Holiday Poker Gift Ideas

Save for Later

It’s getting to be that time of year again. It’s the holiday season, which means scouring the internet for gift ideas and frequent trips to the mall looking for that perfect something. Well if you, or that special someone, is a poker player, I have decided to save you some work this year! What follows is a list of poker holiday gift ideas with a variety of price points. There is something here for everyone: the casual homegame player, serious online professional or just the average poker fan who likes to watch on TV and follow their favorite pros.

Tournament Poker Edge Subscription
Tournament Poker Edge is a poker training site that focuses specifically on multi-table tournaments. They offer training videos from some of the best pros, including Casey “bigdogpckt5s” Jarzabek as well as forums, blogs and poker related articles. Tournament Poker Edge is also one of the few sites that does not have an initial sign up fee, just one low monthly rate.

TPE Gift Certificates

Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time Volume I and II by Eric “Rizen” Lynch, Jon “Pearljammer” Turner and Jon “Apestyles” Van Fleet
Widely considered to be some of the best writing on tournament poker, this series has essentially replaced Harrington on Holdem as the books I recommend to people looking to improve their tournament poker game.

http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Poker-Tournaments-Hand-Time/dp/0984143440/

Hanns-G 28” LCD Monitor
This is the best value I have been able to find for a 28”+ monitor. If someone is still grinding away on a 15” laptop, or even a 19” desktop monitor, nothing will alter their playing experience like extending their desktop on to a nice big LCD monitor. This could require a little research because you want to make sure their video card supports the monitor you decide to buy, but if it is a newer desktop or laptop, chances are that it does.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254043

Plastic Playing Cards
Spending $15-$20 on a pack of playing cards might seem expensive. But anyone who has played with them will tell you that they are much nicer than the standard paper cards you find at Target. Additionally they will last almost forever. I have had one pack for 2+ years and they are still going strong. You can wash them and they are very difficult to bend, tear or mark. I suggest either KEM or Copag.

http://www.kem.com/ or http://www.copagcards.com/

Poker Magazine Subscription
The gift that keeps on giving! Poker magazines are a great way to keep up on everything happening in the poker world. They feature everything from poker news to strategy articles to interviews with the top pros in the game. There are several great ones to chose from. I have subscriptions to Bluff, Cardplayer and PokerPro. You really can’t go wrong with either one of these.

http://www.cardplayer.com/ or http://bluffmagazine.com or http://pokerpromagazine.com/

Poker Site Gift Certificate
Several of the top poker sites offer Gift Certificates. It’s a great way to boost someone’s bankroll who is either on that inevitable downswing or just wants to take a shot at one of the big Sunday tournaments!

http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/gift-certificates.php

WSOP Circuit Event Entry
For any poker player, one of the greatest opportunities is the chance to play in a big live event! So if that special someone is lucky enough to live near one of the many stops on the WSOP circuit, why not give them the shot at that big live score! There are tournament everywhere from Las Vegas to Atlantic City to St. Louis to New Orleans. So check out the 2010/2011 schedule and find a nearby tournament!

http://www.wsop.com/schedule/wsopcircuit.asp

Obviously there are a ton of other poker gift options out there. These are just some that I can personally suggest based on experience. Feel free to add your ideas in the comments!