Number of chips for single table .25/.50 game (1 Viewer)

Chipnut

Chipnut

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Looking for advice for one table, 8-9 players for a .25/.50 NL game. Trying to figure out best starting stacks and number of chips I would need. I already have 200 quarters I can use as .25 and 200 $1. Thanks
 
ADE3348F-4F91-4D3D-A0EC-58D152951C00.jpeg
 
I’ve seen two primary views on this, one being more popular than the other.

The popular view- chip breakdown as 100/200/200/80/20 (25¢ thru $100) with starting stacks something like 12/17/6.

The other view, which I tend to like more, would be a breakdown of 160/200/200/40 with starting stacks of 20/20/5. The reason I like this one more is because the starting stacks are easier to setup, and your players have more chips. But the downside to this breakdown is you have less bank.
 
.25/.50 is the stakes we've been playing for years, though we don't usually get more than 7 players. If you didn't already have the quarters, I'd have recommended that you don't need more than a rack, maybe 120 if you consistently get 8-9 players (and maybe 10 on occasion).

I usually go economical, ~300 chips, and we don't get that much money on the table (rarely breaking $1k). I do 80/100/100/20 in .25/1/5/25, w/starting stacks of $50 in 12/12/7 for the first 6 players, and 8/13/7 for the 7th player, to get all quarters on the table to start.

If I'm expecting more players, then I'll do ~320-350 chips, and bring 100/100/100/20-50 (I like getting $25s on the table sooner, which is why I stick with only a rack of $5s). Then the same 12/12/7 for the first 7 players, and 16/11/7 for the 8th player, to get all quarters on the table to start. Next buy-in is 5/1 in $5 and $25 to get all $5s on the table, and then subsequent rebuys in $25s.

(Depending on the crowd and if people want more $5s no the table, I may do 100/100/160/40.)

With 200/200 in .25/1 already, probably easiest to do 20/20/5, as already suggested. I do feel like that ends up with too many quarters to count at the end of the night...
 
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My standard for a .25/.50 game is:

<------ Chad

100 x .25c
200 x $1
400 x $5 (or 200 for boring Virgins)
80 x $20/$25
20 x $100

800 chips = $5825-$6225 bank (or $4825-$5225 for Virgins)

$100 buy-ins or adjust(x) if buy-ins are lower
First 5 people get 20/20/15(x) - .25/$1/$5 (until .25c are gone) stacks of 20 is much easier
Next get 20/16(x) - $1/$5 (until $1 are gone) .25c can be bought from table
Then after that - $5, $25, $100 etc... once again change can be bought from table
 
For 8 players I’m currently doing 100/160/320/60/20.
I feel most strongly about the 160 - I don’t want and don’t need any more than a barrel of $1s per player for this game.

The 100 fracs is fine. 120 would be fine too.
320 x $5 is luxury. I could get away with 200. I wouldn’t like it, but I could. And a game that plays smaller could probably get away with fewer.
The bigger chips - whatever. They barely matter. Because I have enough $5s, I barely need many $20s, even on our busier nights. I don’t think I’ve ever put a full barrel into play, with maybe a token $100 out there.

Tl;dr - I think you’ll want more than 500 chips for an active game. But I’d say 500-600.
 
TheBigTater said:
My standard for a .25/.50 game is:

<------ Chad

100 x .25c
200 x $1
400 x $5 (or 200 for boring Virgins)
80 x $20/$25
20 x $100

800 chips = $5825-$6225 bank (or $4825-$5225 for Virgins)

$100 buy-ins or adjust(x) if buy-ins are lower
First 5 people get 20/20/15(x) - .25/$1/$5 (until .25c are gone) stacks of 20 is much easier
Next get 20/16(x) - $1/$5 (until $1 are gone) .25c can be bought from table
Then after that - $5, $25, $100 etc... once again change can be bought from table
Click to expand...
2E901914-6571-476A-A0A8-872E1C611ABC.jpeg
 
Frankly, if you unsure about the breakdown for real.

100/200/200/100 or 100/200/200/80/20 will be the default recommendation breakdown.

It’s not too many chips that it break one budget and not too many or too little chips in each denomination that ton of chip exchanges will be need

Reality as long as your final breakdown is not too far off, most breakdown will work.

I have different set with different breakdown but they all work to an extent, some of my breakdown of set for 25/50c are

100/200/200/100 or 80/20
200/200/100/100 or 80/20
100/200/300/100 or 80/20
100/300/100/100 or 80/20
100/200/400/100 or 80/20
 
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Max 10 players, .25/.50, I like:
200/200/300/80/20

Our game consists of a bunch of limpers only playing for fun, so 20/20/x starting stacks is the only way to go. They whine if they have to make change too often.
I usually like extra racks of $1s so that rebuys can include $1s, but totally not necessary.

edit: Our game never uses more than 1 rack of $5s, and never touches the $25/$100s. But I like to have them because maybe someday the game will grow. Could pretty easily see getting into that 2nd and 3rd racks of $5s.
 
MichaelBubly said:
20/20/5.

And if I'm feeling frisky, I'll do rebuys in $1 chips until I run out. Because Moar Chips = Moar fun.

I guess you say I'm a Chad..
Click to expand...
This.

Round here it's $50min/$100max so 20/20/5 or 20/20/10

200/200/300/80/20 $5,750.00 Bank. Need more bank, go more Hundos less $25s. Yeah that's a lot of chips but it allows up to full table of 10 and most importantly you have back up chips!I actually have 200/300/300/140/60 which covers anything I would ever do.
 
All breakdowns here are valid really. Some peoples .25/.50 game play larger, some smaller. It's gonna boil down to what you players like, efficient/smaller stack with a lot of change making, or moar chips & what size of buy-ins your game uses. You could play a .25/.50 game with 600 or 800+ chips (I think I'd be hard pressed to use just 300-400 though) based on those preferences.

I personally like a lot of $5's because it usually keeps mostly 3 denomination on the table & when the $25 & $100 do hit a stack they usually mean something a little special. Of course some of the .25/.50 games I've played, especially at meetups really aren't .25/.50 games ie: with player like Craig, Bergs, MatB etc.... those run much deeper so 400 $5's is not really enough.
 
So yeah.. I think most will say (pretty much) the same thing, and I think most differences will depend on the individuals game.... meaning how deep it REALLY plays. Seems like I'm about to say the same stuff as @TheBigTater , so I'll try to keep it short...

Assuming you're playing NLH?? If circus games, disregard EVERYTHING I'm saying as I have absolutely no idea there. :/

My game doesn't seem to play anywhere near as big as a lot of the games here seem to play.
Our buy-ins range from $60-$100(max) and I allow rebuys up to 1/2 big stack. Usually 7-9 players, although the total amount in play varies greatly depending on who actually shows up... Not so much the number of players. Sometimes there's only $800 by the end of the night, but recently we've been hitting anywhere from $1400-$1800 (actually hit $2400 a few weeks back and there were only 6 of us)
Generally I agree with:
100 - 25¢
200 - $1
200 - $5 (Although, I have just about graduated to 300 x $5s now)
80 - $25
20 - $100
It's a nice even 600..
However, NONE of my sets actually have that exact breakdown.
- 25¢s
I currently have one set with only 70 and it just isn't quite enough... Seemed to be a lot more change making than usual. Another has 120, but I never put that last barrel on the table.
- $1s
Gotta be 200. (At absolute least 180!)
- $5s
Varies greatly depending on your game... I think min 160 (IF you have a VERY small game) 200 is great, ~300 is my new sweet spot for those "just in case" times. For me, 400+ would be a waste of space and money.
- $25s
I think that's where you can have the most leeway. I don't really need 80 and would prefer to have a 3rd rack of $5s or at least 2-3 extra barrels... which would get the total bank back up. 40-60 is enough for me.
- $100s
Well.... they're pretty!!! But (for me/us) purely "for show" and "completing" the set... I've NEVER had a single $100 on the table.

I think in the end the important number is "total bank". At this point, for me, I feel like I need/want to have a bank of about $3000 (not including $100s.. If I ever end up with $3k+ on the table, I'm good with introducing the hundos!! Haha)

EDIT - So much for keeping it short. I failed there! :/
 
100 x 0.25cents , makes No Sense

When issuing players chips you will likely issue 0.25's in multiples of 4 ie $1's. So 100x ten players equals $2.50 each..... or some players get more or less, 9 players @ 12 x 0.25's = 108....so 100 is just a malfunctional OCD trap.

80, 120,160, 200 makes Good Sense!

$2, $3, $4 or $5 makes sense for a playable amount of quarters with $3-$5 being better and saving frequent exchanging of "change" among players


For .25/.50, I'd pack
120-160×.25
200 × $1
200 × $5
40-60 ×$25 (the omega of your quarters to fill the rack)
Total 600 chips

*if adding extras 1rack of $1's for x300 then if more room add $5's but you'll only likely use the extra 1's (the original 600 will get it done easily)
 
xdan said:
12/12/7
That’s my go to for a $50 buyin at my games
Click to expand...

It is so much easier stacking 12/12/7 than 12/17/6..... learned that after a few games thinking the 1's would be more workhorse but really the next reload can be 0/10/8, followed by 0/0/10 and or 2 × $25
 
philhut said:
100 x 0.25cents , makes No Sense

When issuing players chips you will likely issue 0.25's in multiples of 4 ie $1's. So 100x ten players equals $2.50 each..... or some players get more or less, 9 players @ 12 x 0.25's = 108....so 100 is just a malfunctional OCD trap.

80, 120,160, 200 makes Good Sense!

$2, $3, $4 or $5 makes sense for a playable amount of quarters with $3-$5 being better and saving frequent exchanging of "change" among players


For .25/.50, I'd pack
120-160×.25
200 × $1
200 × $5
40-60 ×$25 (the omega of your quarters to fill the rack)
Total 600 chips

*if adding extras 1rack of $1's for x300 then if more room add $5's but you'll only likely use the extra 1's (the original 600 will get it done easily)
Click to expand...
Don’t overthink it. Just give each of the first 5 players a barrel of quarters. That gets all the fracs you really need on the table from the jump. People can make change after that. This notion that everybody needs matching starting stacks - that’s a fiction and that’s the malfunctional OCD trap. Just play cards.

20/20/x for the first five players, then 0/20/x for the rest. So simple.
 
upNdown said:
Don’t overthink it. Just give each of the first 5 players a barrel of quarters. That gets all the fracs you really need on the table from the jump. People can make change after that. This notion that everybody needs matching starting stacks - that’s a fiction and that’s the malfunctional OCD trap. Just play cards.

20/20/x for the first five players, then 0/20/x for the rest. So simple.
Click to expand...

But after two hands the low stack quarters player will have bet his $1 in quarters and need change. Then this bull in a China shop puts his $5 chip forward mid hand it gets mixed in the pot accidentally and chaos issues.........


It may happen but with $3 or more in 0.25's I'm likely to get a full rotation in until players have to get change among themselves (I hate players shuffling chips among each other I watch like a hawk and have seen suspicious stuff with this). I will often throw extra quarters on the table with reloads if they are commonly betting $1.75 or something obnoxious.

With 7 or 8 players it would work just fine to have only a barrel of quarters....my mind works in 10x/table even though 7-9 is more often realistic/table.
 
A bunch of fracs annoy me, for some reason. I've been giving a barrel per, but even playing .25/.25, that seems like too many. I might give out about 12/player next time, and see how that works. For a full table, $1 x 200-300, $5 x 200 (although we've never had $1000 on the table), and a couple barrels of $25's would do it for my game.
 
philhut said:
100 x 0.25cents , makes No Sense

When issuing players chips you will likely issue 0.25's in multiples of 4 ie $1's. So 100x ten players equals $2.50 each..... or some players get more or less, 9 players @ 12 x 0.25's = 108....so 100 is just a malfunctional OCD trap.
Click to expand...

I do 100 quarters, 150 singles.

12/17/x for the first 8 players, a 9th will get 4/14/x consuming all the quarters and singles. I hate playing 10 handed but I would just give a 10th player all fives.

More singles is fine, but not necessary. If 150 is enough to start the game then it's enough to keep playing as more fives come out.

I have tried give a full barrel of quarters/singles to each player. Sure it works, but it's annoying and people inevitably will make a $4 bet using all quarters then ask for change on their next blind anyway :rolleyes:
 
philhut said:
100 x 0.25cents , makes No Sense

When issuing players chips you will likely issue 0.25's in multiples of 4 ie $1's. So 100x ten players equals $2.50 each..... or some players get more or less, 9 players @ 12 x 0.25's = 108....so 100 is just a malfunctional OCD trap.
Click to expand...
Just give the first 4 or 5 players a barrel of quarters, and the rest can make change at the table. No need for OCD.
 
Beakertwang said:
Just give the first 4 or 5 players a barrel of quarters, and the rest can make change at the table. No need for OCD.
Click to expand...
Yup, I’ll get all the quarters on the table at the beginning of the game. I give everyone else equal amounts (usually 12 per person rather than a barrel, since I bring 80-100 quarters depending on number of players) and then I give myself the remaining, which may be +/- 4-8 quarters compared to everyone else.
 

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