Cash Game Help with Breakdown for a Weirdo with Weird Needs (2 Viewers)

[Craig D]

Getting 5cx100 means you can get more of your workhorse chips, could be the $1 or $5 depending on your game, An idea

Bank $8000
5cx100 25cx140 $1x360 $5x240 $20x120 $100x40

Bank $10000
5cx100 25cx140 $1x260 $5x340 $20x100 $100x60

 

[btbmason]

Really need a better idea of what chips will be used for what and how big or small your .50/1 games run.

Initially I'd have said 20 $100s is more than enough but you want them for other things as well.

Being you don't know exactly what you want, instead of knocking it out in one fell swoop figure out an order for 800. If it turns out it's not enough you'll have a good idea of where to expand with the other 200-400 chips.

Right now the NL/PL game is non-existent. If I'm basing those games on friends I currently have in the area, they will play on the snug side/probably average. Most of my friends don't have tons of money to throw around and aren't overly spewy.

A barrel of $100s is probably still fine, but I think I'd need at least 100 total chips between the $20s and $100s for point games. I don't expect these to see much use in poker games in the early going. We don't typically have more than 6 people playing board games, some games the scores get up into the 300-400 point range. There's always the possibility to keep lower chips in play instead of coloring up.

My wallet is really digging this 800 chip idea...

 

[btbmason]

Surely the spa treatment is done after these cash games correct ?

NEVER!

I'll always find a way to get money for Horseshoe Cleveland 8-spot snappers. I'll sell my plasma, or a kidney or my car or something.

 

[Craig D]

Why would you colour up?

 

[btbmason]

I'm just going to reiterate here...I think there's a lot of value to be gained in using a non-denom in this set as long as it won't tilt you personally.

Well this option is out

Personally I can probably adapt, but in the game the nickel is primarily being used for I want the denom on the chip. If I have to hear "how much is this worth again?" one more time I may just lose my mind.

 

[btbmason]

This my suggestion as well, not sure what nickel games you guys are playing. My wife's family exclusively plays 5c 7 card stud, I have 300 nickels and they all typically get in play with about 3 barrels of quarters and a handful of $1's for 7-8 players. The nickels are really the only denom used for betting in this game, 25c bet will only get one caller typically just to see if you have it. If this sounds like your game then a I highly suggest another rack of nickels, or as stated get 3 racks of non denoms and lose the hundos

It's just a dealer's choice game. Everyone antes a nickel (or sometimes a dime if we are feeling frisky) and it's no limit on every street (but nobody ever bets more than a quarter.) Most people honestly just say "a nickel" or "a dime" and then everyone calls to see the next card. It's mostly stud or draw based games, things like Baseball, Queens and After, 5-Card Draw with Wilds etc.

 

[Psypher1000]

If I have to hear "how much is this worth again?" one more time I may just lose my mind.

That's fair. Looks like we were typing at the same time; I'll never fault anyone for wanting nickle-denominated chips (although I got mine denominated for slightly different reasons), and if it helps make the game more smooth then denominated chips are worth every penny.

 

[btbmason]

Why would you colour up?

Just for board games, to make scoring easier along the way and give people a sense of where they are without everyone needing to count everyone's stack down after every round. Or if I owe someone let's say 60 points, I can toss them a hundo and take 40 points worth of smaller chips back into the bank.

 

[btbmason]

So, kind of staying on topic, is there a consensus here about what the workhorse chip is in a .05/.10 game? I guess it would be either the quarter or the dollar? Or kind of a mix of both, depending on the crowd?

In my old game (given this was probably 5+ years ago) it ended up being about even between the quarter and dollar, but that game also had a lot of straddles.

Normally I'd expect it to be the quarter. If the workhorse in 1/2 is the $5, divide limits by 20 for 5c/10c and the workhorse divided by 20 ends up being 25c.

 

[Craig D]

My wallet is really digging this 800 chip idea...

My last post in this thread

Chips: 800 Bank: $6000 Players: 10
5cx100 25cx100 $1x270 $5x220 $20x80 $100x30

Have Fun

 

[TexRex]

I think many good points made. Here are 3 ideas.

600 Chips
$0.05x100 = $5.00
$0.25x100 = $25.00
$1.00x150 = $150.00
$5.00x150 = $750.00
$20.00x60 = $1,200.00
$100.00x40 = $4,000.00
Bank $6,130.00

1000 Chips
$0.05x100 = $5.00
$0.25x150 = $37.50
$1.00x300 = $300.00
$5.00x300 = $1,500.00
$20.00x100 = $2,000.00
$100.00x50 = $5,000.00
Bank $8,842.50


1200 Chips
$0.05x100 = $5.00
$0.25 200 = $50.00
$1.00x350 = $350.00
$5.00x350 = $1,750.00
$20.00x150 = $3,000.00
$100.00x50 = $5,000.00
Bank $10,155.00


I'm not sure you need more than 300 of anything, but that may depend on how many players love mountains of chips. I offered 350 on the $5 and $20, but I'd be more inclined to reduce both to 300 and increase the $.05 to 200 if you play a lot of nickel ante.

I'd also be inclined to find a way to cut a little from biggest chip amounts and give yourself 5 extra of each to cover future damage and chip losses.

One point I will reiterate is that it makes sense to buy a larger set than try to add on later. If you have customs or China Clays, you don't know that the same chips will be available later. If you needed a bigger set, you might just have to buy a bigger set. So if you could afford it, I'd go with the 1200. BTW, you ask this on a chip forum, so the answer is ALWAYS more chips!

I have a 700 chip cash set similar to the 600 set above, but I also have $.01. I've had the set for over 3 years and still haven't played a cash game with them. It was designed for 7 or 8, but up to 10 if it was a hold 'em only cash game.

I like the 6 values, including the $20 instead of the $25 since it's a cash set. I personally prefer all denominated chips, but if you wanted on undenominated that could be either your smallest or largest chip, that could give you some additional flexibility. My caution would be that chip might disappear in a game where it was the smallest value and reappear in a game where it was the largest value.

 

[jbutler]

Anyone want to side bet there's a thread on fetlife right now with this exact title?

 

[btbmason]

Anyone want to side bet there's a thread on fetlife right now with this exact title?

Where do you think I got the idea?

 

[btbmason]

@TexRex brings up a good point that I forgot to mention (I'm on mobile so I'm not going to fight with trying to quote it) - these counts are going to be my in play/available chips. Also thanks for the breakdowns!

I am planning on ordering extras of all denoms to keep set aside as replacements. I'm also not taking orders for samples, just ordering a certain number of extra sets that should far exceed the demand for samples. That was part of my decision to add on the ability to push the set to 1200, if I'm doing that I will need to sell samples beforehand to cover the cost of extra chips because that pushes me pretty far. If the set is 1000 chips only I don't mind floating the money for the extra chips and recouping it upon receipt of the chips (or keeping the extras, thus making the set bigger.)

 

[dew4au]

So, kind of staying on topic, is there a consensus here about what the workhorse chip is in a .05/.10 game? I guess it would be either the quarter or the dollar? Or kind of a mix of both, depending on the crowd?

I agree with @RowdyRawhide, it really depends on the group. I've played where it's the .25 and I've played where it's the $1.

I also concur with the thought that you need to consider long term planning for evolving limits. Ensuring the set's playability endures the evolution of your game and inflation ensures you get the maximum value out of your custom set. I love CPC, but who know's if they'll be around in 15 to 20 years when you find the set needs modification. I don't plan on getting rid of my sets, so I'm making plans to make sure my cash set withstands the test of time while CPC is still around.

 

[BGinGA]

No matter what breakdown quantities you eventually pick, I'd recommend that you make the set without currency symbols or decimal points. You end up with a much more versatile set, that can be used for a variety of different cash game stakes, game play, and even tournaments.

The 5 chip can represent pennies (5c), dollars $5), or simply units (T5 for tourney play, or you can assign any value per unit you desire at the time).

The Donkey KGB set is a great example of this type of versatile execution. Denominations are 1, 5, 25, 100, 500, 2000, and 10000. Perfect simplicity.

 

[btbmason]

No matter what breakdown quantities you eventually pick, I'd recommend that you make the set without currency symbols or decimal points. You end up with a much more versatile set, that can be used for a variety of different cash game stakes, game play, and even tournaments.

The 5 chip can represent pennies (5c), dollars $5), or simply units (T5 for tourney play, or you can assign any value per unit you desire at the time).

The Donkey KGB set is a great example of this type of versatile execution. Denominations are 1, 5, 25, 100, 500, 2000, and 10000. Perfect simplicity.

I appreciate the option, but I have a few issues with this.

I'm a little more paranoid than the average person, and while introducing a bunch of new people into a game I'd be a little worried about people pocketing chips when they are used as 5c and introducing them back into the game when they are eventually worth $5, same with 25c to $25. There may also be scenarios where both a 25c chip and $25 chip would both need to be in play, such as a .50/1 NL/PL game. Also I prefer a $20 over a $25 for a cash game set, and having a .20 chip would be a little odd for me.

Having a 25 chip, 5 chip and a 1 chip and having the 25 and 5 chips being worth less than the 1 chip is just icky to me. Personal preference/bias only. I've found this while trying to use snappers as quarters for a few sets, it just makes me sad. EDIT - I do realize I could be using a 100 chip instead of a 1 in this scenario, but I would have far too few 100 chips for this.

This set will never be used for tournaments or strictly fixed limit cash games, as I have sets to fill those needs. If I do decide to sell those sets, it would be to add on to this set with new chips to take the place of those sets. This will be for cash games only/point chips. I do realize that making the point chips in terms of dollars and not points should probably mess with my head, so far it hasn't. If it does, I have some other options to remove these chips from that function but they should still be primarily for poker.

I'm also not revealing all relevant information which makes it tough, but an element of the design calls for the chips to be labeled as currency instead of just a flat value. Again probably just personal preference/bias, and nobody has any way of knowing this ahead of time. It's my fault for being sneaky but also asking for advice at the same time.

 

[btbmason]

I'm going to make a hypothetical change, for those who don't mind answering another scenario. I know @Psypher1000 is the resident expert and I'd appreciate another opinion!

Completely ruling out the set for any board game use, poker only.

- From 5c/10c up to .25/.50 NL/PL games (10 max, 1 table) and also small stakes nickel ante limit games (6 max, 1 table)

- 5 denoms, 5c, 25c, $1, $5, $20

- Minimum needed per denom starting at 500 chips up to 800 chips max, I'd prefer to see breakdowns for both ends of the spectrum


Thanks again for the help. I have a lot going through my head with this set right now so I'm really reaching for all possible angles. :

 

[TexRex]

BTBMason see my thoughts below. A general rule I use is you can always make do with 10-12 chips per player of the lower and mid-value chips. Ideally I'd like to have 20 per player, and I think an average of more than that is more than necessary to get the job done. Some people like a mountain of chips though, but that's a matter of want more than need.

500 Chips
$0.05x100 = $5.00
$0.25x100 = $25.00
$1.00x120 = $120.00
$5.00x120 = $600.00
$20.00x50 = $1,000.00
$100.00x10 = $1,000.00
Bank $2,720.00

800 Chips
$0.05x100 = $5.00
$0.25x150 = $37.50
$1.00x200 = $200.00
$5.00x200 = $1,000.00
$20.00x100 = $2,000.00
$100.00x50 = $5,000.00
Bank $8,242.50

 

[Mental Nomad]

So, kind of staying on topic, is there a consensus here about what the workhorse chip is in a .05/.10 game? I guess it would be either the quarter or the dollar? Or kind of a mix of both, depending on the crowd?

My answer: a NL or PL set always has two workhorse chips. One is the workhorse for the early betting rounds, and the other is the workhorse for later betting rounds (and stack building.)

For 5c/10c, the quarter and the dollar are the workhorses. I'd want a lot of quarters, and even more dollars. (Because dollars are what people want to accumulate in stacks.)

 

[detroitdad]

My answer: a NL or PL set always has two workhorse chips. One is the workhorse for the early betting rounds, and the other is the workhorse for later betting rounds (and stack building.)

For 5c/10c, the quarter and the dollar are the workhorses. I'd want a lot of quarters, and even more dollars. (Because dollars are what people want to accumulate in stacks.)

off topic kind of. I think in a .05/.10c game with a 10-20 dollar buy in. I would lose more than I ever have lol. Just a gut feeling.