Upgrading poker chips for home game (1 Viewer)

[haslettworm]

I have been hosting a biweekly home game (tournament format) for the past 11 years and feel that it is time to upgrade from our "dice" chips. Due to our blind structure, we need either nondenominational or custom valued chips. Ordered samples of blank Majestic and Milano CC chips from Apache as well as Tiki Kings from BR Pro. For my application, the ceramics, which can be ordered with custom values, seem to be the best option. The CCs look quite plain without labels and custom labels will significantly increase the cost. I am also concerned about uniformity (one of the Milano sample chips was visably thicker) and soiling. The Tikis feel a lot better than my dice chips and seem to be uniform and easily cleaned. Does anyone know of another brand or type of chip I should consider or have any advice? Thanks!

 

[DoubleEagle]

What is your structure that would require customs?

 

[haslettworm]

Blinds at 5-10, 10-20, 25-50, 50-100, 100-200, 200-400, increasing over 4 hours. With dice chips, each player (10 handed) gets 1,225 in chips (15 @ 5, 15 @ 10, 10 @ 25, 5 @ 50 & 5 @ 100). Chip values and blind structure work together nicely (IMO). Lower valued chips are taken off table as blinds increase, with 200 value chips used during the last half hour with 200-400 blinds. Probably more info than you need/want.

 

[Beakertwang]

Blinds at 5-10, 10-20, 25-50, 50-100, 100-200, 200-400, increasing over 4 hours. With dice chips, each player (10 handed) gets 1,225 in chips (15 @ 5, 15 @ 10, 10 @ 25, 5 @ 50 & 5 @ 100). Chip values and blind structure work together nicely (IMO). Lower valued chips are taken off table as blinds increase, with 200 value chips used during the last half hour with 200-400 blinds. Probably more info than you need/want.

Hour blind levels? Even with this structure, you don't need 10's or 50's. On the 10/20 level, just use more 5's (any raise can use quarters, anyway), and likewise, on the 50/100 level, just use more 25's. There's a reason most chips denoms increase by 4x or 5x--it's a much more effecient use of chips.

 

[BGinGA]

Blinds at 5-10, 10-20, 25-50, 50-100, 100-200, 200-400, increasing over 4 hours. With dice chips, each player (10 handed) gets 1,225 in chips (15 @ 5, 15 @ 10, 10 @ 25, 5 @ 50 & 5 @ 100). Chip values and blind structure work together nicely (IMO). Lower valued chips are taken off table as blinds increase, with 200 value chips used during the last half hour with 200-400 blinds. Probably more info than you need/want.

How many players, how long are the blind levels, and what is the buy-in?

It may be time to upgrade the format in addition to the equipment.

 

[BGinGA]

Ordered samples of blank Majestic and Milano CC chips from Apache as well as Tiki Kings from BR Pro.

Does anyone know of another brand or type of chip I should consider or have any advice? Thanks!

Getting samples is a great start. So is asking here for advice.

What is your $$ budget for the upgrade? That, along with the total number of required chips (with which we can also assist) will determine the best chip recommendations and choice.

 

[SWEATER]

Hour blind levels? Even with this structure, you don't need 10's or 50's. On the 10/20 level, just use more 5's (any raise can use quarters, anyway), and likewise, on the 50/100 level, just use more 25's. There's a reason most chips denoms increase by 4x or 5x--it's a much more effecient use of chips.

This is solid advice. Ditch the 10s and 50s.

Also, welcome!!

 

[haslettworm]

Ok, here is a full disclosure. My initial set of 500 dice chips has 150 white, 150 red, 100 blue, 50 green and 50 black chips. Fully distributing the chips to ten players resulted in each player getting 15 white, 15 red, 10 blue, 5 green and 5 black. If we start with less than ten players, the chips are fully distributed to the number of players in attendance. We play a tournament (no rebuy) for 4 hours and pay out top finishers based on final chip count and/or order of elimination. Blinds at 5-10 (1 hr), 10-20 (1 hr), 25-50 (30 min), 50-100 (30 min), 100-200 (30 min), and 200-400 for final 30 min. We also break for pizza (15 min) during the first 2 hrs. Assigning values of white =5, red =10, blue = 25, green = 50 and black = 100 works well with the blind structure. I added 50 more green and 50 more black chips, along with purple (200 value), to allow us to remove most lower valued chips as the blinds increase. With each player at a full table having 1,225 to start (aprox 120 bb), we have a nice period of deep stack poker. Once the blinds hit 50-100 (2.5 hr mark), starting stacks are only 12bb, forcing more action. By the time of the ending blind structure (200-400), we are usually down to 3 or 4 players, with an average chip count around 3,00 to 4,000. We have been playing with this format every 2 weeks (with time out for major holidays and my vacations) for 11 years. With the tournament structure, no one loses more than the buy in. For some, the events are mainly social. The format we use, while most likely not ideal, works for us. "If it ain't broken, don't fix it!" So back to my question of chip options. I have no set budget. Thinking around $500 but could go a little higher or a lot lower. Thanks very much,

 

[links_slayer]

This set might be overkill for what you need but they’re pretty nice and offers flexibility if you want to change the structure from time to time

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/pcf-gpi-promo-tourney-set-1000.31649/

 

[haslettworm]

Hi Sweater: Not sure how "ditching the 10s and 50s" is a benefit. Seems like I would need even more chips (twice as many 5s to replace the 10s and twice as many 25s to replace the 50s) to have the same blind structure.

 

[haslettworm]

The pcf set looks great. I am sure the chips are of much higher quality than my CC samples. Just wish they didn't have such an enormous denomination spread. Can't imagine a tournament or cash game structure which would utilize both 5 and 25,000 chips. This is the problem (IMO) with stock sets. You pay for a bunch of chips that you will seldom/never use. I dont understand why the manufacturers of quality chips feel the need to put fake casino names and stock values (often in $) on every set of chips the offer? Just sayin.

 

[Beakertwang]

Hi Sweater: Not sure how "ditching the 10s and 50s" is a benefit. Seems like I would need even more chips (twice as many 5s to replace the 10s and twice as many 25s to replace the 50s) to have the same blind structure.

Think of it this way: ditching the 10's allows you to have more 25's, and ditching the 50's allows you to have more 100's, getting you more value with fewer chips.

We have 5's, 25's, 100's, and 500's. Our early tourney blinds are as follows:
5/10
10/20
15/30
20/40
30/60
40/80
50/100

No one ever seems to miss 10's.

 

[MaxB]

500 hot stamped Unicorn chips from GOCC

http://www.gameoncc.com/Chips/UnicornSeries.aspx

Good feel to them, great colors, custom denom hotstamps for you, and reasonably priced (y) :thumbsup:

Get a barrel of samples first to see if you like them. I have a small tourney set and like them a lot

 

[Beakertwang]

500 hot stamped Unicorn chips from GOCC

http://www.gameoncc.com/Chips/UnicornSeries.aspx

Good feel to them, great colors, custom denom hotstamps for you, and reasonably priced (y) :thumbsup:

Get a barrel of samples first to see if you like them. I have a small tourney set and like them a lot

What do hotstamped Unicorns run? They have no pricing on their site, and I've had no reply to a recent email.

 

[haslettworm]

Thanks, Breaker (you can call me worm): That makes sense, especially with your blind structure. The jump to 25-50 and especially to 50-100 always seems like culture shock in our game. Having the blinds ramp up more slowly could be a benefit. The 5, 25 and 100 denominations are certainly easier to find. Still don't see a need for the 5,000 and 25,000 chips. Not planning on hosting any multi day tournaments. Wife and lodging options make this unlikely.

 

[MaxB]

I paid 37c (2016) each for my blanks but got gear labels instead of hotstamps. I would guess easily under $1 per chip if using the in house hotstamps over a custom

 

[haslettworm]

Hey MaxB: The Unicorns look like a great option for me. I also would like an idea of the cost. Thanks!

 

[Beakertwang]

I paid 37c (2016) each for my blanks but got gear labels instead of hotstamps. I would guess easily under $1 per chip if using the in house hotstamps over a custom

Yeah, I imagine stamps are about 15-20¢/chip after set up fees and everything. They have a good selection of colors, too!

 

[haslettworm]

Web site says Unicorns are "plastic". Any idea of construction (metal inserts) and weight? Thanks.

 

[Shaggy]

Thanks, Breaker (you can call me worm): That makes sense, especially with your blind structure. The jump to 25-50 and especially to 50-100 always seems like culture shock in our game. Having the blinds ramp up more slowly could be a benefit. The 5, 25 and 100 denominations are certainly easier to find. Still don't see a need for the 5,000 and 25,000 chips. Not planning on hosting any multi day tournaments. Wife and lodging options make this unlikely.

Sounds like you might be open to altering your structure based on input from members here.

There is a reason most sets don’t include 10 and 50 denom chips... they aren’t commonly used.

Here is a suggestion. Before you invest in a new set of chips, try using your existing chips with a different tournament structure based on something that the members here recommend. Maybe @BGinGA can chime in. This may be a bit of a struggle at first with your players, because they already know the colors. It seems worthwhile to at least try this out before you invest a few hundred dollars into a new set.

Also, the stock denom sets include small and large denoms, but most people don’t use all denoms in their games. You are not required to get all denoms. There aren’t standard breakdowns that give you 100 of each chip or anything like that. You pick the quantity of each denom you want.

 

[haslettworm]

Grest idea, Shaggy! Kind of a measure twice, cut once strategy. The guys have been using dice chips for 11 years. A few more weeks won't make a difference. Only did the 10s and 50s to use all the chips in the stock set.

 

[v1pe]

Thanks, Breaker (you can call me worm): That makes sense, especially with your blind structure. The jump to 25-50 and especially to 50-100 always seems like culture shock in our game. Having the blinds ramp up more slowly could be a benefit. The 5, 25 and 100 denominations are certainly easier to find. Still don't see a need for the 5,000 and 25,000 chips. Not planning on hosting any multi day tournaments. Wife and lodging options make this unlikely.

The majority of tournaments (on PCF and held in Casinos/Card Rooms) start with 25/50 blind levels and have starting stacks of 5k-10k (or more for deepstack events). Which is why most sets include denoms up to the 5k-25k levels.

Most sets do not utilize a T5 chip. Not that a 5/10 starting blind is bad, it's just not nearly as common in a casino environment.

The tourney I run monthly typically (2 tables) uses 10k starting stacks of 12/12/5/6 and uses 2xT5000 for rebuys. I personally like to mix up the structure and game from time to time (adding bounties, removing rebuys, doing deepstack and high denom events), so my set includes a rack of 25k for that purpose. Just more flexible...doesn't have to be a multiday tournament.

 

[v1pe]

FWIW, my group used dice chips for years. With similar structure to yours. Although play was more sporadic before I took over hosting, when I added denominated chips and mixed up the structure it didn't take much adjusting.

The vast majority of guys considered the change an improvement. I also consider it a plus that I've "trained" my players to much more comfortably enter a casino or card room tournament as well, even though the majority of them probably never will.

 

[Shaggy]

From your earlier post, I believe this is your current dice chip breakdown (and denoms):
150 white T5
150 red T10
100 blue T25
100 green T50
100 black T100
xx purple T200

Note, the “T” is like a currency symbol, indicating “Tournament” this differentiates it from cash... just a notation that is commonly used on the forums.

I suggest you change your denoms to the following:
150 white T5
100 blue T25
100 black T100
50 purple T500
This keeps most of your colors the same and discards the non used.

Starting stacks for ten players would be the following:
15x white T5
9x blue T25
10x black T100
0x purple T500
For a T1300 stack.

Here are suggested blind levels. Others are better at this than me, but this should be a good start.
5/10
5/15
10/20
15/30
20/40
25/50
25/75
50/100

There are some screwy increases in there, but slower is better than just doubling the blinds. Curious what others input will be.

 

[haslettworm]

Have been putting some thought into changing my home game blind structure and chip values. It seems to me that a structure like the one suggested by Beaker (chip values 5, 25, 100, 500 and blinds of 5/10, 10/20, 15/30, 20/40, 30/60, 40/80 & 50/100) would be a lot more confusing and chip intensive than my current values of 5,10,25,50,100 & 200 and blinds of 5/10, 10/20, 25/50,50/100, 100/200 &200/400. For example, in my structure, almost all big and small blinds can be posted with a single chip and a call from the small blind requires only the addition of a single chip. With the suggested blind structure and chip values, multiple chips must be used and often some removed to post and call from the blinds. For example, blinds of 20/40 require 4 chips to post the small blind and at least 3 chips to post the big blind. If the small blind calls, he must put in 4 more chips or put in one 25 chip and remove one 5 chip. With no dedicated dealer, seems like lots of opportunities for errors. Also, in my structure the majorityof 5 and 10 valued chips can be replaced with higher valued chips when the blinds hit 25/50. With the recomended structure, the 5 chips must stay in play until the blinds are at 50/100. Who wants to mess with 5 chips for most of the night? Different strokes for different folks, but my structure has been working for 11 years and changing it to meet the industry chip standards seem like a step backwards. Will still check out the chips suggested and very much appreciate everyone's thoughts and interest in helping me.

 

[haslettworm]

Thanks for the ideas, Shaggy! Regarding blind structure, I believe that you need to determine what you are trying to accomplish and structure your blinds to achieve that goal. In our game we believe the best poker is "deep stack" poker (small blinds relative to each player's chip stack). For that reason, we have blinds of 5/10 and 10/20 for the first 2 hours. Unfortunately we can't play all night, so we need to increase the blinds to a level adequate to end the tournament over the following 2 hours (4 hours total playing time). With approximately 12,000 in chips on the table, blinds of 200/400 have proven to be adequate to a complicated this goal. The blind incerases to 25/50, 50/100 and 100/200 in 30 minute intervals are a logical way to get there. So we actually have two goals: extend deep stack play early in the night and get everyone out of my house after 4 hours (really more of my wife's goal). Just my opinion, but in your post, with maximum blind's of 50/100 and 13,000 chips on the table, it will be a very late night.

 

[v1pe]

Thanks for the ideas, Shaggy! Regarding blind structure, I believe that you need to determine what you are trying to accomplish and structure your blinds to achieve that goal. In our game we believe the best poker is "deep stack" poker (small blinds relative to each player's chip stack). For that reason, we have blinds of 5/10 and 10/20 for the first 2 hours. Unfortunately we can't play all night, so we need to increase the blinds to a level adequate to end the tournament over the following 2 hours (4 hours total playing time). With approximately 12,000 in chips on the table, blinds of 200/400 have proven to be adequate to a complicated this goal. The blind incerases to 25/50, 50/100 and 100/200 in 30 minute intervals are a logical way to get there. So we actually have two goals: extend deep stack play early in the night and get everyone out of my house after 4 hours (really more of my wife's goal). Just my opinion, but in your post, with maximum blind's of 50/100 and 13,000 chips on the table, it will be a very late night.

Just for frame of reference, most of us use 20-30 minute levels in our home game tourneys. 1 hr levels are very long by comparison. That's probably where shaggy is coming from in regards to his blind structure.

 

[Beakertwang]

Have been putting some thought into changing my home game blind structure and chip values. It seems to me that a structure like the one suggested by Beaker (chip values 5, 25, 100, 500 and blinds of 5/10, 10/20, 15/30, 20/40, 30/60, 40/80 & 50/100) would be a lot more confusing and chip intensive than my current values of 5,10,25,50,100 & 200 and blinds of 5/10, 10/20, 25/50,50/100, 100/200 &200/400. For example, in my structure, almost all big and small blinds can be posted with a single chip and a call from the small blind requires only the addition of a single chip. With the suggested blind structure and chip values, multiple chips must be used and often some removed to post and call from the blinds. For example, blinds of 20/40 require 4 chips to post the small blind and at least 3 chips to post the big blind. If the small blind calls, he must put in 4 more chips or put in one 25 chip and remove one 5 chip. With no dedicated dealer, seems like lots of opportunities for errors. Also, in my structure the majorityof 5 and 10 valued chips can be replaced with higher valued chips when the blinds hit 25/50. With the recomended structure, the 5 chips must stay in play until the blinds are at 50/100. Who wants to mess with 5 chips for most of the night? Different strokes for different folks, but my structure has been working for 11 years and changing it to meet the industry chip standards seem like a step backwards. Will still check out the chips suggested and very much appreciate everyone's thoughts and interest in helping me.

Another way of looking at the chip confusion: many would consider having upwards of 6 separate denoms in a single pot (not unthinkable that T5, T10, T25, T50, T100, and T200 could end up in a 4-way pot; I imagine 5 could happen frequently) could be confusing--counting the pot (not to mention sidepots), stacking your winnings, keeping track of your own and others' chip counts, etc. I think you'll find changing your structure to fit most of the rest of the poker world will be an easy adjustment, and will make all your players more comfortable in poker rooms, charity tourneys, and other home games. Good luck!

And welcome to PCF!

 

[haslettworm]

Another way of looking at the chip confusion: many would consider having upwards of 6 separate denoms in a single pot (not unthinkable that T5, T10, T25, T50, T100, and T200 could end up in a 4-way pot; I imagine 5 could happen frequently) could be confusing--counting the pot (not to mention sidepots), stacking your winnings, keeping track of your own and others' chip counts, etc. I think you'll find changing your structure to fit most of the rest of the poker world will be an easy adjustment, and will make all your players more comfortable in poker rooms, charity tourneys, and other home games. Good luck!

And welcome to PCF!

 

[haslettworm]

Thanks. Nice to be here.