Game Night: Poker, Cards, Dominoes and Mahjong

October changes the shape of an evening. The light goes early, the patio chairs come in, and the table that sat half-empty all summer becomes the centre of the house again. It is the month when people remember that a game is one of the oldest reasons to invite friends over, and one of the best.

Manopoulos is known for chess and backgammon, but the workshop in Thebes also makes cases for the games that fill a longer night: poker, playing cards, dominoes and mahjong. They are built in the same spirit as the boards — cut, finished and fitted by hand — and they are meant to stay out on the table rather than disappear into a cupboard.

Where the idea comes from

The house began with an ordinary scene. In 1968 Costas Manopoulos watched his father, George, come home after long working days and sit down to backgammon with friends. The game took the weight of the day away, and it brought people to the same table. That observation became the founding idea of the company, and it applies as much to a deck of cards or a box of dominoes as it does to a backgammon board.

What changes from one game to the next is the rhythm. Backgammon is quick and loud. Chess is quiet. The games in this story sit somewhere in between: sociable, flexible about the number of players, easy to learn in a few minutes and hard to put down after a few hours.

The poker set

The set in the photograph is the Manopoulos poker set with 300 chips and a Californian burl top. The case is dark walnut, and the lid is veneered in burl — the swirled, figured wood that forms where a tree’s grain grows in knots and eddies rather than straight lines. No two sheets of burl are the same, so no two lids are either. Inside, 300 composite chips of 11.5 g sit in a wooden tray, with two decks of playing cards and dice.

El Laguito Cigars carries the same set in two other finishes: a wooden case with a leatherette top, black on black or brown on dark walnut, and a plain black or dark-walnut wooden case. There is also a 200-chip version for smaller tables. Three hundred chips is a comfortable number for a full table and a long session; two hundred suits a smaller game among friends.

A good poker case earns its place in the details. The chips have weight in the hand and make a proper sound when they are stacked. The cards are where you left them. And when the night is over, everything goes back into one case, closes, and waits for the next time.

Cards and dominoes

Not every evening needs a full poker table. For bridge, rummy or a hand of cards after dinner, Manopoulos makes a case for plastic-coated playing cards, the decks laid in a fitted velvet tray. The dominoes case is its companion: 28 double-six tiles in a velvet tray, in a case of the same size.

Both come in four families of finish, which makes it easy to match them to each other or to a room. There is plain wood in black, dark walnut or walnut; a leatherette wrap in dark grey or caramel; genuine leather, crocodile-embossed, ostrich-embossed or knitted; and Californian walnut burl, which pairs naturally with the burl-topped poker set.

Dominoes deserve more attention than they get in Canada. In much of the world they are a café and kitchen-table game, played fast, with the tiles set down hard. The double-six set is the standard, and it covers the familiar block and draw games. It is also a game that tolerates conversation, which is more than can be said for chess.

Mahjong

Mahjong is the most absorbing game in this group, and the one that most rewards a proper set. Four players, a wall of tiles, and a pace that settles into its own rhythm as the evening goes on. The Manopoulos mahjong set comes in a handcrafted wooden case with the tiles racked in fitted trays, in walnut, brown knitted leather or Californian walnut burl.

A mahjong set is handled more than almost any other game. The tiles are shuffled, built into walls, drawn, discarded and turned over, again and again. A case that keeps them in order between games, and looks good on a sideboard, is not so much a luxury as a practical kindness to the people who play.

Setting the table for an autumn evening

A game night does not need much. A few things are worth considering:

• Light. Cards and tiles are easier to read under a warm, low lamp than under a bright overhead light.
• Space. Leave room at the centre of the table for the pot, the discards or the line of dominoes. Glasses go to the side, not in the middle.
• Time. Decide at the start how long you will play, or how many rounds. It keeps the evening relaxed and lets everyone plan their night.
• A second game. Keep a deck of cards or the dominoes nearby for anyone who drops out of the main game.

For some tables, the evening also includes a cigar and a glass of something. The two have long kept company with cards. If that is part of your night, play on a covered porch or beside an open window on a mild October evening, and keep the cigar well away from the felt and the cards. A game case with a burl or leather top will thank you for not being used as an ashtray.

These cases are natural wood, and natural wood has its own character: uneven grain and differing shades are part of it, and proof that the piece is real. Care is simple. Keep the cases out of direct sun and away from radiators and fireplaces, which matter more in a Canadian autumn than in a Greek one. Dust with a soft, dry cloth, and avoid water and household sprays. The story on caring for a wooden game board in this journal goes into more detail.

A game for the long nights

October is the start of the indoor season, and the months ahead are long. A poker case, a box of dominoes or a mahjong set is something you buy once and use for years, on quiet weeknights and on crowded holidays. It is also, in its way, a continuation of that scene from 1968: friends at a table, the day set aside for an hour or two. The Manopoulos range of games, including every set in this story, is supplied in Canada by El Laguito Cigars and delivered anywhere in the country.