[AlbinoDragon]

To all our breakdown pros here, I could use a little pointing in the right direction here.

The background. I'm thinking of putting together a very flexible traveling cash game set. I'm shooting for 500 to 600 chips non-denominated. The idea is if I want to run a cheapass nickel/dime game with cousins I can, or if I get together with uncles and stepbrothers and we want to play a $0.10 to $1 spread limit or maybe even .10/.25, .25/.25 or even .25/.50 NL I can do that all with the same set.

I'm thinking something like a 400 : 150 : 50 breakdown where obviously the 400 chips will be the workhorses. The 150 could be a secondary workhorse (big bets, etc.) and the 50 could serve as a small blind chip or even a high value chip.

I guess I'm looking to see what others think of this layout. Should I tweak the numbers a bit?? I'm extremely reluctant to add a fourth chip to the set, so if you think I need one, I'd like a really compelling reason. I don't want any more chips total than the 600. Again, this is a travel set for cash games. In fact, if you can justify a breakdown that would get away with 550 or even 500, I'd be interested. The family isn't big on tournaments, so that won't really be an issue with this set (besides, I already have a mighty tourney set as is).

Thanks for any advice. I have a design concept that needs some fleshing out, but I want to have numbers in mind. I likely won't put these into production anytime soon, but I'd like to have it ready to go the moment opportunity knocks.

[Matthew]

See this ---> http://www.chiptalk.net/forum/poker-...-games-ii.html

But that was for using chips as both cash and tourney - from your post - you're cash set only.

My 44mm set is 500 chips
100x25c, 200x$1, 140x$5, 60x$20

If I did 400 chips, it would have been
100x25c, 160x$1, 100x$5, 40x$20

For your smallest denom in a single table game 100 chips is sufficient, 200 or so chips for the workhorse and then 100 or 80/20 for a third and fourth denom.

[AlbinoDragon]

Matthew,

Thanks. Definitely helpful. I did check out the article (one of the first things I did actually) but I guess I got a little confused by wanting to not lock myself down to fixed set of denoms.

If I want a table full of chips (Chiptalk... problems... you know the story), I guess I can just scale the 400 chip breakdown up to 600, i.e. 150 : 300 : 150.

If I choose to do a lot of limit (always fun and doesn't break the bank as much... good for the nickel-dime stuff) more of the workhorse might be in order then. Maybe closer to my original thought??? Something like 150 : 350 : 100?

Anyway, thanks again. Food for thought for sure.

[jdunford]

Have you got a max number of players / tables in mind? 1 table of 10? 1 table of 8? 2 tables of 6? 2 tables of 8?

It might not hurt to have a handful of a 4th colour (maybe 20)... just in case. That way, you can make it whatever large value you need. Could even be 10x (or more) than the previous chip, just to buy change from the big stack in case you run out of other chips.

I prefer 8-max (per table), and I like to be able to hand out 15 of an ante chip (nickel or dime), so I'd need 120 (per table) of the smallest chip, then have about twice as many of my workhorse chip (quarters in that case), and maybe just as many of the next denom ($1s), and then have some high denom chips ($5s, $10s, or even $20s) just in case. So maybe something like:

120 x smallest
240 x workhorse
120 x high
20 x "re-buy"
for 500 chips per 8-player table. If you want to round those up or allow for 10 players, then go with

150
300
120
30
or something like that.

[AlbinoDragon]

Originally Posted by jdunford

Have you got a max number of players / tables in mind? 1 table of 10? 1 table of 8? 2 tables of 6? 2 tables of 8?

Sorry I didn't put this. 8 max at a single table. Just talking family games here, nothing too elaborate. I've got plenty of other chips for elaborate. Just something small-ish that's relatively easy to throw in the car when there is a bit of a get-together going on.

Another point I neglected to mention is occasional limit games.... That would actually be the nickel/dime stuff. With the "grown-ups", it's usually spread limit.

This second volley of advice helps. Getting a better feel of things.