Help with new chip set!

[BrandonKirk]

I currently have a set of 500 14.5 gram chips and I'm about to upgrade to either a set of 300 pharaohs or desert palms. I'm having a hard time deciding what denoms I need because I play tournaments but I also play lots of cash games where we normally ante .10 but I'm about to start using blinds for cash games probably .05/.10 or .10/.20 (probably .05/.10) I'm on a budget or I would get a set of 500. i use 5 dollar and 10 dollar chips as cents chips in cash games (just scale everything down) I need denoms so that I can host a 7 or 8 person tourney and still be able to play the cash games. I was thinking about this but I really have no idea:

50 x 5
150 x 10
75 x 25
15 x 100
10 x 500

Also I have no idea how I would set up the tournament Ex. Starting Stacks color ups

[PokerLover23]

I have a set of 400 chips and its enough. but i play 5-7 people tournys. if i were you i would get 500 just to make sure. I know you can get milanos for $203 for a set of 500 with a case and thats without shipping..Im just wondering what is your budget?

[BrandonKirk]

I'd like to stay in between somewhere around 120. I know I can get 500 desert palms for 160 not including shipping. 300 for 96. I just want to make sure I get denoms that will work fine with my small cash games as well as with tournaments. I like the pharaohs but there a little bit more expensive and I can't see what the big difference is.

[svenkill]

I know you're on a budget, but getting samples is the best way to tell the difference. I have some of the Paulson Classics that are the exact same as the Paulson Pharaohs and the big difference is going to be in feel and sound which you can't tell from a picture. Or are you referring to the China Clay Pharaohs?

400 chips are going to run you a little short for an 8 person game, I would get 500 chips. A good break down would probably be:
$5 x 100
$25 x 200
$100 x 150
$500 x 50

[BrandonKirk]

I'm leaning towards getting a set of 300 Desert Palms. I normally play either .05/.10 cash games, .10/.20 cash games, or host 5-7 people tournaments with 1k starting stacks. I just scale down the chips for the cash games. Ex. 10= .10. I'm done some figuring and here's what I came up with as far as denominations go let me know what you think.

50 x 5
125 x 10
50 x 25
35 x 100
25 x 500
15 x 1000

I chose a lot of 10's for the cash games as well as some higher denominations to allow for rebuys in the small tournaments.

[svenkill]

Well how much are your buy-ins? I would actually get rid of the $10 chips since you can just use 2 $5 to do a $10 bet, just put those amounts towards your most used chips (5s and 25s in your case). I would also get rid of the $1000 and $500 chips since you have so few chips that it would give more playability to use more smaller values to accommodate more players or higher buy-ins.

For a 300 pc set I would recommend this breakdown:
$5 x 150
$25 x 100
$100 x 50

This would give you a better balanced starting chip stack for your 5/10 cent games with and give you a better stack for tourneys. If your buddies bet higher you could switch 25 of the $5 for more $25.

If you are doing $10 buy-ins for a cash game with 7 people (your max you wanted) you would have preferably stacks of:
$5 x 20 = $1.00
$25 x 12 = $3.00
$100 x 6 = $6.00

This leaves you left with for re-buys and change:
$5 x 10
$25 x 16
$100 x 8

This set will work with small stacks and cheap buy-ins. I say go for it for cash games, but a tourney set you might need a few more chips to make the game last, though you could still probably make it work.

Alternative Breakdown if you still want to keep the $500 chips:
$5 x 150
$25 x 75
$100 x 50
$500 x 25

[BrandonKirk]

I may splurge and get 350 chips it just depends on the budget. I know with the chips I have now my 10 chips are the workhorse in my cash games. Buy ins are normally low for cash like 5 dollars, that's why I was leaning towards so many 10 chips. I'll probably get a set of 300 and then hopefully add another 100 or 200 in the next couple of months. I know the 5 and 10's are close to each other but just from past experience I use way more 10's than 5's. I'm more concerned about the correct denominations so that I'm able to host around a 6 person tournament where people can rebuy once. I'll probably order this weekend because it's a deal at .29/chip for the dp's

[PokerLover23]

I strongly suggest you get samples of different chips before you buy...desert palms are nothing compared to milanos. 2 completely different chips. And remember its always better too buy more chips just incase you need extras. But that's just what I would do. Goodluck with your purchase sir and when you get them make sure too take plenty of pics

[svenkill]

Well if you are planning on adding on to the set extensively then your breakdown will work. I still say to eliminate the $10 chips though, I've learned to not like them at all, haha. They steal away from the higher denomination chips I can get. Oh and keep it to about 4 denoms for now until you upgrade just so people aren't making change all the time.

[BGinGA]

Buy samples.