Quickstart Guide

Everything you need to host your first home game

The Hostest With The Mostest

Running a great home game doesn't require a lot of gear — but having the right basics makes the difference between a frustrating night and a memorable one. Here's what you actually need, what things cost, and how many chips to give each player.

The Gear

You can run a solid home game with these five essentials. Links go to our in-depth gear guides.

Item What to Look For Approx. Cost
Playing Cards 100% plastic or quality paper. Buy two decks with different color backs per table. $10–$30 / setup
Poker Chips Clay or ceramic. Avoid lightweight plastic chips. $80–$500 / set
Table / Surface Rollup felt topper, folding table top, or dedicated table. $30–$2,000+
Dealer Button Any button or disc will do. $5–$20
Card Shuffler (optional) An automatic shuffler speeds up the game significantly but is a pricey luxury. $500+

Each item name links to its full buying guide.

Start simple: A pair of KEM or Copag plastic cards ($20–$30) and a decent 300-chip set ($80–$150) will serve you well for years. Don't over-invest before you know how often you'll play.

How Many Card Decks and Chips?

For a 9-player game, you need:

  • Cards: two decks with different color backs per table (one in play, one shuffling). Use plastic or high quality paper cards. Cheap paper cards sometimes don't even last the game before using them becomes difficult.
  • Chips: 300–500 chips for a 9-player game, depending on the style of game. See breakdowns below.

Cash Game — Chip Breakdown

Example: $1/$2 No-Limit Hold'em, 9 players, $100 max buy-in

Chip Color Denomination Per Player Total (9 players)
White $1 10 90
Red $5 8 72
Green $25 2 18
Total per player: $100 20 chips 180 chips

Add 80 chips in reserve (extra whites and reds) for rebuys and change-making. Total: ~260 chips for a comfortable 9-player $1/$2 game.

Tournament — Chip Breakdown

Example: 9-player Sit-and-Go, 10,000 chips starting stack per player

Chip Color Denomination Per Player Total (9 players)
Green 25 12 108
Black 100 12 108
Purple 500 5 45
Yellow 1,000 6 54
Total per player: 10,000 35 chips 315 chips

Tournament chips are just for tracking. Real money doesn't need to match chip denominations — agree on buy-in and payouts before you start. You can color-up (exchange small chips for larger ones) as the blinds increase to reduce clutter — see the color-up guide in our blind structure tool for how to run one fairly.

Quick Rules Reference

Before your first game, bookmark these pages: