Tourney starting stack (1 Viewer)

jake8907

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Assuming I wanna run tournament with chip values 100/500/1000/5000 what would a starting stack look like? Also if I added t25 chips does that change things? Prolly 10-20k starting stack
 
Assuming I wanna run tournament with chip values 100/500/1000/5000 what would a starting stack look like? Also if I added t25 chips does that change things? Prolly 10-20k starting stack
Other variables needed:
  • How many chips do you have available?
  • What is the Blind structure?
  • How many players?
My ideal starting stacks contain from 20-40 chips. If exactly 20 or exactly 40, they fit nicely in a rack so you can set up the stacks a week before the game (yeah, I do that)..

Adding a T25 does change it, as it accounts for 12 chips in that initial starting stack.
 
I am currently working on a custom set that covers both T25/10K as well as T100/20K games.

I actually prefer 12/12/5/6 for T25 base 10K tournaments but if you want to use less chips, this works…

6B12E2FE-37B9-4C4B-9131-EF5582317E9A.jpeg
 
T20000 starting.

10x100
6x500
6x1000
2x5000

Put your 25k in play for chip up and start blinds at 100/100.
 
T10000

8x25
8x100
6x500
6x1000

Use your 5ks for chip up and start blinds at 25/50. At 20 minutes per level my STT usually lasts 3 to 3.5 hrs and we play two tournaments.

I use this one and then use 2x5000 for one time rebuy.
 
IMO 12x25s is way too many. In my STT they are only on the table for four rounds.
 
I think the answer depends on a few factors but - in our home games, I like a deeper structure
I have a similar chip setup as you, including the 25s
I would give 15k starting stack, 20 min levels and start the blinds at 25-50. Depending how many players you are, this would take between 6 and 10 hours, give or take... we didn't mention the blind structure, and you can adjust how you like... We usually call the much later levels, the "get out of my house" levels...

That is our setup, but the other ideas here are very good, in my opinion
 
This is my current setup for a 25k starting stack is:

100 x 10
500 x 6
1000 x 11
5000 x 2

I have enough chips to accommodate 30 players with color-ups for a freeze-out style tourney which is pretty much all we play.

This is my blind structure:

LevelBlinds
SmallBigBB Ante
1100100100
2100200200
3200300300
4200400400
5300500500
Break
6300600600
7400800800
85001,0001,000
96001,2001,200
108001,5003,000
Break - Remove 100s
111,0002,0002,000
121,5002,5002,500
131,5003,0003,000
142,0004,0004,000
152,5005,0005,000
Break - Remove 500s
163,0006,0006,000
174,0008,0008,000
185,00010,00010,000
196,00012,00012,000
208,00016,00016,000
Break - Remove 1000s
2110,00020,00020,000
2215,00025,00025,000
2315,00030,00030,000
2420,00040,00040,000
2525,00050,00050,000
2630,00060,00060,000

I also have enough chips to add a 25k chip to each stack for a 50k starting stack and use the same structure but remove the 100/100 level. None of my games are designed to run less than 5 hours.
 
I am currently working on a custom set that covers both T25/10K as well as T100/20K games.

I actually prefer 12/12/5/6 for T25 base 10K tournaments but if you want to use less chips, this works…

View attachment 768828
I don't use T25's, but I think your 20k is spot on @Eloe2000. I have a "larger-than-i-need" # of 500's, so I usually go 10-8-10-1 (my OCD balks at stacks of 11). My rule of thumb is to try and make sure my largest denom makes up less than 33% of the whole stack. I always seem to run into less issues making change that way.
 
+1 for T100s!

FWIW, my T100 has a 20,000 starting stack.

15 $100
7 $500
10 $1000
1 $5000.

I like a lot chips!

My current chipset is kind of junk though, so I may switch this up when I eventually get a better chipset.
 
What are your chip breakdowns? I'm kind of curious about T100 base tournament set breakdowns and want to try one for a home game.

How many 25k chips do you folks like to use?
 
Currently I'm running a 9-player (max) freeze-out, keeping it simple.

The set I'm using has:
Code:
200 white
140 red
100 blue
100 green
60 black

I'm using, per player:
Code:
15 x  $100 (white) -->  $1500
 7 x  $500 (green) -->  $3500
10 x $1000 (red)   --> $10000
 1 x $5000 (black) -->  $5000

Actually in play:
Code:
15 * 9 = 135 whites
 7 * 9 =  63 greens
10 * 9 =  90 reds
 1 * 9 =   9 blacks
 
This is my current setup for a 25k starting stack is:

100 x 10
500 x 6
1000 x 11
5000 x 2

I have enough chips to accommodate 30 players with color-ups for a freeze-out style tourney which is pretty much all we play.

This is my blind structure:

LevelBlinds
SmallBigBB Ante
1100100100
2100200200
3200300300
4200400400
5300500500
Break
6300600600
7400800800
85001,0001,000
96001,2001,200
108001,5003,000
Break - Remove 100s
111,0002,0002,000
121,5002,5002,500
131,5003,0003,000
142,0004,0004,000
152,5005,0005,000
Break - Remove 500s
163,0006,0006,000
174,0008,0008,000
185,00010,00010,000
196,00012,00012,000
208,00016,00016,000
Break - Remove 1000s
2110,00020,00020,000
2215,00025,00025,000
2315,00030,00030,000
2420,00040,00040,000
2525,00050,00050,000
2630,00060,00060,000

I also have enough chips to add a 25k chip to each stack for a 50k starting stack and use the same structure but remove the 100/100 level. None of my games are designed to run less than 5 hours.
20 min levels?

Looks pretty good, will give it a shot...
 
What are your chip breakdowns? I'm kind of curious about T100 base tournament set breakdowns and want to try one for a home game.

How many 25k chips do you folks like to use?
I ordered a cards mold tourney set a while back for T100 base with some extra chips in the count just in case some break in transit which none have:

T100x 160
T500x 80
T1000x 130
T5000x 55
T25000x 15
Totals to T836,000

Great for two full table max games. Tried taking over a casual league where I did T15k starting stacks with Level 1 at 100/100 for 150BB starting stacks.

1 Table:
T100x 15
T500x 7
T1Kx 10

2 Tables:
T100x 10
T500x 4
T1Kx 7
T5Kx 1

Set can be used for T20k and T25k starting stacks by adding another T5k chip or two.
 
100 x 10
500 x 6
1000 x 11
5000 x 2

Why does the third demonization (1000) tend to have a higher starting count then the second (500)? Is it to keep the starting chip count lower?
 
100 x 10
500 x 6
1000 x 11
5000 x 2

Why does the third demonization (1000) tend to have a higher starting count then the second (500)? Is it to keep the starting chip count lower?
When betting, you never need more than one T500 chip, so you simply do not need many of them.

Complicating matters, If a player has many T500 chips, it really slows down the count of all-ins, as most recreational players count up their T500s in stacks of two, counting "one thousand, two thousand..." etc.

So fewer chips needed & more efficient.
 
For my 30,000 starting stacks, I use :
T100 x 10
T500 x 6
T1000 x 11
T5000 x 3

But I think
T100 x 10
T500 x 6
T1000 x 6
T5000 x 4
Would work too.

So for 20,000 I would go with 10/6/11/1 or 10/6/6/2.
 
100 x 10
500 x 6
1000 x 11
5000 x 2

Why does the third demonization (1000) tend to have a higher starting count then the second (500)? Is it to keep the starting chip count lower?
Because you dont need as many T500's since you have T1k's that are just 2x in value. It's more economically efficient to have fewer T500s to make room for higher denominations or maybe more blinds chips (T100) since you need many to accommodate many players and blind structures that require them.

Generally for cash and tourney chips, it's best to have denominations be 4x or 5x difference in value between each other. Only exception is .50 to $1 & T500 to T1k, where I remember someone saying it's easier for people to see and count T1000/$1 than T2000/$2. Some have they're denominations go from T500 to T2k and still works fine but T1k is the more commonly used.
 
Some have they're denominations go from T500 to T2k and still works fine
I'd say it works, but I'd balk at saying it works "fine".

When counting stacks of chips, people don't always do multiples of two very well. Starting from zero, sure. 2-4-6-8-etc. It flows off the tongue like we've been doing it since preschool.

Adding onto an existing bet of T1000. really messes up the show. 1000, 3000, 5000, 7000 - it requires a beat of thought between each calculation. Add to that the stress of making a tournament-risking bet, being a little inebriated, or simply brain dead from a late night at the end of a hellacious work week, and you are just killing the enjoyment with a T2000.

But wait, there's more...

I have yet to play in a full tournament using T2000 chips where there wasn't someone that made a bet thinking the T2000 was just T1000 - and that's just what was caught when the verbal declaration did not match the chips put out. How many more estimated an opponent's stack forgetting the stack of T2000s weren't T1000s? How about silently making a pot-sized bet only to discover you are over-betting the pot by 2x? Of course, this error goes away as you become more familiar with the T2000 chip, but you are putting any new player in an awkward position by having a non-standard chip.
 
I'd say it works, but I'd balk at saying it works "fine".

When counting stacks of chips, people don't always do multiples of two very well. Starting from zero, sure. 2-4-6-8-etc. It flows off the tongue like we've been doing it since preschool.

Adding onto an existing bet of T1000. really messes up the show. 1000, 3000, 5000, 7000 - it requires a beat of thought between each calculation. Add to that the stress of making a tournament-risking bet, being a little inebriated, or simply brain dead from a late night at the end of a hellacious work week, and you are just killing the enjoyment with a T2000.

But wait, there's more...

I have yet to play in a full tournament using T2000 chips where there wasn't someone that made a bet thinking the T2000 was just T1000 - and that's just what was caught when the verbal declaration did not match the chips put out. How many more estimated an opponent's stack forgetting the stack of T2000s weren't T1000s? How about silently making a pot-sized bet only to discover you are over-betting the pot by 2x? Of course, this error goes away as you become more familiar with the T2000 chip, but you are putting any new player in an awkward position by having a non-standard chip.
I personally much prefer T1k. I was just pointing out that I've seen sets here have T100/T500/T2k/T10k denominations the owners liked or prefered.
 
Oddly, I do have a set that uses a T2000. I will be the first to admit that it's wrong, but occasionally desperately necessary.
 

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