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The Beginners Guide To Mapping Out A Cash Game Chip Set - 5c/10c to $5/$10 (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Quad Johnson
- Start date
I recently received a 700 chip setup from CPC, here is my break down.
100 - Non denom ( it will be a .5)
200 - $1
300 - $5
100 - $20
20 - $100
Hope this helps, if you find you need 100s you can always pick up some plaques, the players like that anyway
JustinInMN
4 of a Kind
Think you are way too high on 25s/100s.
For 700 chips I would do 100/300/240/60 of 25¢/1/5/25. Bank covers 2625 which is 52 buy ins of $50
You will never need a $100 denom for anything with a big blind less than $1. It's questionable tht you would ever need a $25 denom. But doing 3 barrels does bulk the bank for just in case.
You still have 26 buy ins of $100 if you do raise the stakes.
If you do have an eye on 50¢-1 or 1-2 in the future I would go for 800 chips and add 60 fives, 20 twenty-fives, and 20 hundreds to the above.
Good luck
Good advice by everybody. Just to stress / add:
-Make the fractionals Non Denominated, to play as either .25 or .50 (or even $2 in eventual bigger games). So, strictly 100 of them.
-Storage-wise, especially for people with an OCD, the magical numbers are either 800 (8 racks housed in an outdoor case on two floors of 4 each) or 620 (the number fitting in rack-less Versa Deluxe "500" case, 52 in each of the ten rows and another 100 in 4 soft tubes in the middle, having taken out the unnecessary middle dividers with a bear hand). In the latter case, the "odd" 20 chips can be $100.
-$20s are preferable for any game below $2/5 or deep $1/3. For your craps game, buy seperate cheaper $25s.
My 2c
-Make the fractionals Non Denominated, to play as either .25 or .50 (or even $2 in eventual bigger games). So, strictly 100 of them.
-Storage-wise, especially for people with an OCD, the magical numbers are either 800 (8 racks housed in an outdoor case on two floors of 4 each) or 620 (the number fitting in rack-less Versa Deluxe "500" case, 52 in each of the ten rows and another 100 in 4 soft tubes in the middle, having taken out the unnecessary middle dividers with a bear hand). In the latter case, the "odd" 20 chips can be $100.
-$20s are preferable for any game below $2/5 or deep $1/3. For your craps game, buy seperate cheaper $25s.
My 2c
What's your reasoning for suggesting 300 $1s? I've played .05/.10, .10/.20, .25/.50 all the way up to $1/$2 and never seen a need for more that 200 $1s.
JustinInMN
4 of a Kind
It may be personal preference, but at the lower end of that range too many fives make stacks small. The way I think of it. If you get 40 fives in an 1-2 game buying in for 200, having 30-40 singes in a 25¢-50¢ game makes more sense to me than just capping singles at 20 per player.
I’m intrigued @BGinGA. How do you distribute this breakdown in starting stacks/rebuys?260 $1's is actually optimal, but being how it's not a popular opinion (and violates the even-rack rules), I typically keep it to myself.
140 x 25c
260 x $1
300 x $5
100 x $20
A barrels of quarters as part of each initial buy-in until they are all in play. Same with $1s -- no $5 chips hit the table until all lower denoms are in play. With 10 players, that's 400 chips, or two barrels per person (although most of our cash tables are 7- or 8-handed).
Re-buys are typically all $5 chips, although I (or the bank) may buy barrels of $1s from the big stack to make it easier on the re-buy player to get back into the game flow.
Equal starting stacks across-the-board are for tournaments, not cash play.
Can you explain why?
I have always thought that each player gets a barrel of fracs and a barrel of 1s. That’s 200 of each and the balance comes from the 5s. However that doesn’t mean I’m right so am honestly interested to hear the logic behind the 260 1s.
JustinInMN
4 of a Kind
Like the concept. Just trying to figure out how 260 is the optimal amout of singles. Is it just because you like 140 quarters and 260 is the number that makes 400? $35 in quarters just strikes me as an odd number and that plus 260.makes a bank about of $295.
(That said, I think we may be more or less on the same page except I prefer 100 quarters in a set that uses quarters so 300 singles would make a total of 400. Though, In practice, my set uses half-dollars and I usually put 60 out for 50¢-50¢)
I would think even 40x 0.50 would be enough
General consensus is that between 100 and 200 quarter chips are typically best for a 10-player 25c/50c game, and that between 200 and 300 dollar chips are typically best for that same game.
But it has been my personal observation that 140 quarters and 260 dollars are actually the equilibrium points, where minimal change-making occurs for both denominations and yet where barrels of chips do not sit unused on the table. In other words, I've not yet found a 10-handed game where more than 140 quarters or 260 dollars were either really needed or particularly beneficial to game play.
I initially started experimenting with 120/240, after first determining that 100/200 was the bare minimum for 10-handed but far from optimum (although both can work fine for 7-8 player short-handed play and circus game tables). I then experimented with both 140/260 and 160/280 to further minimize change-making, finding the latter to be the point of dimenishing returns for ten players. That lead me to land on 140/260 as the actual sweet spot, with the unexpected bonus of it being a even total of 400 chips or 4 racks.
Although 600 cash chips (100/200/200/100 is what I would consider to be the minimum for a 10-player 25c/50c game set, I'm pretty convinced that 800 chips (140/260/300/100) is optimum, while either adding a barrel of $100 chips/plaques or allowing $100 bills to play if necessary.
Well, somebody's gotta win.
Thank you!
I played in a game where they had 40 to 120 frac's per person, it took forever to get a new hand out because people would have to stack chips. Drove me nuts, so my focus became efficiency of chips. My game plays a bit larger than most .5/.5 games. I found that I could run the game with 60 fracs, and while there is a little change making, its typically facilitated by the dedicated dealer, so it doesn't really slow the game down. Our players also ask each other for change if they have larger denoms (20s / 100s).
I did just order and receive (mostly) my new CPC set, where I have a non denom and will put it in as a .5, I'll likely start off seeing how I like the game with 60 of them, which is 2 times as many fracs considering value of the chip.
I guess my evolution was predicated on pushing / stacking chips over time spent making change. Playing PLO we round up often enough so I push less .50 and 1s and spread 400 5s on the table. There is typically no .25 incremental bets.
Thanks Dave. I do it somewhat similar, but I do have $5s in my starting stacks in my typical 25c/50c game with a $60 buy in. First 6 players get barrel of quarters, barrel of $1s and seven $5s. Additional players get barrel of $1s and eight $5s. If I have less than 10 players, I'll include a barrel of $1s in rebuys until 200 are on the table.
There have always been plenty of fracs and plenty of $1s. I do have more in reserve, so if it every became a problem, I could revise this. Maybe my game plays bigger than the the typical 25c/50c game and that's why it's never been an issue, but it seems to work for us. I just like having $5s on the table right from the start.
I'm still unclear how you get to 260 $1s. What's your initial buy in to not have any $5s in your starting stacks? $30? Barrel of quarters and 25 $1s? Even with that, you're only at 250 with ten players, not 260. And I hate games that start out that small stacked. Seems to just encourage a lot of early shoving until some guys have a stack the size they like.
Typical buy-in for our 25c/50c game is $45, or 90bb -- which is a barrel of quarters and two barrels of $1s for the first six buy-ins. Seventh buy-in gets a barrel of quarters, a barrel of $1s, plus four $5s. All $5s after that. Most tables are capped at eight.
Players initially pay $60 total -- $5 to the dealer pool, and $10 for all-day snacks/drinks and formal dinner about two hours in.
And fwiw, we use a 100/140/260 set for 7-handed 5c/10c circus games ($20 buy-ins). Never have needed $5 chips, but have had nearly all of the $1s in play several times.
Think my lot are doing this wrong, we play 0.05p/0.10p and have to bring £100 chips into play sometimes lol. Really depends on how individual games run, seen £400+ pots in ours which is ridiculous for the stakes but everyone seems to like a gamble.
I'm sure you've already thought of this, but if your players are all comfortable playing at those levels, then why not just start out at 50p/£1 or 1/1?
To me, playing 0.05/0.10 is a small social game, usually with inexperienced players where you might have at most $40-50 at risk. Once you have hundreds or thousands of dollars (or pounds) on the table, having a 10 cent big blind is ridiculous. It's meaningless. Might as well not have a blind at all.
Totally agree but if they play higher starting stakes some of them won't play. Think it must be a phycological thing .And if we start playing .50/1 we might have to bring £500 chips into play!
That's the idea!
Sounds like your group should be playing 1/2 at least. Which is good, because you can bypass the high costs of fracs.
My 1700 chip HSI primary set covers 0.05/0.10 up to 5/10 10 handed, Got it all covered but we are sticking to 0.05/0.10 for now lol. Already plays closer to 1/2 as is, people just like to be able to raise ridiculous amounts.
Ah, I see. The Hustler Casino Live degen style of betting. Play the stacks, not the stakes!
DaMrkstr
High Hand
Hi, I have been reading this thread and many others on the Forum for some time as I look to purchase my first quality poker set. I have been using cheap dice sets for years and am looking into purchasing a 600 piece set of Milano chips with custom denominations. I usually host a low stakes fun cash poker game for about a $20-$50 starting buy-in depending on what the group wants with optional rebuys if your stack gets low. Our blinds are typically 25 cent / 50 cent or 50 cent / $1. And at the end of the night people can cash out for what they have left. We are usually 6 to 9 players I would say but would like the option for more if needed.
Even though we generally play cash games, I want the option to use the same set for a tournament, and also don't like the idea of buying 25 cent / 50 cent Milano chips. So, I am thinking of buying one of the following two options below I put together, so that say someone's $20 or $40 or $50 cash buy-in would give them either $10,000 in chips or $20,000 in chips depending on which option I choose, and then at the end of the night I would cash everyone out using a quick spreadsheet and pay them out. Option 1 would leave me with enough chips for about 3 re-buys after 11 players buy-in, and Option 2 would leave me with enough chips for about 2 re-buys after 11 players buy in. A cashing out example would be if everyone bought in for $20 and I did Option 2 below with each player getting $20,000 in chips, then a player finishing with $5,000 in chips would get paid out $5 cash, and player ending with $47,250 in chips would be paid out $47.25. We usually use Venmo / Zelle so I am thinking it should not be too difficult to pay out, but I wanted to get people's thoughts before I pulled the trigger on the purchase. Any thoughts on if this is a good idea or not and which option of the two below would be better would be much appreciated. I have been racking my brain for different ideas that would allow me to also use the set for a tournament setup and this is what I came up with. Thank you very much in advance!
Even though we generally play cash games, I want the option to use the same set for a tournament, and also don't like the idea of buying 25 cent / 50 cent Milano chips. So, I am thinking of buying one of the following two options below I put together, so that say someone's $20 or $40 or $50 cash buy-in would give them either $10,000 in chips or $20,000 in chips depending on which option I choose, and then at the end of the night I would cash everyone out using a quick spreadsheet and pay them out. Option 1 would leave me with enough chips for about 3 re-buys after 11 players buy-in, and Option 2 would leave me with enough chips for about 2 re-buys after 11 players buy in. A cashing out example would be if everyone bought in for $20 and I did Option 2 below with each player getting $20,000 in chips, then a player finishing with $5,000 in chips would get paid out $5 cash, and player ending with $47,250 in chips would be paid out $47.25. We usually use Venmo / Zelle so I am thinking it should not be too difficult to pay out, but I wanted to get people's thoughts before I pulled the trigger on the purchase. Any thoughts on if this is a good idea or not and which option of the two below would be better would be much appreciated. I have been racking my brain for different ideas that would allow me to also use the set for a tournament setup and this is what I came up with. Thank you very much in advance!
DaMrkstr
High Hand
Hi @Quad Johnson, thank you very much for this! It is extremely helpful!General Rules To Mapping Out A Cash Set
1. Plan your chip set around 10 players per table. A full table is 10 players, you may only run 7-8 normally but I'm a big believer in being prepared. Someone might bring a friend and who wants to turn down action? I don't! The extra chips will also provide you cushion with your set.
2. Only have denominations that are 4-5x the value of the previous denomination. This one is very important. I know some of y'all have guys that like a bunch of different chips. I read one post in my forum searches where a guy runs $1/$2/$3 and $5 chips all in one game. This is such a waste of chips and only makes cash outs at the end of the night more of a headache. Follow the KISS mantra - Keep It Simple Stupid. You as the host are also the banker. Make your job easier and save money on chip sets by keeping the denominations simple. When I started my game, my 25c/50c game had denoms of 25c/50c/$1/$5/$10/$25/$50/$100... don't do this. Don't be that guy. It's a waste of chips and thus, a waste of money on your initial investment.
3. Plan the chip set around a starting stack of 200 big blinds. The max buy in of my 25c/50c game is $100. Not everyone does this, but some nights everyone does. Your game might not be at that point, but if you want your game to last, you'll need to be prepared to handle growth. Some players are more gamblers than others. Be prepared and have the chips at your disposal. Having the chips will only add more flexibility to your capabilities to host.
Mapping Out A Chip Set For 1 Table Of 10 Players
The following chip counts are meant to be a guide to efficiently map out a chip set, thus saving you money on your total chip purchase. I will cover each stake from 5c/10c to $5/$10. There is great debate over using a $20 or $25 chip. I've mapped this guide out to be as efficient as possible based on the stakes. Some use $20, others $25. You may like different stacks sizes too. Example, my guys like big stacks for my 25c/50c game. My mapping is $100 stacks of 12/17/16 of 25c/$1/$5 chips respectively.
This is meant to be a general guide to help get you started and thinking in the process you need to map out your chip set efficiently. These set guides are written with the considerations of: most places when you order chips require you to order in increments of 25 and I'm not using "odd" denominations that are hard to find, example: a $2.50 chip. They're useful, however a bit harder to track down. These will use the easier to find denominations.
Now, let's get started. These map outs will provide you with 10x starting playable stacks with enough in higher denomination chips to cover color ups, top offs and rebuys with a total bank averaging 3x 200 big blind buy ins per player at the table (600 big blinds total x 10 players). Sure, this might not happen all the time... but when it does, you'll be glad you have the chips.
My motto is always buy once, cry once.
5c/10c Mapping - $20 Max Buy In for 200 Big Blinds
Chip Denominations
5c/25c/$1/$5/$20
Max Buy In Starting Stacks
10x 5c (50c)
18x 25c ($4.50)
15x $1 ($15)
Chips Needed - 500 Total Chips
100x 5c ($5)
200x 25c ($50)
150x $1 ($150)
25x $5 ($125)
25x $20 ($500)
Total Bank: $830
10c/25c Mapping - $50 Max Buy In for 200 Big Blinds
Chip Denominations
5c/25c/$1/$5/$25
Max Buy In Starting Stacks
10x 5c (50c)
14x 25c ($3.50)
11x $1 ($11)
7x $5 ($35)
Chips Needed - 500 Total Chips
100x 5c ($5)
150x 25c ($37.50)
125x $1 ($125)
75x $5 ($375)
50x $25 ($1,250)
Total Bank: $1,792.50
25c/50c Mapping - $100 Max Buy In for 200 Big Blinds
Chip Denominations
25c/$1/$5/$25
Max Buy In Starting Stacks
8x 25c ($2)
18x $1 ($18)
16x $5 ($80)
Chips Needed - 600 Total Chips
100x 25c ($25)
250x $1 ($250)
175x $5 ($875)
75x $25 ($1,875)
Total Bank: $3,025
50c/$1 Mapping - $200 Max Buy In for 200 Big Blinds
Chip Denominations
25c/$1/$5/$25/$100
Max Buy In Starting Stacks
8x 25c ($2)
8x $1 ($8)
13x $5 ($65)
5x $25 ($125)
Chips Needed - 500 Total Chips
100x 25c ($25)
100x $1 ($100)
150x $5 ($150)
50x $25 ($1,250)
50x $100 ($5,000)
Total Bank: $6,525
$1/$2 Mapping - $400 Max Buy In for 200 Big Blinds
Chip Denominations
$1/$5/$25/$100
Max Buy In Starting Stacks
10x $1 ($10)
18X $5 ($90)
8x $25 ($200)
1x $100 ($100)
Chips Needed - 500 Total Chips
100x $1 ($100)
200x $5 ($1000)
100x $25 ($2,500)
100x $100 ($10,000)
Total Bank: $13,600
$2/$5 Mapping - $1,000 Max Buy In for 200 Big Blinds
Chip Denominations
$1/$5/$25/$100/$500
Max Buy In Starting Stacks
5x $1 ($5)
14x $5 ($70)
13x $25 ($325)
1x $100 ($100)
1x $500 ($500)
Chips Needed - 750 Total Chips
50x $1 ($50)
300x $5 ($1,500)
275x $25 ($6,875)
100x $100 ($10,000)
25x $500 ($12,500)
Total Bank: $30,925
$5/$10 Mapping - $2,000 Max Buy In for 200 Big Blinds
Chip Denominations
$5/$25/$100/$500
Max Buy In Starting Stacks
10x $5 ($50)
10x $25 ($250)
7x $100 ($700)
2x $500 ($1000)
Chips Needed - 375 Total Chips
100x $5 ($500)
100x $25 ($2,500)
75x $100 ($7,500)
100x $500 ($50,000)
Total Bank: $60,500
Well that's what I got. If you grow to 2 tables, simply x2 these chips sets and you're covered.
If anyone notices any typos, bad math on my part, etc. please post and I will make changes.
I've proof read this 4 times but I'm still only human.
I have been following this thread and many others on this forum for some time and would appreciate any thoughts and inputs on my breakdown for a new 600 piece Milano chip set I am looking to buy. I have used cheap dice chips for years and finally decided to upgrade. I have based my options loosely off what you have provided, but I am looking for something a little different. I usually host a casual home game with 25 cent / 50 cent or 50 cent / $1 blinds with a $20-$50 buy-in with optional rebuys depending on what the group decides. We are generally 6 to 9 people but I am trying to map out my purchase to work for more people in case. But I also want the flexibility of using the chips for a tournament set, so I don't want to buy 25 and 50 cent denomination chips. I am considering one of the options below. We usually do payment via venmo or zelle so I am thinking using a simple spreadsheet to calculate everyone's payout shouldn't be too difficult if I used one of these sets for the cash game. So if we did a $20 buy-in for example, that buy-in would give each player say $20,000 in chips for Option 2, so for example if one player finished with $5,000 he would be cashed out for $5 cash, and if someone finished with $47,250 in chips, he would be cashed out for $47.25 cash. Option 1 would leave me with enough chips for 3 rebuys after 11 people, and Option would leave me with 2 rebuys after 11 people. Any thoughts on which option below would be better, and if my approach is a good or bad idea would be much appreciated before I pull the trigger. I have put a lot of thought into this and these were my best ideas so far, but any thoughts or suggestions are welcome! Thank you!
If you want to use the very same set for both tournament and cash:
-Make sure the values represent the same, so your T25-based, T10,000 tournament should cost $100 to buy-in, if the chips are going to represent the same value in cash games.
-A milder version is T5-based tourneys, with a T2,000 tourney costing $20 to buy in, so 5=5cents, 25=25cents, (in cash games) etc.
Other than that:
-Avoid "China clays" like Milanos, AT ALL COSTS. Poor and inconsistent quality. AND stench.
-Next, decent, quality level are "CERAMICS", especially new generation hybrid ceramics, offered by vendors here: Broken Arrow, Apache.
Digest that and we 'll talk again.
-Make sure the values represent the same, so your T25-based, T10,000 tournament should cost $100 to buy-in, if the chips are going to represent the same value in cash games.
-A milder version is T5-based tourneys, with a T2,000 tourney costing $20 to buy in, so 5=5cents, 25=25cents, (in cash games) etc.
Other than that:
-Avoid "China clays" like Milanos, AT ALL COSTS. Poor and inconsistent quality. AND stench.
-Next, decent, quality level are "CERAMICS", especially new generation hybrid ceramics, offered by vendors here: Broken Arrow, Apache.
Digest that and we 'll talk again.
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