TV Host: Welcome to Two Viewpoints. Today, we are discussing starting stacks with Mr. Chip Love and Mr. Game Play.
Chip Love: (Shuffling a stack of Live Bellagio Paulsons) Hello!
Game Play: (Impatiently) Let's get on with this.
TV Host: Let's start at the beginning, and the lowest denomination chip.
Chip Love: The more the merrier! Very few people are eliminated while these are in play, so it doesn't slow the game. I've run games with 16 per player and it works fine. I can do 20 if it's a small table, but for a full table, one person can amass so many T25s they can't see the rest of their chips. If the whole table has 100-150 of the smallest denomination chip, you will not have too many.
Game Play: I prefer 12 in a starting stack. You will make some change, but is isn't frequent, unless you are using traditional antes, which is another subject entirely. I'd avoid 8, as you will be making change constantly if you have any blind of 75, like a 75/150 blind level. Like Mr Love, I find 100-120 of the lowest denomination on the entire table to be well inside acceptable parameters. If you can't manage 4 or 5 barrels, you have issues.
TV Host: What about the workhorse chips?
Chip Love: The first workhorse is the T100, and once again, the more the merrier. Why spend the evening making change? I'm not a cashier. Ballpark of
12-16 per player to start, and after the first color-up averaging 15-20 per player. I like to color-up 12x T25s with 4x T100s if I have the chips. Some people will pull a T100 off and just color them up with a single T500, but that's boring. More chips is better.
Game Play: I agree with my companion here, as well. 12x T100s to start reduces change making in the early-mid levels, and if you use a 400/800 level, you will need a minimum of 7x T100 chips when the blinds go by. You want at least 15 per player when you get to that level. Of course by the time you get to 400/800, you should have already colored up the T25s. You don't need 15 per player to start, but you will need that many at 400/800, or you will be making change. On the plus side, you won't need to worry about massive stacks in front of one player. The T100 is a workhorse, and will constantly move around the table.
TV Host: The T100 is the first workhorse, what about the second workhorse, the T1000?
Chip Love: Lots of them, of course! The difference between a T5000 tournament and a T12,000 tournament is just how many T1000s you have to put in play, and how long you want to play. At the endgame you will have just T500s and above, and maybe not even the T500s. So look at the final 3 players. If one has a 2:1 lead over his 2 opponents, how many T1000s does he have? This will vary of course, depending on how many players you start with and starting stack value, but a good rule of thumb is if that one guy has 1/2 the chips in play, 2 racks (200 chips) in front of him is fine. He has room to spread out, and who doesn't love that WSOP mountain of chips? If you go more than 2 racks (4 racks total in play), then T5000s are necessary.
Game Play: I wouldn't use as many as 4 racks on one table before bringing out the T5000s. 2 racks are fine, and dont get in the way. They are also easier to count up for the frequent all-ins, but will rarely need change made.
TV Host: So let's back up to the T500 then. Five of them? Eight of them?
Chip Love: Lots of them, duh. I love me a purple chip. They're not needed much for betting, but they sure are purdy.
Game Play: Five per player to start is plenty. Have you ever seen anyone trying to count a stack or T500s? It's the slowest thing in poker since TV introduced us to "tanking". Nobody should have more than 10,000 in T500s at any time, and likely less than that. Since the T500 is just a half-step chip, they don't move around the table much. You will rarely be making change for T500s, so 4 barrels is plenty for a whole table. If you are OCD, buy a rack. If you have 2 racks, you have enough to host a 4-5 table event.
TV Host: There you have it. Two differing viewpoints from our experts, each with a distinct perspective. Yet despite the opposing viewpoints, there is a lot of agreement. Build your sets according to whichever point of view you share.
).
This is essentially the same counting every single chip individually, and wastes a lot of time.
MOAR magnificent!
