's email address under their name, which makes it easy to reconcile players against your records.
• Assign roles: promote a trusted helper to Organizer, or step them back to a regular member when needed.
• Open a player's profile: check their results, attendance, and achievements at a glance.
• Remove a member: for players who have moved on, so your standings and roster stay accurate.

Good habits

• Do a quick cleanup between seasons. Remove inactive players so your active roster reflects who is really showing up.
• Promote helpers before busy nights, not during. Set up your timer operator and scorekeeper as Organizers ahead of time.
• Keep an eye on new joiners early on, so first-timers feel looked after.

Remember that roles and multi-person management are Check-Raise tier and up, and multiple seasons live on the All-In tier. If you ever need to reach a member who is hard to track down, or you run into anything unexpected with your roster, your admin tools come first; for anything else, email [email protected] and we will jump in.

Cash is the part of league night that causes the most headaches, so let PPL keep the books for you. Buy-in and payout tracking is part of the Check-Raise tier and up, and it turns the messy napkin math into a clean record everyone can trust.

What it tracks

• Buy-ins: what each player paid to enter, including re-buys and add-ons if your game allows them.
• The pot: the total collected for the event, calculated for you as players check in and buy in.
• Payouts: what each finisher is owed when the night ends.

How to use it

• Set your buy-in amount when you schedule or set up the event.
• As players arrive and check in, mark them as paid so the pot total stays accurate in real time.
• Record any re-buys or add-ons during play so the pot reflects every dollar.
• When the game finishes, the app shows the total pot and what each paid finisher should receive based on your payout structure.

The big win here is transparency. Players can see the pot grow, and nobody has to take your word for the final numbers. Keep your records honest and consistent, and your league earns a reputation for being run like a real event. We will cover how the payout amounts get split in the next lesson.

A payout structure is simply the rule for how the pot gets divided among the top finishers. You are in full control of the shape: define your own player-count bands (for example 2 to 5, 6 to 9, 10 to 15), set which places get paid in each band and at what percentage, and add or remove bands as your league grows. The app checks that your bands connect with no gaps and that each band totals exactly 100 percent. Getting this right before cards are in the air keeps the night drama-free, because everyone already knows what they are playing for. Payout structures are available on Check-Raise and up.

How PPL payouts work

• Percentages, always: every paying spot gets a percentage of the pot, like 50 percent for first, 30 percent for second, 20 percent for third. Because it is percentage-based, it scales automatically as your pot grows.
• The bracket must total 100 percent: the shares for all your paying spots have to add up to a full 100 percent, so the whole pot is accounted for.
• Brackets by player count: you set a separate payout table for each field size, for example 6 to 10, 11 to 20, 21 to 30, and 31 plus players. PPL picks the right bracket based on how many played, so small nights and big nights each pay out fairly.

How to set one up

• Decide how many places pay in each bracket. Smaller fields usually pay the top one to three; bigger fields can pay more.
• Set the percentage for each paying spot, and make sure the bracket adds up to 100 percent.
• Save it, and PPL applies the right bracket automatically when the event ends and final positions are set.

A few tips

• Pay roughly the top 10 to 15 percent of your field as a starting point; adjust to your crowd.
• Announce the structure before the game so there are no surprises.
• Keep it consistent across the season so regulars know what to expect.

A clear payout structure is one of the quiet things that makes a league feel professional. Set it once, and let the app handle the math.

Not every dollar has to be paid out the same night. A league pot lets you set aside money over the course of a season and pay it out later, usually at a championship or season finale. It is a great way to build excitement and reward your most loyal regulars. League pots are part of Check-Raise and up.

What a league pot is for

• Season-long prize money: collect a small amount each event and grow a single big payout for the end of the season.
• A championship fund: reward the players who showed up all season, not just whoever ran hot on one night.
• Special prizes: bounties, high-hand bonuses, or a final table seat fund.

How to run one

• Fund the pot with a flat dollar add-on per buy-in. That amount is multiplied by the number of entries, so the pot grows automatically as more players buy in.
• Track contributions in the app so the running total is always visible and trusted.
• Announce the current league pot total at your events to keep people coming back.
• Decide in advance who is eligible and how it pays out, then pay it at the finale.
• When a season-long pot pays out (like a bad beat jackpot hitting), record it with the pot's Trigger Payout action so the balance and history stay accurate.

Pots that pay out every game

Not every pot builds toward a finale. Some are collected and paid out the same night, like a per-game bounty pool. For those, turn on Zero out after each game in the pot's settings. The app still collects the per-buy-in amount into the night's rake, then automatically records it as paid out when the game's payouts are calculated. The ledger shows what came in and what went out each night, and the balance never carries a running total.

The key with a league pot is clear rules and clean records. When players can see the total growing and know exactly how to win a share, attendance climbs all season long. Set the rules early, communicate them often, and let the pot do the work of keeping your league full.

Paying a pot out on game night

When a pot hits, bad beat included, trigger the payout from the event: open the organizer's event dashboard, find the pot in the Pots section, and tap Trigger. Pick the winner from the full list of checked-in players (pot winners are independent of tournament standing, someone who just busted can absolutely win the bad beat), enter the amount, confirm. The transaction is tied to that event and the pot balance updates instantly. You can also pay from League Settings, League Pots, where the event picker lists your recent events, newest first.

When you cash in a game or chip in for the pot, your league admin needs an easy way to pay you, or collect from you. Adding your payment handles to your profile makes that quick and painless for everyone, so the money side of league night moves as fast as the cards.

What you can add

• Venmo username
• CashApp cashtag
• Zelle email or phone

How to add yours

• Open your profile in the app.
• Find the payment handles section in your profile or account settings.
• Enter your handle for each service you use. You can add one or all of them.
• Save. Your handles are now ready when a payout is owed.

A few good habits

• Double-check the spelling. A wrong username sends money to a stranger.
• Add more than one option so your league admin can use whichever they prefer.
• Update your handle right away if you change your username on any app.

That is all there is to it. Set your handles once, and getting paid after a good night runs itself. If a handle ever will not save or looks wrong in the app, reach out to [email protected] and we will get you sorted.

Many leagues charge season dues to cover prizes, venue costs, or a year-end payout. Power Poker League gives you a simple way to set a dues amount for the season, record what you collect from each member, and let every player see exactly where they stand. You set it once, update payments as they come in, and the app does the math.

Turning dues on

• Open Seasons and tap the season you want to charge dues for.
• Set the League Dues (per member) amount. This is what each member owes for the season. Leave it at 0 to keep dues off.
• Optionally add a Dues Due Date, the date the final amount is due. Members see this on their balance.
• Save. Dues are now active for that season.

Tracking who has paid

• Open your league settings and tap League Dues.
• You will see every member with the amount paid, the amount remaining, and a status: Paid, Partial, or Unpaid.
• Tap a member to record what you have received. There is a Paid in full shortcut, and a note field so you can jot down how they paid (for example, Venmo on the 12th).
• The top of the screen shows your running totals: collected, outstanding, and how many members are paid in full.
• Admins and organizers can record payments; members cannot edit their own.

What your members see

• When dues are set, a League Dues card appears on each member's Home screen showing how much they still owe and the due date.
• Tapping it shows their full breakdown: paid, total dues, and remaining. So there are never any questions about where someone stands.
• Members only ever see their own dues, never anyone else's.

A few good habits

• Set the amount and due date at the start of the season so members know what to expect.
• Record payments as you receive them, not all at once, so the tracker stays accurate and members trust it.
• Use the note field to log the method and date. It makes reconciling at season end effortless.

Set your dues once, keep the tracker current, and collecting for the season stops being a spreadsheet chore. Questions? Reach us at [email protected].

The leaderboard is where the season comes alive. After every event, your points roll up automatically into the standings, so you always know exactly where you sit before the next game.

How standings work

Each event awards points based on your league's scoring system. Your organizer chooses the method, and the app does the math for you. You do not need to track anything by hand.

• Open the leaderboard from the main navigation to see the current season ranked top to bottom.
• Find your name to see your total points, your rank, and how many events you have played.
• Tap any player to open their profile and see how they have been performing.

Reading the rankings

Points come from how you finish at each event. Depending on the league, that might be a fixed payout of points by place, a reverse system, or a power ranking that rewards consistency. Whatever your organizer picked, everyone is scored the same way, so the board is always fair.

• Standings update as soon as results are posted, so check back after each night.
• If something looks off, your organizer can review and correct results.

The leaderboard is the heartbeat of your league. Watch it climb, chase the people above you, and enjoy the chase. That is what keeps everyone coming back. If you ever have a question about how your points were calculated, reach out to [email protected].

Your player profile is your poker resume. It brings your results together in one place, so you can see how far you have come.

What lives on your profile

• Your total events played and how often you show up.
• Your finishes, including wins and times at the final table.
• Your points, plus career and all-time totals on your own profile.
• Achievements and awards you have earned along the way.

Career and historical stats, the long-term totals that build across seasons, are a Check-Raise and up feature. On free and Min-Raise leagues you see current-season stats.

How to view it

• Open your profile from the main navigation to see your own stats, including your career and all-time totals.
• From the leaderboard, tap any player's name to view their profile too, where you will see their current-season stats. A little friendly scouting never hurt.

Why it matters

Stats tell the real story of a season. Maybe you are not leading the standings yet, but your final-table appearances are climbing. That is momentum, and your profile shows it. On a Check-Raise or higher league, your career numbers keep building across seasons, and the leaderboard's All-Time view gives you a long-term record you can be proud of.

Keep your account details current so your results always attach to the right profile. If you ever notice a stat that does not look right, your organizer can review the event results, since every number on your profile comes from posted finishes. For anything the app cannot resolve, reach out to [email protected]. Now go make those stats worth bragging about.

Winning a hand feels good. Earning an achievement that lives on your profile forever feels even better. Achievements are the badges and milestones you unlock as you play, and they add a fun layer of recognition. Badges are earned per league and per season, and your profile has a This Season and All-Time toggle so you can view your current campaign or your full history in that league. When a season completes, the Player of the Year and League Champion earn permanent badges automatically, alongside their Hall of Fame enshrinement. Achievements are a Check-Raise and up feature, available once your league is on the Check-Raise tier or higher.

How you earn them

Achievements unlock automatically based on what you do at events. As your finishes, wins, and appearances add up, the app recognizes the moments worth celebrating. You do not have to claim anything; it just shows up.

• Play events and post results to start unlocking milestones.
• Check your profile to see which achievements you have earned.
• Look for ones still locked, then go chase them.

Why they matter

Achievements turn a season into a story. They reward the regulars who show up every week, the players on a hot streak, and the ones who finally break through to a big finish. It is recognition for more than just first place, which keeps the whole table engaged.

Your earned achievements stay attached to your profile across seasons, so they become part of your long-term legacy in the league. Keep your account details current so every milestone lands on the right profile. If an achievement you expected did not appear, it usually means the related results are still being posted; your organizer can confirm. For help, reach out to [email protected]. Now go collect a few.

Every great league runs in chapters. Multiple seasons let you give your standings a fresh start on a schedule that fits your group, while keeping all the history intact. This is an All-In feature, and it is one of the best ways to keep your league feeling new.

Why run multiple seasons

• A clean leaderboard reset gives newer players a real shot, which keeps attendance strong.
• You can build toward a season-ending championship or finale, which creates a natural payoff.
• Career stats and achievements carry across seasons, so nobody loses their long-term record.

How to set it up

• Open your league management and create a new season when your current one wraps.
• Give it clear start and end dates so members know exactly what they are playing for.
• Schedule your events under the active season so results flow into the right standings.
• When the season ends, celebrate the winners, then launch the next one.

Tips that work

Quarterly or monthly seasons tend to keep energy high without dragging. Announce the new season ahead of time so regulars come back hungry, and lean on PPL CRM to send the reminder. A short recap of last season's champion is a great hook.

Seasons give your league rhythm and momentum all year long. Set them up once, and you have a repeatable structure that keeps players coming back. Questions? Reach [email protected].

Recognition is what keeps players coming back. Power Poker League turns your season into a story with a live podium, two season honors, and a permanent Hall of Fame that remembers every champion. It runs off the results you already enter, so there is almost nothing extra to do.

The season podium

• The podium shows your top three players for the current season, ranked exactly the way your leaderboard ranks them.
• First place stands tallest in the center, second and third on either side, each with their photo and key stats.
• It updates on its own as you complete events, and it can be embedded on your league website (see Module 10).

Two season honors

• Player of the Year is your season points leader, the player at the top of the standings.
• League Champion is the winner of your season's Main Event. These can be two different people, which is part of the fun.

Setting up the Champion

• Flag one event as the Main Event using the Main Event toggle when you create or edit it. Its winner becomes the League Champion.
• If you do not run a Main Event, open the season and choose a fallback under League Champion: points leader, most wins, or a player you pick manually.

The Hall of Fame

• When you mark a season Completed, the app enshrines that season's Champion and Player of the Year into your Hall of Fame automatically.
• Archiving a league also finalizes the Hall of Fame, so a league that winds down keeps its history forever.
• The Hall of Fame page lists the champions for every completed season, and like the podium it can live on your website.

A few good habits

• Decide early whether your season crowns a Main Event champion or uses a fallback, so players know what they are chasing.
• Finalize results promptly at season end so the right names get enshrined.
• Share the podium and Hall of Fame after big nights. Recognition is your best retention tool.

Set your Main Event, keep results current, and the app handles the ceremony. Your league gets the professional touch of a real tour, and your best players get the credit they earned. Questions? Reach us at [email protected].

New to the table, or just want to settle a friendly argument? The hand rankings reference lives right inside PPL, so you never have to guess what beats what.

On the Home screen, scroll to the Tools section and tap Hand Rankings. You will see every poker hand listed from strongest to weakest, with a clear example for each one.

• Royal flush: the top of the mountain, A-K-Q-J-10 all the same suit.
• Straight flush: five cards in a row, all one suit.
• Four of a kind: four cards of the same rank.
• Full house: three of a kind plus a pair.
• Flush: five cards of the same suit, any order.
• Straight: five cards in a row, mixed suits.
• Three of a kind, two pair, one pair, and finally high card when nothing connects.

Scroll the list any time during an event. It is built for quick glances, so a new player can check it under the table and get right back into the action.

This reference is free for everyone, member or organizer. No setup required and nothing to turn on. Keep it handy for your first few games and the order will become second nature fast.

If something ever looks off, reach out to [email protected] and we will take a look.

Every league runs a little differently, so PPL gives you one clear place to read the house rules: the rules viewer. No more digging through group chats or asking around mid-game.

On the Home screen, scroll to the Tools section and tap Rules. You will see the rules your organizer has set for that league, laid out so they are easy to read on your phone.

• Read any time: check the rules before an event or during a tricky hand.
• Always current: when your organizer updates the rules, the viewer shows the latest version.
• League specific: if you play in more than one league, each one has its own rules.

Where AI-generated rules come in

Organizers on the All-In tier can use AI-generated rules to create a clean, complete rule set in seconds instead of writing everything from scratch. As a member you do not need to do anything; you simply see the finished rules in the viewer, whether they were written by hand or generated with AI and then polished by your organizer.

If a rule is unclear or seems to contradict what happened at the table, the best move is to ask your organizer directly, since they control the rules for the league. For anything app related, you can always reach [email protected].

Ever finished an event and wondered exactly how your points were figured out? The scoring reference explains how your league turns results into standings, so the leaderboard always makes sense.

On the Home screen, scroll to the Tools section and tap Scoring. There you can see the scoring system your organizer chose for the league. PPL supports a few different styles:

• Manual: your organizer enters points directly, giving them full control over how each event is scored.
• Fixed: each finishing position is worth a set number of points, the same every event.
• Reverse: points are tied to finishing order in reverse, rewarding how deep you go.
• Power ranking: a more dynamic system that can factor in the field, so a strong finish in a bigger event carries more weight.

Knowing your league's system helps you play with the standings in mind. If consistency is rewarded, showing up to every event matters; if depth is rewarded, surviving longer pays off.

This reference is free to view for every member. Your organizer sets the actual scoring (auto scoring and power ranking are available on paid tiers), and you simply see how it works here. After each event the results feed into your season standings automatically.

Curious how a specific event scored out? Check the event results screen. For anything that still does not add up, reach [email protected].

The blinds are what keep a poker night moving. The blind structure reference shows you how they climb over the course of an event, so you always know what is coming next.

On the Home screen, scroll to the Tools section and tap Blind Structure. You will see the blind levels for your active or upcoming event, laid out as a simple list. If there is no event structure yet, it falls back to your season's most recent one, and if nothing has been set up, you will see an empty state.

• Levels: each row is a level, in order from the start of the game to the end.
• Small and big blind: the forced bets for that level, which grow as the night goes on.
• Antes, if used: an extra forced amount some structures add at later levels.
• Level length: how many minutes each level lasts before the blinds go up.

This pairs perfectly with the live blind timer your organizer runs during an event. The timer counts down each level and signals when blinds rise; the reference lets you see the whole map ahead of time, so you can plan your play as the stakes increase.

Reading the structure is a quick way to gauge pace. Short levels mean a faster game and more pressure to make moves; longer levels give you more room to play patiently.

The blind structure reference is free to view for every member. Your organizer builds the structure and runs the timer on a paid tier. If a level looks wrong during a game, mention it to your organizer, and for app issues email [email protected].