How to plan

a Poker Party!

Written By: Ryan Fazio, Kelvin Darden, Renae Tennyson

Table Of Contents

iii

Table of Contents
Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................................... iii
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... v
Chapter One: Planning the Party................................................................................................................... 1
Planning the party ......................................................................................................................................... 3
Supplies ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
Setting up .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Invitations ................................................................................................................................................. 3
Prize Options............................................................................................................................................. 3
Cleaning Up .............................................................................................................................................. 3
Chapter Two: How to play ............................................................................................................................ 5
How to play Texas Holdem ......................................................................................................................... 7
Supplies ..................................................................................................................................................... 7
Setting up the game ................................................................................................................................... 7
Starting the Game ..................................................................................................................................... 7
Poker Hands .............................................................................................................................................. 9
Chapter Three: Troubleshooting ................................................................................................................. 11
Troubleshooting guide ................................................................................................................................ 13
Index ........................................................................................................................................................... 15

Introduction

Introduction
Looking for something new to do with your friends? A poker party might be an exhilarating way to spice
up your weekends! This manual will teach you how to effectively set up your very own poker party and
how to play poker for newcomers. The topics discussed will include gathering supplies, setting up the
room, inviting your friends, potential prizes, and cleaning up. As we review the rules for playing poker,
we will go over values of the chips, different phases of the game, and poker hands. This will be an allinclusive guide on how to have the best poker party possible in your own home!

Chapter One: Planning the Party

Chapter One

Planning the party

Supplies

Poker Table(s) and chairs

Snack Table
Fancy Tablecloth
Favorite snacks/ junk food (ex: chips, dips, candy, soda, sandwiches, cake, etc.)
Music
Lights
Poker Set

Setting up
Find an open area big enough to hold everyone comfortably as well as all of the supplies you gather. Find
out the kinds of snacks your guests like. Also take account of the musical tastes of your guests. Make sure
there is proper lighting so you and your guests can see the cards well enough. Position snack tables and
chairs in corners of the room so they do not interfere with the poker games. Find a comfortable volume
for the music so that it does not obstruct the hearing of you and your guests. Once the room is set up
properly, place the table cloth on the poker table and get out your poker set and wait for your guests to
arrive. Make sure to inform your guests of the rules and procedure of playing poker if they do not already
know so that they can be adequately prepared.

Invitations
Gather a list of friends that you would like to invite to your party. Be sure to invite guests at least a week
in advance so they have time to clear their schedules. Methods of invitation could include a formal letter,
social media, email, text message, or anything else that can be easily responded to. Make sure your guests
RSVP so that you have an idea of how many poker games to set up and how much food and other party
supplies you will need. Depending on how many people show up, you might need to set up multiple
poker games. To fully experience the greatness and fun of poker, you should get between 3 and 10 people
per poker game. Keep in mind that you should not invite more people than your party area can hold.

Prize Options
There are many options for prizes. The winner of each table can earn any of the following options:

A gift of your choosing

Food
A favor
Cash
Bragging rights

Keep in mind that prizes are completely optional, but it could add a nice competitive edge to the games!

Cleaning Up
At the end of the night, one the most troublesome things about hosting a party is cleaning it up afterwards.
To make this process a little easier, strategically place trashcans next to each snack table and poker table
so your guests will be able to easily throw away their trash after theyre done with it. Also, if you have
helpful friends, see if some of them will assist you in cleaning up when the party is over. You could even
offer a bonus prize.

Chapter Two: How to play

Chapter Two

How to play Texas Holdem

Supplies

Poker Set (1 per table, depending on number of guests)

Some kind of currency
Poker Face

Setting up the game

1. In your group, you all can decide which chips have which amount of point/dollar value as well as
the amount you want to start out with. For example, if your poker set contains white, red, blue,
green, and black chips, you could assign $5 to white, $10 to red, $20 to blue, $50 to green, and
$100 to black. Starting out with $500 per person would yield 20 whites, 10 reds, 5 blues, 2 greens,
and 1 black per person.
2. The next step is picking the player who will start with the dealer button. Hold'em is played with
what's known as a rotating dealer, meaning a player will act as the dealer for one hand, handing
the role of dealer to the player on their left when the hand is completed. To choose the dealer,
either deal every player one card, or spread the cards face down on the table and have every player
choose one. The player with the highest-valued card (aces are high for selecting a dealer) starts as
the dealer.
3. Putting out the blinds. There are two blinds in Holdem - a small blind and a big blind. The player
directly to the left of the dealer puts out the small blind. The player to the left of the small blind is
the big blind. The size of the blinds will dictate the stakes of the game you're about to play.
Typically, you want players to buy in for no less than 100 times the size of the big blind.

Starting the Game

1. The person dealing the cards deals to the left of the player with the dealer button first, rotating
around the table in a clockwise manner, giving each player one card at a time until each player
has two cards. These are known as your hole cards.
2. A hand of Hold'em consists of a minimum of one and a maximum of four betting rounds. A hand
ends when all players but one have folded, or the fourth and final betting round completes with
multiple players still in the hand - whichever comes first.
3. When all players receive their hole cards, you are now in the preflop betting round.
4. The preflop betting round starts with the player to the left of the big blind. This player has three
options:
Fold: They pay nothing to the pot and throw away their hand, waiting for the next deal to
play again
Call: They match the amount of the big blind
Raise: They raise the bet by doubling the amount of the big blind. A player may raise
more depending on the betting style being played. A raise is always the amount of one
bet in addition to the amount of the previous bet, for example: if the big blind is $5, and
the first player to act would like to raise, they put in a total of $10 (the big blind + one
additional bet). If the next player would like to reraise, they would put in a total of $15
(the previous bet + one additional bet).
5. Once a player has made their action, the player to the left of them gets their turn to act. Each
player is given the same options: fold, call the bet of the player to their right (if the previous
player raised, that is the amount you must call) or raise.

6. A betting round ends when two conditions are met:

All players have had a chance to act.
All players who haven't folded have bet the same amount of money for the round.
7. The cards placed on the table during the next steps will be used in conjunction with the two cards
each player already has in order to create poker hands. Poker hands are used to determine who
wins each round.
8. Once the preflop betting round ends, the flop is dealt. This is done by dealing the top card in the
deck facedown on the table (it becomes the burn card), followed by three cards faceup. The rules
of a post-flop betting round are the same as a preflop, with two small exceptions: The first player
to act is the next player with a hand to the left of the dealer, and the first player to act can check
or bet; as there has been no bet made, calling is free. A bet on the flop is the amount of the big
blind. In our game, a player must put out $5 to make a bet.
9. Once the betting round on the flop completes, the dealer deals one card facedown followed by a
single card faceup, also known as the "burn and turn." Once the turn has been dealt, the third
betting round starts. The third betting round is identical to the flop betting round with one single
exception: The size of a bet for this round, and the final betting round, is doubled, meaning that to
make a bet in our game will now cost a player $10.
10. Assuming more than one player is left, having not folded on one of the previous streets, the river
is now dealt. Dealing the river is identical as dealing the turn, with one card being dealt
facedown, followed by a single card faceup. This is the final street, and no more cards will be
dealt in this hand. The betting round is identical to the betting round on the turn.

11. Once the river betting round has been completed, the players now enter into the
showdown. At this point, the best hand wins the pot. Here are the rules you need to know
about a Hold'em showdown:
The player who bet on the river is the default first player to reveal their hand. If
any other players choose to show their hand first, that is OK.
If no betting happened on the river (all players checked), the player closest to the
left of the dealer must open their hand first, continuing clockwise around the
table.
If a player is holding a losing hand, it is their option to reveal their cards or simply
muck their hand and concede the pot.

Chapter Two

Poker Hands

Chapter Three: Troubleshooting

Chapter Three

13

Troubleshooting guide

As you are inviting your friends, do not forget to take into account the amount of space you have
for your party. If you find yourself constricted by space, either limit the amount of people you
invite or find a larger area to hold you and all of your guests.
If you cannot get a good idea of what kinds of snacks to have for the party, suggest a potluck!
That way your guests have the freedom to bring whatever kinds of snacks they want to eat.
If you are unable to get a poker set, all you need is a deck of cards and some type of currency to
use as your poker chips. For example, you could use actual potato chips as your poker chips and
set different values to each kind of chip.
If there are people at the party that dont know how to play poker prior to coming to the party, in
addition to verbally announcing how to play, you could prepare written instructions. Some people
learn better visually than verbally. Also, be ready to physically show the mechanics of the game
to anyone who still doesnt comprehend. Patience is a virtue when it comes to hosting a party.

Index

15

Index
big blind, 7, 8
burn and turn, 8
Call, 7
chips, v, 3, 7, 13
dealer, 7, 8
flop, 8
Fold, 7
hole cards, 7

poker hands, v, 8
preflop, 7, 8
prizes, v, 3
Raise, 7
rotating dealer, 7
showdown, 8
small blind, 7
the river, 8