Tourney Help - 300 chip breakdown (2 Viewers)

Mcjeff

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Hi all,

I am quite new to playing poker and I am very new to the intricacies of hosting a poker tournament.

I am hoping I could get some advice on a 300 chip set breakdown, distribution and my blind structure. This will be for 6-7 players max.

The denominations I was wanting are
1, 5, 25, 100, 500.

1 - 70x
5 - 120x
25 - 70x
100 - 30x
500 - 10x

Each player will start with;

10x 1's
8x 5's
6x 25's
3x 100's

This will be everyone starting with 125BB with the following blind structures.

2/4
3/6
5/10
15/30
25/50
50/100
100/200

TBH I don't really know what I am doing with all of this and would greatly appreciate some advice on any of the above. I haven't bought the chips yet but I'm quite keen to keep to the denominations. Do I need more chips of a certain value? Does anything stick out as a major concern?

Thank you for any help in advance

Jeff
 
The starting stacks look good and you have enough chips to cover that. Maybe equalize the 1s and 5s in case you ever want more players.

125 BB is a little shallow to start. Maybe throw in a 1/2 level to ease you all into it.

The gap between 5/10 and 15/30 is waaaay too big. You need an 8/16 or something in there. And even then the later levels go up too quickly. Try to get a 50-70% increase over the level before.

The search function is your friend - there are lots of consolidated threads on starting stacks and blind structures - and even a presentation somewhere :)

Good Luck!
 
Thank you for the advice.

Yeh I noticed that 15/30 level after I posted, don't know what I was thinking .

Might be better with something like

1/2
2/4
3/6
5/10
10/20
15/30
25/50
50/100...

Might even be too slow?
 
Most tourney set are either T25 or T100 based (meaning that’s the smallest denom) and some T5. If you absolutely want to do T1, that works too but you need to rework that blind stucture. Way too big leaps between levels. How about:

1/2
2/4
3/6
4/8
6/12
8/16
10/20
15/30
20/40
30/60
And so on

Adjust length of levels rather than making big jumps when managing your tourney structure
 
I think that is where I might be going wrong, trying to adjust the game length with the size of jumps instead of length of levels.

I do want to stick with the smaller denominations as I am also an avid boardgamer and the chips could also be used as currency in them.

I appreciate the advice. Thanks
 
I started with T5 base then moved to T25 and now currently run a T100 base. I'm liking the T100 base.

I would run denominations of 100, 500, 1000, and 5000 in a 10/8/10/1 starting stack of 20,000.

300 chips:
100 - 80x
500 - 80x
1000 - 80x
5000 - 60x

100/200
200/300
200/400
300/600
400/800
600/1200
800/1600
1000/2000
2000/3000
2000/4000
3000/6000
4000/8000
 
I am indeed a newbie when it comes to this but, when trying to do a bit of research on this, it was advised that the denomination should be 4-5x of an increase from each other so I thought
1, 5, 25, 100, 500 fits the bill perfect.

When searching the forums T25 and T100 are recommended way more than T1 base. Why is this the case? Is the 4-5x increase thing a load of nonsense?
 
Do away with the 1s and start at 5. Get yourself 80x5, 80x25, 80x100 and 60x500 for a perfect, simple 300 chip set that can accommodate 8 players. Starting stacks are 10/10/7/3 (or 4) for 2,500 chips each (or 3,000). When it’s time to color up, your 5s and 25s perfectly turn into the leftover 100s. Even using 4x500 each and 8 players you’ll still have enough in the bank for 7 rebuys. So a 6 or 7 player game will have plenty of bank available for a rebuy or add on. Blinds (5/10 optional), 10/20, 20/40, 30/60, 40/80, 50/100, (60/120 optional), 75/150, 100/200, 150/300, color up 5s and 25s, 200/400, 300/600, 400/800, 500/1000, 600/1200, color up 100s, 1000/1500, 1000/2000, 1500/2500, 1500/3000.
 
I kinda want to keep the 1's thb.

Taking some of the advice so far, would this work?

10x 1's
8x 5's
6x 25's
3x 100's
1x 500

So 1000 to start @ a blind of 2/4

Would change the chip breakdown to

T1 - 80
T5 - 80
T25 - 80
T100 - 40
T500 - 20

With plenty spare for cover.
 
Thanks for the help everyone, now the exciting bit getting the chips. Managed to find Ascona's for 0.79 per chip shipped so think I'm going to go for them.
 
Do away with the 1s and start at 5. Get yourself 80x5, 80x25, 80x100 and 60x500 for a perfect, simple 300 chip set that can accommodate 8 players. Starting stacks are 10/10/7/3 (or 4) for 2,500 chips each (or 3,000). When it’s time to color up, your 5s and 25s perfectly turn into the leftover 100s. Even using 4x500 each and 8 players you’ll still have enough in the bank for 7 rebuys. So a 6 or 7 player game will have plenty of bank available for a rebuy or add on. Blinds (5/10 optional), 10/20, 20/40, 30/60, 40/80, 50/100, (60/120 optional), 75/150, 100/200, 150/300, color up 5s and 25s, 200/400, 300/600, 400/800, 500/1000, 600/1200, color up 100s, 1000/1500, 1000/2000, 1500/2500, 1500/3000.
I agree with this for a tourney if you're new to hosting. Just a little more simplified but I think it will work nicely.
 
I kinda want to keep the 1's thb.

Taking some of the advice so far, would this work?

10x 1's
8x 5's
6x 25's
3x 100's
1x 500

So 1000 to start @ a blind of 2/4

Would change the chip breakdown to

T1 - 80
T5 - 80
T25 - 80
T100 - 40
T500 - 20

With plenty spare for cover.
I think this should work pretty well.

Starting at 2/4 you should be able to get a steady Blinds increase. I’d expect the final big blind level to be ~400 for T8000 chips total (8 people x T1000 starting stacks) so see how many levels you need to get there and then how long they need to be so you finish at the right time.

Finally, always use the T500s to chip up the 1s, 5s (and 25s probably). They’ll be more useful on the table by the end than more 100s.
 
I think this should work pretty well.

Starting at 2/4 you should be able to get a steady Blinds increase. I’d expect the final big blind level to be ~400 for T8000 chips total (8 people x T1000 starting stacks) so see how many levels you need to get there and then how long they need to be so you finish at the right time.

Finally, always use the T500s to chip up the 1s, 5s (and 25s probably). They’ll be more useful on the table by the end than more 100s.
Do you think it would be useful to swap out 5x 500's for 1000's or would that be useless?
 
If you willing to try other Tourney, a T5 2000 STT Tourney fit perfectly to 300 chip set

$5 x 100
$25 x 100
$100 x 75
$500 x 25

Starting Stack of $5/$25/$100/$500 10/10/7/2

The extra $100 to use for $5 colour-up & the extra $500 for $25 colour-up

And this is the T5 Tourney structure that I am using
1653664842650.png
 
Is there any real difference between T1 and T5 base?

I get that you start with a bigger chip value but effectively the same amount of physical chips, similar incriment levels between chips (4-5x) and it is easy to adjust the amount of BB's you start with.

Is T5 more flexible? Is it just bigger numbers? I think I am missing something here. I'm guessing it is just less colouring up and being more chip efficient?
 
Is there any real difference between T1 and T5 base?

I get that you start with a bigger chip value but effectively the same amount of physical chips, similar incriment levels between chips (4-5x) and it is easy to adjust the amount of BB's you start with.

Is T5 more flexible? Is it just bigger numbers? I think I am missing something here. I'm guessing it is just less colouring up and being more chip efficient?
There’ll be less quirky blind levels like 8/16 for sure, but otherwise it’s mostly a matter of preference.
 
Is there any real difference between T1 and T5 base?

I get that you start with a bigger chip value but effectively the same amount of physical chips, similar incriment levels between chips (4-5x) and it is easy to adjust the amount of BB's you start with.

Is T5 more flexible? Is it just bigger numbers? I think I am missing something here. I'm guessing it is just less colouring up and being more chip efficient?
I think it’s just the way tournaments have evolved. If you want to look at big pictures and pick things apart, sure, you can find advantages and disadvantages to different chip structures, but I think as long as you create a playable blind schedule for whichever chips you have, it really doesn’t matter.
I started playing T25s, in the casinos, and I thought that was best. As big blind antes became more popular, so too did T100s and I eventually came to think that was best. Now I plan to buy a T5 set, just because it will be more cost effective than T25 or T100 and I have no concerns or regrets.
 
Yeh that is true about the quirky blinds.

My mind has been quite blown with all of this. I just went to buy some poker chips and fell down a rabbit hole of chip breakdowns and blind structures lol.

It's all quite interesting.
 
I started with T5 base then moved to T25 and now currently run a T100 base. I'm liking the T100 base.

I would run denominations of 100, 500, 1000, and 5000 in a 10/8/10/1 starting stack of 20,000.

300 chips:
100 - 80x
500 - 80x
1000 - 80x
5000 - 60x

100/200
200/300
200/400
300/600
400/800
600/1200
800/1600
1000/2000
2000/3000
2000/4000
3000/6000
4000/8000
I keep seeing people skip the 500/1000 level. Is that to discourage people from putting their 500 chips in play?
 
I keep seeing people skip the 500/1000 level. Is that to discourage people from putting their 500 chips in play?
To keep with the double the big blind with every other level. We do a break after 800/1600 and color up the 100 and 500.
 
Is there any real difference between T1 and T5 base?

I get that you start with a bigger chip value but effectively the same amount of physical chips, similar incriment levels between chips (4-5x) and it is easy to adjust the amount of BB's you start with.

Is T5 more flexible? Is it just bigger numbers? I think I am missing something here. I'm guessing it is just less colouring up and being more chip efficient?
It’s a good question. I find it funny when people will think T1 is ridiculous but then play T100 instead. Same thing just with extra 0s. I love a T5 base for single table tournament because of what I explained in my original suggestion. You only need 4 colors of chips, the color ups are easy, and the structure is pretty smooth. There’s nothing wrong with T1 but for some reason multiples of 5 are just better. 1s feel more like a cash game to me. Bigger numbers always feel like a tournament. But do what your group likes and if it works for you then go for it.
 
It’s a good question. I find it funny when people will think T1 is ridiculous but then play T100 instead. Same thing just with extra 0s. I love a T5 base for single table tournament because of what I explained in my original suggestion. You only need 4 colors of chips, the color ups are easy, and the structure is pretty smooth. There’s nothing wrong with T1 but for some reason multiples of 5 are just better. 1s feel more like a cash game to me. Bigger numbers always feel like a tournament. But do what your group likes and if it works for you then go for it.
To be fair I do get what you are saying with the T5 base. Adding in the T1 might just be adding a fiddly couple of levels and having to get change more often. I might buy another 100 to add in the ability to do T5 base.

I do also agree with the T1 start feeling like a cash game but, I think that is kind of what I am going for, so that everyone kind of feels like we are playing with realistic (for me anyway) levels of cash. I suppose T5 base isn't a massive jump up in that regard also.

Appreciate all the help btw
 
I kinda want to keep the 1's thb.

Taking some of the advice so far, would this work?

10x 1's
8x 5's
6x 25's
3x 100's
1x 500

So 1000 to start @ a blind of 2/4

Would change the chip breakdown to

T1 - 80
T5 - 80
T25 - 80
T100 - 40
T500 - 20

With plenty spare for cover.
If you are starting eight players with 1k stacks using a T1-base set, you are much better off dropping the T500 chip and going with 10/8/10/7 stacks -- no single chip should be worth half a starting stack, as making change for such a chip during play will be nearly impossible.

For 8 players, you will need a minimum of:
80 x T1
64 x T5
84 x T25 (includes 4x for T1 color-up)
56 x T100 (includes 3x for T5 color-up)
---------
284 total chips. If expanding the set to 300 chips, add 16x T500 allowing for re-buys or larger starting stacks.

Below is a decent deep-stack T1-base blind schedule for T1000 stacks, starting at 2/4 (equal to 250 big blinds). Nearly all increases are either 33% or 50%, averaging about 41% over the length of the tournament:

L1 2 4
L2 3 6
L3 4 8
L4 6 12
L5 8 16 (remove T1 chips)
L6 10 20
L7 15 30
L8 20 40
L9 30 60
L10 40 80 (remove T5 chips)
L11 50 100
L12 75 150
L13 100 200
L14 150 300
L15 200 400 ***
L16 300 600
L17 400 800

The event will likely end no later than L15, which is when a total of 20 big blinds remain in play on the table. T500 chips aren't necessary, but a few could be optionally introduced around L12 or so.

With 20-minute levels, it will run about 5 hours plus breaks, or roughly 4 hours with 15-minute levels. To adjust it for shorter events, reduce the size of the starting stack -- T400 is still a respectable 100bb to start (and T600 is 150bb) which will finish around L12 (3 hours plus breaks using 15-minute blinds).
 
no single chip should be worth half a starting stack, as making change for such a chip during play will be nearly impossible.
This is good advice.

Of course, if there are rebuys allowed, the biggest chip values could be introduced then, as more change will be on the table from the stacks that busted. If starting stacks are T1000, I might include one T500 chip -- say a rebuy stack of 5-T100s + 1-T500, or 4-T25 + 4T100 + 1T500.

I think tourneys play out better if there are around as many (or more) of the third or fourth-highest denom chips in play as the lowest two denom chip in play. Because in the middle to late rounds, standard raise and bet sizes will be using the higher denom a lot. The smallest chip denom won't be used too much other than blinds after the first couple levels. The 10/8/10/7 breakdown is much better than 10/8/6/3/1.

I do want to stick with the smaller denominations as I am also an avid boardgamer and the chips could also be used as currency in them.
Cool. There are others members & posts here on PCF where poker chip sets were used double duty for board games as well. I'm curious how the breakdown of denoms works for the boardgames you need versus a poker tournament. I'm guessing some board games might need a lot more 1s & 5s where a poker tourney really doesn't.

My mind has been quite blown with all of this. I just went to buy some poker chips and fell down a rabbit hole of chip breakdowns and blind structures lol.
It's funny, I think a lot of us here went through the same thoughts when we first bought poker chips. I never fully thought through a tournament set breakdown myself, (although I had a great set breakdown that served me well for cash games), but for a tourney set, I bought a whole bunch of different colors of chips I never even used or got in play. I wish I would have put some more thought into it and went through the starting stack math & breakdowns better before I bought the tourney chips.
 
If you are starting eight players with 1k stacks using a T1-base set, you are much better off dropping the T500 chip and going with 10/8/10/7 stacks -- no single chip should be worth half a starting stack, as making change for such a chip during play will be nearly impossible.

For 8 players, you will need a minimum of:
80 x T1
64 x T5
84 x T25 (includes 4x for T1 color-up)
56 x T100 (includes 3x for T5 color-up)
---------
284 total chips. If expanding the set to 300 chips, add 16x T500 allowing for re-buys or larger starting stacks.

Below is a decent deep-stack T1-base blind schedule for T1000 stacks, starting at 2/4 (equal to 250 big blinds). Nearly all increases are either 33% or 50%, averaging about 41% over the length of the tournament:

L1 2 4
L2 3 6
L3 4 8
L4 6 12
L5 8 16 (remove T1 chips)
L6 10 20
L7 15 30
L8 20 40
L9 30 60
L10 40 80 (remove T5 chips)
L11 50 100
L12 75 150
L13 100 200
L14 150 300
L15 200 400 ***
L16 300 600
L17 400 800

The event will likely end no later than L15, which is when a total of 20 big blinds remain in play on the table. T500 chips aren't necessary, but a few could be optionally introduced around L12 or so.

With 20-minute levels, it will run about 5 hours plus breaks, or roughly 4 hours with 15-minute levels. To adjust it for shorter events, reduce the size of the starting stack -- T400 is still a respectable 100bb to start (and T600 is 150bb) which will finish around L12 (3 hours plus breaks using 15-minute blinds).
Thanks very much, this helped a lot.
 
Below is a decent deep-stack T1-base blind schedule for T1000 stacks, starting at 2/4 (equal to 250 big blinds). Nearly all increases are either 33% or 50%, averaging about 41% over the length of the tournament:
~
With 20-minute levels, it will run about 5 hours plus breaks, or roughly 4 hours with 15-minute levels. To adjust it for shorter events, reduce the size of the starting stack -- T400 is still a respectable 100bb to start (and T600 is 150bb) which will finish around L12 (3 hours plus breaks using 15-minute blinds).
Other things being equal @BGinGA, do you prefer a shorter stack with lower blind increases (e.g. 100bb @40%) or a bigger stack with bigger jumps (e.g. 250bb @60% increases)?
 

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