Deciding what to make when it comes to party food can be overwhelming and stressful, especially considering how quickly things could go awry. It’s a good thing then that you’ve got us by your side, as we are the veritable casino party experts! Allow us to inspire you to create delicious and tasty canapes with these 8 cute canape ideas.
Party tip – less truly is more when it comes to a poker themed party, so it isn’t necessary to have every canape be obviously poker themed.

1. Card Suit Burger Sliders

The best buffet ideas for a casino theme use an assortment of finger foods. Casino themes tend to contain games and lots of activity. You need to serve food that can move with people as they socialize and gamble. Anything that requires sitting down with a fork and knife will be too cumbersome. All it takes to transform your dinner table from 'regular ol' decor' to 'totally on-theme' is a pack of cards or two. Hot-glued or rubber-banded to disposable cups, cards turn into drink markers. Texas Hold ‘Em is all the rage, but you can have a great card party with other poker variations: five-card draw, seven-card stud, hi/lo, baseball poker and other make-up-your-own-rules games. The most important thing when playing poker is to be familiar with the winning hands. Sausage pizza balls make a great appetizer or snack. They're like whole pizzas that can be popped into your mouth in a single bite! Omit the green bell peppers and onions, if desired. Hosting a poker night can be costly, but it doesn’t have to be. When I started hosting these games, I didn’t have the ability to provide food, drinks, cigars and pay for the event supplies. It’s only as my career has progressed that I’ve been able to offer more as a host. Here are some ideas.

Sliders are essentially mini burgers and the beauty of the burger is that it is perfectly customisable. If you have friends who are vegetarian or prefer chicken to beef, you can make a few variations. Create your mini burgers and then pierce each one with a wooden skewer affixed with a paper card suit – spades, diamonds, hearts or clubs.

Shrimp Cocktail Shots

This dish screams poker and casino class! Use clear plastic or glass shot glasses, fill the bottom of each one with a mixture of ketchup, prepared horseradish and Worcestershire sauce, and top each glass with a peeled and deveined shrimp that has been prepared to perfection.

Mini Caesar Salads

As a tribute to the famous Caesar’s Palace on the Las Vegas Strip, these mini Caesar salads are sure to go down a treat. Purchase small plastic bowls, preferably clear. Fill each one with romaine or cos lettuce that has been dressed with a mixture of olive oil, crushed garlic, salt and pepper, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and grated parmesan cheese, and top with croutons.

Card Suit Finger Sandwiches

While some of your guests may enjoy playing mobile slots in Malaysia keep them distracted by offered delicious snacks! Similar to our burger slider canape, these finger sandwiches are perfectly customisable. Take fresh white or brown bread slices and cut the crusts off. Make sandwiches filled with ingredients of your choice, such as vegetarian and non-vegetarian options, and cut the sandwich into 4 squares or 3 rectangles. Pierce each finger sandwich with a skewer topped with a paper card suit.

Meatballs, Wings and Mozzarella Sticks

Food For A Poker Party

In true casino buffet style, meatballs, chicken wings and mozzarella sticks always go down a treat. If you’re short on time, most catering companies will offer platters which contain wings and meatballs with dips and you can make your mozzarella sticks to accompany them. Pair these with a delicious dip and remember the serviettes!

Cheese Board

Everyone loves cheese and crackers, and you can customise your cheese board with plenty of casino paraphernalia if you want to. Have a good selection of hard and soft cheeses and different crackers, as well as preserves. Many party planners opt for more than 1 cheese board as you don’t want all your guests crowded around one small platter!

‘Poker Chips’ and Salsa

This themed dish will only work if it has a sign declaring ‘poker chips and salsa’ so be sure to affix one to the bowl or have a little sign in front of the bowl. Fill with plain or flavoured nacho chips and have plenty of salsa on hand. You can make your own salsa or use shop bought.

Mini Card Suit Cupcakes

Poker Night Menu Ideas

Make or purchase bite-sized cupcakes and place an edible paper card suit atop the frosting. If you can’t find the edible variety, pierce each cupcake with a toothpick with a paper card suit attached.

Here’s hoping our party ideas have you inspired LoriLongbotham.com style!

Poker night? We’re all in. Check out our pointers for planning one.

Invitations

Get started by sending an Evite invitation, like the free “Who’s In?” cards-themed invitation below or a premium “Ante Up” poker night invitation. Check out our game night invitation gallery for more designs.

Decorations

It’s easy to find a home poker kit that includes cards, nice chips and a good playing surface. But if you don’t have one of these fancy kits, take a trip to a fabric store and get a big swatch of green felt to put over your tabletop.

It’s important to make sure you have enough poker chips for all of your guests. You probably can’t get by with less than 35 chips per person — most experts suggest more like 50 to 100 per head. If you don’t mind a mish-mash, ask your guests to bring some extra chips of their own. If you’re playing Texas Hold ‘Em, make sure you have a special chip set aside for the button.

To round out the theme, pick up some casino-themed napkins and plates decorated with images of dice, cards or dollar signs from a party store.

Attire

Even if you’re not playing for high stakes, you can still dress the part. Asking guests to come in suits and ties or cocktail dresses makes a simple get-together seem like an event.

You can also go casual and ironic by getting cheap costume armbands and green plastic dealer visors — poker doesn’t have to be super serious.

Playing with some card sharks? If they arrive wearing shirts with billowy sleeves, make sure they roll them up when you play so they can’t hide cards in them.

Variants

Texas Hold ‘Em is all the rage, but you can have a great card party with other poker variations: five-card draw, seven-card stud, hi/lo, baseball poker and other make-up-your-own-rules games.

The most important thing when playing poker is to be familiar with the winning hands. Here they are from high to low:

• Royal flush
• Straight flush
• Four of a kind
• Full house
• Flush
• Straight
• Three of a kind
• Two pair
• One pair

Too confusing? Just remember that a full house flushes a straight.

Food

Get a pizza delivered for quick sustenance that minimizes card-playing down time. Or put together a simple spread of appetizers. Make your own or get a big box of warm-in-the-oven hors d’oeurves at a warehouse club store. Just keep the food away from the playing table.

Drinks

If you’re playing poker, you might be thinking martinis are in order. Martinis will make your party upscale for sure (but they do call to mind James Bond, and his game was baccarat). If you’re going to go for some straight liquor, grab a bottle of single-malt scotch. Or, to mix cards and cocktails, consider the classy, old-fashioned cocktail called the Sidecar.

Sidecar

• 2 parts Cognac
• 1 part triple sec
• 1 part freshly squeezed lemon juice

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Add ice. Shake, then strain into a chilled highball glass.

Poker Game Food Ideas

There are many who say that serious cards need to be played without the hazy influence of booze. So for a non-alcoholic alternative, grab some carbonated soda water and mix it up with some Italian syrup.

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