> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.wr-games.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Start a Table

> How to start a table on On the Table: pick the game, choose whose copy it's on, then set up seats and timing.

A table is one game, with seats people can take. Starting one takes two quick choices: which game, and whose copy of it you'll play on. Then a short setup screen, and the table is open.

## Opening It

There are two ways in, and both end up in the same place.

* **Create a table** on the On the Table tab opens **Start a Table** with the list of games.
* **+ Table** on a game's card skips the list. You land straight on the choice of whose copy to use.

On a computer, **Start a Table** is a compact window. On a phone it fills the screen.

## Picking the Game

The list uses the same [game picker](https://help.wr-games.com/features/game-picker.md) as the rest of WR-Games, in a compact one-game-at-a-time layout. Use the tabs for **My Collection**, **Group Collection** and **Games Directory**, search by name, and tap a game to pick it.

* **My Collection** has folder pills, so you can narrow the list to one folder.
* **Group Collection** has a **Filter by Owner** control, handy when you remember whose game it is.

Tap a game and the window moves on to **Whose Copy**. If you picked the wrong one, **All Games** takes you back to the list.

## Choosing Whose Copy

The **Whose Copy** section lists the copies you can play on. Pick one, then press **Continue to Table Setup**.

> [tab] Members
>
> You see a **Use Sarah's Copy** row for each copy its owner has opened to other tables, plus **I'll Bring My Own**. Each opened copy says that its owner lets others run tables on it.
>
> Copies their owners haven't opened don't show up for you.

> [tab] Hosts
>
> You see every copy of the game on the list, plus **I'll Bring My Own**. Each copy is marked **Open to other tables** or **Sarah hasn't opened it to other tables**, so you can tell which are free to use and which you're choosing on someone's behalf.

The first opened copy is selected for you. If nobody has opened a copy, **I'll Bring My Own** is selected instead. You can change it before you continue.

> [!NOTE]
>
> When no copy is open to other tables, you'll see a note: "Nobody has opened a copy of this game for other tables, so you're bringing your own. We'll add it to your games." Continuing puts the game on the On the Table list as one you're bringing, then opens setup for your table.

If the table can't be created, the game you just added is taken back off the list, and you're asked to try starting the table again.

## If You Already Bring the Game

When the game is already on the list under your name, there's nothing to choose. Picking it skips **Whose Copy** and goes straight to table setup on your own copy.

## Setting Up the Table

Setup is the last screen. Everything on it has a sensible starting point, so a table can be one tap away.

| Setting | What It Does |
| - | - |
| **Seats** | How many people can sit, from 2 to 20. It starts at 4. Turn on **Unlimited** for a drop-in table with no cap. |
| **Held Seats** | Seats you hold for people you're bringing. You're always seated, so don't count yourself. Nobody else can take a held seat until you release it or fill it. |
| **Table Name** | Optional. Something like "Heavy euro corner" helps people find it. |
| **Time** | Optional. It only appears when the host has turned on scheduled table times for the event. Leave it blank for no set time. |
| **Led By** | Who runs the table. It appears when a host starts a table on someone else's copy, or when the person starting it isn't going. Press **Change** to pick someone else. |

Press **Start table** and it's open. Anyone who's going can take a seat from the Tables tab. See [On the Table](https://help.wr-games.com/features/on-the-table.md) for how seats work from their side.

> [!NOTE]
>
> If you're running a table on someone else's copy, setup adds a checkbox, **Keep my table if this copy stops coming**, so you can choose what happens to your table.

## Related

> [card] [On the Table](https://help.wr-games.com/features/on-the-table.md)
>
> Adding games, requesting and voting, and taking a seat.

> [card] [How the Game Picker Works](https://help.wr-games.com/features/game-picker.md)
>
> The tabs, search, and what the labels on each game mean.

> [card] [Managing On the Table](https://help.wr-games.com/features/managing-on-the-table.md)
>
> For hosts: scheduled table times, tables on someone else's game, and more.

> [card] [Ranked Seating](https://help.wr-games.com/features/ranked-seating.md)
>
> How WR-Games seats people from their rankings.

Still stuck on something? [Contact us](https://help.wr-games.com/help/contact.md) and we'll sort it out.


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