Home Game; Equipment
If you’re looking to organize a home game, regardless of what structure you decide on (cash or tournament), you’re going to need some basic equipment to get things started properly. You can scrimp on some of it, but other items I suggest you spend the extra few bucks and get the higher quality items.
Basically, all you really need are
- Table, or table top
- Chips
- Cards
- Timer (for tournament play)
Table/Table Top:
Nothing makes a game quite like sitting at a really nice poker table, one designed for the single purpose of playing poker. In the past, they were hard to come by, but with the recent deluge of interest in the game, you can find them almost anywhere, and the prices range from the very low to the custom made variety. Poker tables come in all shapes and sizes, with the standards being with round, octagonal, or oblong. Deciding on the shape of table usually depends on the amount of room you have available, with round and octagonal taking up less floor space than an oblong, but oblong gives more personal space and usually holds more players.
As mentioned, you can now pick up a decent starting table at almost any Walmart or big box outlet for under $100 CDN. Usually they’re a good investment for the price and can be easily folded down for storage when not in use. Of course, you can go the pricey models that don’t fold down, and they’re generally better made…heavier, better cushioning, better felt, more room available, and include accessories like cup holders and dealer trays. Buy one that suits your budget and your needs and you’ll do fine. Of course, if you’re into tools and wood working, you can always decide on making your own table. Naturally you will need to be somewhat skilled, but there are easy to build models as well as more complicated ones for those that are highly skilled. This site is the best site for table designs I’ve come across
http://www.homepokertourney.com/tables_build.htm
Actually, you may want to bookmark the home page of this site, as it is an excellent resource site.
Of course, you don’t NEED an official poker table, a table top will do just nicely, and are much cheaper usually than a full table. Easily folding for storage and can be placed on any kitchen table. In a pinch, you don’t even really need an official table, any table surface will do…but it just makes the game more appealing when you can play on a real poker table.
Poker Chips:
The most important thing to consider when buying chips is ensuring you have enough for a game in various colours. If your plan is to host tournament games, then you need a very good selection of multi coloured chips, each representing a different value. Personally, I would look for a 1000pc set of five colours for a game consisting of six to 20 players. The important thing is having enough chips in each colour as the blinds go up. For cash games, you can usually get away with having 500pc or less in two or three colours only, with the bulk of the chips being lower value. In a regular $1/$2 game, you will requiring quite a few more $1 and $5 chips than you would say $25 chips, so purchase more lower denomination.
Speaking of denominations, chips are available in either blanks (no printed value on them) or with printed values, showing what the value for each chip is clearly on the surface of the chip. Personally, I prefer blank chips, as I can create my own chip values depending on the game I plan on running. Also, I don’t need to carry more than one set of chips, whereas I would need at least two sets of printed chips, one for cash games and one for tournament play. Actually, I have three sets of chips, all blanks, and can use them for any game I wish. What I like the most is that I can organize a tournament, and as players bust out, they can use a different set on another table and play a cash game while the remaining tournament players battle it out.
Chips come in various weights, and can be made of clay, plastic, ceramic, or almost anything. Prices vary depending on the material its made from, and the individual weights of each chip. I personally like the 14g clay or ceramic chip…they stack better and make the really cool sound with you shuffle them. Chips can come in as light as 6g, but honestly, I don’t like anything under 11g, which is pretty much the standard weight. You can also get personalized professional chips made as well, but of course, these are going to cost you. Check out http://www.chiptalk.net/ and you’ll see the wonderful imaginative world of poker chips and the reality of what it can cost. Amazing chips, mind blowing prices, but if you can afford them what the heck.
If you can’t afford those top of the line chips, you can again pick up 500 and 1000 pc 11g multi coloured blank faced chips easily enough from any big box or outlet store for relatively low price. Best I’ve seen recently is 500pc sets for $20CDN at XS Cargo outlets. For that price, take two sets! Great starter sets in my opinion.
Cards:
Of all the areas you CAN go cheap with, CARDS ARE NOT ONE OF THEM! There is a HUGE difference between the cheap $2 packs of plastic coated Bee or Bicycle cards vs the $40 twin pack of high quality 100% plastic Kems or Copaqs. Get the best you can afford, but make sure they are 100% plastic! They’ll last a lot longer, are easier to deal and play with, and just feel much nicer. Plastic coated cards are great for your kids to play Crazy 8′s with, but YOU’RE A POKER PLAYER! You deserve to play with high quality cards. Plastic cards will last longer, stand up to abuse better, and you can clean them…don’t get plastic coated cards wet…you’ll have a hell of a mess.
Trust me, you’ll enjoy playing with plastic cards more. Yes, they’re more expensive, but they’re worth every cent. Get at least two decks, or even two twin packs.
Timer:
Only for tournament play! You don’t need a timer for cash games, unless your better half has demanded the game end withing a certain time. A timer is necessary for tournament play to inform players of increasing blind levels and keep the game moving to completion in a timely fashion. You can go VERY cheap here and use your alarm on your watch, or an egg timer from the local $1 store will do just fine (just remember to reset it every blind level), but if you want a more professional looking timer, I suggest http://www.thetournamentdirector.net/ Its an excellent tool for tournament and has plenty of options for you to use including setting up tables, assigning seats, controlling breaking down of tables, recording players busting out and lots more. The new version I believe is now $50US, however you can still find places on the web to download the original version for free. I use the original version as the newer version, although very nice and a total package, is too much. For my game the original version is just perfect and I don’t need all the new options in the newer version…YET anyway.
As far as equipment required, that’s it. Again, you can go as inexpensive as you have to or as pricey as you can afford, but it can be done for a lot less than you may think. You’re biggest initial investment will the 100% plastic cards, the rest depends on what you can afford.
Next time, I’ll talk about Game Structure and how you need to decide on it prior to starting your first home game.
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