Founder Poker Toronto

This could be you.

Joining Founder Poker

Establishing Culture - A Letter From Derek, the creator of Founder Poker Toronto.The goal of FPT (Founder Poker Toronto) is that this community becomes an always-available in-person group of friends for any founder in Toronto. We're more about learning poker & having fun than high intensity & high stakes. This is just the most fun way to hang with other founders.How do we describe ourselves? We're an inclusive group that treats each other like friends, not business prospects. FPT is a haven to unwind and experience the people behind the companies. FPT is reliable; we'll always be here on the 2nd Tuesday of the month. If you're a part of FPT, you're also reliable, and won't no-show if you say you're coming.On that note: we don't overbook tickets. If you say you're coming, there's a seat here waiting for you. If you no-show, now it's empty and tables are short players. FPT does not let their friends play alone. FPT makes sure that 100% of those who sign up are accounted for every month. You don't ghost your friends; and there are consequences for ghosting us.FPT is not for profit, and it's not even a not-for-profit. It's a friend group. So, if you contextualize the decisions that FPT makes, a lot of things will make more sense.- There's no Slack group (we're only meant to exist for 1 day each month; the expectation is that for founders on the other days, you're building).- There's no official social media (the only way to experience FPT is to actually show up).- There's no 'name-tags' (single events in time have name badges; FPT exists each month, and it won't take long before you know your new friends by name).- That if you don't show up, expect I'll be in touch to let you know that your no-show made me sad (because I care about my friends, and you wouldn't ghost your friends).Fill out the form below to apply to join Founder Poker Toronto.

What is a Founder? Who is this for?

We are an exclusive club for Founders. We also allow select VC/Angel investors to join our club, as they play an integral part in the tech-ecosystem.So, what is a Founder? Or at least, how do we define it?We define a Founder as: You are the person who created a tech or tech-related company, and you pursue this company as your sole full time focus....okay, what's a tech or tech-related company?It all comes down to how a venture scales. Tech companies (vs. a 'normal business') can create scale by producing more technology; instead of say, hiring humans to do serve the core function of the business. This technology is typically unique and defensible; generating IP, data-moats, trade secrets, etc.Because of the nature of how tech companies scale, they can achieve billion dollar status in 5 years or less; whereas more traditional businesses can take multiple decades to do the same. This means that tech-companies have vastly different problems, desires, and need a different set of resources to win.A 'normal business' is like a cafe, an accountant, or a real estate firm; all of these can only achieve scale by hiring more people. These people provide a service, and the service is dependent on how the people are trained. If you change out all the staff in a 'normal business', you likely have a completely different business. If you change out all of the people in a tech-company, the product remains the same. Normal businesses are awesome ventures to build, and are way more likely to actually be profitable/successful. But the needs are different; we're trying to cater to Toronto's tech ecosystem.So, who's allowed in?-Startup Founders of Tech Companies who are building full time.
-VCs and Angels who invest in such Tech Companies (subject to approval by FPT).
-Founders of agencies that support the Toronto Tech ecosystem (subject to approval by FPT, and requiring a referral from an active founder who's already in the community)Approval is a privelege, not a right: We review everyone who applies to join and if we sense something is off, we won't let you in. If we sense that you're just joining to try and sell something, we're going to say no. We may ask for referrals / references from founders who are in the community if we don't know you.If you don't see yourself in those categories above, but you feel you should be allowed in anyways? Feel free to apply below to join! We'll consider it. Derek responds to all inquiries in a day or less.

Min 5+ words in the long answer text box or it'll be filtered by the spam check!

The Poker

COST/BUY-INIt's a community; not a casino.It only costs $10 to reserve your seat. This funds a few things. It includes a contribution to a winner's pot*, your dinner, your drinks, and supporting general club ops (like buying decks of cards, prizes, the venue rental, and more). For the first 1 hour and 20 minutes, you can re-buy for $10 if you bust.*If you cannot participate in the winner's pot for personal or religious reasons, you can opt out of contributing to the winner's pot when you register. Your contribution instead will be used to fund other club ops.YOU GET:-Dinner - veg, vegan, meat options
-Drinks - beer, seltzer, and non alcoholic options
-Toronto's most exclusive hat... but only if you winSCHEDULE:6:00PM - 6:45PM: Poker 101 for First Time Poker Players
6:45PM - 7:00PM: Arrival / Check-In
7:00PM - 7:30PM: Dinner / Networking
7:30PM - 7:45PM: Secret Rituals
7:45PM - 11:00PM: Tournament StartsTHE POKER-We teach Poker 101 before every meetup from 6pm to 645pm
-Texas Hold'em Style (~7 players/table) + 1 dealer.
-Turbo blinds; they raise every 20 minutes.
-If you place top 3, you'll win a seat at the yearly $3k Freeroll. It takes place in late-November/early December.

Upcoming Dates

We (usually) play on the 2^nd Tuesday of every month

Title Sponsors

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Ticket Availability

For transparency, here is how we do it.We can seat 8 people per table, up to 8 tables. Caps at 64 people.The first people to be emailed the password are the tech startup founders. They will have a week to claim their spotThe second group to be emailed the password are aspiring startup founders, VCs, & agency founders. They have a week to claim their spot.Then, everyone (i.e. including ecosystem partners, retired founders, etc.) will be emailed the password.Our meetup first and foremost caters to tech founders actively building - so they get priority! Hope that's cool with you.

2025 Glory

We play for glory, not for money. These points earn you a right to play in the $3k Freeroll at the end of the year. If you earn 3 points, you qualify.

*Qualified for Yearly Finals

2024 Winners

2024 Glory

2023 Winners

2023 Glory

2022 Glory