[The Mind Reader]

Hey gang,

Here's the chip breakdown that my friends and I currently play with using either my set of 400 dice chips or my friend's set of 400 dice chips:

NLHE tournament, $1,000 starting stack:

16 x $10 (white)
12 x $20 (red)
6 x $50 (blue)
3 x $100 (black)

I think this stinks for several reasons, mainly the crappy chips, odd denoms, and the fact that it only accomdates 10 players before some people have to start with different stacks than others (since we only have 400 chips).

Anyway, I recently bought a crap load of faux clay's and want to build a nice 500 chip set for future tourneys, using better denoms and being able to accomodate more players hopefully too.

So I was thinking about sticking with $1,000 starting stacks, but going this route:

20 x $5 (blue)
16 x $25 (green)
5 x $100 (black)

That would require 410 chips for 10 players (200 blues, 160 greens, 50 blacks). So there's room in the case for 90 more chips, but I can't figure out what to do with that room yet.

So my questions, I guess, are:

1> Is it normal to start with 3 denoms in you guys' home game tourneys? Or do you start with 4?

2> How to accomodate more than 10 players? I have 3 ideas of how to do this:

a> Just fill the rest of the case with blacks, and have the starting stacks be slightly different from player to player for times when there's more than 10 players (so the 500 chip set would be 200x$5, 160x$25, 140x$100 for $19,000 total)

b> Make sure I have enough chips on hand to give everyone the same starting stack, which would require 615 chips for 15 players using the starting stacks laid out above (300 blues, 240 greens, 75 blacks). I'd keep 500 chips in the case and leave 115 chips somewhere else and only grab them when I need them. (So I'd have $15,000 in chips total)

c> Change my starting stack breakdown, so that I can fit 15 player's worth of starting stacks into a 500 chip case

Thanks a lot for any advice you might be able to give me on these matters!

Oh yes, I was also thinking about having a higher denom - purples valued at $500, that I'd only need for color ups at the end of huge tournaments. Is this a good idea or should I just keep things simple?

[jdunford]

For a T1000, I typically start with 3 denoms (5s, 25s, 100s) in a breakdown similar to your new suggestion. However, you'll likely want a 4th for color-ups. If you can get ahold of some red chips, they're the traditional color for 5s... and there's some interest (i.e. a market due to shortages) for blues these days... so if you wanted, you could probably trade some of your blues for reds (at better than 1:1) and use the blues for 500s... Just an idea.

[The Mind Reader]

Originally Posted by jdunford

For a T1000, I typically start with 3 denoms (5s, 25s, 100s) in a breakdown similar to your new suggestion. However, you'll likely want a 4th for color-ups. If you can get ahold of some red chips, they're the traditional color for 5s... and there's some interest (i.e. a market due to shortages) for blues these days... so if you wanted, you could probably trade some of your blues for reds (at better than 1:1) and use the blues for 500s... Just an idea.

I already bought 1,000 fauxs... I have:

150 whites
100 reds
300 blues
100 greens
50 blacks
300 purples

I was planning on building a 500 chip (or so) tournament set and using the rest for a cash game set (was thinking about using white/red for cash and blue/green/black for tournaments, with purples as color up/rebuy chips for each)

[Matthew]

I won't address colors you can use what you've got.

Starting stacks for 10 players
20xT5 = 200
16xT25 = 160
5xT100 = 50 plus you'll need 50 more to color up the T5s and T25
Addin 40 x T500 - for rebuys, more players, add-ons, color ups etc.

Ideally - cut down to 10xT5, 14xT25, 6xT100 for starting stacks - Add in 1 rebuy per player 5xT100 and 1xT500
100xT5
140xT25 +20 for color up
60xT100 +40 for color up + 50 for rebuy
10xT500 + 20 for color up + 50 extra
10xT1000 = 500 chips

[jdunford]

You can use:
http://www.captlego.com/breakdown/breakdown_6.html
to determine how many chips you'll need for color-up, etc. You're a little low on greens and blacks for standard colors. As Matthew suggested, 25s will be your workhorse chips for a T1000, so you'll need more of them than anything else. Purples and blues are both out of stock at most places these days, so either hang onto 'em (if you really like them) or trade some for other colors (and at 1.5:1 or so).

Actually, your whites, blues and reds would make a nice ~500 chip $0.25/0.50 NLHE cash set (with whites as $0.25, blues as $1, and reds as $5).

[The Mind Reader]

Originally Posted by Matthew

Starting stacks for 10 players
20xT5 = 200
16xT25 = 160
5xT100 = 50 plus you'll need 50 more to color up the T5s and T25
Addin 40 x T500 - for rebuys, more players, add-ons, color ups etc.

Holy crap. I like that. A lot.

Originally Posted by Matthew

Ideally - cut down to 10xT5, 14xT25, 6xT100 for starting stacks - Add in 1 rebuy per player 5xT100 and 1xT500
100xT5
140xT25 +20 for color up
60xT100 +40 for color up + 50 for rebuy
10xT500 + 20 for color up + 50 extra
10xT1000 = 500 chips

You think it'd be ok to start everybody with only 10x$5? I'd think if the blinds were $5/$10 or $10/$20 people would run out quickly and would start needing change right away...

[jdunford]

I usually go with 15, 13, 6 (of T5, T25, and T100 values). You shouldn't need 20 T5s unless you have an ante: for example, my T1500 7-card stud/razz/stud hi-lo tournaments play with 20 x T5, 16 x T25, 5 x T100, 1 x T500.

[The Mind Reader]

Originally Posted by jdunford

You're a little low on greens and blacks for standard colors. As Matthew suggested, 25s will be your workhorse chips for a T1000, so you'll need more of them than anything else.

Oh you're right, I forgot about that. I'll want enough extra $25s to color up the $5s in play, and enough $100s to color up the $25s in play. d'oh

Originally Posted by jdunford

Purples and blues are both out of stock at most places these days, so either hang onto 'em (if you really like them) or trade some for other colors (and at 1.5:1 or so).

Oh I'm definitely holding on to what I got! I love blue and purple chips!

I'm actually planning on buying another 500 or so fauxs this week (at least 150 more blacks and at least 100 more greens for sure)

Originally Posted by jdunford

Actually, your whites, blues and reds would make a nice ~500 chip $0.25/0.50 NLHE cash set (with whites as $0.25, blues as $1, and reds as $5).

Sighs. I'd love to play $0.25/$0.50 but I know most of my friends won't like buying in for more than $10 (maybe a couple will do $20, but that's about it). I'm probably going to build a set for either $0.05/$0.10 or $0.10/$0.20...