Card Player's Holiday Gift Guide

Can it already be December? It feels like the World Series of Poker just ended a few weeks ago. (Perhaps that's because ESPN has just gotten around to airing it not long ago.) Regardless, the winter holidays have snuck up on us again, and it's time to do some last-minute holiday shopping.



Card Player has prepared this holiday gift guide that's full of ideas and advice on the best gifts for all the poker players on your holiday shopping list.



If you're in a hurry, head over to www.CardPlayer.com, click on the link that says "Shop Online," and browse through our vast collection of books, DVDs, chips, clothing, memorabilia, and much more. Your gifts can be conveniently shipped directly to the recipient, and you could finish your holiday shopping in less than an hour. If it's literally the last minute, tell your friends that you've signed them up for a subscription to Card Player magazine. (Just don't forget to order those subscriptions at the next opportunity.)



Poker Supplies: How to Make Your Kitchen Table Look Like a Final Table

Every poker player worth the title needs high-quality poker supplies. If they're still playing home games with blank plastic chips, an old deck of cards, and a coffee table, then it's time to upgrade that home game to the final-table experience.



Chips
The most important thing for any home game is the chips. According to a famous quote, "Whoever invented gambling was smart, but whoever invented chips was a genius."



The most distinguishing factor between different qualities of chips is their weight. But be careful of buying chips based solely on weight, as some cheap imports will simply encase a lead slug with an outer material. For something you'll be handling a lot, you'll want to stick to more reliable manufacturers, who use clay composites and similar nontoxic materials, and you'll want them to weigh 8.5-11.5 grams per chip, which is comparable to the chips the casinos use.



While there are plenty of places to order chips online, if you'd like to see them before you buy, you can check out the Gamblers General Store in Las Vegas. This warehouse-sized store stocks everything a poker player (or any gambler) could ever want. It has a huge selection of poker chips, with everything from cheaper foil-stamped chips to customized full-color chips. Its most popular poker chips are the Texas Hold'em Series, which feature random two-card starting hands, along with their nicknames (such as "Jesse James" for 5-4, "Dolly Parton" for 9-5, and even "Darth Vader" for black pocket fours).



If you'd like to get the most memorable gift of all, order customized poker chips. These are high-quality, full-color chips that can be designed with standard artwork or personal logos and photographs. You could order chips that read "Joe's Home Game" over a picture of his house, or "Joe's Casino" across a standard Las Vegas skyline. (Some people even make custom chips to use as business cards, with a head shot or logo on one side and contact information on the reverse side.)



Customized chips at the Gamblers General Store cost a base price of $150 (for artwork), plus 79 cents per chip (allow two to three weeks once the artwork is approved). The minimum order of 200 would cost a little more than $300, but you'd be hard-pressed to come up with a better gift for any poker player on your list.



Once you get a set of high-quality chips, you'll need somewhere to store them. A closable case is preferable to an open chip carousel, in case you ever want to take your chips with you to a friend's house.



Cards
Not all decks of cards are created equal. For a quality poker game, you'll want to buy plastic cards (made by Kem or Copag), which are used by casinos everywhere for their durability. They don't stick or crease, and they aren't easily marked. They cost more, but they have a nice feel and will last a long time. Decks generally come in two standard sizes: bridge and poker. Ironically, casinos usually use the slightly thinner bridge-sized decks in their poker games.



Even before the recent poker boom, cards were available in hundreds of styles to reflect a variety of interests. You can buy decks of cards with a theme of Coke or Pepsi, dogs or cats, Playboy bunnies, or Mickey Mouse and his pals. You could even play poker with the "Iraq's Most Wanted" playing cards, which were handed out to the U.S. military in 2003 (Saddam himself is on the ace of spades). Whatever your interest, there's a deck of cards to match.



You can also purchase canceled casino cards, which have actually been used on the casino floor. These are usually the cheaper, less durable cards used for blackjack, and the corners are slightly trimmed to keep cheaters from trying the old ace-up-the-sleeve trick. You could pick up a deck from Binion's if you're feeling old-school, or play with a Bellagio deck if you imagine yourself in Doyle Brunson's big game. Canceled cards can be purchased directly from the individual casinos (try the gift shop), or the Gamblers General Store offers one-stop shopping with canceled decks from all the major Las Vegas casinos.



Tables and Tabletops
For years, if you wanted the coolest rec room in the neighborhood, you needed a pool table. In the 1970s, you may have had a pinball machine, and in the 1980s, that space might have been reserved for a stand-up arcade game. But nowadays, if you want everyone who's anyone to show up on poker night, you'll need a felt-covered poker table.



The cheapest option is to get a poker tabletop, which simply rests on top of an existing table. This will improve the feel of the game dramatically, as the cards won't slide and the chips won't "clunk" the way they do on a regular table. Some also feature built-in cup holders and chip racks for each player. They're a big improvement over a kitchen table, and you can find them for less than $75. Be sure to get a size that suits the number of players in the game, and that also fits on the table used to support it.



If your friend has a dedicated poker room, he'll want a full-size poker table. You can find foldable models for as low as $250, or you could splurge on the same style that the casinos use, which will cost you more than a grand. (And unless you're buying locally and have a pickup truck, don't forget to factor shipping into the cost.)



Souvenirs and Memorabilia
What about stocking stuffers and other small gifts? You might choose something small and inexpensive, like souvenir chips from the World Series of Poker (some of which made it into play during one of the events), or one of the hundreds of different chip protectors that are available. Small poker souvenirs are generally available at any World Poker Tour or WSOP Circuit event, and you can also find them online.



Poker memorabilia is such a young market that it doesn't even show up as a category in eBay's sports memorabilia section (yet somehow, "fishing" makes the cut). But more specific searches reveal some autographed items from some of the big-name players. Will these items go up in value? It's hard to say. Your best bet is to buy an item that you can enjoy now (such as something from your favorite player). If it appreciates in value later on, consider that an added bonus.



How about some personalized memorabilia? You can order a customized Card Player cover with your friend's picture and the headline "Player of the Year." For just $40 ($60 with a frame), you've created a personal gift that will look great on the wall over the poker table. And if your friend signs it, it's instant memorabilia. And it's guaranteed to increase in value if your friend goes on to win the WSOP main event! (Note: This is not a guarantee.)



Poker Lifestyle Items

As poker continues to permeate pop culture, you can find almost any product imaginable with a poker theme, from playing-card bath towels to royal-flush drinking glasses to Phil Hellmuth signature sunglasses. Most of these are just regular products with spades and diamonds on them. You'll need to know the poker players on your holiday list pretty well before buying them something specific like that. But here are a few general poker lifestyle items that will suit most fans of the game.



The most popular poker movie of this generation is Rounders, and it was recently rereleased as a special-edition DVD with cool new bonus features. Even if you've seen it dozens of times, you'll get a new perspective by watching it with one of two commentaries: the standard film-school style of lecture given by the filmmakers, and a "poker" commentary in which you listen in to Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, and Chris Moneymaker as they watch the film with you. It's like a poker-themed episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and they comment on the poker, the cheating, and the lifestyles depicted. And sometimes they just laugh along and enjoy watching the movie.



Even if you've seen all of the WSOP and WPT tournaments that have ever aired on TV, there are never-before-seen bonus features available on the DVDs. For example, the three-DVD set of the 2004 WSOP features a version of the final table in which Greg Raymer talks through the action from his point of view. Past seasons of the WPT also feature never-before-seen hands and commentaries that provide a deeper view into the action.



If you attended this year's World Series of Poker, you couldn't help but notice the distinctive black FullTilt jerseys that were worn by top pros like Ivey, Ferguson, Seidel, Harman, and Lederer. However, the only way to get one of these limited-edition items is to accumulate points by playing at FullTiltPoker.com; 25,000 points will earn you your choice of jersey style (basketball, football, hockey, or baseball), personalized with your name and choice of number on the back. But keep this in mind: Even though casual fans might mistake you for a top pro, these jerseys don't come with sponsorship into championship tournaments.



For the Player who Has (Almost) Everything

The most coveted prize in poker is a gold bracelet from the World Series of Poker. But with field sizes in the thousands, it's becoming increasingly more difficult to earn one the old-fashioned way. If some of the big-name professionals are still without a bracelet, what hope does a non-Moneymaker amateur have?



If you'd like to give the ultimate poker trophy to someone who's never earned it, head over to Pioneer Loan & Jewelry in Las Vegas. Yes, it's a pawn shop. And, yes, it has an original 14-karat gold World Series of Poker bracelet in stock that can be yours for just $2,795.



It's from the 1999 WSOP, and it hasn't been engraved. (None of the bracelets are engraved for the winners; they do that on their own if they're so inclined.) Binion's verified the bracelet's ownership, but Pioneer Loan will not reveal the original owner due to privacy concerns. (There were just 13 events that year, and no multiple winners, so you could narrow it down to a list of candidates.) The always explosive Mike Matusow did win an event that year, but it's not his. He still has both of his WSOP bracelets.



Don't Forget to Sign the Card!

The first rule in gift giving is, "It's the thought that counts." The second rule is, "Crummy gifts get returned or re-gifted." Hopefully, this article has sparked some ideas, and you'll get something the poker players on your list will truly appreciate. But if you've made it this far and still aren't sure what to do, get them the classic Card Player baseball cap. For $10, you can't go wrong; it's unisex, one-size-fits-all, and goes with almost anything, whether you're playing poker or eating at a fancy restaurant (provided that restaurant is in a Las Vegas casino). By itself, it won't make your friends better poker players, but it'll be a constant reminder that poker greatness is just a subscription away.



Tips for Ordering Poker Chips

The Gambler's General Store in Las Vegas offers the following tips for purchasing poker chips:

• You should purchase chips in three or four different colors (denominations). You can temporarily reassign denominations if the stakes go up or down.

• Buy more chips in the smaller denominations, and fewer of the higher denominations.

• For three or four players, you should have 300 chips; four or five players, 400 chips; for six to eight players, 500 chips; and for nine or more players, you'll need at least 1,000 chips.

• Standard casino colors are beige, white, or blue for $1, red for $5, green for $25, and black for $100.