What is the perfect chip mix (600 chips) for a 1/2 or 5/10 cash game? (1 Viewer)

[rendangzi]

Dear all,

I am pulling the trigger on a rounders set from CPC. As most display cases take 600 chips, this is the number I am looking to get.

I've been obsessing about what the perfect chip mix is for the games I play and thought to ask the pros here.

Background:

My games are $5/10 as I am based in Hong Kong and we play in NLH Holden in HK currency. Typically players buy in for $1,000. Straddles are common, sometimes up to 40/80.

We are anywhere from 6 to 10 handed and in one night of poker the maximum # of buy ins I've seen so far is 28, although I have to be prepared for more.

We might upgrade our game to a 10/20 or even a 25/50 in the future.

There is also a chance I might move back to Singapore so the set would need to handle a $1/2 cash game as well


What do you think the perfect mix of chips would be?

This is what I have in mind:

$1 X 100
$5 X 200
$25 X 100
$100 X 100
$500 X 100

Appreciate any comments or inputs. I am a little OCD so each denomination I had in mind was a full rack and thought it would look nicer on display as well.

However, if practicality calls for a different mix I'd be happy to oblige.

Cheers all, and thanks in advance!

P.s. I already have in mind a custom CPC set in the future, but will probably obsess over design for months so this set will tide me through.

 

[power13]

It’s hard to design a 600 chip breakdown to cover 1/2 and 5/10 since the workhorse chip is different for each. If you need to be able to cover 30 players you will also need significantly more chips. I think the standard preferred breakdown for each limit at 10 handed would be:

1/2
1 - 100
5 - 400
25 - 80
100 - 20

5/10
5 - 100
25 - 400
100 - 80
500 - 20

You can get by with fewer workhorse chips, so if you’re looking to shave it down that combines to

1 - 100
5 - 300
25 - 300
100 - 100
500 - 20

To be able to do 30 players you need more but probably not 3x more since you likely won’t have that many players all night, and later you can color up people when you will have fewer players, generally playing deep. So something like this

1 - 300
5 - 500
25 - 500
100 - 100
500 - 40

 

[Coyote]

Welcome to the forum!
10 players resulting to at least 30 buy-ins AND a very wide range of different stakes (from 1/2 to 10/20) cannot be propperlly accommodated by just 600 chips.
With 800 chips, it's feasible (still not perfect):
1x 100
5x 200
25x200
100x 200
500x 100

...respecting your OCD also.
OCD-wise, the 800 is a very sweet spot too: Most "outdoor" cases (Pelican-type) carry 8 racks in two "floors" and that's probably the max weight you 'll be able to carry till late in your life

Edit: WIth no OCD in mind and still 800 total:
1x 100
5x 240
25x 240
100x 160
500x 60
A little bit more functional (more workhorse chips) but with a shorter total bank.

 

[philhut]

If you are as many as 28 players will this all be the same stakes? or different stakes on each table?

as Power13 said above his breakdown advice is reasonable. Being in Hong Kong you may want to order some of those Cards Mold chips or a sunfly set so you can get a large cheap horde of chips to use.

I would want
1-300
5-600 (min) preferably 800
25-400 (min) up to 500 (if all tables will be 5/10 for 28 players)
100-100 (min)
500-40 (min)

*that is 100-$1, 200-$5's, ~125-$25's, ~35-100's and 12-500's avg avg per table......which is fairly conservative.

for 3 cash tables i don't see how you could have a comfortable game with less than an avg of 500 chips per table to make both stakes levels. For ~30 players you really need a larger set like this, my HSI set can do exactly the stakes you are proposing but the set is larger. This set allows for 1/2 to 5/10 for up to 3 tables if skimping at the top end and 1 table of 25/50 (which i have never done but could)... It is a comfortable 2 table set up for basically anything. Even with the extra's chopped I think you should be looking at a minimum of a 1400 chip set....

 

[TheDuke]

Just to note, OP noted up to 28 buy ins.

NOT 28 players. Big difference.

 

[Felt_Lizard]

Just to note, OP noted up to 28 buy ins.

NOT 28 players. Big difference.

You are unlike other PCF members.

You are a reader.

Prepare yourself for a life of loneliness punctuated by the occasional ostracization.

 

[rendangzi]

Dear all,

thanks for all your amazing answers.

As theduke noted, we have up to 10 players with max 28 extra buy ins during the night (excluding the initial.

does this change any of your above suggestions?

thanks lots!

 

[philhut]

Just to note, OP noted up to 28 buy ins.

NOT 28 players. Big difference.

Give this new found information........ 6 to `10 players buying in 28 times....

I would recommend

1-120min,200max
5-200min,400max
25-200min,400max
100-100, 200max
500-20min-40maybe
~640 to 1280 chips

(edited to fix my count math)

 

[liftapint]

As most display cases take 600 chips, this is the number I am looking to get.

They make 1000 chip cases too. Might be a better target than 600 chips to run both of those games.

 

[allforcharity]

Stupid idea #1:

Build the 600-chip set for your 5/10 game.
Use the same chip set for your 1/2 game, just divide by 5 when cashing out.

 

[power13]

Dear all,

thanks for all your amazing answers.

As theduke noted, we have up to 10 players with max 28 extra buy ins during the night (excluding the initial.

does this change any of your above suggestions?

thanks lots!

Ah that makes sense.in that case I would add some higher denoms to the 5/10 breakdown I proposed and this should cover both stakes


1 - 100
5 - 300
25 - 300
100 - 200
500 - 40

This would cover the total bank you laid out with the 38 buyins you mentioned, plus enough buffer for you to cover in case it ever gets deeper.

 

[rendangzi]

Stupid idea #1:

Build the 600-chip set for your 5/10 game.
Use the same chip set for your 1/2 game, just divide by 5 when cashing out.

This is not as stupid an idea as you think! We divide by two sometimes with our 5/10 games when my girlfriend (who is 7 years younger) has her friends come play and they aren't keen on potentially losing 1 buy in --> 1000hkd (~130usd) as they are mostly fresh graduates.

However, I am keen to get a set that works as per the denom. Part of the OCD kinda love things being just perfect. I'm sure you chippers understand!

I note the comments here suggesting I get a larger chipset. Would seriously love to but will have to go with 600 for now. My gf already thinks I am crazy spending >1k usd on chips. This might mean new buy ins after a certain point will have to change with existing players (which I think is fine and normal?). Do you guys typically give the same starting stack when a player rebuys? There is a strong chance I will be making a second order to top up the set down the road...

@power13

The # of $25 chips you and most members suggested is a lot more than I expected. Is there a reason behind this?

My 5/10 game currently runs as follows:

Each buy in is 1k, consisting of:

$5 X 10
$25X6
$100X3
$500X1

Additional rebuys are $500X1, $100X5

As such, I haven't found myself to have needed that many$25 chips. What I am interested to know is, is there a more optimised way to run my 5/10 game that requires more $25 chips?

I do notice that sometimes players spend a bit of time changing up their chips to buy blinds but it didn't seem too bad. Thoughts?

Cheers all, really appreciate all the advice and time you guys take to reply and stuff. Will definitely post some pics when the set comes!

Regards,
RY

 

[rendangzi]

If you are as many as 28 players will this all be the same stakes? or different stakes on each table?

as Power13 said above his breakdown advice is reasonable. Being in Hong Kong you may want to order some of those Cards Mold chips or a sunfly set so you can get a large cheap horde of chips to use.

I would want
1-300
5-600 (min) preferably 800
25-400 (min) up to 500 (if all tables will be 5/10 for 28 players)
100-100 (min)
500-40 (min)

*that is 100-$1, 200-$5's, ~125-$25's, ~35-100's and 12-500's avg avg per table......which is fairly conservative.

for 3 cash tables i don't see how you could have a comfortable game with less than an avg of 500 chips per table to make both stakes levels. For ~30 players you really need a larger set like this, my HSI set can do exactly the stakes you are proposing but the set is larger. This set allows for 1/2 to 5/10 for up to 3 tables if skimping at the top end and 1 table of 25/50 (which i have never done but could)... It is a comfortable 2 table set up for basically anything. Even with the extra's chopped I think you should be looking at a minimum of a 1400 chip set....

Thanks for the initial and follow up reply. On a separate note, where do you get those plaques!? They look amazing!

 

[Marius L]

I have a set for similar stakes, but my game is definitely smaller than yours. I think to play 5/10hkd with straddles up to 80, and potentially 30 rebuys you need a bigger bank than my set is made for.

My set is for stakes from 1/2- 5/10 or maybe even a small 10/20 game. Total bank is 24100.(+8000 with the 4 plaques if needed for value storage on crazy nights)

1x 100
5x 200
25x 200
100x 80
500x 20
(+4 plaques. 3x 1000 and 1x 5000)

I think it's an American thing to have racks and racks of chips on the table. Obviously it would be fun for me as well, as a chip lover, but IMO not necessary to have a functional game. It comes down to what people are used to, and how they are used to using the chips for betting. For example in my game some people are annoyed if I give them a full barrel of 5s in the start stack, as they don't see the need for it. They would rather just get 10, and a couple of 25s to go with them. In the US people might use 16x $5 chips to put out an $80 bet. Over here people will certainly just use 3x $25 and a $5 for the same bet.

For a 5/10 buy in of 1000, I would do this for the first 10 buyins:
20x $5
10x $25
4x $100

Then the next 10 buyins with:
10x $25
5x $100

That means for the first 20 buyins (already quite a bit) you'd have used 200x $5, 200x $25, and 90x $100.

The next single buyin can be the remaining 10x $100s, and after that start using the $500s. With a full rack of $500s, you can handle another 50 buyins, which honestly seems like a pretty big overkill to me, so I would rather have more $25s on the table. The $25s will be used more, as the $500s are mostly for value storage and will mostly be used in the really big/all in pots. The $25s will be used in every pot, and it's therefore nice to have a bit more of those at the table to avoid having to make change between the players to often.

If you are certain you want to keep it within 600 chips and be able to run 1/2, I would probably do
100 x $1
180 x $5
180 x $25
100 x $100
40 x $500

Thats a total bank of 35 500. (35 buyins) if you want, add a handful of $1k and $5k chips to increase the bank a lot with very little cost just to be confident you have enough chips for the crazy nights.

Another more high denom heavy option is:
100 x$1
160 x$5
160 x $25
100 x$100
80 x$500

Total bank ~55000 / 55 buyins.

 

[philhut]

Thanks for the initial and follow up reply. On a separate note, where do you get those plaques!? They look amazing!

Apache has them here
I believe they are MSK Plaques

 

[grantc54]

Stupid idea #1:

Build the 600-chip set for your 5/10 game.
Use the same chip set for your 1/2 game, just divide by 5 when cashing out.

Leading to the exact same objections as using the same chips for tournament and cash....

If you are doing the multiplier then be prepared to always play the cash set that way.

 

[CrazyEddie]

Leading to the exact same objections as using the same chips for tournament and cash....

If you are doing the multiplier then be prepared to always play the cash set that way.

PCF really really really doesn't like this possibility, but there are plenty of people for whom security simply isn't a concern.

Regardless, in this case, the OP said he'd only be switching stakes if he moves from Hong Kong to Singapore, so it's unlikely he'd have people swiping chips at one value and then cashing them in for a different value in a different country.

 

[allforcharity]

Leading to the exact same objections as using the same chips for tournament and cash....

If you are doing the multiplier then be prepared to always play the cash set that way.

Didn't say it was without controversy. But if you're trying to use one small cash set to cover two (or more) different currencies, then how many choices do you have except buy more and lower price/lower quality chips? I'd rather get the best chips I can afford and keep careful track of everything between games.

 

[rendangzi]

Apache has them here
I believe they are MSK Plaques

Thanks!

Didn't say it was without controversy. But if you're trying to use one small cash set to cover two (or more) different currencies, then how many choices do you have except buy more and lower price/lower quality chips? I'd rather get the best chips I can afford and keep careful track of everything between games.

PCF really really really doesn't like this possibility, but there are plenty of people for whom security simply isn't a concern.

Regardless, in this case, the OP said he'd only be switching stakes if he moves from Hong Kong to Singapore, so it's unlikely he'd have people swiping chips at one value and then cashing them in for a different value in a different country.

Not a worry, as CrazyEddie mentioned it is highly unlikely that people will be swiping chips at my game. Mostly close friends or trusted friends of close friends and amounts are settled in full every night. If it doesn't tally we go over the buy ins until it does. Never had a problem so far on this front.

I have a set for similar stakes, but my game is definitely smaller than yours. I think to play 5/10hkd with straddles up to 80, and potentially 30 rebuys you need a bigger bank than my set is made for.

My set is for stakes from 1/2- 5/10 or maybe even a small 10/20 game. Total bank is 24100.(+8000 with the 4 plaques if needed for value storage on crazy nights)

1x 100
5x 200
25x 200
100x 80
500x 20
(+4 plaques. 3x 1000 and 1x 5000)

I think it's an American thing to have racks and racks of chips on the table. Obviously it would be fun for me as well, as a chip lover, but IMO not necessary to have a functional game. It comes down to what people are used to, and how they are used to using the chips for betting. For example in my game some people are annoyed if I give them a full barrel of 5s in the start stack, as they don't see the need for it. They would rather just get 10, and a couple of 25s to go with them. In the US people might use 16x $5 chips to put out an $80 bet. Over here people will certainly just use 3x $25 and a $5 for the same bet.

For a 5/10 buy in of 1000, I would do this for the first 10 buyins:
20x $5
10x $25
4x $100

Then the next 10 buyins with:
10x $25
5x $100

That means for the first 20 buyins (already quite a bit) you'd have used 200x $5, 200x $25, and 90x $100.

The next single buyin can be the remaining 10x $100s, and after that start using the $500s. With a full rack of $500s, you can handle another 50 buyins, which honestly seems like a pretty big overkill to me, so I would rather have more $25s on the table. The $25s will be used more, as the $500s are mostly for value storage and will mostly be used in the really big/all in pots. The $25s will be used in every pot, and it's therefore nice to have a bit more of those at the table to avoid having to make change between the players to often.

If you are certain you want to keep it within 600 chips and be able to run 1/2, I would probably do
100 x $1
180 x $5
180 x $25
100 x $100
40 x $500

Thats a total bank of 35 500. (35 buyins) if you want, add a handful of $1k and $5k chips to increase the bank a lot with very little cost just to be confident you have enough chips for the crazy nights.

Another more high denom heavy option is:
100 x$1
160 x$5
160 x $25
100 x$100
80 x$500

Total bank ~55000 / 55 buyins.

Thanks, this really answers my questions and I really should start giving out more 25s in the games so that people spend less time changing money. I like the high denom option just to ensure a strong bank. Seems like 700 chips is the optimum if I round off all those values to a full rack. Ordered my chips (will do a top up order for an additional 100 sometime down the line)

Literally cant wait!

 

[OfficerLovejoy]

So what exactly did you order? I wanna see the happy end of this thread.

 

[rendangzi]

So what exactly did you order? I wanna see the happy end of this thread.

I ended up with my original

$1 X 100
$5 X 200
$25 X 100
$100 X 100
$500 X 100

But will top up with an extra 100 of $25 dollars down the road after reading some of the comments here.

Very close to the high denom option by MariusL but topped up the $5 & $500s for OCD

"
Another more high denom heavy option is:
100 x$1
160 x$5
160 x $25
100 x$100
80 x$500
"

In other news, have my sights set on the JACK tournament set. This site is poison

 

[Marius L]

In other news, have my sights set on the JACK tournament set. This site is poison

Haha, leave while you still can

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

I ended up with my original

$1 X 100
$5 X 200
$25 X 100
$100 X 100
$500 X 100

But will top up with an extra 100 of $25 dollars down the road after reading some of the comments here.

Very close to the high denom option by MariusL but topped up the $5 & $500s for OCD

"
Another more high denom heavy option is:
100 x$1
160 x$5
160 x $25
100 x$100
80 x$500
"

In other news, have my sights set on the JACK tournament set. This site is poison

When you bump up with your add-ons, the Apache 3800 is a perfect 700 chip case with plenty of room for setups and Dealer Buttons.

400 chips on the bottom level:

300 more on top plus cards, buttons, etc.

 

[RainmanTrail]

600 chips is definitely not enough for your games. I would get 1,000 minimum.

 

[rendangzi]

So what exactly did you order? I wanna see the happy end of this thread.

This is the happy end of this thread . Shipped on 11th May. Arrived in HK on 15th May. Arrived at my local post office on 22nd May. I was refreshing the tracker so much that I managed to collect them at the post office before they even sent the notice of collection to me...

Short review of these chips:

• These are amazing. Zero wobble in the stack. Crisp sharp edges really blew my mind.
• I expected the CSQ mold to be a little rough but the cutting of the circle squares look perfect like they are CNC machined
• Shuffle better than any home game chip I have handled before. The sound they make is awesome. Just wow. I like them as much and perhaps even better than the bellagios I smuggled out of the casino (RHC?)
• The green and purple are my favourite colours in this set
• Only con is that in a stack of 20 you can see some stacks are taller and some are shorter (Up to 1/3rd of a chip). This bugs me a little to be honest. Anyone has any suggestions?
• I got 10 free spare chips with the order (the rest are spares I ordered)
• I am torn between oiling and not oiling the edges. Something about that dusty edge feels really appealing to me. Perhaps its just the brandnewness of it all

Cheers all

 

[CrazyEddie]

Excellent choice on the Rounders. Looks gorgeous!

 

[khp]

View attachment 703940View attachment 703941

This is the happy end of this thread . Shipped on 11th May. Arrived in HK on 15th May. Arrived at my local post office on 22nd May. I was refreshing the tracker so much that I managed to collect them at the post office before they even sent the notice of collection to me...

Short review of these chips:

• These are amazing. Zero wobble in the stack. Crisp sharp edges really blew my mind.
• I expected the CSQ mold to be a little rough but the cutting of the circle squares look perfect like they are CNC machined
• Shuffle better than any home game chip I have handled before. The sound they make is awesome. Just wow. I like them as much and perhaps even better than the bellagios I smuggled out of the casino (RHC?)
• The green and purple are my favourite colours in this set
• Only con is that in a stack of 20 you can see some stacks are taller and some are shorter (Up to 1/3rd of a chip). This bugs me a little to be honest. Anyone has any suggestions?
• I got 10 free spare chips with the order (the rest are spares I ordered)
• I am torn between oiling and not oiling the edges. Something about that dusty edge feels really appealing to me. Perhaps its just the brandnewness of it all

Cheers all

Nice set!!!

How do you like them compared to the casino Paulsons you’ve smuggled out?

Just curious, are stack heights all different? Or most are the same and just a few vary by 1/3 chip

 

[rendangzi]

Nice set!!!

How do you like them compared to the casino Paulsons you’ve smuggled out?

Just curious, are stack heights all different? Or most are the same and just a few vary by 1/3 chip

Thanks!

I think they are nicer because they are mint and all the edges are so crisp. Maybe because of the newness the engraving of the CSQ mold is a lot sharper than the bellagio word imprinted on the Paulson chips. The bellagios I have ($5 and $1s) also make a different sound. The CPCs sound brighter is what I can say. Both sound great and I would say neither one is better or worse. I also cant tell the difference in weight although the Paulsons are supposed to be a tad heaveier.

As to stack heights, obviously it will vary based on what mix of chips you are stacking with. Bugs me a little and would like to get my hands on the Horseshoe Cinc set to see if Paulsons stack better in this regard. Depending on how you stack them 20 chips might not fit into your standard chip rack or would be a super tight fit. (issue has been mentioned somewhere on PCF). By messing around with the stacks I got all of them to fit thankfully. Other than that. I have oiled the rounders chips and they look amazing. Will go into play this Friday.


I emailed David from CPC and got the following response. For your reference I have also attached a photo so you can see the extent of the stack height difference.

"
They look perfectly normal to me. Within tolerance of +/- 3/1000ths of an inch per chip.
There isn't anything we can do really. We are using 75 year old equipment and they have always been like that.


Occasionally you can get an odd freak chips that is wildly thin or thick, but we've been measuring everything for a long time so there shouldn't be any of those or you'd be seeing stacks of 19, 20 and 21 all the same height.

If you shuffle all of them around you will get different results. We do that while inspecting and check them in a gauge to guarantee you can't get 19 or 21.
That's all casinos have ever required of us.
"

I'm not sure if they are within +/- 3/1000ths of an inch per chip unless it so happens that my two stacks were all +3 in one stack, and -3 in the other stack making the difference in each chip between the stacks different by 6/1000th of an inch. Then in a stack of 20 that would be roughly 0.12 inches or 3 milimeters, which is roughly what it looks like in the photo. When I have time I will bust out the vernier callipers.

Cheers!

 

[khp]

Thanks!

I think they are nicer because they are mint and all the edges are so crisp. Maybe because of the newness the engraving of the CSQ mold is a lot sharper than the bellagio word imprinted on the Paulson chips. The bellagios I have ($5 and $1s) also make a different sound. The CPCs sound brighter is what I can say. Both sound great and I would say neither one is better or worse. I also cant tell the difference in weight although the Paulsons are supposed to be a tad heaveier.

As to stack heights, obviously it will vary based on what mix of chips you are stacking with. Bugs me a little and would like to get my hands on the Horseshoe Cinc set to see if Paulsons stack better in this regard. Depending on how you stack them 20 chips might not fit into your standard chip rack or would be a super tight fit. (issue has been mentioned somewhere on PCF). By messing around with the stacks I got all of them to fit thankfully. Other than that. I have oiled the rounders chips and they look amazing. Will go into play this Friday.


I emailed David from CPC and got the following response. For your reference I have also attached a photo so you can see the extent of the stack height difference.

"
They look perfectly normal to me. Within tolerance of +/- 3/1000ths of an inch per chip.
There isn't anything we can do really. We are using 75 year old equipment and they have always been like that.


Occasionally you can get an odd freak chips that is wildly thin or thick, but we've been measuring everything for a long time so there shouldn't be any of those or you'd be seeing stacks of 19, 20 and 21 all the same height.

If you shuffle all of them around you will get different results. We do that while inspecting and check them in a gauge to guarantee you can't get 19 or 21.
That's all casinos have ever required of us.
"

I'm not sure if they are within +/- 3/1000ths of an inch per chip unless it so happens that my two stacks were all +3 in one stack, and -3 in the other stack making the difference in each chip between the stacks different by 6/1000th of an inch. Then in a stack of 20 that would be roughly 0.12 inches or 3 milimeters, which is roughly what it looks like in the photo. When I have time I will bust out the vernier callipers.

Cheers!

View attachment 704890

As a fellow OCDer, that difference in stack height would annoy me. I don’t think you should ever have to shuffle chips around to make sure they fit into a rack - that’s absurd!

 

[BGinGA]

The bank being short (intentionally or accidentally, among friends or not) due to chip count issues isn't a problem until it is, and then it's a big one not easily (or inexpensively) corrected.... just sayin'. Only a fool doesn't consider game security --- and your game, you, and your players all deserve it. Most will expect it.

Done up front, It's the cheapest way of doing business. Dealing with it after-the-fact is costly, and may even wreck the game.

Long-term, get 800 chips, which should easily cover both of your games and easily fit in a 1000-ct display carrier:

100 x $1
300 x $5
200 x $25
100 x $100
100 x $500