Lobby — home

Open play

Open play that fills courts without a group chat.

Publish a session, set the capacity and skill band, and let players buy a spot. Lobby groups the paid players onto courts so staff run the night instead of the sign-up sheet.

Open play · Sun 18 May

4 / 4

Intermediate social

Band 3 · 1650–1800
M. Torres1764
J. Carter1731
D. Nguyen1702
S. Patel1688

Court 02 · 18:30 — 20:00 · $12 / player

Illustrative open-play session: 12 spots, two skill bands, and the court groupings for the night.

The problem

Open play usually lives in a group chat. Someone posts a session, names pile up, a few drop out on the day, and whoever is at the desk works out who plays with whom while the first court sits empty.

  • 01

    Nobody knows if the session is full until players turn up.

  • 02

    A mixed-level session puts a beginner on court with the club’s strongest players.

  • 03

    Dropping out is free, so the same names sign up and skip.

How it works

In the order it happens.

01

Publish the session

Set the day, time, courts, capacity, and price per spot. Pick a skill band, or open it to all levels.

02

Players buy a spot

A player books and pays by card in the same step. When the session is full, the waitlist opens.

03

Group onto courts

Before the session, Lobby proposes court groups by skill rating. Staff can move any player to another court.

04

Run the night

The desk sees who paid, who is waitlisted, and which court each player is on. Results can feed ratings.

What the club decides

Your rules, written once.

OK

Cap a session at 8, 12, or 16 so every court is full and nobody sits out.

OK

Split Tuesday into a beginner band at 18:00 and an advanced band at 19:30.

OK

Charge for the spot at booking so a drop-out costs the player, not the club.

OK

Let a waitlisted player take a released spot without staff messaging anyone.

Questions

The plain answers.

Can members join open play without paying per session?

Yes. A session can be free for a membership tier, paid for drop-ins, or both. The spot still counts against capacity either way.

How does Lobby know a player’s level?

Each player carries a skill rating on their profile. Staff set it at the start and match results update it over time, so the bands get more accurate the more the club plays.

What happens when someone drops out on the day?

The spot is released, the first player on the waitlist gets an email and push notification with a short hold, and the court groups update. Refunds follow the club’s cancellation window.

Open play in your club

Bring the real workflow.
Test the real week.

Set it up in a free preview workspace with your own courts, prices, and rules. Nothing is published until you say so.