I built a poker club management app to solve my own problem — here’s how it works

I’ve been attending and organizing private poker games for a number of years, and honestly, it often feels like a part-time job. Keeping track of who’s playing, juggling spreadsheets, dealing with chaotic group chats, and constantly re-confirming attendance. Messy, frustrating, and time-consuming.

About a year ago, I started wondering if there might be a better way. After some research, I found a couple of complicated spreadsheets and a few basic web apps — but nothing simple or widely adopted. That’s when I decided to build my own solution: club-PKR.

The Starting Point

I set four clear goals for the app:

• Schedule and manage private poker games.

• Eliminate the need for spreadsheets and notebooks.

• Keep players and members updated on current and upcoming games.

• Make it easy for players to review and sign up directly.

A few months later, I had a working beta capable of all of the above and then some.

The Turning Point

At that stage, I joined a popular poker forum to share the project. The community’s feedback shifted my entire perspective. I recall asking the members:
“Would the ability to manage a club on a desktop be more useful?”

The answer was a unanimous yes.

That’s when club-PKR started evolving into more of a platform, and not just a mobile app. I began work on club-PKR | PRO, a premium web app that mirrors most of the mobile app's features while adding more tools for organizers who prefer running their clubs from a larger screen.

Where Things Stand Now

• Mobile beta is live and being tested.

• club-PKR | PRO is currently in closed beta testing.

• Feedback from real poker organizers has been invaluable in shaping the roadmap.

Challenges

• Building the product has been exciting, but not without hurdles:

• Marketing: Getting the word out beyond my own network is proving difficult.

• Costs: Making sure development and hosting expenses don’t spiral out of control.

• Time: Balancing development speed with my full-time job — and being a dad to a 2-year-old — is a real challenge.

What’s Next

Right now, I’m focused on:

• Overhauling the mobile app’s UI to make it more modern, intuitive, and easier to use.

• Continuing development and expanding testing of club-PKR | PRO as we prepare for a wider release.

Quick question for the community - At what stage did you find it made sense to put money into ads vs. continuing to focus on organic growth?

Thanks for taking the time to read.