Home Games Home games are becoming more popular by the day. If you are visiting this page, you might have been invited to a poker game at your friend’s house, or have tried to start one yourself. There are even websites dedicated to finding home games near you. Although a home game is pretty simple to set up, you will be given some tips and general information about how to make your game a little more enjoyable. Tables and Chairs If you want to host one of your own poker games, you should have at least one poker table. You may choose to use a folding table (usually cheaper) or a regular casino style poker table with legs. For tournaments of more than 10 players, you will need at least two tables. It is best to have the same number of people at each table. For example, a tournament with 27 players, 9 players at three tables is best. Short-handed tables create more action and will speed up the tournament in the long run. You want to be able to keep your guests comfortable, so you should have comfortable chairs. Obviously most people are not willing to buy a set of chairs for a poker game, so just use your best and provide some pillows or cushions for the players who want them. Try to have more chairs than people you expect to show up because people bring friends unexpectedly. Also, you want all your chairs to be the same, but at least, the same height. You cannot expect to run a professional tournament with recliners and stools around your dinner table. Chips and Cards For every table, you need a minimum of one deck, but two is better because of unexpected rips or tears. Try to have these two decks two different colors. Some people like to keep the game going, therefore, you might want to have the dealer for the next hand shuffle the cards before the previous hand finishes so that they will be ready right away. Personally, I think that it just distracts from the game, and the extra 10 seconds used to shuffle is not a big deal. Chips may be the most important part of your game because without them, there is no tournament. Before anything starts, assign value to the chips to avoid confusion. As always, make sure that you have more than enough chips for the people you are expecting. You may get plastic chips for very cheap that weigh only 3-4 grams or you can buy casino style clay chips that weigh 11.5 grams but cost a lot more. Most chips do not have denominations on them, making it easier to assign value, otherwise, you can use chips already stamped with values. Although the heavier chips feel better and more authentic, the quality and weight do not make any difference in game play. Buy-ins and Rules This is very important: you need to be clear BEFORE your friends get to your poker tournament as to what the buy-in and rules are. This can cause everything to fall apart if some people want to play a $50 buy-in and other will only play a $20 buy-in game. Anyways, once you have made this clear, you should count out the chip stacks before everyone arrives to be able to get things going fast. You should also explain the rules to the players before the game/tournament starts. You need to be clear as to whether you will allow re-buys (how many and for how long) and add-ons (when and for how much). Know the blind and pay out structure so you can tell everyone before play starts. Lastly, you may feel the need to charge tournament fees (especially if you are buying refreshments) for each player to pay in addition to the buy-in. For example, maybe every player has to pay you an extra $2 to cover the snacks and drinks. During play, you need to increase the blinds at a fixed amount of time, every 10-30 minutes is normal. You also need to know the value of the small and big blinds for each level. Everything Else Depending on how long your tournaments go for, you will want to provide refreshments for your guests. This will keep everyone a little happier. If you do this, you should dedicate an extra table for this to avoid spilling on the actual playing tables. Television and music are more of a distraction or annoyance at a poker tournament than anything else, so it is best to keep these off. Another accessory that you may want is a button. This is a mark for who is the dealer during any one hand. You may also use a marker for the small and big blinds, but this is usually unnecessary given the fact they always go after the dealer. You may also buy other accessories that help you with different things like an alarm for every increased blind level.