The poker is an old shape and one of the most enduring. Its popularity has persisted throughout the years due to its simplicity of form and excellent functionality. Many variations on this shape have been made throughout the years, from the earliest cherry wood pipes to more modern highly sculpted versions. Distilled to its simplest form, the poker is two connected cylinders, usually with a flattened top and bottom of the cylinder that forms the bowl.
This simple form allows the pipe to sit flat on a table or other surface giving the poker a level of convenience and functionality not found in most pipe shapes. The most popular explanation of the shape's name comes from this feature as it is said that this pipe was popular with pipe smokers who played poker or other card games and they could set the pipe down on the table when they needed to manage their cards. Many pipe smokers deal with this by clenching their pipes but for those that don't prefer to clench, the poker provides a great service.
The BriarWorks and Moonshine shape charts include three different variations of the poker. The BriarWorks Classic C71 is a poker inspired by British classics. The Moonshine Patriot and Stoker are both chubbier versions of the poker with the Stoker being very compact allowing it to be easily placed in a jacket pocket or bag while out and about. Visit the BriarWorks and Moonshine sections on our website to view more examples of these three versions of the classic poker.
