Ten minutes of setup before the night, a simple loop during it. Skim this once and you'll run a smooth game with no surprises.
You'll run one real game. Jot notes as you go — there's a quick 2-minute questionnaire when you tap End Event. This guide gets you there without the fumbling.
Stuck on something, or found a bug? Email beta@potboss.poker — you don't have to wait for the questionnaire.
About 10 minutes — do it early, not live at the table.
★ Do a 5-minute dry run — the best thing you can do. Create a throwaway “Practice” Game, open its Event, tap 🎲 Seed Demo Players, then run the whole loop: check players in, start the timer, give a rebuy, Set Prizes, pay someone out. Tap 🔄 Reset Event to clear it, then delete the Practice game. Now nothing on the real night is new.
Send them the blurb below (section 07) plus your passphrase a day or two before you play — not at the table.
Installing, registering and joining takes each person two or three minutes. Doing that for eight people while everyone else waits is how a 7pm start becomes 7:40. Sent ahead, they turn up already in the game and you check them in with one tap. Show the QR at the table for whoever didn't get round to it.
Not everyone will install it — that's fine. Type their name into Add Player to Event and tap Add to create a walk-in. They buy in, rebuy, and get paid out exactly like app players — you just tap for them. If a walk-in later installs PotBoss and joins under the same name, the app flags it so you can move their balance over.
Read this once and the numbers will always make sense.
★ Bring enough cash to pay the prizes. Paying out electronically is never required — a player who bought in by Venmo can still be paid in cash, and plenty will expect to be. If players have paid you electronically, the money is in your Venmo, not your pocket: the Pool funding card on Manage Event shows the split. Check it before the final table, not after.
Set a Bounty ($) in your Game setup — that's what one knockout is worth. You can also change it for a single night in Manage Event → Amounts, up until the first bounty is posted.
On game night, each player's row has a Bounties stepper. Tap + to post a bounty for that player and collect it — it draws their on-account balance first, exactly like a buy-in. Bounties are optional per player: buying in never charges anyone for one automatically.
Bounty money is kept separate from the prize pool, in its own orange Bounty Fund tile, so your payout math stays clean. PotBoss doesn't track who knocked out whom — that's what physical bounty chips are for. When a player turns chips in, tap Redeem on the tile: Pay $X cash, or credit it to their account instead. Mis-tapped? ↺ Undo is right there.
When a player rebuys, their bounty slot opens up again — tap + if they want a fresh chip on their head. If they'd rather not, there's simply no bounty on them, and nobody collects when they bust.
Copy, drop in your passphrase, and text it to the group. Taking Venmo or PayPal? Keep point 4 — if you're cash-only, delete it before you send.
We're running the game on Pot Boss. 1) Get it — scan the QR code, or go to potboss.poker. 2) Join our game with passphrase: [your passphrase]. 3) At the table you're checked in with one tap; request rebuys/add-ons right in the app, and see your balance and winnings there too. 4) You can pay ahead: tap Add funds in the app and send your buy-in by Venmo or PayPal before the night, so you're settled before you sit down. That's it. New to Pot Boss? The 2-minute walkthrough is at potboss.poker/players.html.