If you’re ready to be serious about hosting your own poker games, it may be time to invest in a new poker table and chip sets. There are numerous choices when it comes to buying a card table, so it helps to know what your options are when you begin looking.
If you normally play regular draw poker, you can get an octagonal table to seat up to 8 players, and a casino chip set. But if your game is Texas Hold’em, you’ll probably want a table that’s made specifically for that game and Texas Holdem chips. Texas Hold’em tables are longer and oval-shaped, or rectangular with rounded corners.
The table you choose should have a quality covering of felt known as baize, or of a Teflon-coated covering called “speed cloth”. This covering allows cards to slide freely as they are dealt. A quality Texas Hold’em table will be made of a fine wood such as Cherry, Mahogany, or Walnut. Less expensive tables can be made of plastic or particle board.
Poker chips can be made of plastic, or you can get clay chips. There are also composite chips that are made of part clay and part high-quality plastic. The all-clay chips are considered to be the highest quality, while the all-plastic chips are less expensive and lower quality.
One thing that professional poker players look for in a poker chip is the sound that it makes when you throw your bet into the pot. They call this the “pot splash”, and the best, deepest sounds come from casino clay chips. Plastic chips have a shallow, weaker sound. They also feel lighter, and less solid. Along with your chips you can buy a chip holder or lock-box. These can be metal or wood, and help you to store your set and easily transport it.
Another essential accessory for your poker table is a decent set of cards. The casino industry is very strict about the standards they use for their cards, and you can purchase packs of cards that meet those standards. These cards are made of heavyweight pressure-treated paper or plastic, and their surfaces are treated to withstand thousands of hands worth of play without tearing or fraying along the edges. When you look for a deck of cards, look for “casino quality” on the label to ensure you’re getting the same level of card that the casinos use themselves.
With this information in mind, you should be ready to shop around and select a table, chips, and cards that are high-quality and fit in your budget. Then when you invite all your friends over for the weekly poker game, you can feel confident that everyone will be impressed.