Suggestions for a tournament set (1 Viewer)

TheDonkeyKong

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Hi I’m new to the forum and see there are tons of awesome people and chips! I’m looking to buy a tournament set any suggestions?
 
Get samples of different chip types to figure out what you like/don’t like, keep an eye on the classifieds here, and/or start a wanted ad.

Welcome and good luck
 
Get samples of different chip types to figure out what you like/don’t like, keep an eye on the classifieds here, and/or start a wanted ad.

Welcome and good luck
Thanks!

Get samples of different chip types to figure out what you like/don’t like, keep an eye on the classifieds here, and/or start a wanted ad.

Welcome and good luck
Any good sites you would recommend?
 
Hi,

Some practical questions :
- How many players ?
- Rebuy allowed ?
- Expected game duration ?
- Budget ?
 
I’m looking to buy a tournament set any suggestions?
The three primary factors are what type of chips you like (get samples if unsure), how many you need (type/size of tournament), and how much spending money you have (nicer chips cost more $$).

Here are some basic guidelines/estimates:

A single-table tournament set typically contains about 400 chips. A two-table set-up generally contains between 600-800 chips, and three-table sets are usually in the 1000-1600 chip range.

Regarding material/quality costs:
  • Cheap slugged injection-molded plastic chips cost about 15c to 20c each.
  • Low-budget plastics and cheap ceramic chips run about 25c to 30c per chip.
  • Injection-molded china clays (mostly plastic with additives) cost around 35c to 50c per chip.
  • Printed ceramic chips typically cost between 55c to 85c per chip, depending on quantity, chip diameter, chip type, and customization.
  • Budget (common, sometimes used) clay chips generally cost between $1 and $2 per chip.
  • Custom clay sets and popular clay casino sets can run anywhere from $2 to $10 per chip (or higher).
 
The three primary factors are what type of chips you like (get samples if unsure), how many you need (type/size of tournament), and how much spending money you have (nicer chips cost more $$).

Here are some basic guidelines/estimates:

A single-table tournament set typically contains about 400 chips. A two-table set-up generally contains between 600-800 chips, and three-table sets are usually in the 1000-1600 chip range.

Regarding material/quality costs:
  • Cheap slugged injection-molded plastic chips cost about 15c to 20c each.
  • Low-budget plastics and cheap ceramic chips run about 25c to 30c per chip.
  • Injection-molded china clays (mostly plastic with additives) cost around 35c to 50c per chip.
  • Printed ceramic chips typically cost between 55c to 85c per chip, depending on quantity, chip diameter, chip type, and customization.
  • Budget (common, sometimes used) clay chips generally cost between $1 and $2 per chip.
  • Custom clay sets and popular clay casino sets can run anywhere from $2 to $10 per chip (or higher).
Thanks for the very detailed input I appreciate it! We are usually around 10-15 guys. Also it seems you know you’re stuff, and suggestions on tournament structure? Starting stack, blinds, ETC. What has worked best for you?
 
With a budget of around 40c - 60c / chips you can get basically China Clay or Ceramics.

@Apache and @ABC Gifts and Awards are sponsored vendors here.

Just get samples before deciding what you like more.

These types of chips have to be bought by increment of 25.

A 500 chip set shall be more than enough for you :

25 x 125
100 x 125
75 x 75
1000 x 125
5000 x 50
2 dealer buttons

Starting stacks of 10.000.
Up to 10 players : 12/12/7/5
11-15 players : 8/8/4/7

With enough 1000 and 5000 for color-up.
And other 5000 for rebuys.

You can also have larger stacks for freezeout events.

15,000 : 12/12/7/10 (10-max) and 8/8/4/7/1 (11-15)
20,000 : 12/12/7/10/1 (10-max) and 8/8/7/2 (11-15)

Structure :
25-50
25-75
50-100
75-150
100-200
150-300
## color up 25 with 1000
200-400
300-600
400-800
600-1200
800-1600
1000-2000
1500-3000
## color up 100 with 1000 and 5000 with 5000
2000-4000
3000-6000
4000-8000
6000-12000
8000-16000
...
 
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Awesome thanks so much!
With a budget of around 40c - 60c / chips you can get basically China Clay or Ceramics.

@Apache and @ABC Gifts and Awards are sponsored vendors here.

Just get samples before deciding what you like more.

These types of chips have to be bought by increment of 25.

A 500 chip set shall be more than enough for you :

25 x 125
100 x 125
75 x 75
1000 x 125
5000 x 50
2 dealer buttons

Starting stacks of 10.000.
Up to 10 players : 12/12/7/5
11-15 players : 8/8/4/7

With enough 1000 and 5000 for color-up.
And other 5000 for rebuys.

You can also have larger stacks for freezeout events.

15,000 : 12/12/7/10 (10-max) and 8/8/4/7/1 (11-15)
20,000 : 12/12/7/10/1 (10-max) and 8/8/7/2 (11-15)

Structure :
25-50
25-75
50-100
75-150
100-200
150-300
## color up 25 with 1000
200-400
300-600
400-800
600-1200
800-1600
1000-2000
1500-3000
## color up 100 with 1000 and 5000 with 5000
2000-4000
3000-6000
4000-8000
6000-12000
8000-16000
...
Awesome thanks so much!
 
+1 on the samples ... I ordered a set from CPC and some were quite different from online images ... adds time to the design process but very useful before making a sizable purchase
 
I’d consider the current Sun-fly group buy going on right now. You can get 400 43mm chips in that price range.

Probably want to find samples first though.
 
People over hype buying samples. Just spend a lot of money and see what happens.

nobody specified how many samples...i find your best bet to determine if you like a chip is to buy a complete set and play one or two games with it. if you don't like it, you sell it and buy your next (almost certainly more expensive) "sample" set.
 
Hi there, we are usually around 10-15 guys. I’m looking to spend in the 200-300 range!
For 15 players, you could get by with as few as 440 chips:
25x120
100x120
500x 60
1000x120
5000x20

Starting stacks of 8/8/4/7. The 43mm Royals from Apache are the best bang for the buck, IMO. You could probably move into ceramics from @ABC Gifts and Awards / @BR Pro Poker, or “hybrids” from Sunfly (ceramic chips with labels). Check out the new Prestige group buy. You could even get them semi-customized for no extra charge.

If you’re patient, you just might find a clay tourney set for close to your budget. Good luck!
 
To add to this does anyone have any good suggestions on what denominations I should purchase? Starting stacks as long with blind format? Like I said we usually have 2 tables going
 
does anyone have any good suggestions on what denominations I should purchase?
Posts #10 and #18 above advocate for a T25-base set, using T25, T100, T500, T1000, and T5000 denominations (and occasionally a few T25000s), which is pretty common and loosely based on the old (2002-2008ish) WSOP Main Event 10,000 chip starting stack sizes.

Some tournament sets are T5-base (5,25,100,500) or T1-base (1,5,25,100), often because real casino chips are usually a lot less expensive for smaller cash denominations than the larger 500, 1000, and 5000 chips (which are produced in smaller quantities, thus smaller supply and higher demand meaning higher prices). This is not a concern for mass-produced home market or semi-custom sets, where all denominations generally cost the same.

Gaining popularity lately is the T100-base set, which is somewhat based on recent changes made to how the WSOP runs events, while some people build T500-base sets (500,1000,5000,25000) or even larger 'small denom' sets (5000, 25k, 100k, 500k, 1M) in order to replicate very large 'high roller' events or the final table feel of very large tournaments (with hundreds of thousands or even millions of chips on the table).

Some people merely use their cash chip denominations (25c, $1, $5, $20/$25, $100) for tournament play, while others seek higher efficiency and build non-standard sets using uncommon chip values that maintain traditional relative intervals (T100, T500, T2000, T10000, T50k).

There are lots of ways to skin this particular cat, along with lots of opinions on which knife is best to use.
 
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Posts #10 and #18 above advocate for a T25-base set, using T25, T100, T500, T1000, and T5000 denominations (and occasionally a few T25000s), which is pretty common and loosely based on the old (2002-2008ish) WSOP Main Event 10,000 chip starting stack sizes.

Some tournament sets are T5-base (5,25,100,500) or T1-base (1,5,25,100), often because real casino chips are usually a lot less expensive for smaller cash denominations than the larger 500, 1000, and 5000 chips (which are produced in smaller quantities, thus smaller supply and higher demand meaning higher prices). This is not a concern for mass-produced home market or semi-custom sets, where all denominations generally cost the same.

Gaining popularity lately is the T100-base set, which is somewhat based on recent changes made to how the WSOP runs events, while some people build T500-base sets (500,1000,5000,25000) or even larger 'small denom' sets (5000, 25k, 100k, 500k, 1M) in order to replicate very large 'high roller' events or the final table feel of very large tournaments (with hundreds of thousands or even millions of chips on the table).

Some people merely use their cash chip denominations (25c, $1, $5, $20/$25, $100) for tournament play, while others seek higher efficiency and build non-standard sets using uncommon chip values that maintain traditional relative intervals (T100, T500, T2000, T10000, T50k).

There are lots of ways to skin this particular cat, along with lots of opinions on which knife is best to use.
Thanks for this lots of information I was unaware of! Just trying to figure out what most people like and benefits to each. I’m fairly new to hosting games and I want to get something I will enjoy and also the other players. One more thing to add would be there is a lot of newer players so what breakdown would you lean towards for having to make the least change possible?
 
we are usually around 10-15 guys. I’m looking to spend in the 200-300 range

there is a lot of newer players so what breakdown would you lean towards for having to make the least change possible?
Probably a T100-base set with 15/7/10/2 starting stacks equaling T25000 chips (250 big blinds with opening 100/100 blinds, or 125BB with opening 100/200).

Although it can be configured differently for more efficiency (15/5/11/2 or 10/6/11/2, with fewer T100s and T500s), I think 15/7/x/ is a pretty change-free breakdown for two tables / 16 players, and also allows the use of a Big Blind Ante structure if desired:

240 x T100
115 x T500
160 x T1000
75 x T5000 (includes chips for T100/T500 color-ups and re-buys/larger stacks)
10 x T25000 (for T1000 color-ups)
----------
600 chips

A $200 to $300 budget means 33c to 50c per chip for 600 chips, which sorta forces you into the china clay category. But if you can bump that budget up a tad, there are some very nice printed ceramics (BRPro) and labeled ceramic hybrid chips (Sun-Fly) that can be had for around 55c-65c per chip (so still under $400 total).

If so, I'd recommend Sun-Fly's latest hybrid group buy chips (Prestige) as offering the best bang-for-the-buck (provided you like the design and chip characteristics of ceramic hybrids). They can also be semi-customized for no extra cost allowing you do alter the text and choosing denomination colors that you prefer.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/the-prestige-group-buy-starting-now-12-jun-2020.56998/

https://brpropoker.com/collections/standard-design-ceramic-poker-chips

https://www.apollonchips.com/
 
Probably a T100-base set with 15/7/10/2 starting stacks equaling T25000 chips (250 big blinds with opening 100/100 blinds, or 125BB with opening 100/200).

Although it can be configured differently for more efficiency (15/5/11/2 or 10/6/11/2, with fewer T100s and T500s), I think 15/7/x/ is a pretty change-free breakdown for two tables / 16 players, and also allows the use of a Big Blind Ante structure if desired:

240 x T100
115 x T500
160 x T1000
75 x T5000 (includes chips for T100/T500 color-ups and re-buys/larger stacks)
10 x T25000 (for T1000 color-ups)
----------
600 chips

A $200 to $300 budget means 33c to 50c per chip for 600 chips, which sorta forces you into the china clay category. But if you can bump that budget up a tad, there are some very nice printed ceramics (BRPro) and labeled ceramic hybrid chips (Sun-Fly) that can be had for around 55c-65c per chip (so still under $400 total).

If so, I'd recommend Sun-Fly's latest hybrid group buy chips (Prestige) as offering the best bang-for-the-buck (provided you like the design and chip characteristics of ceramic hybrids). They can also be semi-customized for no extra cost allowing you do alter the text and choosing denomination colors that you prefer.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/the-prestige-group-buy-starting-now-12-jun-2020.56998/

https://brpropoker.com/collections/standard-design-ceramic-poker-chips

https://www.apollonchips.com/
Thanks for you’re input will definitely check those out!
 

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