How many chips? (4 Viewers)

[PshUnreal00]

New here but not new to poker.

Me and my gang play casual hold em tournaments about 12 times per year with 8-10 people each time.

We are looking to buy a nice set of chips with denominations (do not have to be actual cash value).

I'm thinking 1,000 chips total but I cannot make up my mind how many different values and how many chips of each value would work perfectly.

We drop $50 for initial buy-in and allow a time limited $25 re-buy.

Suggestions?

 

[GamblePotato]

So for me what has worked is 25, 100, 500, 1000 with Blinds starting at 25/50. We were only 7 but this should work for max 10 as well. I have a 500 chips set and we set the demoninations to
150x25, 200x100, 100x500, 50x1000.

If you want lots of chips per player and allow rebuy, you might need something bigger though.

 

[tabletalker7]

My first suggestion is your don't need 1000 chips. I used to do monthly tournaments once a month for 20 people with rebuys and did it with 900. You gotta tell us more info on your tournament, like starting stacks

 

[Colquhoun]

The common recommendation around here is for a 10 person tournament to be around 400 chips, and that’s plenty.

Looks like this:

T25-base -- 12/12/5/6 T10K starting stacks (200BB with 25/50) and 100% re-buys, or up to T25K stacks (500BB) and no rebuys:

T25 x 120
T100 x120
T500 x 50
T1000 x 75 (includes color-ups for T25/T100)
T5000 x 35 (includes color-ups for T500 and re-buys/larger stacks)

Now that you only need 400 chips, you can either save the cash or buy better chips with the new budget.

 

[Eriks]

Don’t buy 1000 chips. Even with @Ben8257 approved big starting stacks T20k of 16/16/4/6/2 (25/100/500/1k/5k) you’d only need 500 chips and would have plenty of 1ks and 5ks for color-ups and rebuys. And ta-da, you will have doubled your chip buying budget per chip

T25 - 160
T100 - 160
T500 - 40
T1k - 100
T5k - 40

 

[VulgarrViking]

New here but not new to poker.

Me and my gang play casual hold em tournaments about 12 times per year with 8-10 people each time.

We are looking to buy a nice set of chips with denominations (do not have to be actual cash value).

I'm thinking 1,000 chips total but I cannot make up my mind how many different values and how many chips of each value would work perfectly.

We drop $50 for initial buy-in and allow a time limited $25 re-buy.

Suggestions?

You don't have to obviously but if you want cash value chips, for a $50 buy-in I like to use

Chip Denoms
5c/25c/$1/$5/$25

Chip stacks
10x 5c (50c)
14x 25c ($3.50)
11x $1 ($11)
7x $5 ($35)

Chips needed (500 total)
100x 5c ($5)
150x 25c ($37.50)
125x $1 ($125)
75x $5 ($375)
50x $25 ($1,250)

For example, I do the same thing as you but my friends usually prefer $20 buy-ins. For that we use.
Chip Denoms
5c/25c/$1/$5/$20

Chip stacks
10x 5c (50c)
18x 25c ($4.50)
15x $1 ($15)

Chips needed (500 total)
100x 5c ($5)
200x 25c ($50)
150x $1 ($150)
25x $5 ($125)
25x $20 ($500)

 

[TexRex]

First, I would not get cash chips and use them for tournaments for many reasons. In summary:

• Cash chips are using chips in place of cash and the amount represented by the chips should equal money in the kitty, and can be paid at any time. These chips retain their value throughout a session.
• Tournament chips use fantasy values. As the tournament progresses, chips have less value. The next color-up will remove all of the lowest value chips from play.
• Using one set for both creates problems some don't think of like "chip migration." That is where a chip moves from tournament to cash play (whether deliberately or accidentally) and it may have a much higher cash value. When that happens, the last players at the cash table discover there is not enough in the kitty to cover the amount in chips they have. That problem is completely avoided by using 2 different chip sets.
• How is the cash game banker supposed to know how many of those chips are left in the tournament? If they are brought over without being purchased from the banker, who pays when it's off? The banker is normally responsible for shortages, but who would want to be the banker if they can't control the actual bank but are responsible for shortages? Someone you wouldn't want as the banker, that's who!

Me and my gang play casual hold em tournaments about 12 times per year with 8-10 people each time. You don't need 1,000 chips to accomplish this. You could easily get by on 400-500 chips if you map it out well. If you plan for your game to grow, that's different, and you may want to get 1,000 chips.

We are looking to buy a nice set of chips with denominations (do not have to be actual cash value). I prefer denominations! That's an excellent choice. See above for why cash values shouldn't matter for tournament chips.

I'm thinking 1,000 chips total but I cannot make up my mind how many different values and how many chips of each value would work perfectly. Logical values:
1/4; 1; 5; 25; 100; 500; 1,000 or 2,000 -- see next 2 lines to continue
1,000; 5,000; 25,000; 100,000; 500,000
2,000; 10,000; 50,000; 100,000 (then to 500,000), 200,000, or 250,000 (then to 1,000,000)
10; 50
You do not need 25 and 50 in the same game, and probably not in the same set. Same with 50 and 100; 1,000 and 2,000. A reset from 5x to 10x (like 500 and 1,000) is not unreasonable and commonly used, but other than that, make chips 4x to 5x apart.

We drop $50 for initial buy-in and allow a time limited $25 re-buy. Are these for the same amount in chips?

Suggestions?

• Buy at least 1 denomination above what you probably think you need.
• The more higher denominations you have, the more flexible your set will be.
  • It will accommodate rebuys, add-ons, etc. more readily.
  • It will allow you have have games using more in chip value. I've learned that is quite handy. You may well decide that after playing in another game, you suddenly wish you had more flexibility.
  • Regret: I bought a chip set for 10,000 per player, and enough chips for 2 tables. By the time my game grew to 2 tables, we were using higher starting chip stacks. Biggest waste of money on a chipset ever! (for me anyway). What's stupid is I could have bought 2 higher denoms that would have made a great set. I just didn't see the need for them right then and didn't buy them. Those chips were no longer available when I changed our format.
• Think beyond what you believe to be your current needs.

Here are some lessons I learned from doing 3 custom sets. Some of these are unavoidable if it’s not a true custom set. Group buys can be great, but if you are customizing labels, mistakes are expensive. If you are buying ceramics, consider the top of the chip where I use the term label below.

• When considering a set, make sure no chips close together are similar in color. Don’t put pink or red next to orange. Putting lavender or purple next to orange works.​
• Don’t have identical colors in the edge spots next to each other in value.
• If possible, don’t have the same edge spot design next to each other in value, though with group buys that may be impossible.
• Avoid monochrome labels (stick on or imbedded) or designs (for ceramics) with chips of the same design.
• Avoid labels that are identical in color and design where the only difference is the denom.
• If doing a group buy, consider the set as a whole and not individual chips. I did that much better with my second group buy (CBIs) and didn’t have to re-order and reprint chips.
• For ceramics, consider a top that doesn’t depend on either aligned edge spots, or perhaps has edge spots on the sides only. I personally wouldn’t like non-aligned edge spots at all, but with ceramics, you can have a top design that doesn’t need edge spots.
• If you have a choice, don’t put a money symbol on tournament chips. That extra character takes up room that could be used for either bigger numbers, or more space to make your chip cleaner.
• I like a money symbol on cash chips.
• They are your chips, so you can use whatever colors you like for any value of your choosing, but …
  
  • The closer you stick to traditional values, the easier it is to make chips work together. That means values of white or blue 1; red 5; green 25; black 100; purple, lavender, or mulberry 500; yellow or orange 1,000. After that, you can get creative following the above rules. Generally, use a color following the first number if possible. For example, if it starts with 5, something in the red or red/blue mix is a good color if it doesn’t duplicate another color. If it starts with 25, then something in the green range.
  • Think about values carefully. In the same set, you don’t need a 5 and 10; a 10 and a 25; a 25 and a 50; a 50 and a 100; a 5,000 and 10,000; a 10,000 and a 25,000. Try to go 4x or 5x between chips, though a 500 and 1,000 are an exception to reset. Some like a jump between 500 and either 2,000 or 2,500. Your players are not likely to like that as most people’s minds don’t really think that way. Yes, it makes for a good 4x/5x progression, but that is not a good enough reason for doing it.
• You can get by with fewer T500 chips if you have T1,000 chips. The T1,000 chips will be a workhorse chip much more than the T500.
• When you are considering “filling out a rack” or a chip case, consider higher value chips instead of extras of other chips. If you have them, you will tend to use them.
• Don’t think your starting chip value will never change, or that structure will never change. Buy flexibly. I know several people who never believed their game would change. They bought chips, then discovered that more chips were needed, but couldn’t get the same chips. Buying a whole new set is way more expensive than buying some extras and higher value chips for flexibility. If you have to buy another set, you might find yourself using an oddball solution temporarily, or buying a temporary set while waiting on your customs to come in. If it’s a group buy, you may never be able to buy more of the chips you have. If it’s true custom, you may believe you can get more, but several companies no longer make chips and you might not be able to get more. Ask yourself the following before buying a set:
  • Have you considered the possibility that your starting chip values may increase considerably – double, triple, or more? My first tournament set was designed to start at T25 with T10,000 in starting chips. We now have T25 as the lowest with T40,000 (different blind structure), and play some games with T125,000 to T250,000 and even rebuys or re-entries. As you learn more and make changes, your chips may severely limit what you can do.
  • What if you start doing rebuys or add-ons, or the game changes where you have more players?
  • More denoms is better than fewer. My tournament sets have 7 to 9 denoms. A prior tournament set had 5, but it became a throw away set because the game changed. Only 3 or 4 denoms is way more limiting than you think.

 

[LeLe]

For tourney STT - 400 chips are more than enough
For Cash Set - 500 or 600 chips are more than enough

 

[PshUnreal00]

So I bought a 600 chip set on a good deal with a new case.

$25 - 150
$100 - 150
$500 - 100
$1000 - 150
$5000 - 50

Will start with 12/12/5/6/1-2

Doesn't hurt to have the extra chips

 

[Old State]

I’m glad to see recommendations for less chips here as I’ve seen quite the opposite before. Least amount of chips and denominations necessary is the easiest of most efficient way to manage a tournament or cash game.

For a tourney you want a structure that allows you to color out a denomination every 3-4 rounds. Big stacks of unnecessary chips are just clutter and made for TV nonsense

I actually use far more chips for cash poker but never more than three denominations and ideally two. I host 50/1 and 1/2 and the rare 2/5 NL game. I just made a 1200 chip set to handle all that with 600 $5s. As a banker, the less denominations the easier it’s is. I may change the 50/1 game to 1/1 get the 50¢ chips off the table! $1/2 is the easiest to bank.
When people want more chips after their initial buyin I try to give it to them in the highest denomination being used. $5 for 50/1 and most of the game for 1/2. For 2/5 $25 chips

 

[detroitdad]

500 chips.

100 x .25
200 x $1.00
200 x $5.00
80 x $25
20 x $100

Realistically, you could get by with 400'ish chips. The above breakdown would allow for an increase in stakes if you choose to do so at some point.

 

[allforcharity]

500 chips.

100 x .25
200 x $1.00
200 x $5.00
80 x $25
20 x $100

(Psssst, that's 600)

 

[detroitdad]

(Psssst, that's 600)

Maff is hard

 

[tabletalker7]

(Psssst, that's 600)

Maff is hard

Senior moments suck don't they?

 

[VulgarrViking]

(Psssst, that's 600)

"Background? My mother was half Jewish, half English, and half Spanish."
"That's three halves."
"Oh, she was a big woman."