Are you planning to shuffle up and deal in your friends at a poker home game anytime soon? Home games are usually the perfect mix of friendly competition and banter, bringing a taste of “Sin City” to your living room.

Think of a poker home game along the same lines as a visit to a tourist-haven poker room in Las Vegas. There’s several of them located up and down the Strip. To the south end of the Strip, there’s the Excalibur, which is ultra-cheap to stay and play so it attracts a laid-back crowd. It’s one of the best environments for poker novices to learn and have low-stakes fun in Vegas and home games should be treated in exactly the same way – unless you’re hosting a high-stakes showdown with pals that really know what they’re doing of course.

Either way, it can be useful to master some of the many chip tricks professional poker players pull off to add a touch of flair to your game. Chip tricks help to make you look like a seasoned card shark – even if you’re not! It’ll also help to keep the energy alive and kicking in between hands.

Chip tricks can actually be useful to help you hide physical tells from your friends in home games. If you’re a bag full of nervous energy and you’re confident you’ve got the best hand, focusing on chip tricks can keep your mind and hands fixed on other things while you put your opponents to tricky decisions. It’s possible that your skills will psych out your friends; especially if you want to portray yourself as strong when you feel like you’ve got the weakest hand.

The Thumb Roll requires a steady hand

The Thumb Roll is an easy yet visually impressive starter trick, with only a steady hand and a healthy dose of dexterity needed. Practice with a single chip in your dominant hand. Use your thumb to roll the chip across your fingers, across your index finger to your little finger, before catching it in the crease of your palm.

It’s one of the best starting points for chip tricks as the Thumb Roll encourages finger control. Once you’ve nailed the Thumb Roll, the others start to feel more doable, honestly!

Be precise with your Muscle Pass

Your next step should be the Muscle Pass. By now, you should have honed your precision, but you now need to introduce a little bit of power into the mix. To complete the trick, you need to propel a chip from the palm of your hand into the air using only the tension built up in your hand muscles.

Put a poker chip in the squidgy bit between your index finger and thumb. All you need to do is squeeze your palm, which should generate enough force to launch the chip into the air. It’s a handy stunt as a transition between other chip tricks.

Show-off your finesse with a Knuckle Roll

The Knuckle Roll may be a chip trick you’re familiar with, even if you’ve never played poker before. It’s a stunt that’s synonymous with casino tables and probably the one trick that gets the most airtime or imagery online.

A Knuckle Roll involves rolling a chip over the top of your knuckles. Start by holding a chip between your thumb and index finger. Use the former to gently nudge the chip onto the knuckle of your index finger. The chip should then smoothly cascade across each remaining knuckle, before catching it neatly with your pinky.

Once you’ve mastered it, the Knuckle Roll should be one of the most fluid chip tricks going. The chip almost looks like it has a life of its own!

Hopefully these chip tricks have inspired you to get cracking and open that chip set well in advance of your next home game. Just make sure that by the time your pals knock at that front door you’ve got some slick moves to dazzle and bamboozle them, hand-after-hand.

The fashion industry seems to be repetitive ―it looks like an endless cycle takes us back to 90s style, from bucket hats and mini skirts to tube tops and kitten heels. However, in the midst of all the fashionable clothing and fast fashion, some brands encourage us to take it slow and view garments differently.

Of course, we’re talking about the Irish, the most passionate and warm people one could ever meet. These traits have made it possible for fashion brands to bring something new to the market, thus establishing their importance in the fashion industry. No one can compete with the Aran sweaters, as the women’s islands hand-craft garments with love and passion.

Hence, Irish brands push for clothing longevity and slow fashion. What does this mean for the regular consumer?

What is slow fashion?

Slow fashion is the opposite of fast fashion, meaning it encourages people not to give up on their garments so quickly. It’s usually common for consumers to throw their garments after a few wears or if the piece is a little bit worn out. That’s why slow fashion is inclined towards long-term maintenance and care, so we not only keep our clothes for longer but also wear them with love.

Slow fashion isn’t about replacing your entire wardrobe with said brands but about upkeep your current pieces and avoiding buying from fast fashion brands. So, whether you’ve got a few printed T-shirts or colourful dresses you may think are out of style, there are so many things you can do with them instead of throwing them out and contributing to clothing landfills.

Is slow fashion sustainable?

Slow fashion is more sustainable than fast fashion because it focuses on lengthening a garment’s life cycle. Indeed, some garments, such as personalised hoodies, are for the long term, but T-shirts are not. Slow fashion is about quality, not quantity, which is why most of these products can be more expensive than clothes from regular shops. Materials are high quality, including the manufacturing process, ensuring customers have a reason to keep them for years.

The Irish fashion industry has focused on natural materials for some time, including linen, tweed, and wool. The latter is one of the most important materials in Irish history, as it’s a considerable exporter globally, considering the qualitative woollen clothes. These low-impact fibres became the country’s most appreciated materials.

What kind of clothes can you get from Irish companies?

Ireland is known for the staple Aran sweater, and it has an amazing history. What’s most special about these garments are the knitting patterns used in sweaters, socks, and mittens, whose meaning can differ from one stitch to another. For example, the cable stitch signified fisherman ropes, while the honeycomb one represents good luck and hard work.

Aran sweaters can take months to be created, which is why they’re so valuable. Many brands in Ireland pride themselves on a variety of similar clothing, which is why you’ll find the best winter garments here.

However, these are not the only unique clothes the Irish make. Swimsuits made from old carpets and fabric scraps, raw-material-based outerwear, and organic cotton products are common in Ireland, making it one of the most sustainable fashion-oriented places in the world.

How does eco-friendly clothing help the environment?

Fast fashion immensely impacts the environment, accounting for 10% of global carbon emissions, according to Earth ORG. The problem with fast fashion is that most textiles contain microplastics, and many end up in rivers and streams. In addition, the entire process of dyeing and fabric production contributes to nature’s damage.

On the other hand, eco-friendly clothing aims to minimise all that impact by employing different processes and textiles. Sustainability in fashion ensures:

• Reduced carbon footprint;
• Better garment quality;
• Ethical production;
• Less waste;
• Innovation and variety;
• Less impact on health;

The fashion industry needs to re-think its culture

Although companies are at fault for manufacturing so many clothes and advertising changes as necessary, consumers must also alter their perception of clothes. Do we really need new garments for each season? Are new shoes important when we’ve got multiple pairs of other shoes? Is the name of the brand more essential than its product quality?

Green clothing companies are mitigating transformation, especially by delivering new designs less often than fast fashion brands. These clothes are made to last for a few years, and this can happen if people also learn how to take care of their products.

For example, sustainable clothes need some attention when it comes to washing and caring. Washing in cold water is ideal, as warm water can lead to shrinkage and fading. Eco-detergent is also a great choice, in addition to no fabric softener, which is essential for delicate fabrics to last longer. Finally, letting clothes air dry (when possible) is best for consuming less energy and not damaging the fibers.

Still, why are people not buying more sustainable clothes?

The main reason people don’t consider buying more eco-friendly garments is the cost. These brands usually have to price products at higher rates than fast fashion companies because the costs of manufacturing them are high. Using sustainable fibers, sometimes sewing by hand, or painting them naturally takes more time and resources than regular companies.

However, buying one T-shirt made of natural materials is considerably better than buying five cheaper plastic-based textiles. Not only will it last longer, but its impact on nature will also be less significant. Therefore, we must change our perspective on clothes and their prices and try investing in them for the long term.

What do you think about the Irish sustainable fashion market?

The fast fashion industry is taken aback by slow fashion, and the market is focused on sustainable materials and eco-friendly manufacturing processes. The Irish fashion sector is mostly known for its sustainable approach, especially regarding warmer clothing, like the Aran sweater, so its contribution to a safer environment is considerable. Many Irish brands are reshaping what we know about garments, so we believe the future of fashion will be oriented towards protecting nature.