Friendly Poker

How to play real poker with your friends - without creating enemies!

The definitive guide to the classic, dealer’s choice, “friendly poker” game played and loved by tens of millions of Americans for the camaraderie, thrill and raucous good times it produces.  This is not a book on how to calculate odds or win money from strangers.  It is a book on how you make your friendly game more enjoyable and entertaining as you play with your gang of regular poker buddies through the years.

• Practical guidelines for establishing the best atmosphere for the game.  Recommendations for types and numbers of players, degree of formality, size of the stakes, table talk, pacing of the game, furniture, equipment, music, lighting, distractions, food and drink, invitations, scheduling and many other key factors.

• Big-picture discussions of what poker is all about (bragging rights, not money), why poker is worthy of our time and attention, the unique attributes of the game, and how poker skills beneficially translate the “real world.”  

• Introduction of several amazingly good games that have never been previously published. Respectable, no wild-card, skill-oriented poker games proven to reward skill and create real challenge. 

• Descriptions of over fifty of the best and most popular dealer’s choice games, classified by skill level, size of pot, complexity, and good starting and ending cards.  And a summary chart of the games and ratings to help you choose what to deal next.

• A full set of clear, consistent and well-tested “House Rules” with explanations to allow you to make informed choices as you establish your own “House Rules.” 

• Introduction of a sophisticated new “Poverty Poker” or loss-limitation system for the group, proven to keep a regular poker game both ruthlessly competitive and completely friendly.  

• A summary of basic poker strategies and skill levels that can be used to teach the inexperienced players to effectively compete, thereby raising the challenge and enjoyment for your whole group. 

• A collection of wise, funny, and informative quotes from the 200 years of poker in America.


About the Author


Mark Cochran is a student of human and organizational behavior who spent over thirty years as an organizational effectiveness executive in several well-known organizations. Mr. Cochran has a passion for competitive games and how they enhance productive, real-life social interaction by providing a fully competitive, but controlled, environment for learning and experimentation. He has hosted and led more than 800 friendly poker games over the past forty-five years, in many regions of the country, involving hundreds of regular players.