The Ninth Seat — Opening Night for Tech Founders

​The Ninth Seat is sixteen London founders at two poker tables, every two weeks. Every application is read and vetted by hand. Most won't get a seat, and that's the point.

​Format. A no money tournament, sixteen players across two tables. Everyone starts with the same stack. Free re-entry in the first thirty minutes, so nobody crosses London to bust in ten hands. Chips are score and nothing else.

​The leaderboard. This is the part that makes it a club. Every night feeds London's first startup poker leaderboard. Your position carries between nights, and whoever won last carries a crown next to their name. Win consecutively and the crown stacks. It's worth absolutely nothing and everyone will care about it enormously.

​We deal ourselves. Shuffle machines on both tables, so nobody has to know what they're doing. If you've never played, that's genuinely fine. You'll pick it up in two hands and the person next to you will help.

​No pitches. Nobody's raising at this table and nobody's selling at it. Fifteen other people building something, a drink in your hand, and four hours to actually talk to them. The eliminated table is where most of the real conversation happens.

​The board. Scan the QR at your table to set up your profile: your name, your company, a link. Members can see who else is in the room and connect on the spot. Outside the room, only companies and stage are visible. Names stay in.

​House. 18+, ID at the door. Named invitation, no plus ones, no walk ins.

​Free to attend. Every application gets an answer either way. The address goes out on approval.