A private poker table for your group
A private FizzPoker table is invite-only by design: there’s no public lobby, and the only way in is the link you send. Pick 2–9 seats and a blind speed, share the link with your group, and start when everyone’s seated — free, with no signup for games of up to four.
Preview your table
Host signs in free Tables of 5–9 need the host’s free account; guests never need one.
In 500 simulated 6-player games at normal speed, half finished between 64 and 92 minutes, and the typical game ended during level 8 (500/1,000). One game in ten ran past 1 h 45 min.
Deal this tableOpens the setup screen with 6 seats and normal blinds selected — 5–9 seats apply once you sign in free.
How privacy works
- There’s no public lobby. Tables aren’t listed, browsable or searchable anywhere on FizzPoker, and there’s no “join a random game” button. A table exists for the people who have its link.
- The link is the key. Each table’s code is generated from 48 random bits (6 bytes from a cryptographic random generator) and written as up to 8 letters and digits. There are more than 200 trillion possible eight-character codes alone, so nobody finds a table by guessing.
- Search engines are told to stay out. Table pages carry a “noindex” tag, so a link you share doesn’t turn up in search results. In a group chat the link still previews as an invite naming the host, the open seats and the blind speed; after the game it shows the recap card instead — winner, standings and awards, with no hole cards except those shown at showdown.
- Seats lock at the start. Once you tap Start, nobody new can sit down — not even someone holding the link. A player who drops out can reopen the link on the same device and return to their own seat.
- League tables go one step further. A table started from a FizzPoker league seats signed-in league members only — anyone else who opens the link is asked to sign in, and non-members can’t sit at all.
The flip side: before the start, the link works for anyone who has it. Treat it like a house key — send it to your group chat, not a public post. There’s no button to remove a person from the lobby, so if an unexpected name sits down, deal a new table and send a fresh link — the old table can’t start without its host. For a group that plays every week, a league table closes that gap entirely.
Who can join a private table
| 2–4 seats | 5–9 seats | League table | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Host | No account | Free account (emailed sign-in link) | Any league member |
| Guests | No account | No account | Signed-in league members only |
| Bots in empty seats | One; more if the host has a free account | Yes | Yes, but they never score |
| Joining after the start | No — seats lock | No — seats lock | No — seats lock |
You need at least two seated players to start, and the game runs with whoever sat down — a nine-seat table can start six-handed. Bots are clearly labeled at the table, and if a friend arrives before the start while every seat is full, the most recently added bot gives up its seat. More in poker against bots.
Start a private table in five steps
- Open the setup screenTap “Deal a free table” on this page, or “Start a game” on fizzpoker.com.
- Choose seats and speedType your name, pick 2–9 seats and a turbo, fast, normal or slow blind speed, then tap “Create table”.
- Send the linkIn the lobby, copy the table link or tap Share and send it to your group chat.
- Fill the seatsFriends appear in the lobby as they sit down. You can add a bot to an empty seat; more than one needs a free account.
- Start the gameTap Start once at least two players are seated. Seats lock and the blind clock begins.
Everyone starts with 10,000 chips, blinds rise on the clock, and the last player with chips wins. The game is No-Limit Texas Hold’em — if anyone needs a refresher, send them the rules along with the link.
How long a private game lasts
Part of the answer is exact. The blind clock runs in real time from the moment you tap Start, so level k begins exactly (k − 1) level lengths in, whether the table plays fast or slow. What can’t be known in advance is when the last all-in lands.
How it’s estimated: FizzPoker simulated 500 complete tournaments for every table size and blind speed on its own hand engine, with 10,000-chip stacks, the real blind clock and its Level 1–4 bots in the seats. The pace is relaxed — the bots’ human-like thinking time doubled, as for friends chatting on a call — plus the 4-second pause between hands. The typical length is the median finish, and the range is the middle half of games.
| Players | Turbo | Fast | Normal | Slow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 18 min 13–24 min | 25 min 17–34 min | 35 min 21–50 min | 42 min 23–59 min |
| 3 | 25 min 20–29 min | 34 min 26–42 min | 51 min 35–65 min | 1 h 5 min 40–84 min |
| 4 | 29 min 25–32 min | 41 min 33–48 min | 1 h 48–76 min | 1 h 20 min 57–95 min |
| 5 | 32 min 28–35 min | 46 min 38–52 min | 1 h 10 min 54–84 min | 1 h 25 min 67–109 min |
| 6 | 34 min 30–37 min | 50 min 43–55 min | 1 h 20 min 64–92 min | 1 h 40 min 79–119 min |
| 7 | 35 min 31–39 min | 52 min 46–57 min | 1 h 25 min 69–98 min | 1 h 45 min 81–124 min |
| 8 | 36 min 33–42 min | 54 min 47–58 min | 1 h 30 min 73–99 min | 1 h 55 min 94–138 min |
| 9 | 39 min 35–45 min | 56 min 49–61 min | 1 h 30 min 78–106 min | 2 h 99–140 min |
Typical length (median) with the middle half of simulated games below it, relaxed pace, for turbo (3-minute), fast (5-minute), normal (10-minute), slow (15-minute) levels. A six-player game on normal blinds typically runs 1 h 20 min, and half of those games finish in 64–92 min; on turbo, 34 min.
Treat these as “plan for about”, not a schedule: bots stand in for your friends, and one big early all-in can end a heads-up game in the first level. For the quick-pace numbers and the full method, see free poker tournaments.
Running a regular private game
A weekly game needs two things a single table doesn’t: a memory of who’s winning, and a quick way into the next game. FizzPoker has both.
Start a league for your group
Any signed-in player can create a league (free; up to 1,000 members) from the leagues page and share its invite link once. Friends who open it join straight away if they’re signed in, or sign in first. From then on, any member can start a members-only league table from the league page — the strictest kind of private table, because only signed-in members can take a seat.
Every finished league game feeds the league’s all-time standings, scored by players outlasted: points = members in the game − your finishing place + 1, so winning a six-member game is worth 6 and finishing last is worth 1. Bots can fill empty seats but never score, and a game needs at least two members to count.
Rematch in one tap
When a game ends, the results screen offers a rematch: one tap turns the finished table into a fresh lobby with the same seats, blinds and bots, and everyone still on the results screen moves to it. The host taps it while they’re at the table; if the host has left, any player can. A league table’s rematch is a league table too, so it counts in the standings.
House rules that help
- Pick the speed from your evening. Use the previewer above: turbo is built for a weeknight game that fits in well under an hour, slow for a long weekend session.
- Keep a call open. There’s no voice or video chat in the game, so run FaceTime, Zoom or Discord alongside — the table talk is half the fun.
- Agree on dropped connections. Each player has 25 seconds to act. Someone who drops keeps their seat for a moment, then sits out — checking or folding automatically — until they’re back.
- Share the recap. Every game ends with a recap card — the winner, the standings and awards like biggest pot and bad beat — ready to drop into the group chat. Poker for fun has more ways to keep bragging rights alive.
Running it for a Discord server or a team? See Discord poker and the virtual poker night planner.
Questions people ask
How do I set up a private poker game online?
Use a site that deals invite-only tables. On FizzPoker you pick 2–9 seats and a blind speed, get a private link, and send it to your friends; they open it, type a name and sit down. You start the game once at least two players are seated.
Can strangers join my private poker table?
Not on FizzPoker. There is no public lobby or table list, and the only way in is the table link, whose code is generated from 48 random bits. Once the game starts, seats lock and nobody new can sit down, even with the link.
Is a private online poker room free?
On FizzPoker, yes — every table is free, with no real money involved: chips have no cash value and there are no buy-ins or payouts. Tables for 2–4 players need no account; the host needs a free account for 5–9 seats.
How many players can play at a private poker table?
Two to nine per table. The game starts with whoever is seated when the host taps Start, so a nine-seat table can also run with six players. Empty seats can be filled with bots: one without an account, more if the host has a free account.
Do my friends need an account to join a private table?
Not for an ordinary table: guests open the link, pick a name and take a seat, and only the host needs a free account — for 5–9 seats or to add more than one bot. League tables are the exception: they seat signed-in league members only.
Can a regular poker group keep standings across games?
Yes. On FizzPoker a signed-in player can start a free league, share its invite link, and have members play members-only league tables. All-time standings rank members by players outlasted in every league game; bots can fill seats but never score.
What happens if someone disconnects during a private game?
Their seat is held briefly while they reconnect. After that they are sat out: their hands are checked or folded automatically until they come back and tap “I’m back”. Reopening the link on the same device returns them to their own seat.