How to Organise a Poker Party at Home

Regardless of whether you’re an experienced player or a newbie, hosting a poker party is always fun. If it’s your first-time hosting, you may be wondering how to organise the evening. In this article, we discuss everything you’ll need to make your evening go smoothly.

Who to Invite

When planning a poker party, the first hurdle is choosing who to invite. If possible, it’s best to invite a range of personalities; however, it’s important to make sure you get along with them! As money is on the line, you want to make sure that the game doesn’t turn from friendly to argumentative, particularly is there is alcohol being consumed. Below, we explore how to choose your guests wisely.

Inviting Colleagues and Clients

A poker party is a perfect opportunity for networking and making new work friends. However, it’s important to ensure that your reputation remains intact, particularly if you plan to invite business associates or your boss. With this in mind, it’s vital to make sure everybody gets along. If you’re inviting colleagues, you don’t want anyone to feel left out, so either discretely invite a few close friends or consider inviting everybody.

Friends and Family

In most cases, you’ll want to invite your friends and family to the party. However, there are always a few people that are of concern when alcohol is involved. If certain people can become rowdy or offensive, consider whether inviting them is the best idea. If you have to invite someone because they’re part of a large group, speak to them beforehand about keeping their cool. If you’re inviting colleagues, explain that you want to keep your reputation clean. If they’re a good friend, they’ll understand what you’re saying and keep their drinking to a minimum.

The Invitations

Once you’ve decided who to invite, it’s time to think about the invitations. In today’s world of technology, it’s the norm to throw out a quick invite via social media. If you’re keeping the party casual, this may be fine. However, if you want the evening to be a little more formal, consider a physical invitation instead. If you’ve got a creative flair, you may decide to design the invitations yourself. If you’d rather use pre-made invitations, however, you can find a number of options online.

Whether you’re making the invite yourself or purchasing a pre-made design, make sure it contains the key information. So everybody is clear, the invitation should specify what the evening is all about, what game is being played, and any other basic information, such as:

The time the evening starts and ends.
The buy-in fee.
Anything they need to bring (for instance, alcohol).
If food is being served.
What the dress code is.
If they can bring a plus one.
RSVP details.

What You Need

If you want to go all out, hosting a poker party can be costly. However, it doesn’t have to be. If your budget is smaller, you don’t need to provide food, drinks or event supplies. Below, we discuss some ideas of what to provide based on your budget.

Low Budget

If your budget is small, keep supplies to a minimum. As well as the location and a table, you’ll need the following:

1 deck of playing cards.
Poker chips.
Snacks (basic options such as crisps or popcorn).
A few non-alcoholic drink options such as water or juice.

If you’re not supplying alcohol, let your guests know they should bring their own if they want to drink. Most guests will be fine with this, particularly if they understand that your budget is limited. After all, you’re providing a place for everyone to have a great time! To let guests know you won’t be supplying alcohol, be sure to include ‘BYOB’ on the invitations.

Medium Budget

If you’ve got a medium budget, consider the following options in addition to the things listed above:

Hot and cold buffet food.
A small selection of alcohol such as a crate of beer.
A communal bottle of spirit such as whisky.
One cigar per guest.

High Budget

If your budget is high, consider the following options in addition to those listed above:

A variety of fine cigars for players to choose from.
A wide selection of alcoholic beverages including spirits.
Dinner before the game and a buffet later on in the evening.

Unlimited Budget

If your poker party is for a special occasion, you may be looking to spare no expense. In this case, consider the options below in addition to the things listed above:

3-course dinner provided by a catering company.
A professional dealer to run the game.
A wide selection of alcoholic drinks with an experienced bartender to make cocktails.
Waiters to serve the food and drinks.
A heated outdoor smoking area (if you’d rather guests didn’t smoke in the house).

In Summary

Whether you’re planning a casual get together with friends or a formal wining-and-dining with potential clients, use the information above to organise your poker party. Although many people enjoy gambling online, nothing can beat a physical poker evening with your nearest and dearest. To ensure everything goes smoothly, take the advice above into account. If you’re planning to drink alcohol, try to invite people that you know will get along. After putting your time and money into the party, you don’t want the evening to be ruined by an argument or altercation. Above all else, be sure to gamble responsibly. Before the night, put aside the money needed for bills and necessities. You can then enjoy the evening without the worry of overspending.

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