When you’re thinking about hosting poker night, there’s a bunch of things to plan.

Of course, you could just host a super simple game with just a deck of cards – and that’s fine. But if you want to make your home game the talk of the town, you need to prepare some of the items on this list.

A Real Poker Table – Setting the Scene with Style

There’s nothing wrong with folding tables and chairs if that’s what you’ve got on hand. If you want an affordable poker table, you can get one on Amazon for a few hundred dollars. The quality won’t be very high. Your guests may care, or they may not. It’s up to the host to decide what’s appropriate for their game.

If you want to create a bit more of a luxury experience, some of the best poker tables are available at BBO. There are tons of cushy options, including custom tables with a variety of options, including felt graphics. Another good poker table provider for your at home poker setup is Gorilla Gaming.

No matter what you go with, there are a few main considerations for your poker table:

  • Size – are you expecting a couple of players or more than that? A small circular table can host a 4-way poker game; a larger table is better for full ring game events.
  • Creature comforts – do you want to have USB sockets? Cupholders? A space for a dedicated dealer? Things like these may enhance the experience, so consider just how nice you want things to be.
  • Stability – an expensive table is more likely to hold up to serious action if the game gets rowdy.
  • Graphics – a custom graphic on your felt adds an undeniable touch of personality. If you’re a Vikings fans (for example), purple felt with a logo would take things to the next level.

Poker Chips and Cards

This is another item where you can go affordable with poker chips and cards from Amazon, or you can pick up something with a more premium feel, like this pirate gold-themed set from Pirate Gold Poker. If you’re hosting a tournament, remember that you will need a ton of chips to service dozens of players. If it’s just a home cash game, you won’t need so many. Understand your stakes and make sure people who get a huge stack can buy back in and have plenty of chips. You don’t want the action to stop just because you run into a chip limit.

Choice of Game

While Texas Hold’em is by far the most popular variation, there’s more than one kind of poker!

Home poker games require players to agree on what type of poker to play – be it stud, five-card draw, Omaha, or something else. Sometimes, a home game will even switch up the game for each hand, playing multiple types of poker in a rotation. Discuss this beforehand and prepare printed rules to have on hand. Post them on the wall or store them in a binder with plastic sleeves to prevent spill damage.

Formal Invites Keep Everyone Organized

This is one of the more important poker night tips on the list, surprisingly. Make a formal invite and set the tone that you’re offering a truly organized game of poker – your players will take things more seriously. It’s important that everyone respect the game and play by the rules (more on this below), so kicking things off through a proper invitation is the right way to start.

The Evite app is a great way to do this through text. You can easily reach all players, skirting the issue of trying to organize everyone on a particular social platform. You’ll get a solid idea of who is in and who is out for a particular date, place, and time, keeping everything lined up properly. It will also prevent confusion and a last-minute flurry of texts and calls about addresses, timing, and other expectations.

Use the invite to share details about the game, such as variants, buy-ins and other relevant information. That way, there are no surprises, and all players know what they’re getting into. You ideally want enthusiastic participation and for everyone to be ready to get with the program so that all players involved can have a fun night.

Buy Ins and Stakes

The amount of money at stake is a serious consideration. The amount you choose should be comfortable for all invited. If you have a bunch of high roller friends, you can bump the stakes to more exciting amounts. If you include someone who can’t hang with the big dogs, tell them what the stakes will be before hand.

If it’s a super-friendly game, $25 buy ins and $.25 blinds will be fine. If you want to get some action going, $100 buy ins and $1 blinds will work. If things are going above those amounts, you may even want to play banker and have players simply buy in through Venmo. You can be the house/casino bank and dispense chips to those who buy them. In a high trust game, this should be fine. Otherwise, you will need a secure cashbox just to keep things safe and make it easy to have a person who is in charge of the money. Traditionally, this is the host.

Refereeing Disputes and Conflicts

The goal is to have games that are fun and fair. Keeping the game honest is critical, and it may be necessary at some point to handle rule violations like string raises or guys who want to flip over someone else’s mucked cards. You might want to set expectations with certain groups by having printed rules that people agree to and letting folks know the penalty for violations. Obviously, some more casual groups won’t need to go to this degree of seriousness, but for others, it keeps things nice and clear. Don’t have a blowout argument over $10 with good friends, but don’t let rule violations wreck a game. Reference an agreed set of rules and be liberal with “Mulligans” if needed.

 

Snacks and Drinks – Saving the Best for Last

Poker snacks are essential. Finger foods that don’t make things too dirty are always the top choice. This means hot wings out, pretzels are in. You don’t want to ruin your pretty poker felt so make sure you choose food that won’t hurt the felt when knocked over.

You’ll need a good amount of alcohol too. A mini fridge or home bar by the game will always be hugely helpful in creating a fun and loose experience. Beer and whiskey are super popular, but have some soda/water for your friends who don’t partake.

If cigars suit the vibe of your group, grab some torch lighters, cutters, and ashtrays. An air filter running nearby can do a lot to cut down the cloud of smoke and make the game more enjoyable for all. If you want to provide them as the host, grab five-packs of some good value smokes that have high ratings but won’t break the bank. Cigar Aficionado publishes such a list each year that you can use for reference.

The Goal is to Have Fun

Remember that the goal of all of this preparation is to have a good time. Don’t lose sight of that, and you really can’t miss.