A poker tournament that keeps going when the internet drops

What keeps working without internet

On the director’s device, everything that moves a tournament forward keeps working without a network. MyPokerCaptain runs the tournament in the browser, not on a server: an outage only affects what has to leave the room.

• The clock: the countdown, levels, breaks and end-of-level sound alerts.
• Players: eliminations, rebuys, and registering a player by typing their name.
• Tables: seating and balancing.
• Payouts: the split, based on the current prize pool.
• Cash desk: every payment, saved on the device.
• Reopening: a tab closed by mistake, a computer restarted mid-game, the app reopens without a connection.

One condition: the app must have been opened online once on that device. That is when it saves itself there in full, sounds and languages included.

What needs a connection

Whatever has to leave the director’s device waits for the network.

• The first opening on a device, and signing in.
• Other screens: a smart TV, a second computer, the players’ phones that scanned the QR code read the tournament from the server. During an outage, a screen that is already open keeps counting down and moves through the levels on its own, with the note “Connection lost — the clock keeps running”; it does not see a pause or a change made on the director’s device until the network comes back.
• Several tournaments on one screen: two simultaneous games are run from two devices, and the server brings them together.
• The club’s player file: adding or editing a member is done online.
• Anything sent out: PDF reports by e-mail, invitations, the subscription.

The TV plugged into the director’s device over HDMI is the exception, on the Casino plan: the room screen follows the clock there without a network, through a browser channel that never leaves the machine.

When the connection comes back

What was done offline goes to the server on its own, in the order it happened, without reloading the page or retyping anything. Deletions made offline go too.

Two rules keep an outage from mixing two versions of the same tournament:

• One device runs a tournament. A second device or a second tab can show it, but not change it, until it takes over.
• Nothing is silently overwritten. If another device took over during the outage, the work the club has not received stays in a backup copy you can view and download, and an alert says so.

Before a game night in a venue with unreliable Wi-Fi

1. Open the app online on the director’s device before the game, and accept the update if one is offered.
2. Prepare the tournament online: the structure, and the club members you will register from the player file.
3. Plug the TV into that device over HDMI if the room screen has to hold without a network (Casino plan). With a smart TV, plan a connection for it.
4. Run the game from one device, and keep it plugged in.

What about other software?

Software you install works offline, but stays tied to one computer: The Tournament Director, on a Windows PC, after online activation. Web apps do not document it: as of 30 September 2026, neither BlindValet, Poker Home Games, NextBlind nor LynxPoker describes an offline mode. MyPokerCaptain brings both together: a web app that opens in any browser and keeps running without a network. The details, product by product, are in the poker tournament software comparison.

Try MyPokerCaptain

The free plan covers a one-table tournament of 9 players, offline included. Paid plans start at €7.99 a month and come with a 14-day trial, no credit card required; the pricing page details what each one opens, and the features page what the app does.