A Heck of a Deal!

Traditionally, a white plastic disc with the word "DEALER" is used as a dealer button in home poker games. You can find them in pretty much any generic poker chip set, along with "Big Blind", "Small Blind", and sometimes even "Missed Blind" buttons. Most of the poker games I've played have used this type of dealer button (and they usually end up getting lost at some point in the evening), although I have been in games where things like a pocket knife, money clip (an empty money clip - why play poker for money if someone is actually going to pass you a clip full of money every 9 hands or so?), beer bottle cap, and even a ping pong ball (don't even get me started, that was one weird game) were used to indicate who the dealer was.

But seriously, don't those white buttons just get boring after awhile? The World Series of Poker thought so - Harrah's Entertainment started using the blank space on dealer buttons for advertising! Imagine that! Too bad you can't really do that for a home poker game (well, unless you're calling in a TV crew so you can get some promotional airtime out of it... but we digress again...)

So we used some of our DSL downtime (read: when we were not on the phone yelling at Mexico) to come up with some dealer buttons with style - no plain old white button. Our first new button - the "Spade Skull" button, has the whole Gothic vibe going on, complete with some swirly bits in the spade, a mean-looking skull, and a long, flowing banner to display the all-important "Dealer". Since we're still in our Distressed mode, we scratched up the background a bit just for fun.

But that's not all - we had a whole week of DSL downtime, so we also whipped up the "Tribal Club" button. It's still got the dirty-grungy-gothic feel to it - we added some tribal swirls inside the club and kept the same idea from the Spade Skull button with the long, flowing banner. Of course, this one has a nice scratched-up background, too.

Best thing is, they're only $4.99! When's the last time you found a stylish dealer button for about 5 bucks? I'll be using the "Spade Skull" at my next home game, I'll tell ya that much.

These buttons are 2.25" in diameter, have a metal shell and a magnetic back. Yes - a magnetic back. Do you know what that means? That means after your next home poker game you can't possibly lose your dealer button - just slap it up on the fridge (or beer fridge, if you prefer to call it that). Seriously. That way next time you play, you'll know right where to look for it.

Stylish and convenient - what could be better?