How to Plan the Perfect Poker Party
The trick is to make things comfortable for your guests, without looking like you spent all week preparing. You don’t want your party to look like it came out of a Martha Stewart magazine but you also want to give your guests some basic accommodations. Here’s how you can strike a good balance:
Unless you’re using real cash and if you plan on having more than just this one poker party, I would strongly advise that in addition to having a table, you have a nice set of real poker chips. How many and what variations of colors are completely a personal decision but the clay/composite chips are so inexpensive nowadays, it would be a real let-down for your guests if you had those flimsy plastic ones.
So assuming you now have a suitable table and a set of chips, first make sure you get commitments from everyone who says they’ll come. The last thing you want is to have an empty room or even worse, 2 or 3 people who were expecting to play with a group of 10-12. I’ve found that at least in my personal experience, this will involve “chasing down” everyone but your best of friends, even up to the day of the party.
Due diligence is worth it in the end though and everyone will have a much better time if the right number of guests show up. For Texas Hold’em, you really need at least 5 people playing. Most other games can be played with 4 or even 3 people, but try to get at least 6-8 playing if you can.
Next: food and beer. Poker is a draining, strenuous sport that requires constant refueling of these two main ingredients. Most people at a poker party don’t care what is offered for food, so long as there is some.
Use this fact to your advantage and don’t go overboard on the food issue, either in quantity or complexity. Save your handmade crab and artichoke dip for another night and just order a few pizzas, depending on the number of people you’re expecting. Quantity can be limited because the group can always pitch in for another delivery as needed. If you have pizza, feel free to ask your guests who choose to eat, for a few bucks to offset the cost.
If you’re using a rake (a rule whereby the house gets a cut of each hand), unspoken “guy laws” state you cannot ask guests to bring their own beer. Most home poker parties don’t have a rake however so if you opt out of this rule, you are perfectly justified in making your guests bring their own beverages.
The next thing you need to consider is the room itself and seating. If you’re playing in a smaller room, ensure there’s enough space behind the chairs so your guests can squeeze out without needing to suck in their gut. Not only is this embarrassing for them, it is (by proxy) embarrassing for you, too.
Clearing space may require you to move bulky stuff to another area of the house/apartment. Also, if the crowd you’re expecting is a rowdy bunch, you’d better be sure to stow away your grandma’s glass figurine collection. Chances are if you live with your girlfriend/wife, these precious collectibles will have already disappeared into her “safe place” the day of the party, but just save yourself a headache and double-check.
Make sure there is adequate lighting (this varies by crowd – some folks prefer dark and smoky, others would rather actually see their cards). If you don’t have enough chairs for the number of guests you’re expecting, don’t rely on your guests to bring them. It’s unlikely that they’ll remember. Instead, go to a place like Taylor Rental the night before or day-of, and pick up a few. It’s cheap (about $1.50/chair) and you usually don’t have to reserve them.
Before your first guest arrives, make sure you have some ground rules written somewhere. Another “guy law” for everyone to remember: anything relating to poker rules that exist prior to arriving at the table is official and legitimate, especially if it’s written by the host. Because there are different ways of playing, I strongly advise taking 5 minutes to jot down just how you want the game played. You get to call the shots because house rules always trump any objection anyone raises during play.
I’ve seen some ugly arguments arise that could have easily been non-issues, had there simply been some basic rules somewhere. I strongly advise taking 5 minutes to cover some of the basics. One suggestion is to pick bits and pieces of websites such as http://www.learn-texas-holdem.com/ that you think may be contentious. Points especially worth mentioning are what to do with misdeals.
Remember that as the host/hostess, you are the last word on any game-related problems that you may not have covered in your rule sheet. Showing a little leadership will go a long way in making sure everyone has a good time.
Allow your friends who are new to poker to come learn. Not only will they appreciate the offer, but you’ll have more of a pool to draw from for the next party. If you do have novice players coming though, you should allow for extra “practice” time before the real playing begins. Invite the newbies to show up a half hour to an hour before the rest of the group, so you can give them a crash course.
For Texas Hold’Em, each player is dealt two cards and a round of betting occurs right after this deal. Then three “community” cards are dealt down, called the Flop. Another round of betting ensues, followed by another round for the 4th (Turn card), and the 5th (River card). The object of the game is to make the best hand you can out of your cards and the “community” cards. As for strategy, Kenny Rogers couldn’t have said it any better: “You gotta know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em.”
Knowing when to fold your hand is probably the most important element of skill play and it only comes with experience. Everyone has a different strategy for this, as well as bluffing. I tend to play “straight up” (no bluffing) until the final rounds. If you can give everyone the impression that you’re a conservative player, you can catch them off guard at the end of the evening.
Being a conservative player is your best bet. This means that in the beginning rounds (when everyone is still playing), let the other players “beat themselves up.” By just posting your blinds and only going in on a hand if you have a spectacular hand, you are conserving your chips and allowing everyone else to be eliminated. If you have wild players who bet large, it won’t be too long before most of your players are knocked out. If you’re at a table of like-minded conservatives though, the first few rounds will likely not be too exciting.
People may get bored with the format of Texas Hold’Em though, and you may want to switch up the game. One other variation is called Omaha, where you must use your two hole cards. You may find it difficult to mix in other versions of poker though if you’re using a rotating dealer button (a marker that makes its way around the table to designate who has to put up the “blinds” – mandatory bets before the deal). See what your crowd is in the mood for before suggesting a change.
Once everyone has gone home and you’re staring at a room that looks like a tornado came through it, you should really do some cleanup before the next morning (especially if you live with someone).
Lastly, it wouldn’t be a proper poker article without mentioning the legality of playing with/for real money. It is not advisable to play for real cash buy-ins/pay-outs in areas where laws prohibit such acts. This is of course, your decision and that of your guests, but you as the host/hostess may have more to lose if you get caught.
Hopefully this has helped put you on the right path to poker-party preparedness. It’s very likely that if you follow these rules, you’ll be having many more get-togethers. Good luck!
