The season is almost upon us, as they say.
Lights and trees are going up across the US, stores are frantically hawking their goods on unsuspecting shoppers, and the dilemma of what to buy for others is casting a shadow over the next few weeks. The modern family have so much already; games consoles, books, music players and technology. What can you buy these days that your recipient doesn’t already have?
The obvious choice is something personal, which is where a year of listening comes in. Often, you can pick up something from a person and buy accordingly; for instance, if you know someone who is creating their man cave at home, it might be posters of their favorite movies or memorabilia from their sport’s team. If you’re buying for a man, does he have a beard (beard care kit), or is he a DIYer (tools and hardware items)? Tailoring your purchase is a sure-fire way to land a good gift, a unique gift, and one that is appreciated. After all, everyone has enough pairs of socks these days, surely?
You might have a friend who is a big poker player, especially given the buzz around the game at present. In the last few weeks, Korey Aldemir won $8m at the World Series of Poker, and news like that tends to get people interested in the game. Chris Moneymaker’s 2003 win sparked the original poker boom, with players across the US setting up their poker rooms at home. They spent hours dealing a few hands of the world’s most popular variant, Texas Hold’em, and aspiring to get around the big money tables for themselves. Most went no further than their basement but probably equipped their room with all manner of interesting items.
Here are a few of the items you could look to buy for the 2021 poker player, hoping to become the next Korey Aldemir, the $8m Texas Hold’em champion.
Table Topper
A poker table topper is a great place to start for the poker player in your life. These are often designed to fit over the top of your normal household table and are felted to emulate an actual poker table. Often, they feature markings for you to lay cards out, stack up your chips and even have guides to hand rankings for the real amateurs. They’re also not too expensive, they tend to start around $30 at the lower end of the scale, so they make a good present for someone just starting on their journey.
Poker Chips
You can’t play poker without chips, and whilst you can improvise in some instances, there’s nothing quite like having some of your own to play with. Poker chips usually all come in one size, but this is a gift that you can scale up quickly. Again, at the lower end of the scale, $30 should get you enough chips to play an evening of poker in a basement, but that is only the lower end of the spectrum. As you spend more, you can get better chips, more ornate in design and material, or even some branded with a particular sports team. That’s a multi-tasking gift if ever we’ve seen one.
Card Shuffler
This potential gift is higher up the scale than the others; you’ll need a few hundred dollars to secure an automatic card shuffler. This is for the serious amateur poker player in your life or one whose friends question the legitimacy of the shuffle. A card shuffler is a proper poker toy that shouldn’t be needed but also perfectly supplements a poker room. Usually, this present will be bought for someone who already has a great poker setup and plays quite a bit; otherwise, it might be an expensive white elephant.
Poker Training
Maybe you know a poker player who gets rinsed of their stake every week but keeps turning up anyway. If you do, then you could go for a nice practical present in the form of some proper poker training. It does exist; poker is all about calculations, learning techniques and tells, and that can be taught. Plenty of outlets offer poker training, from one-off sessions to much more involved programs. It’s the gift that could keep on giving; you might be turning your local basement joker into the next World Series of Poker champion.
If you still need ideas for the man in your life, our list of customizable gifts for men might be a good place to start.