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Poker dealer button, blinds and positions explained
Poker dealer button, blinds and positions explained
The dealer button is a disc that sits in front of one player and marks who deals. In a home game nobody deals by hand any more, most of us... Read more...
Blackjack rules for home games, payouts and dealing
Blackjack rules for home games, payouts and dealing
Blackjack takes about five minutes to explain and about nine details to argue about. The game itself is simple: you and the dealer each get two cards, you try to... Read more...
Best gifts for card players in 2026, from $15 to $200
Best gifts for card players in 2026, from $15 to $200
Most gift guides for card players stop at a deck of cards. This one is sorted by budget and by who is opening it, because the right gift for someone... Read more...
Phase 10 scoring explained, with four rounds scored out
Phase 10 scoring explained, with four rounds scored out
Phase 10 has one rule that decides most games, and it isn't about phases at all. Finishing Phase 10 ends the game, but it doesn't win it. The winner is... Read more...
How to clean and maintain an automatic card shuffler
How to clean and maintain an automatic card shuffler
Almost everything that goes wrong with an automatic card shuffler starts with the cards, not the machine. Cards pick up skin oil, dust and the occasional snack crumb, and every... Read more...
Halloween card night: 7 games that work with two decks
Halloween card night: 7 games that work with two decks
Two decks is the sweet spot for a party. One deck caps you at four or five players before the draw pile runs thin. Four decks means a game where... Read more...
Is an automatic shuffler fairer than shuffling by hand?
Is an automatic shuffler fairer than shuffling by hand?
Short answer: a machine isn't automatically fair, and neither is your hand. What a machine reliably gives you is consistency, no exposed cards and no chance of a player stacking... Read more...
How many cards do you deal? A cheat sheet for 20 card games
How many cards do you deal? A cheat sheet for 20 card games
Most card games deal a fixed number of cards per player, and that number doesn't change when more people sit down. UNO is 7. Phase 10 is 10. Texas Hold'em... Read more...
Best automatic card shuffler in 2026, a buyer's guide
Best automatic card shuffler in 2026, a buyer's guide
Search for the best automatic card shuffler and you get a wall of near-identical listings. Almost every one of them claims to be jam-free, quiet and casino-grade. Almost none of... Read more...
Card shuffler not working? 12 fixes that actually work
Card shuffler not working? 12 fixes that actually work
Automatic card shufflers are mechanically simple, and nearly every problem has a boring, fixable cause. Before you decide it's broken, or before you box it up for a return, work... Read more...
How to host a Texas Hold'em home game, start to finish
How to host a Texas Hold'em home game, start to finish
A good home poker night has almost nothing to do with poker knowledge and almost everything to do with logistics. Get the table, chips, blinds and dealing right and the... Read more...
Card shufflers for seniors with arthritis or weak hands
Card shufflers for seniors with arthritis or weak hands
Card night is one of the last social rituals that stays available as people get older. It's seated, it's slow, it leaves room for conversation, and it asks nothing physically... Read more...