PokerPulse Help

PokerPulse runs from your browser. As a host, you set up a tournament with a blind schedule and buy-in, track who is playing, run the countdown clock, record eliminations, and calculate payouts automatically when the game ends. You can also track cash game sessions (buy-ins, cash-outs, and who owes whom at the end) and set up leagues that carry standings across a series of games.

Spectators and players do not need an account to follow along. You can share a Display page (built for a TV or projector) or a Live View link (built for a phone or laptop) so anyone can watch the clock, standings, and announcements in real time.

PokerPulse is currently in public beta and is free to use. There is no credit card required to sign up.

You only need an account if you plan to host games, join a league, or keep a player history. Spectators and one-off players do not need one.

1. Go to the Sign Up screen and choose "Sign Up" instead of "Sign In."
2. Enter a display name, your email address, and a password of at least 6 characters.
3. Tick the box confirming you are 18 or older and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. This is required to continue.
4. Submit the form. You are signed in automatically and taken to your Dashboard.

If you already have a guest entry recorded under the same email from a tournament you played before creating an account, PokerPulse links that history to your new account automatically.

Tournament creation walks you through four steps:

1. Basics: name the tournament, pick a format (multi-table, sit and go, heads up, or satellite), set max players, table count, buy-in, and starting chip stack. You can also schedule it for a future date instead of starting immediately.
2. Structure: turn on rebuys and add-ons if you want them, and choose a bounty type (none, standard, progressive, or mystery).
3. Blinds: pick a built-in blind template or build a custom schedule level by level.
4. Payouts: choose how many places get paid and adjust the percentage split.

Once it is created, open the tournament from your Dashboard, add your players, and click "Start Tournament" once at least two players are registered. The clock starts on the first blind level.

The host gives you an 8-character share code for their tournament.

1. On the PokerPulse homepage or your Dashboard, find the "Join a Game" input.
2. Type in the 8-character code (it is not case-sensitive; the field converts it to uppercase for you).
3. Submit, and you are taken straight to that tournament's Live View.

Watching a tournament this way does not require an account. If the host wants you added as an actual player with a chip stack, they add you from their Players panel, either by searching for your account or entering you as a guest.

While a tournament is running, the timer panel shows the current blind level and time remaining.

1. Use Pause or Resume to freeze and restart the clock.
2. Use Skip Forward or Skip Back to move between blind levels manually.
3. Use Reset to restart the timer on the current level.

To eliminate a player, open the Players panel and click the elimination icon next to their name. You confirm their finishing position and, if bounties are on, record who eliminated them.

When the tournament is over, click "End Tournament." You can complete it (final placements are confirmed and payouts are calculated from your payout structure), cancel it, or, for a multi-day event, bag and tag to pause the session and resume later.

PokerPulse has two ways to share a running tournament, both accessible from the buttons on the tournament page.

Display is meant for a TV or projector at the table. It automatically cycles through the blind level and countdown, player standings, recent announcements, and the payout structure, changing panels every 15 seconds.

Live View is meant for an individual phone, tablet, or laptop. It shows the timer, blind levels, player list, chip counts, and announcements, and lets the viewer join the chat. If the host has turned it on, viewers can also submit their own chip counts from Live View.

Both pages are viewable by anyone with the link or the tournament's share code. No account is required to view them.

1. From your Dashboard, click "New Cash Game."
2. Enter a name, game type, stakes (small and big blind), buy-in range, and, if you want to track it, a rake type and value.
3. Start the game and add players as they sit down, recording each buy-in.
4. As players leave, record their cash-out amount.
5. When the session ends, PokerPulse calculates each player's net result and works out the smallest number of payments needed to settle every debt.

Each settlement includes a Venmo link so the person who owes money can pay with one tap.

A league adds up points across every tournament you link to it, based on where each player finishes.

1. Go to the Leagues page.
2. Click "Create League" to start a new one, or click "Join League" and enter the invite code someone gave you.
3. If you own the league, set the points formula (values for 1st through 6th place plus a bounty multiplier) so that standings calculate correctly.

Points are added automatically when a tournament linked to the league is completed. As the league owner, you can also manually recalculate all standings at any time if you change the scoring formula after games have already been played.

1. Go to the Friends page and click "Add Contact."
2. Enter their display name and, if you want to notify them by email, their email address. You can also add notes and a photo.
3. Turn on "Notify on Games" if you want them emailed when you start or schedule a tournament, and "Notify on Results" if you want them emailed the final standings once a tournament ends.

A contact needs a valid email address on file for either notification to go out. You can edit or remove a contact at any time from the pencil and trash icons on the Friends page.

If entering a code does not take you to the tournament, check the following:

1. The code field only accepts up to 8 characters, and it is automatically converted to uppercase as you type, so case does not matter. Double check you copied the whole code, including any numbers.
2. Make sure there are no leading or trailing spaces if you pasted the code from a message.
3. Ask the host to confirm the tournament is still active. A tournament that was deleted or never started will not resolve.

If the code is correct and you still cannot get in, ask the host to resend the link directly from the tournament page rather than retyping the code from memory.

Sound effects and voice announcements can be turned on or off from Profile, under the Preferences tab, where you can also choose a voice accent.

If you have sound turned on but do not hear anything, most browsers block audio from playing automatically until you tap or click somewhere on the page first. Tap anywhere on the tournament page once after loading it, and audio should start working for the rest of the session.

PokerPulse also tries to keep your screen from sleeping while a tournament timer is running, using your browser's wake lock feature. This only works on browsers and devices that support it, and it automatically re-engages if you switch tabs and come back. If your screen still sleeps, your browser does not support this feature and you will need to adjust your device's own screen timeout setting.

PokerPulse is currently free to use. Signing up does not ask for a credit card, and no payment has been charged to any account while the product is in public beta. Every signed-in account currently has full access to the app's features.

The Pricing page shows a comparison of Free, Plus, and Pro feature tiers for reference, but the plan cards and checkout are not turned on, so you cannot currently purchase an upgrade. There is no announced date for when that will change.

If that changes in the future, you will see prices and an upgrade option appear directly on the Pricing page in the app.

To add two-factor authentication:

1. Go to Profile, then the Security tab.
2. Click "Enable Two-Factor Authentication."
3. Scan the QR code with an authenticator app such as Google Authenticator or Authy, or enter the displayed key manually if you cannot scan it.
4. Enter the 6-digit code the app generates to confirm and turn it on.

You can remove two-factor authentication at any time from the same Security tab.

If you forget your password, go to the sign-in screen and click "Forgot Password." Enter your email address and PokerPulse sends a reset link to that address.

PokerPulse collects your email address and display name when you register, the tournament, cash game, and league data you create (including player names and chip counts), usage data such as pages visited, and information you submit through a support request. Billing information, when charging is turned on, is handled by Stripe and PokerPulse does not store full card numbers.

Your data is not sold or rented to third parties. It is shared only with the service providers PokerPulse runs on, currently Supabase for the database and authentication and Stripe for payment processing, or when required by law. PokerPulse uses session cookies to keep you signed in and local storage for your app preferences; it does not use third-party advertising trackers.

To get a copy of your data, go to Profile, then the Security tab, and click "Export My Data." This downloads a JSON file with your profile, every tournament you have hosted, every tournament entry you have played in, and your saved contacts.

To delete your account, go to the same Security tab, scroll to "Delete Account," type the confirmation phrase, and confirm. This is permanent. Your account and its data are removed and this cannot be undone from within the app.