Newbie Help!! What Paulson denoms should I buy for simple $20 cash game?

[pa6860]

Hi all. Brand new to this great forum! Great info here, but as a total newbie, it can get a little overwhelming. I would appreciate any advice you can offer.
I will be getting a new set of home Paulson's (late Christmas gift from a bunch of friends), but I need help on which denominations to get.

So here are the criteria:
CHIPS:
1. 500 chip set.
2. Would like 4 denominations with values on them (I was thinking 1/5/25/100, or??)
3. I like each denomination (1, 5, 25...) to actually equal the real value (1= 1cent or 10c, 5=5c or 50c, etc).

The Game:
1. Simple $20 buy in- at end of night you just cash in whatever you have in front of you.
2. 5c/10c blinds (we don't color up ever - is that the right term?)
3. Would like each player to get at least 40-50 chips to start
4. Would like each to get 4 denominations.
5. 5-8 players

Here are my questions:
1. Which chip denominations should I buy? (1/5/25/100, or...)
The home Paulsons I was looking at only offer 1/5/25/100/, etc...But I can't seem to figure out the math to allow each player to get 40-50 chips to equal $20 total. If the value on the chip is literal (1c/5c/25c/$1.00) then I get way too many chips (and the blinds would only be 1c/2c). If the value is 10 fold (10c/50c/$2.50/$10), then we'd get too few chips.
Should I do 5/25/100/500 = 5c/25c/$1/$5 instead?
For some reason, I like the 1/5/25/100, but if it doesn't work, then I'll move on.
2. How many of each should I buy?

Thanks so much!

[albie]

You don't need 1¢ chips for 5¢/10¢ blinds. I'd get $5, $25, $100, $1000 to use as 5¢, 25¢, $1 & $10 respectively. I'd get $1000s rather than $500s so you can get a few extra of the smaller denoms that you use regularly in play but still have a decent size bank.

I'd get 125 x $5, 175 x $25, 175 x $100, 25 x $1000. I'd give out 15/21/14 for the first 8 buyins and only bring out the $1000s when all the smaller chips are in play.

[Josh]

Go for 5, 25, 100, 500 to play as 5c through $5

To get to 40-50 you'll need start them off with something like
10 x 5c
22 x 25c
9 x $1
1 x $5

seems like a lot of quarters but that's what you'll have to do if you want that many chips in your stacks. You don't want any more 5c chips than that, so if you want fewer quarters, you'll have to trade for $1s and shorten the starting stacks. rebuys come from $5s.

Set becomes (and covers 10 people, including 22 rebuys.):
5 x 100
25 x 200
100 x 100
500 x 100

[GameShaman]

Is this .05/.10 limit or nl? big difference. I'm assuming No Limit?

Basically the $.01 chips are not going to be realistic with only 500 chips. You might be able to make them work if you definitely only ever had 8 players and no one ever wanted to rebuy:

$0.01 - 120
$0.05 - 140
$0.25 - 100
$1.00 - 140

Your starting stacks would then be:

15 x $0.01 = $00.15
17 x $0.05 = $00.85
12 x $0.25 = $03.00
16 x $1.00 = $16.00

But the $.01's don't add a lot of your game and limit you quite a bit (no rebuys, can't support more than 8-9 players, etc.).

You would be much better off going with either just 3 denoms ($.05/$.25/$1.00) or 4 ($5.00).

If you want to just do 4 denoms, this would work well:

$0.05 - 160
$0.25 - 140
$1.00 - 160
$5.00 - 40

I would recommend starting stacks of:

$0.05 x 20 = $01.00
$0.25 x 16 = $04.00
$1.00 x 10 = $10.00
$5.00 x 01 = $05.00

With 8 initial buy ins, that leaves you with an $243 in extra chips for rebuys (12 x $.25, 80 x $1, 32 x $5).

Hope that helps.
~Jeff

[mtl mile end]

Originally Posted by pa6860

Should I do 5/25/100/500 = 5c/25c/$1/$5 instead?

Yes.

Welcome to Chiptalk. I admire your desire to put max chips in front of everyone. Just need to know how many players and how many rebuys. Also, if you are hanging on to the 1/5/25 etc idea because you are buying a preassembled "set" of chips with fixed breakdown, there is another one word response - "Don't".

[mtl mile end]

Didn't notice that you said 5-8 players.

The breakdowns provided all fit the bill. Since the small chips all hit the felt with the initial buy ins, I like to have 20X SB and 20X the next biggest chips in the starting stacks. After that, rebuys can be made with leftover change and bigger denom chips until the desired change is on the table. After that, rebuys can be made with bigger denom chips only.

So my suggestion for 5-8 player, .05/.10 NL, $20 buy in, 500 chips, 40-50 starting stacks, 4 denoms (where denom $1.00 = $.01 real) would be:

$5 - 140-180
$25 - 140-180
$100 - 100
$500 - 100

The total number of $5 and $25 is 300. If you almost always have 8 players and occasionally more, get at least 160 $5's. If you rarely have more than 6 or 7 players, get 140 $5's. In this configuration, as an example, 150/150/100/100 gives you $645 total bank, enough for 32 total buy ins. If your game is particularly long or plays really big, you can add some insurance by grabbing a few $5K chips to bulk up your bank (10 X 5K = $500 real).

Starting stacks can be 20X $5, 20X $25, 9X $100, 1X $500 for a total of 50 chips for $20.

[pa6860]

Great info all, thanks! Your advice has completely helped. I really appreciate all the detailed info and time you put in to help. I've spent hours researching the wrong 1/5/25/100 setup! Seriously, hours!

I will certainly get the 5/25/100/500. I was so set on the 1/5/25/100 that I couldn't see straight.

Quick question. Looks like the 5/25/100/500 should work for $10, $20, or even $50 buyins. But is there any value to adding "10" chips to the mix for some lower buyin games (wife and her friends?). Looks I should be able to fit all my criteria with just the 4 denoms mentioned above, right?

Again, thanks. Great message board!

[abby99]

Originally Posted by pa6860

Great info all, thanks! Your advice has completely helped. I really appreciate all the detailed info and time you put in to help. I've spent hours researching the wrong 1/5/25/100 setup! Seriously, hours!

I will certainly get the 5/25/100/500. I was so set on the 1/5/25/100 that I couldn't see straight.

Quick question. Looks like the 5/25/100/500 should work for $10, $20, or even $50 buyins. But is there any value to adding "10" chips to the mix for some lower buyin games (wife and her friends?). Looks I should be able to fit all my criteria with just the 4 denoms mentioned above, right?

Again, thanks. Great message board!

You should be good with 5/25/100/500. You or your wife could run a game with stakes .05/.05 (chip values 5/5) with a buy-in of $5 or %10. Adding a "10" chip wouldn't do much for you because a "10" is the same as two "5" values. The most efficient use if chips is when each denomination is 4 or 5 times the value of the next lowest denomination.

[JeromyinWV]

You never need a chip smaller than the starting small blind and the min raise is double the big blind, so no one can bet 6, has to be at least 10. The only way you would need a one is an ante game. If you plan to expand your game in the future, 1/2 NL is fun and you would need ones.

[pa6860]

Makes perfect sense. Funny how I've learned more about poker through the chip forum than in playing my games.

Good stuff!