Whether you’re missing Vegas or looking for something to do after the kids go to bed, a home poker tournament is an excellent way to bond with friends and family. However, there are plenty of details to organize and complete before inviting people over. From preparing snacks to creating a customized trophy, use this guide to pull off the perfect poker tournament in the comfort of your home.

3 Tips for Hosting a Poker Tournament

1. Set Up the Supplies

Invest in a quality poker chip set that meets your needs for the tournament. For example, most home poker games can manage with a 500-chip set, while larger, 20-player tournaments require at least 1,000 chips. If you’re starting out, keep things simple. Choose one chip color to represent 50 cents and another to represent a dollar. Using all the colors can cause confusion later on.

2. Offer Refreshments

To keep players going throughout the night, turn your home into a temporary casino by offering drinks and snacks. Cater to everyone’s tastes by serving a range of alcohol, like beer, whiskey, and vodka. When choosing snacks, avoid saucy dishes, especially those that must be eaten by hand—finger foods will leave a mess on your cards and poker chips. Instead, provide bowls of pretzels and nuts, or a charcuterie board with toothpicks.

3. Designate a Dealer

When the drinks are flowing and friends get competitive, it’s easy for dealing mistakes to arise. To ensure fairness, designate one person to be the dealer throughout the night—if possible, keep them out of play. Instead of allowing individual players to manage their chips, the dealer will be in charge of administering all the cash-outs, buy-ins, and re-buys. At the end of the tournament, this will ensure the money is equal to the number of chips in play.

At the end of the night, make your winner proud by presenting them with a customized trophy. If you haven’t gotten one yet, get yours from Trophy Outlet in Wentzville, MO. This retailer has created trophies, medals, and plaques for various tournaments for over 30 years. View their selection online, or call (636) 283-6167 to get help designing your customized trophy.