Cash Game Optimal Cash Game Chip Set with 900 Chips for 20$/25$/50$/100$/200$ Buy-ins (1 Viewer)

[Ryuzumei]

Hi all

I already asked a similar question four years ago but then life got busy and I never got to create/order my custom chips at CPC.
Now after they sent the e-mail that they'll sell or close the business I had to bump this up my priority list and here I am again.

This time I'll not create a fully custom set as I don't want to rush it and therefore don't have enough time for it before the CPC deadline.

The plan is to buy three chip sets.

Spoiler: More info regarding the chip sets

CPC
One set for Cash Games
900 chips (820 in play and 80 spare)
Rounders with different denominations and maybe some adjustments to the colors. (will probably stick to the original color)

One set for Tournaments
I've not decided yet how many chips I need as it depends on if I choose T100-Base or T500-Base, I'll make a separate thread.
Atlantic or Hot Stamp chips with changes to the denominations and the colors.

Ceramics
One set for Cash Games (same stakes as for the CPC set or micro stakes)
Dunes, Tiki or Dia De Los Muertos.

I've tried to prepare as much as possible and have read through my old thread and all the suggestions within.
Additionally I've checked the following resources.

Beginner Guide
Cash Game Guide
Poker Set Selection Tool (Google Docs)

---

Below you can find my thoughts for the Cash Game Chips Set.

Details Cash Game

Poker: NLHE
Players: 10
Buy-ins: 1-2 per player depending on stakes
Chip set size: 900 (820 for playing, 80 spare in case some get lost/break)
Total Bank: 5830$ (820 chips)
Stakes and Buy-in:
0.25/0.25 (20$)
0.25/0.25 (25$)
0.25/0.50 (50$)
0.50/1.00 (100$)
1.00/2.00 (200$)

---

My Questions

1. What do you think of my spreadsheet with regards to:

• the stakes and buy-ins
  0.25/0.25 (20$)
  0.25/0.25 (25$)
  0.25/0.50 (50$)
  0.50/1.00 (100$)
  1.00/2.00 (200$)
  
  
• starting stacks
• and total chips amount per denomination

Do I need to change something or does it hold up?

Spoiler: Spreadsheet

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2. I want to allow 50BB, 100BB (standard) and 200BB buy-ins/rebuys

a) My question is if I should stick with the above three buy-in options or if there's a better way.
b) I've also prepared the starting stacks and need advice with the following.

Is the 50BB starting stack alright, or does it contain any major faults?
I think for the 200BB starting stack I have way to many chips, how could I adjust it so it's more balanced? (I just doubled the chips amount from the 100BB)

c) I'm aware that if I allow 10 people to buy-in with 200BB for example at 1/2$ stakes that my bank is too small to allow another 200BB rebuy for everybody.
This stake is meant for "future proofing" the set and it's unlikely that we'll play it soon or have that many rebuys.
Also we usually are only 5-6 people.

I'll probably make some rules regarding possible buy-ins for the different stakes so everybody is on board when playing.

Spoiler: Buy-in / Reload Spreadsheet

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3. I've read that you shouldn't include too many fracs as it promotes limping, but when playing 0.25/0.25 stakes with 20$ and 25$ buy-ins, aren't more fracs needed, as they are used the most or is the 1$ denomination really the work horse chip?

Is there a way to counteract limping if the SB and BB are the same chip?

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4. Should I add 100 or 120 of 0.50$ chips so the 0.50/1.00 stake game doesn't need as many 0.25$ chips?

Or do I even need the 0.5$ chips?

Only the SB needs the 0.25$ chips and after the BB it's either fold, call or raise. So no more 0.25$ chips needed.
If somebody doesn't have any fracs that person can change with another player?

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5. To spice it up I'd like to be able to add Ante to this Cash Game.
Is this possible for Cash Games and what's the best way to implement it, use the SB as Ante or BBA?

As I don't have any 0.50$ chips it would be difficult to implement it for the 0.50/1.00 stakes game.
It would be possible if there's an even amount of players. (With four players if I use BBA = 4 x SB Ante is two BB, so 2 x 1$ chip)

---

6. Does the 0.25/0.50 stake game need more fracs as the SB and BB are the same chip. (like in 1.00/2.00 stakes)

---

If you have any question just let me know.

Thank you in advance for your appreciated advice!

Best regards
Victor

 

[FestiveKnight]

Hi Victor,

The more important thing you need to do is catch up on CPC news. They have sold and all communications seem to indicate that production will be continuing as normal!

 

[Tonystark137]

Hey Victor

Gl with your custom set. Echo what @FestiveKnight said. You should have more time.

Imo
100 of NCV(Use for .25 or .50)
200 x $1s
4?00 x $5
80x$25
20x$100

Could switch the ncv for high denoms when you okay bigger games.

 

[Tonystark137]

I use 16 fracs when I play 25/25c. I use 16 fracs when we play 25/50 but I like having more chips in play. 12 is probably the efficient number... Or even less. I played with 12 before and it's rarely a problem. I only give out $5s when players are rebuying. Never really had any problems.

Sometimes too many fracs/$1s are a problem because it slows the game down when betting/counting all ins.

I generally do 200bb because I like deep stack play.
I use 16/16/6 for 25/25c and 16/16/16 for 25/50c. It's just easier for my brain...

 

[allforcharity]

You do not need 0.50 chips if you have at least 1 rack of 0.25, and they will remain a workhorse if your blinds are 0.25/0.25 in a limp-heavy game. $1 will be a workhorse for sure. $5 will be a workhorse when you get to 0.50/1 or the splashier 0.25/0.50 games.

 

[Ryuzumei]

Hi Victor,

The more important thing you need to do is catch up on CPC news. They have sold and all communications seem to indicate that production will be continuing as normal!

Thank you for letting me know. That's great news!
I read through the post from David.

I always checked the CPC website and it's not updated yet so I didn't know.

I'll probably still order the chips mentioned in the original post, as designing customs would take a lot of time (at least for me because I overthink things too much) as there are so many variables. (chip colors, edge spot colors and pattern, inlay design etc.)

I'll probably consider it in the future.

 

[Ryuzumei]

Hey Victor

Gl with your custom set. Echo what @FestiveKnight said. You should have more time.

Imo
100 of NCV(Use for .25 or .50)
200 x $1s
4?00 x $5
80x$25
20x$100

Could switch the ncv for high denoms when you okay bigger games.

Why do you suggest so many 5$'s?
To have a bigger bank?

It's only the workhorse for 0.50/1.00$ and 1.00/2.00$ stakes, right?

Would an additional 100x 5$ (so 400 total and 500$ more in the bank) be enough to future proof up to 2/4$ stakes?
I don't think so and the current bank of 5830$ right know would cover 10 players for 2/4$ stakes. (although only 100BB buy-in and no rebuys)
That is enough for me.

---

Regarding the NCV:
It's an option but I would prefer to always have denominations on the chips.

 

[Ryuzumei]

I use 16 fracs when I play 25/25c. I use 16 fracs when we play 25/50 but I like having more chips in play. 12 is probably the efficient number... Or even less. I played with 12 before and it's rarely a problem. I only give out $5s when players are rebuying. Never really had any problems.

Sometimes too many fracs/$1s are a problem because it slows the game down when betting/counting all ins.

I generally do 200bb because I like deep stack play.
I use 16/16/6 for 25/25c and 16/16/16 for 25/50c. It's just easier for my brain...

I've kept the 0.25c as efficient as possible so it doesn't promote limping as that is what I've read everywhere on this forum.
Some even suggest only 8 or 10 chips for that denomination.

I understand the appeal of having more chips in play, but have encountered the issue with limping in my friend group.

As I don't have too much experience with playing poker and want to play more with a clearly defined breakdown (and a new chip set) I heavily rely on advice from this forum.

---

Thank you for the starting stack suggestion for 200BB.

---

Do you ever use an ante or big blind ante in your games?
Is it more often used in tournaments or also in cash games?

Depending if you use it or not it should have an effect on your starting stack and therefore on the amount of chips I'd have to buy.

 

[Tonystark137]

Why do you suggest so many 5$'s?
To have a bigger bank?

It's only the workhorse for 0.50/1.00$ and 1.00/2.00$ stakes, right?

Would an additional 100x 5$ (so 400 total and 500$ more in the bank) be enough to future proof up to 2/4$ stakes?
I don't think so and the current bank of 5830$ right know would cover 10 players for 2/4$ stakes. (although only 100BB buy-in and no rebuys)
That is enough for me.

---

Regarding the NCV:
It's an option but I would prefer to always have denominations on the chips.

I like having more $5s in play because barrel of $5 are what I use for rebuys. A barrel of $5 is $100; a typical rebuy. I perfer not have more than $20 in lower denomation per player in play for a cash game.

From experience it makes stack counting so much faster. Oh this person has 2 and 1/2 barrel of $5s ; a barrel of $1s And fracs. Cool $270 +/-

It's easier for me than counting 3 barrels of $1s ; 2 barrels of 25c and doing the math.

You don't need 4 racks of $5; I use 3 in my set. I get all 3 racks in play for my 25/50c on the regular.

The 4 rack isn't really meant to cover 2/4. I imagine it makes the .5/1 or 1/2 game easier but I don't typically play those stakes.

 

[Ryuzumei]

You do not need 0.50 chips if you have at least 1 rack of 0.25, and they will remain a workhorse if your blinds are 0.25/0.25 in a limp-heavy game. $1 will be a workhorse for sure. $5 will be a workhorse when you get to 0.50/1 or the splashier 0.25/0.50 games.

Thank you for your reply!

Is it almost predestined to be a limp-heavy game if I play with 0.25/0.25c stakes?
Is there a way to counteract this, for example with an ante of 0.25c?

Example:
SB and BB are automatically invested with 0.50c.
The rest with 0.25c.

Am I assuming correctly that this will drive one of the following behaviours:

1. Players fold as they don't want to risk more money if they don't have any good hands
2. Players call as they are already "invested" with the ante, even if they don't have a good hands
3. Players with good hands raise to collect the ante and make other players fold
4. Players raise and bluff with bad or mediocre hands to try to collect the ante

I don't have any experience playing with ante's so that's why I'm asking.
Did I miss something?

---

Another question:
Should I completely remove the 20$ buy-in option and only allow buy-ins from 25$ (100BB) and upwards? (0.25/0.25c)
It's only a 5$ difference.

Maybe if playing micro stakes 20$ buy-ins would make more sense?

 

[Tonystark137]

I've kept the 0.25c as efficient as possible so it doesn't promote limping as that is what I've read everywhere on this forum.
Some even suggest only 8 or 10 chips for that denomination.

I understand the appeal of having more chips in play, but have encountered the issue with limping in my friend group.

As I don't have too much experience with playing poker and want to play more with a clearly defined breakdown (and a new chip set) I heavily rely on advice from this forum.

---

Thank you for the starting stack suggestion for 200BB.

---

Do you ever use an ante or big blind ante in your games?
Is it more often used in tournaments or also in cash games?

Depending if you use it or not it should have an effect on your starting stack and therefore on the amount of chips I'd have to buy.

I have played with 8 fracs ; I played with 12 fracs. Both are definitely more efficient. I think it just depends on your player pool. If they are used to buying change from their neighbors. It's a none factor.

I just use 16 to justify having 2 racks of fracs...
I might try 12 or 8 next time to see how it plays.


Regarding antes ; no not really for my games. It's a splashy game so there isn't really a need to drive more action.

I played with ante before in a cash game. Idk if it changes much from a chip breakout.

Big picture idk if it matters. But you are talking to people who obsess over the details...

 

[Tonystark137]

Thank you for your reply!

Is it almost predestined to be a limp-heavy game if I play with 0.25/0.25c stakes?
Is there a way to counteract this, for example with an ante of 0.25c?

Example:
SB and BB are automatically invested with 0.50c.
The rest with 0.25c.

Am I assuming correctly that this will drive one of the following behaviours:

1. Players fold as they don't want to risk more money if they don't have any good hands
2. Players call as they are already "invested" with the ante, even if they don't have a good hands
3. Players with good hands raise to collect the ante and make other players fold
4. Players raise and bluff with bad or mediocre hands to try to collect the ante

I don't have any experience playing with ante's so that's why I'm asking.
Did I miss something?

---

Another question:
Should I completely remove the 20$ buy-in option and only allow buy-ins from 25$ (100BB) and upwards? (0.25/0.25c)
It's only a 5$ difference.

Maybe if playing micro stakes 20$ buy-ins would make more sense?

I like $40 or $20 buy in for 25/25c.
Imo you can't really change the limpy game. People are going to limp at a home game.

I played in games where it straddles to 4$ or 8$ and people still limp...

 

[Tonystark137]

The reason for $20 or $40 is that there aren't $25 bills and I don't expect people to bring loose change

 

[Machine]

Another question:
Should I completely remove the 20$ buy-in option and only allow buy-ins from 25$ (100BB) and upwards? (0.25/0.25c)
It's only a 5$ difference.

Maybe if playing micro stakes 20$ buy-ins would make more sense?

Welcome Back!

You are overthinking it.

I'll assume banking one table.

Let's start by talking about Fractionals, Fracs. My game has evolved from .25/.5 to .5/.5, so I'm familiar with this game and how it plays. My game is also PLO, not NLH, which plays bigger, i.e., needs moar (more) chips.

Denominated chips are preferred but not always cost-effective, and it can be fun to have both .25 and .5 if you love chips and different base colors; however, they are not cost-effective, so the solution is a non-denominated frac. Having one non-denominated chip isn't overwhelming and easy to remember, even for new players. To be explicit, you don't want both .25 and .5 on the table at the same time.

We can put the non-denominated chip in as a .25 or a .5 when we want to. If you're going to play .25 / .5, the least amount of fracs you'll want to put in the game is 60. Please note only sociopaths do this, well, and me. In the .5/.5 game, 60 fracs is slightly too many unless I have other chippers in the game. Then I put in 100 because they will sit on as many as they can.

The most fracs you'll need when running a game is 120, and that is only when you're playing 10-handed NLH. Sure, you can buy more fracs and put them in, but I really dislike these games, and I've played in them where you have 7 players and 4 racks of francs. You mentioned a maximum of 6 players, but chip count minimums that people often buy will / should support a full table. I would not buy more than 100 fracs, and I wouldn't buy less.

Buying less than a rack of fracs really limits your ability to resell. Sure, we don't buy them thinking we will sell them, but something to consider. I really believe that 99% of people will never really use more than 120 fracs for 10 people. Also, note 120 could cover 2 tables if it had to.

You can cover from .25/.25 to 1/3 with this break down:

Frac x 100
1s x 200
5x x 300 - 400
20 x 80
100 x 20

with 900 the easy button is

Frac x 100
1s x 200
5x x 400
20 x 100
100 x 100

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

I understand the appeal of having more chips in play, but have encountered the issue with limping in my friend group.

Whats the limping issue? Let em play how they want and raise the limps if you want. If people are limping, thinking players will be raising more with value and seeing cheap flops, that's fine. There's no way to force new players not to limp and I wouldn't spend too much time trying to make sure your players play "correctly". If players ask you can talk about strategy or why you always raise or fold, but otherwise let them limp in and then cheer for them when they hit their 1-outter, they are why poker is still alive.

If you're playing .25/.25, a normal raise will probably be 75cents or $1; thats not necessarily a limp happy game but one of those choices uses 3 quarters. That's part of the reason why I don't want to give out just 8 to each player.

 

[allforcharity]

I'm not worried about encouraging action with antes if there's a propensity for multiple limpers. Just let your players evolve as they may.

 

[exodus]

I second @Machine post here. Well said. Here are my comments below.

1. Personally, I'd remove the $20 buy in and start at $25.

2. A. These are pretty standard buy-in amounts. I think having some flexibility here is fine too. For example, someone wanting to buy-in for their last $20 when the min buy is $25.
B. $50 buy-in looks fine. For $200 buy in, keep the fracs the same and add more $1/$5. For $1/2 stakes, max a barrel of $1 per person up to a rack on the table.
C. For future-proofing, see breakdown below.

3. I'm not sure what the issue is with limping, but if you are trying to create action with 5-6 people who only buy-in for up to 2 times this could end the game early. I'd let your players just play their own game. You could implement stand up game, 7-2 bounty if needed.

4. You don't need 50c chips. You can let players use two quarters. Your players should be able to make change if they are running low on fracs.

5. I have no experience with ante games.

6. For 25c/50c, 100-120 fracs is enough even with a full table.

I run a monthly $1/$2, $400 max or match half the biggest stack with 6 guys and we rarely break the $6,000 on the felt.
If your game is just starting out, it may take sometime to get to $1/$2 which is why my breakdown is a little less heavy on the $100s.

Preferred Breakdown:
25c x 100
$1 x 200
$5 x 400
$20 x 160
$100 x 40

Total bank: $10,225

Good luck!

 

[Ryuzumei]

The reason for $20 or $40 is that there aren't $25 bills and I don't expect people to bring loose change

We also don't have any 25$ bills in Switzerland, but when we play we don't bring cash, instead we transfer the money via a mobile app service.
You could compare it to Venmo and there are no fees.

In my friend group almost nobody has cash on them so it's easier that way and the buy-ins are not dependant on it.

 

[cpac54]

We also don't have any 25$ bills in Switzerland, but when we play we don't bring cash, instead we transfer the money via a mobile app service.
You could compare it to Venmo and there are no fees.

In my friend group almost nobody has cash on them so it's easier that way and the buy-ins are not dependant on it.

Whereabouts in Switzerland are you located?

 

[Ryuzumei]

Welcome Back!

You are overthinking it.

I'll assume banking one table.

Let's start by talking about Fractionals, Fracs. My game has evolved from .25/.5 to .5/.5, so I'm familiar with this game and how it plays. My game is also PLO, not NLH, which plays bigger, i.e., needs moar (more) chips.

Denominated chips are preferred but not always cost-effective, and it can be fun to have both .25 and .5 if you love chips and different base colors; however, they are not cost-effective, so the solution is a non-denominated frac. Having one non-denominated chip isn't overwhelming and easy to remember, even for new players. To be explicit, you don't want both .25 and .5 on the table at the same time.

We can put the non-denominated chip in as a .25 or a .5 when we want to. If you're going to play .25 / .5, the least amount of fracs you'll want to put in the game is 60. Please note only sociopaths do this, well, and me. In the .5/.5 game, 60 fracs is slightly too many unless I have other chippers in the game. Then I put in 100 because they will sit on as many as they can.

The most fracs you'll need when running a game is 120, and that is only when you're playing 10-handed NLH. Sure, you can buy more fracs and put them in, but I really dislike these games, and I've played in them where you have 7 players and 4 racks of francs. You mentioned a maximum of 6 players, but chip count minimums that people often buy will / should support a full table. I would not buy more than 100 fracs, and I wouldn't buy less.

Buying less than a rack of fracs really limits your ability to resell. Sure, we don't buy them thinking we will sell them, but something to consider. I really believe that 99% of people will never really use more than 120 fracs for 10 people. Also, note 120 could cover 2 tables if it had to.

You can cover from .25/.25 to 1/3 with this break down:

Frac x 100
1s x 200
5x x 300 - 400
20 x 80
100 x 20

with 900 the easy button is

Frac x 100
1s x 200
5x x 400
20 x 100
100 x 100

Correct, it's one table.
I said that we'll mostly be around 6 players but it's planned that the set should cover up to 10 players.

I'm hesitant on buying a non-denominated chip and will keep the 120x 0.25c and won't add any 0.5c chips as I've read that you should always keep a ratio of 4 or 5 times the value from one chip to the next i.e. 0.25/1/5/25 - 4x5x5

---

Regarding your breakdown suggestion I've a few questions:

Questions:
1. The new breakdown would look like this:

Denomination	Chips
0.25	120
1	200
5	400
25	100
100	80

Total chips: 900
Total bank: 12'730$

I've removed 20 chips so it's a 9 rack set.

Does this seem alright, or should I use the following to have a bigger bank?

Denomination	Chips
0.25	120
1	200
5	400
25	90
100	90

---

2. Do you think these updated starting stacks seem good, any suggestion?

---

3. Any reason you replaced the 25$ denomination with 20$? (in the breakdown above I put in 25$ again)

We do all buy-ins digitally so it doesn't matter that there's no 25$ bills.

 

[Ryuzumei]

Whereabouts in Switzerland are you located?

In Zurich at the border to canton Aargau.

 

[Ryuzumei]

I second @Machine post here. Well said. Here are my comments below.

1. Personally, I'd remove the $20 buy in and start at $25.

2. A. These are pretty standard buy-in amounts. I think having some flexibility here is fine too. For example, someone wanting to buy-in for their last $20 when the min buy is $25.
B. $50 buy-in looks fine. For $200 buy in, keep the fracs the same and add more $1/$5. For $1/2 stakes, max a barrel of $1 per person up to a rack on the table.
C. For future-proofing, see breakdown below.

3. I'm not sure what the issue is with limping, but if you are trying to create action with 5-6 people who only buy-in for up to 2 times this could end the game early. I'd let your players just play their own game. You could implement stand up game, 7-2 bounty if needed.

4. You don't need 50c chips. You can let players use two quarters. Your players should be able to make change if they are running low on fracs.

5. I have no experience with ante games.

6. For 25c/50c, 100-120 fracs is enough even with a full table.

I run a monthly $1/$2, $400 max or match half the biggest stack with 6 guys and we rarely break the $6,000 on the felt.
If your game is just starting out, it may take sometime to get to $1/$2 which is why my breakdown is a little less heavy on the $100s.

Preferred Breakdown:
25c x 100
$1 x 200
$5 x 400
$20 x 160
$100 x 40

Total bank: $10,225

Good luck!

Thank you for your feedback!
Below my answers with a few more questions.

1. Yes, I've removed it and will start at $25.

2.
A) Alright, I'll keep it in mind.
B) I've made the adjustments and am quite happy where I'm at.

Take a look:

Spoiler: Updated Starting Stack Spreadsheet 50BB / 100BB / 200BB

C) In the response to @Machine I've adjusted the following breakdown.

Spoiler: New Breakdown

Denomination	Chips
0.25	120
1	200
5	400
25	100
100	80

Total chips: 900
Total bank: 12'730$

I've removed 20 chips so it's a 9 rack set.

This variant has a bigger bank of 13'730$
It still has enough $25 chips for the 200BB starting stack for 1/2 stakes - 0/10/18/8/1

Denomination	Chips
0.25	120
1	200
5	400
25	90
100	90

Am I just digging to deep into the details?
I've to little experience that's why I keep asking what would be better, maybe I oversee something.

Any reason you've replaced the $25 with $20's?

3. I'll just have everyone play like the they want and keep fracs around 10-12 chips per player

4. Yeah, after @Machine response I've come to the conclusion that I don't need them.

5. -

6. The breakdowns above with more $100's should cover any future 1/2$ games with 400$ buy-ins up to three buy-ins per person.
Total Bank of $12'000 needed.

 

[Machine]

Does this seem alright, or should I use the following to have a bigger bank?

Denomination	Chips
0.25	120
1	200
5	400
25	90
100	90

This is fine, will work great for you imo

3. Any reason you replaced the 25$ denomination with 20$? (in the breakdown above I put in 25$ again)

I like 20s, it preference

 

[Ryuzumei]

@Ben8257 @JustinInMN
I've tagged you as you were really helpful last time I asked for advice and I would appreciate it a lot if you could give your feedback on the following breakdown and starting stacks.

Thank you in advance!

TLDR below.

Poker: NLH
Players: max. 10
Rebuy: twice per player

Buy-ins
0.25/0.25 (25$)
0.25/0.50 (50$)
0.50/1.00 (100$)
1.00/2.00 (200$)

Breakdown

Value	Chips
0.25	120
1	200
5	400
25	100
100	80

Total chips: 900
Total bank: 12'730

Starting stacks:

 

[Tonystark137]

Idk if you need the $25 in pay for initial buy in for 25c/50c

 

[Ryuzumei]

Idk if you need the $25 in pay for initial buy in for 25c/50c

What do you exactly mean by that?

1. Is the 50BB buy-in too small / the player is too heavily short stacked and not able to "really" play?
   1. Should I raise the minimum buy-in to 70BB for example or what is the norm?

 

[Tonystark137]

What do you exactly mean by that?

1. Is the 50BB buy-in too small / the player is too heavily short stacked and not able to "really" play?
   1. Should I raise the minimum buy-in to 70BB for example or what is the norm?

I usually don't get $25 chips in play till I run out of $5s. Nothing wrong with it in play ; you have enough $5s to get change pretty much any time. Just a personal perference.

 

[Ryuzumei]

I usually don't get $25 chips in play till I run out of $5s. Nothing wrong with it in play ; you have enough $5s to get change pretty much any time. Just a personal perference.

Sorry I somehow misread it.

You were talking about the 200BB buy-in with 25/50c stakes and the one 25$ chip I put in the starting stack, right?

You're right, I could add more fives. I'll think about it or could test it in games how it feels.

 

[Tonystark137]

Sorry I somehow misread it.

You were talking about the 200BB buy-in with 25/50c stakes and the one 25$ chip I put in the starting stack, right?

You're right, I could add more fives. I'll think about it or could test it in games how it feels.

All depends on how your players play. If it's a shove heavy game, I can see the $25 for quicker stack counting etc. If its a splash game... I like more $5s.

 

[Ben8257]

Whole lotta spread sheets there… we all know I am old school and write everything out long hand… well I used to for both Tourney and cash. Tournaments can still be tricky as far as chipping up and optimal chip breakdowns to have enough chips on the board so we are not constantly making change, but also we don’t want mountains of small denim chips that slow the game for All In counts…

Anyways the question here is about cash games, you are off to the right start as the deciding factor is # of big blinds. Typically I try to keep it at 200BBs so $.05/$.10 would be $.10 x 200 =$20.00 and $.10/$.20 would be $.20 x 200 =$40.00 so my typical $.25/$.50 would be $.50 x 200 =$100.00 and $.50/$1 is $200 max but in. I do play in one game that we play 100 bigs on $.25/$.50 it works, just prefer following the 200 rule.

I used to get into all of those optimal blah blah threads and what I have learned over many years of meet ups with folks smarter than me… the following is absolutely perfect for every single single table cash games.

(100) quarters, we used to argue that 120
Is perfect because everyone gets 12… its nice and even and blah blah… the truth is almost no cash game ever starts with 10 players at the same time, they typically are played after tournies Which means players trickle in as they loose in the tourney. Or a cash game is planned and 3/10 guys are running late no matter what time you make the game! These are the facts… but even if they were all there, give 7 players 12 quarters, 8th and 9th player get 8 and 10th player just gets $1s. If you want 120 or 200 quarters, who gives a shit… it’s your set, knock your socks off! But you don’t need them.

(200) $1s, I don’t think this one has ever been contested, more than 200 is definitely clutter on the table, again we can just give out chips as players show up… but if the above exact 10 players started at the same time… 7 players would get (17) player 8 and 9 get (18) and player 10 gets (20) adding up to 175 and you can give the other 25 out in the first 5 rebuys.

(300) $5s, this one is debatable as you can get by with (200) but we are talking about a 900 chip set which we don’t need, asking my opinion… a deep stacked $.25/$.50 game uses a Lot of $5s and 200 winds up with a lot of change making in the later hours. 16 - $5s for the first 10 players and then (5) $1 + (19) $5 for the first 5 rebuys to use up those extra $1s, after that give out a barrel per rebuy until we run out.

(80) $25s and (20) $100s is $4000 in bank on top of the $1725 in lower demons. I have come close to breaking that bank 1 time
And 1 time only! But every game plays different. Also this puts our set at 700 chips and no one likes odd racks. You could also go (160) $25s and (40) $100s and make it an even 800 chip set.

Kick the same old dead horse about optimally chip break downs for cash games, go over 500 spread sheet break downs… our just go with below… it works perfect, I promise

(100) $.25
(200) $1
(300) $5
(160) $25
(40) $100

Again you most likely don’t need that much high end… but you can inflation proof it and keep even rack #s with that 800 chip break downs.

I hope that helps
Fellow Chipper Ben