Host Your Own Poker Night

You may want to host your own poker night to draw family and friends together. I have been having a regular poker night for going on 3 years now and it is always a fun time.

If you are going to host your poker night right you want to make sure everything is set up right. You’ll need people, a table, poker chips, and snake foods. You’ll also want to make sure everyone knows the hands and the rules are set before.

How Many People should you invite?

When you host your own poker night this is really up to you. Personally I believe the more the better, you can invite your family members, friends, and even kids if you got them. So far I have gotten anywhere between 3 to 13 people to play poker in a single night.

A Table

If you’re going to have your own home poker night it depends on you how far you want to go with the table. If you’re going to have a poker night every couple of months or so you can always just use your kitchen table.

If you are going to have a regular poker night however you probably want to get your own table. I got my table for just over $200 and I can tell you it was definitely worth it. I would rather play poker on a nice poker table then a kitchen table any day of the week, but I’m a bit of a poker Buff.

Poker Chips

If you’re going to be playing poker there are three things you absolutely need, people, cards, and chips. You can’t play poker without them. Now how much you spend on them can vary. You can go the cheap way, which most people do and buy the plastic chips for under $20. You can get these pretty much anywhere.

Or you could go all out and the nice Vegas Style chips for $700 + (They are very nice to play with by the way). Or you could go anywhere in between. By the way, poker chips come with playing cards.

Snacks

Snacks are always nice, you can have chips and dips or wings out so people have something to munch on during the game. Or you can ask people you invite to bring some snacks too.

Home Poker Night Rules

You have to set up some poker night rules before hand to avoid any arguments. You need to say things like.

1. Buy ins. Is there a buy in or are you playing just for fun? Important stuff to know. I have noticed buy ins often give you smaller crowds, but they are still fun.

2. Mucking Cards. If you go all the way to the end someone flips over 2 pair and you only have 1 pair, do you have to show your cards? Personally I don’t think you should have to, but it has come up a few times.

That’s all you need to know to host your own poker night, but here are some fun things to look at.

Types of Poker Games

Texas Hold Em The "official" professional poker rules.

5 Card Draw Poker Rules The first poker game I learned.

7 Card Stud Rules My dads favorite poker game.

Crazy Pineapple Poker This game is similar to texas hold em, but with 1 difference.

Indian Poker This is a very Fun Game.

Now that you know some of the best games to play here are some tips for winning.

Tips

1. Notice patterns.

Everyone has a pattern to their betting. If you can recognize how the person is betting you can get a good idea of what they have. For instance one of my friends doesn’t raise unless they have a good hand. As a result when she does finally raise everyone knows she has a hand. This isn’t limited to how they bet. For example when I started playing I would get quiet all of a sudden when my hand was good.

2. Try to mix things up a bit.

If you keep betting the same way everyone else will pick it up and be able to read you. Try to mix things up, bluff every now and then. Notice any small behaviors you do and use them against other people.

3. Let the other person bet.

This strategy can work great if you are playing against someone who is a big better. You simply check and look like you are about to fold when you have a great hand and hope the other person is going to try to bluff you out.

4. Remember your chips keep you in the game.

Unless you have too I would not recommend going all in or betting the majority of your chips when you are on a draw.

There is a good chance you will not hit it and if you don’t your basically out of the game.

Ok that is everything you want to know to host your own poker night, and some helpful tips as well. I hope you enjoyed it.