Helpful tips for hosting a home game

[Grasshopp3r]

I thought that I would share some tips on hosting a game.

Obviously you need a table and chips, but these are some of the things that are less obvious.

Change: You will need to have small bills to make change when people cash out. $40 in ones and $100 in fives is sufficient for most games. I frown upon giving coinage, rounding the amounts to the nearest dollar.

Drinks: BYOB is preferred, but the more someone drinks, the worse they play so while I say BYOB, my bar is open. Of course, drinking too much to play is a problem.

Drinks on the table: They get spilled. Cup holders are a great concept, but they don't really work. Keep the drinks on table trays and off of the table. Same with food.

Dealer's choice: If you are going to do dealer's choice, pick for a whole orbit, so that the game speed is not slowed. Wild cards are also high luck generators, especially if they change in a "follow the queen" type structure. I have used a chip in the middle with the game written on it so that people know the game and don't get confused. I hate it in HORSE when I am playing razz and everyone else is playing stud.

Chip denoms: The $1/$5/$25 structure, which is most common in the casinos, is how most sets are built. Adding quarter chips is useful and you will need at least 20 per person or 200 for a 10 man game. 50 cent chips are useful for a 25/50 cent blind structure. I have used nickel chips for antes in stud type games (Stars structure), but I may just use the old Party structure that was quarter antes. It is helpful to write down a denom list for reference.

Any other tips?