How to Host the Perfect Poker Home Game: What to Drink

The fifth article in our How to Host the Perfect Poker Home Game is a special one as Christopher Null of Drinkhacker.com fame has provided a fantastic selection of potential adult beverages to serve at your next poker game.

If you like this piece, be sure to head over to Drinkhacker.com where you’ll find a plethora of recipes, reviews and all-around knowledge for the discriminating drinker.

By Christopher Null

You’ve got the cards, chips, and table all set – now what? You can toss a case of Busch tallboys in an Igloo, or you can put a little thought into what you drink.

Take it from me: A bad beat goes down much easier if you chase it with a shot of high-grade Bourbon.

Here are three suggestions on what to serve your crew, depending on the stakes of your game.

• Where to Play Poker With Friends Online

What to Serve at Your Poker Home Game

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Blue Collar

When beer is on the menu, Busch or Bud will work well enough, but even the most casual of players are likely to appreciate a little extra thoughts. Check out Guinness Black Lager – a new brand from Guinness that is black as coffee but drinks like a traditional lager. $8.50 per six-pack.

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Casual

One of the best values in the spirits world today is Bourbon and other U.S. whiskeys, and you can find an awful lot of great American whiskeys on the market without having to spend a whole lot of money. Try Evan Williams Single Barrel 2002 or Big Bottom Port Cask Finished Whiskey, both of which are available for $30 a bottle or less. Of course, if you’re ever worried the bottles will offend, you can always pour the whiskey into a crystal decanter and tell everyone it’s Pappy Van Winkle.

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High Stakes

It’s not cheating to get your opponents stinking drunk before the game ever starts, and the best way to do that is by serving a delicious, high-end cocktail that goes down easy (but is manly enough to invite continued consumption). This original cocktail drinks like a martini but adds a touch of sweetness so your victims, er, guests, never know what hit them. You can make these bad boys a pitcher at a time (just multiply all proportions by 8) so you can have refills at the ready:

Drinkhacker’s Big Blind Cocktail

1 oz vodka
1 oz gin
¼ oz dry vermouth
¼ oz St. Germain elderflower liqueur
2 dashes orange bitters 

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

More articles on How to Host the Perfect Poker Home Game:

• Part 1: Equipment
• Part 2: Hand Rankings
• Part 3: How to Play
• Part 4: How to Set Up
• Part 5: What to Drink
• Part 6: What to Eat
• Part 7: Who to Invite
• Part 8: Etiquette
• Part 9: How to Beat your Friends
• Part 10: Cheaters
• Part 11: More Games, More Gamble
• Part 12: Odds and Exceptions

Additional Home Game Tools:

• Which Poker Hand Wins Calculator