Hosting Poker Night
As with any other party, hosting a poker night can last at least 3 hours which means you need to prepare food for guests to munch on while they are playing the game. Light snacks such as chips, vegetable sticks, bread sticks, tortilla chips and salsa, cookies, and mini-sandwiches are perfect for poker nights. Have plenty of poker chips. Clay or clay composite chips, weighing 7.5 grams to 13.5 grams each, are terrific but do cost much more than lightweight plastic chips. If you shop around, you can get 500 good quality chips for less than $100.
There’snothing like Poker Night—playing cards, having a few drinks, and sharing laughs with friends. What if no one inyour life has a regular Poker Night? Maybe it’s time you started one. We haveall the tips you need to host the bestPoker Night!
7 Tips to Planning the Best Poker Night
1) Invitations
Hostinga Poker Night gives you an opportunity to gather a different mix of peopletogether—colleagues, old friends, family, and neighbors. It’s important, though,to be mindful of how the group will mix together, especially if there isalcohol involved. Discreet invitations by mail, especially for your first pokernight are a nice touch. Creating a Facebook group is also a fantastic way toconnect with everyone ahead of time, share video tutorials, and answer guestquestions easily.
Include inyour invites:
- Gamestart and ending time
- Ifyou’ll serve dinner
- Whethersmoking is allowed
- Ifguests are allowed to bring anyone
- Thebuy-in and re-buy
- Dresscode. Poker night can be a casual affair, or an excuse to get dressed up.
2) Playing the Game
Priorto the main game time, have an hour of open play to help new players learn allthe rules while other guests get to know each other. This will help all of yourguests feel more comfortable.
Ifyou’re newer to Poker, ask one of your friends who plays more frequently tohelp you explain the rules efficiently.
Tohelp keep things civil, set a modest buy-in, around $20. Decide on a re-buybased on your invitees, maybe a bottle of alcohol or more cash; it’s up to you.
3) Entertainment
Thegame itself is the main event, of course, but prior to the game, play somemusic while everyone enjoys drinks and gets acquainted. Jazz or cocktailstandards are perfect. Once it’s time for the game, it’s best to turn the musicdown or completely off.
Another entertainment option is to play a classic action or suspense movie, especially on a projector screen, on low volume. Guests that want to sit out a game can still relax with a drink with some easy entertainment. There are inexpensive projectors that can be purchased for laptops or phones that turn a blank wall into a movie theater.
Othergames, like darts can provide some easyentertainment between Poker games.
4) Supplies
While you don’t need to completely refurnish your home to host Poker Night, there are a few things that make the game much more enjoyable. At GameTablesOnline.com, we pride ourselves in carrying the best in home game room furniture, at a fraction of the cost. Get your ultimate game room started with a table set or a few comfy chairs.
Toset up for the game, you’ll want to make space for gaming tables by movingsofas, dining tables, and other large furniture pieces against the wall. If youhave card tables, utilize them. Make sure you have a chair at the card tablesfor every player, plus a few extra.
Forthe game itself, make sure you have plenty of poker chipsand high-quality playing cards.
Ifyou’re allowing guests to smoke indoors, be sure to provide stylish ash traysfor each table. If you’re requesting that guests enjoy cigars outdoors, place afew ash trays outside where guests can easily access them.
5) Food and Drinks
Every good poker night party has delicious food. You don’t have to cater or spend hours in the kitchen to have Poker Night be a smashing success. A good guideline is to have hot appetizers for the beginning of the party, and provide crunchy, salty snacks in bowls in the middle of the table. If you’re into cocktails, you can whip up some signature drinks at the bar or keep it simple with beer and wine. Always be sure to have some non-alcoholic beverages on hand as well, like iced tea, ginger ale, and water.
Poker Night, the start of a new tradition
Hosting Poker Night Online
Withthese tips, your first Poker Night will be one for the books. The best thingsabout hosting your first Poker Night is that it can become a regular thing.Gather friends monthly, seasonally, or whenever you feel like a good, old fashionedcard game is in order. For more gaming ideas and supplies visit our full catalogue or contact one of our experts.
Hosting Poker Night
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