Poker Chip Set Breakdown for 12-person Tourney (2 6-Max) w/ 100BB ($20,000) starting stacks. (1 Viewer)

n3tw0

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I'm looking to pick up a new poker chip set, and I wanted to make sure I'm getting the right chip breakdown for my targeted tourney and cash game structure.

For tourneys, I don't want to deal with T25 chips. Thus, my main denominations will be T100, T500, T1000, and T5000 with 10:8:5:2 (25 chips) breakdown per player. I also want to allow for 1 rebuy per player, but am only expecting maybe 33% will rebuy. Using the Poker Chip Calculator on this website, I came up with the following, which suggests I may need at least 460 tournament chips, ignoring the obvious 25 chips per roll roundups.

Tournaments
Chips Distribution Total Rebuys Color-up Total
T100101000400160
T50084000320128
T1000550002060140
T50002100008032
TOTALS2520,00010060460

For a cash game set, I'm mainly targeting a 6 handed micro-stakes (10c/25c) format with max 200BB buy-in, while expecting 50% of the field to rebuy.

Cash Games
Chips Stacks Value TableValue Rebuys Bank Chips
10c20$2$126$12.60126
25c16$4$2412$27108
$19$9$5442$9696
$57$35$21090$660132

Totals52$50$300150$795.60462


Does all this sound like a good plan, or is there something else I am not considering? I appreciate any feedback/advice

Thanks
 
Tournament plan is okay, but you can just issue bigger chips for rebuys and not worry about getting a ton in the starting denoms.

For cash, I don't like the use of 0.10 and 0.25 chips together. (They don't divide each other so change making is hard.)

You could consider doing 0.25-0.25 and forgoing dimes. Or do 0.10 and 0.50 chips (as I did in my new set) and play 0.10-0.20 blinds with downward flexibility to 0.10-0.10
 
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I got three things, but they are a mather of taste, not right vs wrong.

1)
my main denominations will be T100, T500, T1000, and T5000 with 10:8:5:2
I would have less T500 than T1000. I'd probably go with 10/4/7/2. The reason is that you never need to use more than one T500 per bet, whereas you need up to four T1000 per bet. Also, the T1000 will be the work horse for large parts of the tourney, so you need many of them. With my former set I only gave three T500 per player and it was never an issue. (I now do 5)

2) If you want less change making, probably go with 15/5/6/2.

3) In your calculations it seems that you are giving out a bunch of T100, T500, and T1000 for rebuys. Why? If you want them in play, why not have them in the starting stacks?
IMO, you should give all lower denom chips (in this case T100, T500, and T1000) in the starting stacks, and use T5000 for rebuys/addons. It's much simpler, and more logical since you per definition don't need more lower denom chips in play, otherwise you'd already have given them out (IMO).

Bonus: I'd probably go with 20/4/16 but that's just me being me ;)
 
Tournament plan is okay, but you can just issue bigger chips for rebuys and not worry about getting a ton in the starting denoms.

For cash, I don't like the use of 0.10 and 0.25 chips together. (They don't divide each other so change making is hard.)

You could consider doing 0.25-0.25 and forgoing dimes. Or do 0.10 and 0.50 chips (as I did in my new set) and play 0.10-0.20 blinds with downward flexibility to 0.10-0.10

Good catch, I hadn't though about the small gap between 10c/25c. I guess that what happens when you play microstakes online too often. :) Anywho, your 10c and 50c alternative does make a lot more sense, as does your recommendation for using larger denominations for rebuys. For cash games would a 20-10-8-7 breakdown (.10 - .25 - $1 - $5) make more sense?

Use T100, T500, T2K, and T10K.

That's an idea, but even if I could decide on a color for T2K, I feel like I would have to teach people how to count again. :/ The group I play with seems to struggle with $25 chips, so I'm thinking I'm better off working with chips that are evenly divisible by 10. Maybe I could skip the 500s altogether, and double up on the hundreds and thousands, but then I can just imagine the mountain of chips I'll have to contend with, as I am usually the one elected as arbitrator when two people are all-in and seemingly don't know how to count their chips.
 
I got three things, but they are a mather of taste, not right vs wrong.

1)

I would have less T500 than T1000. I'd probably go with 10/4/7/2. The reason is that you never need to use more than one T500 per bet, whereas you need up to four T1000 per bet. Also, the T1000 will be the work horse for large parts of the tourney, so you need many of them. With my former set I only gave three T500 per player and it was never an issue. (I now do 5)

2) If you want less change making, probably go with 15/5/6/2.

3) In your calculations it seems that you are giving out a bunch of T100, T500, and T1000 for rebuys. Why? If you want them in play, why not have them in the starting stacks?
IMO, you should give all lower denom chips (in this case T100, T500, and T1000) in the starting stacks, and use T5000 for rebuys/addons. It's much simpler, and more logical since you per definition don't need more lower denom chips in play, otherwise you'd already have given them out (IMO).

Bonus: I'd probably go with 20/4/16 but that's just me being me ;)

Good point on the fewer T500s and more T1000s. Distributing the T100s, T500s, and T1000s, while reserving the T5000s for rebuys/addons makes a lot of sense. I might try 20/4/16, since I won't have to deal with people slowing down the game while getting change for their neighbors.

Thanks for the advice. :)
 
Good catch, I hadn't though about the small gap between 10c/25c.

It's not the small gap that's the problem, it's the fact you can't break a single quarter with dimes. You have to break 2 at a time. You can break 0.50 chips into dimes easier.

My micro game is 0.10-0.10 NL with a 10 max, dealers choice some limit, some NL. 15/5/6 of 0.10-0.50-1 works pretty well except it was tight for limit. This is somewhat analagos to your 100-500-100 tournament breakdown. You don't need as many halves if you also use dollars.

If you go with dime-half like 10/6/16 would work for buy one of 20.

With just doing 0.25-0.25 12 quuarters per player is good. 12/17 would be good for 20 buy in.
 
You don't need as many halves if you also use dollars.

If you go with dime-half like 10/6/16 would work for buy one of 20.

With just doing 0.25-0.25 12 quuarters per player is good. 12/17 would be good for 20 buy in.

10/6/16 looks good for cash. Maybe I'll try something like that with $20 buyins--I actually think buy-in amount is easier as well, since more people carry $10s and $20s than those who carry 5s, so less change overall. :)
 
I might try 20/4/16
Just a word of warning: I love to have lots and lots of chips on the table. I use a T25 base and my stacks for 20k are 20/20/5/15. This is not normal, though. Most on PCF prefer fewer. Just so you know :)
 
Agree with others, using 10c chips in a 10c/25c game is a bad idea in general. Much better to go with 5c chips, or eliminate the smaller frac altogether and either use 25c/25c (or 0/25c) blinds, or go with 10c/20c blinds using 10c and 50c chips. I'd probably drop the smaller denom and just go with 25c/25c blinds -- the cost difference vs 10c/25c is minimal, but the game play will be much better.

Regarding your tournament set breakdown, you don't need that many T500 chips. A better starting stack choice for a T100-base set would be 10/6/6/2 using 4x T5000 chips for re-buys (or 5x T1000 and 3x T5000). Use T1000 chips for T100 color-ups, and T5000 for T500 color-ups.

12-player T100-base set:
120 x T100
72 x T500
84 x T1000 (includes 12x for T100 color-ups)
48 x T5000 (includes 8x for T500 color-ups and 16x for 33% re-buys)
--------
324 chips

Rounding those numbers up for 25-chip rolls while also getting extra T1000s for re-buys:
125 x T100
75 x T500
100 x T1000
50 x T5000
--------
350 total chips, which allows for up to 50% re-buys*

six re-buys:
three @ 5x T1000 + 3x T5000
three @ 4x T5000
 
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Regarding your tournament set breakdown, you don't need that many T500 chips. A better starting stack choice for a T100-base set would be 10/6/6/2 using 4x T5000 chips for re-buys (or 5x T1000 and 3x T5000). Use T1000 chips for T100 color-ups, and T5000 for T500 color-ups.

12-player T100-base set:
120 x T100
72 x T500
84 x T1000 (includes 12x for T100 color-ups)
48 x T5000 (includes 8x for T500 color-ups and 16x for 33% re-buys)
--------
324 chips

Rounding those numbers up for 25-chip rolls while also getting extra T1000s for re-buys:
125 x T100
75 x T500
100 x T1000
50 x T5000
--------
350 total chips, which allows for up to 50% re-buys*

six re-buys:
three @ 5x T1000 + 3x T5000
three @ 4x T5000

BGinGA, you are the man! This is an awesome breakdown recommendation, and is exactly what I'm looking for. Your 5/3/4/1 poker set recommendation and 10/6/6/2 stack-size breakdowns go against a lot of the 4/3/2/1 chipset and 8/8/x/x and 12/12/x/x chip distribution recommendations I've found all over the Internet. Yours seem a lot more realistic and practical in a real-world setting. Your and Winberg's suggestion of using the two highest denominations (T1000 and T5000) for rebuys in color-ups makes a lot more sense, as well.

As for cash games, considering your and Justin's advice, I may just go for a 10-5 spread between denominations with a set of 10c, $1, and $5 chips. I know this goes against the traditional 4-5 spread, but I figure I could then accommodate $10NL up to $100NL with 10c/10c, 10c/20c, 20c/40c, 30c/60c, 40c/80c and 50c/$1blinds. What type of breakdown would you suggest for this for a single-table 6-max 100BB buy-in?
 
I could then accommodate $10NL up to $100NL with 10c/10c, 10c/20c, 20c/40c, 30c/60c, 40c/80c and 50c/$1blinds.
I dunno if I'd even want to play in a game that used only 10c chips for anything bigger than 10c/20c stakes, except maybe 20c/40c fixed-limit (with 10c/20c blinds). It's just way too many chips to manage on every single hand otherwise..... and the underlying reason for having 4x/5x jumps between denominations. For big bet games (no-limit and pot-limit), you need adequate denominations to enable players to make efficient bets and keep the physical pot sizes manageable, otherwise play (and speed) suffers.
 
I dunno if I'd even want to play in a game that used only 10c chips for anything bigger than 10c/20c stakes, except maybe 20c/40c fixed-limit (with 10c/20c blinds). It's just way too many chips to manage on every single hand otherwise..... and the underlying reason for having 4x/5x jumps between denominations. For big bet games (no-limit and pot-limit), you need adequate denominations to enable players to make efficient bets and keep the physical pot sizes manageable, otherwise play (and speed) suffers.

Good point. I hadn't though of that. :/ Would a 10c - 50c - $1 micro-stakes spread make sense to you for a 6-max 100BB cash game? If so, how many of each would you suggest?
 
Good point. I hadn't though of that. :/ Would a 10c - 50c - $1 micro-stakes spread make sense to you for a 6-max 100BB cash game? If so, how many of each would you suggest?
For cash set denominations that are 4x/5x apart, I typically go with a 1-2-3 breakdown, or 100/200/300 for 600 chips for a single-table set. If it plays deep, add a barrel or two of the next higher denomination, or if wanting to keep it at 600 chips total, then 100/200/260/40.
 
For cash set denominations that are 4x/5x apart, I typically go with a 1-2-3 breakdown, or 100/200/300 for 600 chips for a single-table set. If it plays deep, add a barrel or two of the next higher denomination, or if wanting to keep it at 600 chips total, then 100/200/260/40.
Yep,

I bunged this up a bit by going:
160 x $.25
200 x $1
100 x $5
12 x $20

That said we don't play deep and I have a couple $100 plaques that I can incorporate for a mixed set if people get frisky. But I wish I did what you said here.
 
Your 5/3/4/1 poker set recommendation and 10/6/6/2 stack-size breakdowns go against a lot of the 4/3/2/1 chipset and 8/8/x/x and 12/12/x/x chip distribution recommendations I've found all over the Internet.
The 4/3/2/1 breakdowns suck very hard indeed. The 8/8/x/x and 12/12/x/x starting stack distributions however are very useful for T25 base sets. Usually people use 12/12/ normally and then 8/8/ when the set is stretched to more players.
Your base is T100, which is why they won't work for you.

My guess is that the most preferred are
T5 base: 10/10/7/x
T25 base: 12/12/5/6/x
T100 base: 10/6/6/x

You should give some thought to what you would do if your tournaments grows. Perhaps buy and extra roll per denom?
 
My guess is that the most preferred are
T5 base: 10/10/7/x
T25 base: 12/12/5/6/x
T100 base: 10/6/6/x
Agreed, for sets that use T500/T1000. For sets that use a T2000 chip, I think it's these:
T25 base: 12/12/9/2+
T100 base: 10/10/2+

The T500 chip becomes much more important without a T1000 chip in play.
 
I may just go for a 10-5 spread between denominations with a set of 10c, $1, and $5 chips. I know this goes against the traditional 4-5 spread, but I figure I could then accommodate $10NL up to $100NL with 10c/10c, 10c/20c, 20c/40c, 30c/60c, 40c/80c and 50c/$1blinds. What type of breakdown would you suggest for this for a single-table 6-max 100BB buy-in?

I dunno if I'd even want to play in a game that used only 10c chips for anything bigger than 10c/20c stakes, except maybe 20c/40c fixed-limit (with 10c/20c blinds). It's just way too many chips to manage on every single hand otherwise

I agree with BG here. I think 10c-10c, 10c-20c, and even 10-30c are probably okay to use dimes, but if the big blind is any bigger than that you are probably better off with 50c chips and playing 50c-50c or 50c-1.

Or really, for the original stake you chose, just doing quarters and dollars may be the best solution. 25c-25c blinds with the ability to do 25c-50c, 50c-1 and so forth.

The reason I did the dimes is I wanted to design my set for 50c-50c and up and have more downward flexibility than just using quarters, but I didn't want to go all the way down to nickels and quarters if that makes sense.
 
I agree with BG here. I think 10c-10c, 10c-20c, and even 10-30c are probably okay to use dimes, but if the big blind is any bigger than that you are probably better off with 50c chips and playing 50c-50c or 50c-1.

Or really, for the original stake you chose, just doing quarters and dollars may be the best solution. 25c-25c blinds with the ability to do 25c-50c, 50c-1 and so forth.

The reason I did the dimes is I wanted to design my set for 50c-50c and up and have more downward flexibility than just using quarters, but I didn't want to go all the way down to nickels and quarters if that makes sense.

I now prefer 10c - 50c - $1 for the exact same reasons.
 
I skipped half the responses here bc they are always the same. But from what I did catch is it looks like your set on dimes.... Please pause on that and think about this for long term group play. 0.25/0.25 is so much easier to move your group up to 25/50 down the road, than 10/20 to 25/50. Just my opinion of course. Plus you buy 100 quarters and your done. You don't have hundreds of dimes all over the place. It's cheaper, cleaner, faster, and it makes sense math wise. Of course do what you want but a lot of people here been doing this right for a long time. So I just repeat what great advice they gave me just months ago.
 
I skipped half the responses here bc they are always the same. But from what I did catch is it looks like your set on dimes.... Please pause on that and think about this for long term group play. 0.25/0.25 is so much easier to move your group up to 25/50 down the road, than 10/20 to 25/50. Just my opinion of course. Plus you buy 100 quarters and your done. You don't have hundreds of dimes all over the place. It's cheaper, cleaner, faster, and it makes sense math wise. Of course do what you want but a lot of people here been doing this right for a long time. So I just repeat what great advice they gave me just months ago.

I think this is really good advice to consider as well, even though I went with the dime-half progression.

I did so after careful consideration of what I wanted to accomplish with my set and experimenting with extra chips I had.

I think I liked dime-half as an alternative to nickel-quarter, but both are undeniably more complicated than "quarter only." Quarter only just didn't suit my micro needs, but if it suits yours, @n3tw0 , then @toynoob is 100% right, it's an easier way to go.
 
...for the original stake you chose, just doing quarters and dollars may be the best solution. 25c-25c blinds with the ability to do 25c-50c, 50c-1 and so forth.

There's so much to consider about this topic. I'm now torn between the 10c-50c-$1 option and the 25c-$1-$5 option. Both have merit, but I think I now prefer the 4-5 denomination spread, and that just doesn't work with 50c chips, since a 50c chip is only half of a $1. As much as I'd like to accommodate $10NL home game, I think I'd be crippling the future value of my poker chip set with 10c-50c-$1 denominations.

After some thought, I think I'll go with BGinGA, Eastwood, and toynoob's advice and go with a 25c 4-5 point spread set using a 100/200/300 breakdown for 25c-$1-$5 chips to play $25 up to $100NL. To appease the noobs who don't want to risk more than $10 at a time, I'll offer a 40BB minimum buy-in. This should eliminate 10c and 50c pieces altogether, while still providing a poker chip set I can grow with.

Thanks for all the great advice ya'll. I feel like I now have a much clearer picture of what I need to get.
 
There's so much to consider about this topic. I'm now torn between the 10c-50c-$1 option and the 25c-$1-$5 option. Both have merit, but I think I now prefer the 4-5 denomination spread, and that just doesn't work with 50c chips, since a 50c chip is only half of a $1. As much as I'd like to accommodate $10NL home game, I think I'd be crippling the future value of my poker chip set with 10c-50c-$1 denominations.

After some thought, I think I'll go with BGinGA, Eastwood, and toynoob's advice and go with a 25c 4-5 point spread set using a 100/200/300 breakdown for 25c-$1-$5 chips to play $25 up to $100NL. To appease the noobs who don't want to risk more than $10 at a time, I'll offer a 40BB minimum buy-in. This should eliminate 10c and 50c pieces altogether, while still providing a poker chip set I can grow with.

Thanks for all the great advice ya'll. I feel like I now have a much clearer picture of what I need to get.
After one session of $0.25/$0.25 blinds and just $20 buy in, your players will come to realize it's a more fun game. We are talking about McDonald's for lunch once ($10) or twice ($20). Burger money for a buy-in isn't going to kill anyone. If burger money does affect your household, then even $10 buy-in should not be played, get your ass up and go deliver pizzas.
 
After one session of $0.25/$0.25 blinds and just $20 buy in, your players will come to realize it's a more fun game. We are talking about McDonald's for lunch once ($10) or twice ($20). Burger money for a buy-in isn't going to kill anyone. If burger money does affect your household, then even $10 buy-in should not be played, get your ass up and go deliver pizzas.

Yea, I usually play 100NL online, so burger money doesn't phase me. Most of these guys are older and risk-averse. They still think poker is gambling--which, I guess, technically is with the way they play. :) I'm just trying to go easy on them, so as to not scare them away.
 
Yea, I usually play 100NL online, so burger money doesn't phase me. Most of these guys are older and risk-averse. They still think poker is gambling--which, I guess, technically is with the way they play. :) I'm just trying to go easy on them, so as to not scare them away.
I get that I do, but as I been hosting for only a year now I haven't lost any players only gained them by having confidence in hosting, nice chips, cards, tables, and chairs. You can't find a game where hosts care so much about the materialistic parts of poker. The people on this forum that host games for years have almost cult followings because the game is run good.

I guess my point is don't worry so much as running ole timers off as just having a fair, nice environment to play cards. If you figure that out before long you will be turning away these same players you now seek to retain.
 

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