Your Own 'Poker Room'
You don't need very much to play poker:
Table and chairs'Real' poker tables are rectangular with rounded corners but obviously any shape will do.
A new, or fairly new pack of cards (also called a deck) The reason your cards must be in good condition is because bent, dirty, torn or marked cards are easily identifiable. Even an inexperienced player will quickly cotton on if the card with the coffee stain on the back is an ace. Many web retailers, including eBay, sell good quality ex-casino cards at ridiculously cheap prices.
To speed up each hand you can use two packs; one to play with and one to shuffle. The packs should have different coloured backs to avoid mixing them up by mistake. Note: card rooms never use two packs because it's too prone to cheating, but it's fine for home games.
You may also decide to use a postillion, which is a playing-card sized piece of plastic that sits under the deck and ensures that the bottom card remains concealed.
Players The minimum number is two, the maximum is around eleven, but the ideal poker game will have between five and ten players. If you have more than ten players then you can just split into two tables.
Playing with fewer players has its advantages:
- Each hand is faster, so there's less time sitting out if you're not involved.
- Each player will play a greater percentage of hands and so be more involved in the game.
- You don't need such a big table!
On the other hand, larger games tend to have bigger pots and may be considered more sociable. It comes down to personal preference but we favour around seven or eight players.
ChipsNot the edible variety but small, round, coloured counters which represent money and with which you bet. Officially, the different colours denote different denominations as follows:
Colour and Denomination
White 1
Yellow 2
Red 5
Blue 10
Grey 20
Green 25
Orange 50
Black 100
Pink 250
Purple 500
Burgundy 1000
Light Blue 2000
Brown 5000
Genuine poker chips aren't expensive. For a small amount you can buy a really nice poker set which will include at least 200 chips (although probably only a handful of different colours) and a dealer button. Buy from online card rooms, poker equipment dealers or even your local department store.
If you haven't got any chips you can always improvise and play with real money or matches etc.
Dealer buttonThis a large round counter, usually white, which is placed on the table in front of the person who is currently the dealer, so everyone knows who they are. Players take turns to deal; for each hand the position of dealer moves around the table one person at a time in a clockwise direction.
If you decide to use a designated dealer (where the same person deals every hand) the button still moves around the table, in this case, symbolising the position of dealer. This ensures everyone takes it in turn to be the first player to bet and to experience the advantages and disadvantages of sitting in a different position relative to the dealer for each hand.
Green baize or felt to cover the table Often included in poker sets, this is an optional extra for those of you who want to pretend you're in a card room. It's a better surface to play on than a hard table top and makes the dealing easier.
The only other things you'll need are some atmospheric lighting, a bit of peace and quiet so you can all concentrate, black-out curtains and an inexhaustible supply of cigars and whisky. Ok, you can skip the curtains.
