For a charity fundraiser
Running a charity pool tournament
The money is the point, the field is mostly people who do not play pool, and it is a one-off with no second chance to get it right.
| Tables | 1–6 |
|---|---|
| Usual buy-in | $20–50 |
| Best night | A Saturday afternoon |
The problem
A bracket knocks half your donors out in twenty minutes and they go home, taking their wallets with them. A fundraiser needs people in the room for as long as possible.
A plan that works here
- Three strikes, five lives. Longer night, everybody stays, more raffle tickets sold.
- Sell buy-backs. An eliminated player pays again for one more life. This is where charity nights make real money, and the format supports it naturally.
- Set a hard cutoff for buy-backs — "none after 4pm" — and announce it at the start.
- Pay a token prize or none at all, and be explicit that the pot is the donation.
What actually matters in this room
The pot tracker
Somebody will ask how much has been raised. Having the number live is worth a lot in a room.
Five lives
Longer night, more people in the room, more money.
Undo
A one-off with volunteers running it is a high-error environment.
A run sheet you can steal
Sized for 1–6 and a $20–50 buy-in on A Saturday afternoon. Shift the clock to suit your own closing time; the gaps between the rows are what matter.
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| T−30 | Sign-ups open. Names down, money in. Nothing starts until the pot is complete. |
| T−5 | Entries close. Say the pot out loud. State the three rules that cause arguments: scratch, slop, and the free break. |
| T | Draw the order in front of everyone, then break. |
| T+45 | Roughly half the field has a strike or two. This is when the room is fullest. |
| T+90 | Down to the last few. Put a shot clock on if it is dragging. |
| End | Pay out in front of people, and announce the next one before anybody leaves. |
The verdict
An excellent fundraiser format, mostly because of buy-backs. The thing to get right is the cutoff, decided and announced before anybody is out.
If three strikes is not right for this room
It usually is, because it is the only common format that does not care how many people turn up. But if your crowd is small or very mixed, scotch doubles pairs strong players with beginners, and golf pool needs no pool knowledge at all. The full ranking is here.