Micro Chip Set .5 or .10 (1 Viewer)

[Hobart]

If I’m putting together a micro stakes set for a game with .10/.25 blinds should I get .5 or .10 chips?

 

[RichMahogany]

Neither. Drop the smaller denom and play 0.25/0.25 instead

 

[Poker Zombie]

.05/.10 or .25/.25

.10/.25 requires a chip whose only purpose is a small blind. The dime chip becomes an indivisible nightmare.

Player goes all-in for 80 cents (2 quarters and 3 dimes). Your challenge when he wins, is how does a player with just $1.50 in quarters pay up? It's obviously easier with nickels, but that nickel is still a small blind only chip.

.25/.25 will play exactly as big as .10/.25, but hassle free.

 

[BGinGA]

.05/.10 or .25/.25

.10/.25 requires a chip whose only purpose is a small blind. The dime chip becomes an indivisible nightmare.

In addition to 5c/10c, 10c/20c also works using nickels and quarters (or it can be done with dimes and 50c chips, if so inclined). More than one way to skin the microstakes cat.

But 10c/25c only works with nickels and quarters, and isn't particularly efficient.

Nickels and quarters is the most flexible option for microstakes, supporting games from 5c/5c up to 25c/25c.

 

[tabletalker7]

I agree with everyone else here. 10c/25c doesn't make much sense. My recommendation is go 10c/20c with nickels and quarters and dollars, or 25c on the button and scrap the nickel entirely.

 

[JustinInMN]

I really think dimes and quarters cannot coexist because they do not divide each other and that's a problem in the scenario @Poker Zombie just laid out.

The only real options are nickel-quarter or dime-half. I did this post weighing the pros and cons a while back.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/dime-half-single-alternative-micro-breakdown-idea.39237/

FWIW, I did do dime-half for my customs (see signature) and it's working well. But I like @BGinGA 's analysis here that nickel-quarter has more downward flexibility.

0.25-0.25 if a good option too if you are sure 0.25 is the lowest big blind you would spread.

 

[DarkestHorse]

If you are playing one game and want the buy-in to be $25-$50, I agree that I would just do 0.25/0.25.

It‘s unconventional, but if you are wanting a $10-$20, I like doing 0.10/0.10 with dimes quarters dollars, rather than nickels. If I was doing custom denominations I would do 0.10,0.20,1.00.

 

[RichMahogany]

If you are playing one game and want the buy-in to be $25-$50, I agree that I would just do 0.25/0.25.

It‘s unconventional, but if you are wanting a $10-$20, I like doing 0.10/0.10 with dimes quarters dollars, rather than nickels. If I was doing custom denominations I would do 0.10,0.20,1.00.

Having a 0.10 and a 0.20 chip with those blinds is a waste. Only 0.10s would be needed

 

[Coyote]

.10 and .50 OR .05 and .25
(I would vote for the former)

 

[SeanGecko]

I prefer the nickel. But we also play with antes in NLHE and play STUD games as well.

 

[DarkestHorse]

Having a 0.10 and a 0.20 chip with those blinds is a waste. Only 0.10s would be needed

Let me saying I realize this is an “unpopular opinion” on this site, and I get that this goes against the conventional 5x chip denominations which is generally an efficient spread. That said, I think for a lot of casual micro stakes games (which I cringe to picture micro stakes that aren’t casual), squeezing the bottom 2 denominations to 0.10 and 0.20 (or 0.25) makes a lot of sense.

I have played exclusively casual micro stakes for a while and a couple of things have stuck out. Even at micro stakes, no one wants to win or bet nickels. They are just for blinds, or making the bet a “weird” amount.

This problem goes away with dimes though. Dimes are often used for betting even on the river. That means they are more efficient in my book because you don’t have these dead stacks of nickels no one wants to use.

If you look at the number of chips to cover a table with the 0.10 and 0.20 combo vs 0.05 and 0.25, it’s very similar (you could get away with fewer chips with 0.10/0.20 actually). So I don’t see what it costs you there.

I like to have a lot of chips in play, so I prefer keeping the 0.20 (or 0.25) chip rather than a 0.50. Small chips also keep the betting lower, which works well in acasual environment.

Anyways, I’m sure people will do just fine living by the 5x advice, but I don’t think it’s as crazy of a suggestion as you might think at first to do the 0.10/0.20.

 

[SteveHNo96]

Here's what I think.

For very low stakes games, just get nickel and quarter chips. Mostly because you can do a .05/.10 blind.

.10/.25 is a bit awkward but can be made a little easier with the nickel chips.

For higher stake games, go .25/.25. There's no reason the big blind HAS to be double the small blind, and that keeps your minimum bet from being .50 and unless you're bringing a couple of hundred dollars to a poker game, there's no need for a stake that high anyways.

 

[Santa123]

I play regularly Micro Stakes even 5c/5c.

Starting Stack is 10x 5c, 20x 10c, 10x 25c and xxx 1€.

But this is because of the fixed Breakdown of the Chips I bought.