[jojobinks]

i concur that 500 is lots for a 10 man tourny.

my pharaoh Breakdown, in which the reds overlap into the cash game set uses more, though. here tis:

cash game chips:
100 whites
350 blues
200 reds

tourny set:
200 reds
225 greens
200 blacks
50 purples (haven't had to use them for single tables, though)

with that BD, we do:
20 red
20 green
4 black...

to start. that's t1000. we could do more to start, but it's a nice big stack. we color up the reds after 3 or 4 levels (i forget right now) and color up the greens after another 4 or 5.

so i use more than 500, but you don't need to, by a long shot. i recommend you find caplego's breakdown spreadsheet for ideas.