Poker Home Game To Do List

Poker Home Game To Do List

It’s time to hold a poker home game! Unfortunately, this sounds considerably simpler than it is. Before any cards can hit the air in your home game, you’ll need a location, guest list, and supplies, which can take quite a bit of time – and money – to procure. Luckily, we here at Nevada Jacks have you covered.

Decide on a Location

Location is the number one determinant of the size of your home game. If your living room is the only space available, then a maximum of seven or eight people will be able to take to the felts. If you can use your garage, then multiple tables may be employed. If a hotel ballroom is being rented, then the sky’s the limit.

It’s important to decide on a location before you think about any other factors. How many tables do you need? How many poker chips will be used? What time will your “Shuffle up and deal” command be issued? None of these can be determined until you figure out a place to hold your poker home game.

Set a Time

Timing is everything in poker. This five-word fact is even truer in home games, which can live and die based on what time they start and end. Remember that most people, especially in the United States, work a desk job from 8:00am to 5:00pm. If your home game starts at 8:00pm, for example, your entrants may not make it home until Midnight and then have to turn around and go to work the next day.

Similarly, if your game starts at 5:30pm, many of your guests might still be at work and unable to make it. We recommend weekend games since many of the time constraints you’d typically encounter are moot when players don’t have to work the next day. If you have a tournament during the week, then a 6:30pm to 7:00pm start time is appropriate.

It’s important to stick to your predetermined kickoff time, as players have planned their nights accordingly. If any of your guests have children, they’ll need to tell the babysitter or whoever is watching the youngsters when they’ll be home. If any players work on the weekends, then you’ll need to take this into consideration as well.

Invite Guests

Once you know the limitations of the space you’re using, you can begin the process of inviting guests. We encourage you to stick to a core group of friends. In some locations, the legal acceptance of poker home games is gray at best. The more people you invite – and especially the fewer of them you know – the more likely it is that the game will land you in hot water.

Say that you live in an apartment complex and are inviting 20 players over. Then, noise issues and parking limitations will come into play. The last thing you want is your night ending with the police showing up asking you to be quiet only to discover that you have a home game going on.

Determine Tournament Rules

The Tournament Directors Association (TDA) is an excellent resource for creating rules for your poker home game. Topics the organization addresses on its website include language at the table, breaking tables, seating assignments, player declarations, showdowns, side pots, chip races, calling the clock, dealing errors, string bets, unprotected hands, and ethical play.

The TDA isn’t a fish out of water, either. The organization has been around since 2001 after being founded by Linda Johnson, David Lamb, Jan Fisher, and the World Poker Tour’s Matt Savage.

Posting your rules isn’t a must, but the TDA has a handout version of theirs that you might find helpful. We’d suggest posting any house rules you have that are out of the ordinary so all players are completely versed on them.

Determine Tournament Structure

Once your field is set, you’ll need to determine the number of custom poker chips to use, payouts, and the blind structure. Check out our Guide to Home Poker Tournaments for full details.