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A group of friends, cold drinks, cigars, and chips on the table? Yeah, it\u2019s poker night, alright. Playing poker with a group of close friends is a fantastic way to spend some quality boys\u2019 night out time. <\/p>\nA group of friends, cold drinks, cigars, and chips on the table? Yeah, it\u2019s poker night, alright. Playing poker with a group of close friends is a fantastic way to spend some quality boys\u2019 night out time. <\/p>\n
However, whether it\u2019s a one-time thing or it\u2019s simply your turn to host a poker night, there\u2019s a lot of planning to be done in order to ensure that everything goes smoothly.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no reason to worry though, as I\u2019ve prepared another guide with some tips, in our first guide we gave you some ideas of the gadgets which could be used to create a home poker game<\/a>, now we move on how to host a great poker night where everyone will have a good time.<\/p>\n Before you get to the actual tools needed to play poker, there are a million little things to do. First things first, in order to play poker, you need people. While you can play poker with as little as two or three people, it\u2019s recommended to have somewhere between five and eight of them. This guarantees that you won\u2019t meet the same people after each flop over and over again and, by introducing variety, you will make things a lot more interesting.<\/p>\n Next, ensure that all your friends are attending the poker night. Find the time that suits everyone and send out the invites beforehand so that, when the time comes, everyone\u2019s going to be there.<\/p>\n There are numerous poker variances out there and, before you even get to the playing part, you need to agree on which one of them you\u2019ll be playing during your poker night. One of the most popular variances is undoubtedly Texas Hold\u2019em<\/a>, so chances are everyone is going to know its rules.<\/p>\n Additionally, in case you suspect that someone\u2019s not 100% sure about the rules, you will give them enough time to prepare for your poker night by letting them know in advance about your plans.<\/p>\n However, establishing the variance of poker you\u2019re going to play is just half the job because you will also need to decide on the general layout of the evening. In other words, you will have to decide whether you wish to play for fun, for actual money or in a tournament format, as well as how you are going to determine the winner \u2014 all that jazz.<\/p>\n For example, if you\u2019re playing in a tournament format, you can award each player with a predetermined amount of chips and set the buy-in amount. So, let\u2019s say that you, or any other player, has $1000 in chips. After you lose your $1000 in chips, you can buy another $1000 in chips for the additional $10 of real money<\/strong>.<\/p>\n This ensures that everyone can keep on playing, but it also introduces some risks. By having something to lose, players are not going to be reckless with the all-ins and will instead try to win as much as possible. Not only does it make the game a bit more competitive, but it also raises the quality of the game itself. Of course, you can decide on the details, such as how many chips can you get per buy-in and what\u2019s the cost of the buy-in, and find something that suits you the most.<\/p>\n Finally, you need to take into consideration how long the poker night will last. This bit of information is going to be useful so that you can determine by how much you\u2019re going to raise the blinds and how often. Depending on the stakes and on how much everyone\u2019s planning to spend, you can raise the stakes by XX every X minutes; just work out the math and find something that suits everyone the best. Afterward, you can simply set an alarm clock or a stopwatch on your phone and raise the blinds as soon as the alarm rings or the timer expires.<\/p>\n The same rule applies if you\u2019re planning on playing for real money chip, i.e. if every chip denomination is worth as much as it\u2019s stated on a chip. In other words, buying in with $25 worth of chips would cost you $25 of actual money. The principle is the same, and the only thing that you would have to set is the maximum buy-in amount, in order to ensure that everyone\u2019s going into the game fair and square<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Of course, make sure to keep track of who bought in the least. What\u2019s more, if you\u2019re playing or planning on playing with your friends on the regular, you can start a mini-season and award winner at the end of the season with something that you\u2019ve previously agreed upon or even get a themed trophy. You\u2019re only limited by your creativity, so you can always find something to make your poker nights even more exciting.<\/p>\n There are several different tools that you should use to host a perfect poker evening and, while some are optional, others are a necessity.<\/p>\n For starters, you will need a deck of cards. If you wish to make all out and make it fancy, you can get a deck of KEM playing cards<\/a> \u2014 the same deck used at the World Series of Poker. However, if you prefer something cheaper that\u2019s a high-quality product, you can check out Copag playing cards. What\u2019s more, you can get a dealer\u2019s kit, which comes with buttons for the big blind and the small blind.<\/p>\n The next thing you should get are poker chips. When getting casino chips, you should avoid the flimsy cheap ones, and instead go for something of a higher quality that has a nice tactile feel to it. For that reason, look for the chips that are made of clay composite resin or claytec, for example<\/strong>. In addition, depending on the size of your group, you might even want to go with two poker chip sets to ensure that there are enough chips for everyone. Finally, make sure that you get at least 4\u20135 differently colored denomination<\/strong>s so that everyone can easily make their bets.<\/p>\n Lastly, you will need a poker table. While an actual poker table isn\u2019t a must, it most definitely adds some extra flavor to the whole atmosphere. It\u2019s also one of the most expensive things on the list that you\u2019ll need, so you can safely skip this one if you are not willing to commit that much. Instead of getting a poker table, you can get a poker table cover that you can use on your regular table to add some extra flair to it.<\/p>\n However, you need to make sure that you have a regular table big enough to fit everyone, their chips, and also give them enough room to check their cards or put their beverages, which leads us to the next part.<\/p>\n When it comes to drinks, just make sure to check with your friends in advance on who\u2019s going to drink what, be it whiskey, scotch, a cold beer or some soft drinks. By knowing who\u2019s having what, you won\u2019t have to end up being in a shortage of anything, and you can also cool the drinks beforehand.<\/p>\n When it comes to food, I recommend you make something that\u2019s easy to eat, and that won\u2019t disturb the gameplay too much. It can be some finger food, chips with a nice spicy dip, or brownies. You can even throw some meat on the grill beforehand and have burgers or some hotdogs ready before the rest of the party arrives. Ultimately, you know your friends the best, so you\u2019re free to surprise them with something you know that they\u2019re going to like. If you find yourself at a World Series of Poker event why not checkout our guide to the best eating places around<\/a>. <\/p>\n As you can see, hosting a poker night is not that difficult. At the same time, though, it\u2019s not all that easy either because it requires the right amount of planning ahead. However, as long as you make sure to cover each step in this little guide, you\u2019re guaranteed to have a fantastic time with your friends.<\/p>\n# Plan Ahead<\/h3>\n
# Establish Rules<\/h3>\n
# Tournament Format Is a Great Idea<\/h3>\n
# Make It Competitive by Rewarding the Winner<\/h3>\n
![\"poker](\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/poker-themed-trophy.jpg\")
In addition to buy-ins, you can place, let\u2019s say, $5 in a shared pool at the beginning of the poker night tournament that you\u2019re hosting so that, when you decide to call it a night, the guy that has most chips on the table gets to win the money. <\/p>\n# Poker Tools<\/h3>\n
# Food and Drinks<\/h3>\n
![\"poker](\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/poker-night-food.jpg\")
Food and drinks are the last thing that you need to get in order to have a thought-out poker evening. What\u2019s more, you can even throw in some cigars if you\u2019re up for it, if you\u2019re in a smoking area and if there are no friends who are going to complain about the smoke.<\/p>\nQuick Summary<\/h2>\n