My friend Stanley has been playing poker since before it was hip. For my birthday this year, he insisted on getting me to ante up and gifted me with this very cool World Poker Tour set from U.S. Playing Card, one of the oldest card companies in the world. The sleek aluminum briefcase holds 300 professional quality chips, all clay-filled and weighing precisely 11.5 grams each. Two decks of cards and instructions (for reading bedside and not at the table, of course) are also included. My Texas Hold ‘Em will never be the same.

$149.95 at Compleat Strategist, 11 33rd St., near Fifth Ave., 212-685-3880.