Short of players? Open your session to people outside the group

Adam · October 1, 2026 at 12:00 PM

Tuesday, 9 p.m. Tomorrow you are playing on four courts, sixteen people signed up, and two have just dropped out. The waitlist is empty and the group chat is silent. The usual routine begins: an announcement in two other chats, private messages to friends of friends, and in the morning you still don't know if anyone will show up or how to settle up with them.

In B-Admin-Time you can open that one session to players from outside the group instead. People looking for a game nearby will see the free spots, and you decide who joins.

What an open session is

You open one specific session to the public, not the whole group. The group stays exactly as it was — private, closed or public — and people outside it see only this session, and only while it is open. When you close the public opening, access ends immediately, including through a link you sent earlier.

A session can be opened when it is open for signups, hasn't finished yet and has at least one slot with a free spot and an empty waitlist. The spot of someone looking for a replacement also counts as free. The feature is part of the Pro plan, and you can try it straight away during the 14-day trial.

“Games nearby” listing or link only

When opening the session, you choose how players find it:

• Listed — the session appears under “Games nearby” in “My games” for signed-in users. They see the venue with its address, the date and time, the skill level, the number of free spots and the distance to the venue.
• Link only — the session is not listed. Only someone you send the link to can reach it, e.g. friends from another group or a local sports chat.

The “Share” button prepares a ready-made announcement: date and time, venue with address, skill level, number of free spots and the link. You can generate it in one of four languages (Polish, English, Ukrainian, Hindi), copy it or send it through your device's share sheet. The session author and admins can always share; in the group settings you decide whether regular members can too.

How a request works

1. A player from outside the group opens the session from the listing or the link. If they aren't signed in, they sign in or create an account first and land straight back on the session.
2. They tap “Request to join”, can add a note (e.g. “I can only make it at 7:15”) and agree to let the admin see their phone number.
3. The admin gets a notification. Before deciding, you can exchange a few messages in a thread attached to the request.
4. The admin approves or rejects. An approved player joins the session like any participant: sees their slot, gets notifications and settles up with the cashier.

If you don't want to approve every request, you can turn approval off in the group settings. Then a player from outside the group is added straight away as long as there are free spots, and you only get a notice that they joined. It's convenient, but it means nobody looks at the request before a stranger is on the list — which is why approval is on by default.

What a player from outside the group sees — and doesn't

• Before requesting: the group name (for a private group only the label “Private group”), the venue with address, date and time, level and number of free spots. No names or photos of other players.
• After approval: their own status, their slot, the option to drop out and, after the game, their own settlement.
• Never: the group's roster, ranking, other sessions or other players' contact details.

Group members see a text label “Player from outside the group” next to such a player, so it's always clear who is a guest.

Ranking and statistics stay clean

Matches involving a player from outside the group are recorded normally and show up in the session recap. But ELO, badges and group statistics don't include them, and their results don't move the regular members' ranking. One random guest won't reshuffle a table the group has built over a whole season.

After the game: invite them to the group

If someone from outside fitted in well, an “Invite to group” button appears next to their name after the session. They receive an invitation and from the next session on they play as a full member. Their earlier “guest” appearance stays outside the ranking — everything counts from the moment they join.

A few practical tips

• Set the group's skill level in the group settings. It shows in the listing and in the announcement text, so the people who apply match your pace.
• Open the session in advance, ideally the day before. That leaves time for requests and a short chat in the thread.
• If you only want a trusted circle, choose “link only” and send it where you know people.
• Players from outside the group aren't subject to the group's no-show penalties. If that matters to you, ask in the thread for a phone number or a confirmation before the game.
• Once the session is full, close the public opening with one click.

You'll find the details on the Open sessions page and the plan comparison on the pricing page. If you don't have a group yet, create one for free — for the first 14 days you get every Pro feature.