Home poker guides
Everything about the money side of a home game: chips, stacks, blinds and how to keep track of it all.
Chips without a chip set
- Virtual poker chips for your home gameUse virtual poker chips on your phones instead of a chip set. Free, no app or sign-up: host a table in the browser and everyone bets from their own phone.
- A poker chip app that runs in the browserA free poker chip app that runs in the browser. Track every stack, the pot and the blinds on each player's phone. No download, no sign-up.
- Online poker chips for playing with friendsOnline poker chips that sync between your friends' phones: free, no download. Track stacks, pot and blinds online while you play with real cards.
- How to play poker without chipsNo poker chips? Seven ways to play anyway: a free phone chip app, pen and paper, coins, a second deck of cards and more, with the pros and cons of each.
- Poker chip apps for home games, comparedPoker chip apps for live home games compared: EasyPoker, Chips of Fury, PartyPot and pokerchips.io, with platform, side pots and settle-up features.
Running a home game
- How to host a poker nightEverything to host a home poker night: what to buy, how many players, buy-ins, blinds, house rules, food, and how to settle up at the end of the night.
- Home poker blind structureA simple blind structure for home poker games: blind levels, how long each level should last, and starting stacks for cash games and tournaments.
- Poker chip calculatorFree poker chip calculator: work out chip values and how many chips of each colour to give every player, or count what a stack is worth.
- How to split a home poker tournament prize poolHow to split a home poker tournament prize pool: payout percentages by number of players, a worked example, and how chop deals at the final table work.
- Home poker house rulesA ready-to-share list of home poker house rules: acting in turn, string bets, misdeals, showing cards, re-buys and settling up, with the reason for each rule.
Rules and reference
- Texas Hold'em rules for a home gameTexas Hold'em rules for a home game: blinds, the four betting rounds, what check, call, raise and fold mean, the showdown, and minimum raise sizes.
- Omaha poker rulesOmaha poker rules for a home game: four hole cards, the use-exactly-two rule, pot-limit betting with a worked example, and how Omaha differs from Hold'em.
- Poker hand rankings, from best to worstAll ten poker hands ranked from royal flush to high card, with examples, how often each is dealt in five cards, and how ties and kickers are decided.
- How side pots work in pokerHow side pots work when a player is all-in for less: build the main pot and each side pot step by step, who can win which, and how to pay them out.
- How to deal pokerHow to deal poker at a home game: shuffling and cutting, dealing hole cards, burning before the flop, turn and river, and fixing common dealing mistakes.
- Poker terms glossaryPlain-English definitions of the poker terms you hear at a home game: blinds, button, flop, turn, river, kicker, all-in, side pot, nuts, tilt and more.
Strategy basics
- Texas Hold'em starting handsWhich Texas Hold'em starting hands to play at a home game: a simple tier list, how position changes it, and the odds of being dealt each kind of hand.
- Poker positions explainedEvery seat at a poker table explained, from under the gun to the button: who acts first before and after the flop, and why late position wins more.
- Poker outs and odds: the rule of 4 and 2Count your outs and turn them into odds at the table: the rule of 4 and 2, an exact odds chart for common draws, and when the shortcut is wrong.
- Pot odds explainedHow to calculate pot odds in poker, convert them to the equity you need to call, and compare them with your draw. Worked examples with real numbers.