Poker With Friends Online — Free Private Table Guide

Why a private table beats a public game

In a private game you control everything: who plays, at what blinds, for how long, and what happens when someone needs to leave. There are no strange regulars waiting to crush your friends, and the vibe stays social.

How to set it up — 5 steps

On ClubGG, every private table lives inside a club. You can join an existing club and open a table there, which is much faster than starting a brand-new club.

• 1. Everyone downloads ClubGG and opens a GGPass
• 2. Send your Player ID to an agent to get approved into that club
• 3. Open a table: NLH / PLO, number of seats, blinds
• 4. Set a minimum and maximum buy-in and a decision timer
• 5. Share the link/table number in the WhatsApp group

Which blinds to choose

The rule of thumb: big blind = 1/100 of each player's comfortable evening budget. If that budget is 100 NIS, blinds of 0.5/1 will give a full, relaxed evening of play. Too high, and someone busts in the first hour and the game dies.

House rules that prevent fights

Most arguments in a home game are about procedure, not cards. Agree on these in writing in the group chat beforehand.

• An agreed end time — whoever leaves before it, leaves quietly
• No "rebuy" after the end time
• A short decision timer (15–20 seconds)
• No talking about a live hand
• One agreed payment method decided in advance

Adding a small tournament to the evening

A winning format for a friends' night: a 6–9 player Sit & Go to start, then cash game for whoever wants to keep going. That way everyone plays together in the first hour and nobody is left out.

Three setups compared — pick by friction, not by hype

Playing with friends online comes down to three practical formats. None is best in general; they differ in how much friction you are asking your friends to accept.

• Instant browser rooms — nothing to install, share a link, everyone is seated in a minute. Best for a one-off night and for friends who will not install anything. Usually play-money only, with fewer table options and less durable history.
• Installed apps and private clubs — a real client, proper table formats, tournaments and a persistent club. Best for a group that plays regularly. The cost is setup: every player installs an app, registers an account, and waits for club approval.
• Video call plus a physical or shared deck — you keep the social side, faces and chatter, and you handle dealing and chips yourselves. Best for small groups who mainly want the hangout. Fragile with more than four or five players.

Where our ClubGG club fits — and where it does not

Our club sits firmly in the second category, and it is worth being direct about that: ClubGG requires installing the app and being approved into the club, so it is not the instant, click-a-link-in-the-browser option for every user. If your goal is to get five friends playing in the next ten minutes with zero installs, a browser room fits better. If your goal is a group that plays every week with real tournament formats and a lobby that still exists next month, the club route is the one that holds up. In either case, agree the stakes format, the start time and the end time with your friends before the first hand — that single habit prevents most of the arguments that end a home game.