Plan a virtual poker night
A virtual poker night is a video call plus a card table everyone opens from a link. Tell the planner how many people are coming and how long you have: it splits the group into tables, picks a blind speed that ends on time, and writes the invite for you.
Plan the night
- Table 1
6 players
- Call + seating, 10 min
- Playing, 1 h 50 min
- Most games end here
Normal blinds fit. Three in four simulated 6-player games finished within 1 h 32 min; faster blinds would end sooner, with more all-ins and less room to play. Tables of 5–9 need the host to sign in with a free account; 2–4 need none.
What you need
- A video call everyone already uses — FaceTime, Zoom, Google Meet, WhatsApp or a Discord voice channel. The call is the table talk; the poker table itself has no voice or video.
- A screen for the cards — each player’s own phone, tablet or computer. Nothing to install: the table opens in the browser, and it can be added to the home screen like an app.
- One host per table who deals it at FizzPoker and shares the private link. Only people with the link can sit down.
- About 1 h 30 min for a full nine-player table at normal speed, less for smaller ones — the planner above picks the blind speed for your group and your evening.
Friends who have never played? That’s fine. Everyone starts with the same 10,000 chips, the table only offers legal moves, and there is no money involved, so nobody loses anything but bragging rights.
Set up the call and the table
The one decision that makes or breaks an online game night is screens. Faces are the fun part, cards are the game part, and they compete for the same glass. Here are the three setups that work:
- Point the camera at your face, not your screen. Your hole cards are on it. Laptop cameras above the screen are safe; a phone propped up behind a laptop can see everything.
- Headphones stop the echo. With six open microphones, one speakerphone loops everyone’s voice back into the call.
- Use the call’s chat for links. Paste the table link where everyone can tap it, rather than reading it aloud.
- Glasses on for the small screen. FizzPoker has a High-Legibility theme and a four-color deck if the cards are hard to read on a phone.
A timeline for the night
- A few days before: send the invitePick a date, count heads and send the invite with the call link. If any table will have 5–9 players, its host signs up for a free account (email link, no password).
- Fifteen minutes before: open the call and deal the tablesThe organizer starts the video call. Each table’s host deals it at fizzpoker.com (seats and blind speed) and pastes the private table link into the group chat.
- Start: everyone takes a seatEach player opens their table link, types a name and sits. Spend two minutes on the rules for anyone new while the last seats fill.
- Play: blinds rise on the clockStacks start at 10,000 chips and the blinds climb every 3, 5, 10 or 15 minutes, depending on the speed the host picked. Players who bust stay on the call — or deal a small side table so they keep playing.
- Finish: crown the winner, then run it backThe last player with chips wins, and the recap card with the standings and awards is ready to share. For one more game, tap Rematch on the results screen: same seats, same blinds, fresh stacks. With several tables, the table winners can meet at a final table instead.
More than nine people? Split into balanced tables — 18 players become 2 tables of 9, 20 become 7 + 7 + 6. Tables are separate games that run side by side, so give each one a host and its own link, and put everyone on the same call (or one breakout room per table if your call app has them). The planner sizes the blinds for the biggest table, which finishes last.
Want a warm-up while people trickle in? A round of a game that works over FaceTime or a quick browser game fills the first ten minutes nicely.
How long a game lasts
FizzPoker games are freezeouts: everyone starts with 10,000 chips, the blinds rise on a clock, and the game ends when one player has every chip. So the length depends on how many players there are and how quickly the blinds climb: turbo, fast, normal or slow levels last 3, 5, 10 or 15 minutes.
| Players | Turbo | Fast | Normal | Slow |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 15–25 | 15–35 | 20–50 | 25–60 |
| 3 | 20–30 | 25–40 | 35–65 | 40–85 |
| 4 | 25–30 | 35–50 | 50–75 | 55–95 |
| 5 | 30–35 | 40–50 | 55–85 | 65–110 |
| 6 | 30–35 | 45–55 | 65–90 | 80–120 |
| 7 | 30–40 | 45–55 | 70–100 | 80–125 |
| 8 | 35–40 | 45–60 | 75–100 | 95–140 |
| 9 | 35–45 | 50–60 | 80–105 | 100–140 |
Minutes, middle half of simulated games (25th–75th percentile) at a relaxed pace; turbo, fast, normal and slow blinds rise every 3, 5, 10 and 15 minutes. At the quick pace — the human-like bots’ own think time — games finished in about 80% of these times.
The rule of thumb: pick the slowest speed that still ends on time. Slower blinds give more hands at a comfortable stack depth, which is better poker and better conversation; fast blinds turn the last half hour into all-in or fold. If the evening is short and the table is full, two smaller tables finish sooner than one big one. Turbo blinds (3-minute levels) are made for the weeknight version: a full table typically wraps up in 35–45 min.
One more game, and next week too
Good poker nights rarely end after one game. FizzPoker has three things that make the second game — and the next night — easy:
- Rematch. On the results screen, one tap turns the finished table into a fresh lobby with the same seats, blinds and bots, and everyone still on the results screen lands at the new table — no new link to send. The host taps it; once the host has left, anyone can.
- A recap card with awards. Each finished game gets a shareable recap: the winner, the standings and up to nine awards — biggest pot, best hand, bad beat, comeback, table bully, the rock and more. Drop it in the group chat; it never shows hole cards that weren’t shown at the table.
- Leagues for regular groups. A signed-in player can create a free league and share its invite link. Any member can start a members-only league table from the league page, and all-time standings rank members by how many players they outlasted, game after game. Bots can fill empty seats but never score.
Poker in five minutes, for the newcomers
FizzPoker deals No-Limit Texas Hold’em. Read this aloud at the start and nobody will be lost for long:
- Two cards each, face down. Only you see yours. Two players post small forced bets, the blinds, so there is something to win.
- Bet, then five shared cards arrive in three steps — three at once (the flop), one (the turn), one (the river) — with a round of betting after each.
- On your turn: fold, check, call, bet or raise. The table only shows the moves that are legal right now, and “no-limit” means you can bet any amount up to all your chips.
- Best five-card hand wins the pot at the showdown, using any mix of your two cards and the five on the table — unless everyone else folds first.
- Lose all your chips and you’re out. The last player with chips wins the game.
The hands, strongest first, with an example of each:
| Royal flush | |
| Straight flush | |
| Four of a kind | |
| Full house | |
| Flush | |
| Straight | |
| Three of a kind | |
| Two pair | |
| One pair | |
| High card |
For a full walkthrough, see how to play Texas Hold’em, or print the poker cheat sheet for the newcomers to keep next to their screen.
Questions people ask
How do you host a virtual poker night?
Put everyone on one video call (FaceTime, Zoom, Google Meet or Discord), then deal a free poker table in the browser and share its link in the chat. Each player opens the link on their own phone or computer, types a name and sits down. Plan one table per nine players.
Can we see and hear each other at the poker table?
Not inside FizzPoker — it has no built-in voice or video chat. Run your usual video call alongside the table; most groups put the call on a laptop and the table on a phone. Keep the camera on your face, not your screen, so your cards stay private.
How long does a virtual poker game take?
It depends on players and blind speed. In our simulations of FizzPoker’s blind structure, a 6-player table at normal speed (blinds up every 10 minutes) usually took 65–90 min, and 30–35 min on turbo blinds (every 3 minutes). A full 9-player table ranged from 35–45 min on turbo to 100–140 min on slow.
How many people can join a virtual poker night?
Each table seats 2–9 players, and you can deal as many tables as you need, so a bigger group splits into several tables that play at the same time. Tables are independent games; a final table for the winners is a popular way to finish.
Can we make it a regular poker night?
Yes. A signed-in player can create a free league on FizzPoker and share its invite link with the group. Any member can start a members-only league table from the league page, and all-time standings rank members by how many players they outlasted across the league’s games.
Do we need to download anything or pay?
No. FizzPoker runs in any modern browser on phones, tablets and computers, and it is free. Tables of 2–4 with up to one bot need no account; a free account unlocks 5–9 seats and more bots. Chips have no cash value — there is no real money at any point.