You can build a STACKED machine for about $800 shipped, filled with all high quality parts. Just search
www.pricewatch.com
I swear by the following brands:
Abit/Asus for motherboards (never had any weird issues with them)
Crucial for ram (always good stuff, never had a stick die on me -- not even once)
Maxtor for HDs (been using them for years and years, they are top notch)
Creative for sound cards
ATI and nvidia make solid vid cards. Preference really, whoever happens to be offering a better card at the best price wins.
That is $800 without a monitor though. Monitor selection is tough.
If physical deskspace and looks aren't an issue:
2x 22" CRTs are way the go ($500 shipped for both, and you can run 8 tables easy, way more on party).
If you have $$ to blow, I guess 2 of these wouldn't be a bad idea, can't vouch for how good it is though (a bit out of my range heh):
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1017391
When I built my first computer I was a total hardware newbie too. I had a little bit of a safety net (If I got stuck, I could call a friend), but he showed me that building your own machine is 100x cheaper, very reliable, and dead easy.
Haven't looked back since. The last 3 computers I've built in the last 10 years still work to this day. 2 of them are in use, and 1 of them is collecting dust in my basement (but works as far as I know...it did about 6 months ago).
If you have a techie type friend just tell him what you want to do (poker only? games too? crazy sound system? etc.) to help get a list of exact parts. That $800 range I quoted above assumes you want a high end personal computer. It'll be more than enough for poker/general use and is capable of running newer games quite nicely but won't be the absolute best gaming machine ever.
If you have to splurge on something, do it on a chair.