Poker Party Ideas for the Perfect Poker Night

To keep the poker night sustainable, rotate the hosting duties. That way each person may only have to host once or twice a year. This keeps it cheap, low stress and ensures hosts take some pride in doing a good job. The host should provide nibbles but the guests should bring their own beverages. At the end of the evening the current host can give the poker chips to the next host.

Make it a rule that the poker night host has to provide one or two brand new packs of cards for the night. This ensures the evening starts with a full, clean deck and reduces the chances of no one having any cards to play with

Your poker night really shouldn’t be about the money, it should be about the social experience, keeping in touch and bragging rights. As you and your friends make your way in life it’s inevitable that some are going to have more money than others. To avoid alienating anyone it’s better to keep the buy-ins low. The good news is that if you make it winner take all, then the triumphant player will still line his pockets enough to buy a few beers and lunch all week.

It is also a good idea to have the person in second place get their money back. Coming second in a poker night is almost as painful as coming dead last. Getting their buy-in back is small consolation but at least it’s something.

In a social poker night, a quick game is a good game. With a fair and transparent blind raising process the whole game can be over in three hours or so. The blind is the minimum amount players have to put in the kitty to take part in the hand.   Announce the blind raises at the beginning of the evening, usually doubling them every 45 minutes. You would be surprised how long a player can survive in the death throes of having minimal chips. A pending blind raise forces them to take a few more risks.

In an amateur poker game it can literally take hours for the final two or three players to battle it out to decide a victor. By having a concrete finish time the poker night duration can be better managed. A final chip count at the end of the evening will decide the first or second place. It is unlikely to come to this, because as the dreaded deadline approaches, the person in second place will get more and more desperate, eventually forcing an outcome one way or the other.

Have a fresh pack of cards ready.

The cards deteriorate quickly – beer, nibbles and tantrums tend to have that effect. Have a fresh deck on standby so you can replace them. 

Figure out a system to get rid of the empties.

You’ll be surprised how fast you’ll be swimming in empty beer vessels when six or so guys sit in one place for a couple of hours. Not having bottles or cans everywhere gives you more space, less clutter and make things look better during the evening, not to mention reducing clean up time at the end of the night.

Have a recycle bin within arm’s reach so you can casually throw the empty bottles or cans in as they become available. Don’t forget to line the bin with a bag to protect your floor from beer remnants.

Get the numbers right

Try not to have too few or too many poker players. A game with only three or four players can be pretty lame, and too many players will create logistical issues if you have to go to two tables.

A good number is between five and eight.

Buy backs only after during the first hour

The eternal question of whether early cast outs should be allowed back into the game is a tricky one. On one hand, it makes for a very boring night if you are eliminated in the first half hour. On the other hand, allowing people to buy back in can encourage reckless behavior early in the game, knowing there is a safety net.

A compromise is to limit the time, amount and number of buy backs. For example, only allow up to two people to buy back in, and only for the hour and for half of the original chips allocation.

Make sure you rotate the dealer

This is imperative in a game of poker, because your order on the table is of the utmost importance. It’s better to rotate the dealer anyway, because it stops one person getting bogged down in the role. Have a dealer chip, and just move it clockwise after every hand.