How to Make Poker Gift Baskets

Fill your basket with items any player would love.

If a special occasion or a holiday is coming up, consider making your card-loving friend a poker-themed gift basket filled with lots of goodies he can enjoy on his game nights and beyond. Gift baskets are as fun to put together as they are to receive and you can custom-design them to be unique and fit your friend's tastes and interests. Every time he plays, he will think of you.

Things You'll Need

• Poker game supplies
• Poker novelty items
• Poker literature or DVDs
• Basket or container
• Wrapping paper or cellophane
• Ribbon and bow

Instructions

1. Buy poker supplies, such as decks of cards, chips, a dealer button, timer or card shuffler. Keep your friend's needs in mind when selecting these items. Friday night nickle-and-dime players will appreciate a set of cards or plastic chips from the drug store, while a tournament pro wouldn't use them.

2. Buy poker player novelty items, such as a key chain, mug, shot glass, set of coasters, T-shirt or hat. Be considerate of your friend's tastes and use prudence when selecting them for your poker gift basket. No matter how much he loves the game, he might not be the kind of guy who would be caught dead in a T-shirt featuring dogs playing poker.

3. Entertain your friend with poker books, magazines or films. Get instructional materials, strategy guides and advanced strategy guides. Include entertaining poker-themed movies as well, such as "Rounders," "Run," or "The Sting."

4. Consider some unusual things a poker player might find useful, such as a wooden card box that will keep cards protected or a pair of stylish mirrored sunglasses he can wear when bluffing. Give him a pocket electronic poker game he can play when he's not at the game.

5. Get a container to hold your gifts. Use a basket, a tote bag for carrying supplies, a small cooler for bringing snacks to a game or a nice plastic storage box so he can store his poker supplies in his closet.

6. Arrange the items in your poker gift basket, placing larger items on the bottom or in the center, with smaller items on top or surrounding larger items. Wrap some or all of the items individually to make them a surprise.

7. Wrap any open containers, such as a basket, in cellophane to help hold items securely. Wrap closed containers with wrapping paper or leave them unwrapped if you prefer. Tie a big ribbon and bow around it and it's ready to go.

Tips & Warnings

• If your friend is a serious player, shop at a specialty shop and make sure the items you buy are of professional quality.

• There is nothing that "must" go into a gift basket, or "should never" go into a gift basket. If a certain thing is beyond your price range or unavailable, leave it out and put something else in its place. If you know your friend will like something, even if it is only loosely related to poker, you can find a place for it. Make it personal.

• Make your basket or container one of the last things you buy so that you can be sure it is large enough to hold all of your items, but not so large that it looks half empty. Ideally, you want your container to look full and overflowing, but not awkwardly overstuffed.

• If you feel things fall too far down into the basket or container, making it look sparse, crumble up some colorful tissue paper to make a "bed" at the bottom of the basket. This will make the basket look fuller.

References

• "How to Make Gift Baskets;" Deborah R. Dolen; 2003
• Pioneer Thinking: How to Create Homemade Gift Baskets
• THP: Holiday Poker Gift Ideas
• The Game's the Thing: Best 20th Century card-playing & poker movies