I’m telling you, if you’re into poker, there’s nothing better than having a professional poker set (well, unless you have a professional-looking poker table to go along with your professional betplay casino set). Poker is a great game for many different reasons, and looking and feeling like some riverboat gambling professional or tournament Texas Hold’em player just makes it all that much better.

Just the other night, I went to play some poker at a friend’s house. David always hosts a poker game on Friday or Saturday night. So, here we are, sipping our beer and firing up the stoagies, gathered around David’s poker table–and, yes, he’s got a professional-looking one–and then his wife Maria comes in carrying this slick-looking aluminum carrying case. She sets that case in the middle of the table, and David flips the latch. It’s a professional set! Man, I’m telling you–if this isn’t already exciting you, you’re not a poker player. Not a very serious one, anyway.

Let me tell you some more about that professional poker set. It housed 300 casino-grade 11.5 gram composite-lay chips flanking two sets of professional quality playing cards. David said that he’d had the cards customized, too. I was getting the feeling of being in a real casino somewhere as I looked at that professional poker set.

Now, I know–you might not share my enthusiasm (or would it be better to say passion?) for this game, even if you do play. You might think this all sounds crazy. “Why is this loonie going crazy over a professional poker set?

That thing probably cost David a pretty penny. Why not buy some cards and plastic chips down at the local Dollar Tree?” Well, my friend, I feel my eyes glaze over when I hear a guy talking about vintage automobiles, so I feel for you. I’m not one of those men who cares at all about Old Car Shows, but a lot of my guy friends do. Yeah, I understand.

But I love poker, and I love the feel of a casino. I love the idea of putting that real casino feel into the comfort and convenience of your own home. And–I love nice stuff. I don’t believe in going cheap.Saving money is one thing, but going cheap is something else entirely. Cheap stuff breaks easily, or gets dirty easily. And…well, it’s just low quality.

A professional poker set reveals a mind-set of high quality. David cares about his gaming experience, and he cares about that of his friends. If you’re getting together with friends for an evening, you want to enjoy that experience as much as possible. You want to remember it years later. If it’s poker night, you want that experience and that memory. You don’t buy cheap beer, you buy the good stuff like Sam or some Girls or Heineken or Beck’s Dark.

(Yeah, I realize some people love Budweiser, and as long as that kind of beer is their idea of high quality that’s what matters. But I’m getting off track.) You might even break out some scotch or brandy. You get some good Cubans or Colombians. Maybe you put on some good music on the stereo. You serve up some delicious food (you know, the kind that you don’t find in health food stores). And you sit at a nice-looking poker table, of professional quality if possible, and you play with a professional poker set. That’s just how it is.

The other night, David’s professional poker set turned me on so much…the look and feel of playing with those cards and chips, all kept clean and neat in that nice case…that I’m now on a mission. I, too, am going to start hosting poker nights. And that means I need a professional looking poker table…and a very, very nice professional poker set. (I’ve already got the professional looking wet bar, by the way. And the dart set.)

Now, if you’re getting as excited as I am by all this, just let me tell you real quick what I know. You can find professional poker sets that contain anywhere from 100 to 1000 chips. Some cases are aluminum, like David’s, but others are Royce leather. I haven’t decided yet which one I think is cooler-looking.

In fact, I’m considering an aluminum casing with a clear top–yeah, now just imagine showing off your pro-cards and pro-chips before you even flip the lid! Make your poker playing friends drool before the games evenbegin . I know that they also make “high roller” professional poker sets that include casino dice. That’s not for me, but it might be for you.