How to Run a Cashless Poker Home Game

Traditional home games require the host to have a bank — a stack of cash in every denomination to make change and handle buy-ins. This creates problems:

• Capital requirement — you need hundreds of dollars in cash on hand
• Change-making — annoying mid-game when someone brings a $100 bill
• Security — visible cash on the table is a concern
• Tracking headaches — who paid cash vs. who owes is hard to reconcile

A cashless game eliminates all of this. Players still use chips at the table — the only difference is how money changes hands at the start and end of the night.

Nothing changes about the actual poker. Players get chips, they play with chips, they cash out chips. Chip denominations and starting stacks are the same as any cash game.

When a player sits down, the host records their buy-in amount in a digital tracker (not on a napkin). No cash changes hands at this point — the player just gets their chips and the amount is logged.

Re-buys work the same way: record the amount, hand over the chips.

At the end of the night, each player counts their chips. The host records each player's final chip total. All chips go back in the case.

The settlement tells you exactly who owes whom and how much. Players who are down send money (via Venmo, Cash App, or PayPal) to players who are up. Or use the clearinghouse model: all losers pay the host, and the host pays all winners.

Before your first cashless game, collect each player's payment handles:

Cash Game Host stores payment methods per player. You can even scan a player's QR code from their Venmo or Cash App profile to capture their handle automatically.

Direct settlement (player-to-player) works, but it gets messy with 6+ people. The clearinghouse model is simpler:

1. Losers send their balance to the host
2. The host pays all winners
3. The host tracks which payments have been sent and received

This reduces the number of transactions and puts one person (you) in control. Cash Game Host's clearinghouse feature tracks collection and payout status in real time, so you know exactly who has paid and who still owes.

Cash Game Host was designed for cashless home games. Here's what it handles:

• Store payment handles — Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, and Zelle per player
• Scan QR codes — capture handles from a player's phone
• Track everything digitally — buy-ins, cash-outs, and re-buys
• Split shared expenses — factor food and drinks into settlement
• Generate payment links — for Venmo and Cash App
• Clearinghouse mode — with collection/payout tracking