Building a Home Poker Game
By Ranxx, March 30, 2004
Looking to start up your own home game? Or maybe you have a game going already and you just want to make it run more smoothly. Starting a home game that lasts can be a rewarding endeavor, but along the way you will undoubtedly encounter many obstacles. In the pages that follow, you'll find solutions to problems which have arisen over the years in my game.
What To Buy
First off, you need cards. You may be tempted to start with something cheap, such as Bicycle or Bee cards. You'll notice, however, that low-end cards become marked fairly quickly. I'm not suggesting that anyone is marking cards intentionally. It's just that people become excited during games where money is at stake. And when people get excited, they tend not to notice how hard they're handling the cards. All it takes is one bent card to ruin a deck.
When I first started my game, I went through two or three decks of Bee cards a week. Then I switched to Kem cards, which are plastic and quite durable. At about $12 a pack, Kems may seem expensive, but they really last. If you play poker on a regular basis, you'll discover that investing in quality cards is cheaper than endlessly replacing low-rent decks. You can even order individual cards from the manufacturer (like say a king of hearts) in the unlikely event that one of these cards becomes unusable.
If you notice your cards becoming oily over time, here's a trick to keeping them in good shape: drop the cards into a plastic bag with some cornmeal and shake them. This removes the oil from the surface of the cards and makes them nice and slick. Just wipe the excess cornmeal off each card with a paper towel before play.
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