Best Way To Distribute Poker Chips

If you’re asking yourself “How many poker chips do I need?”, you’ve probably decided to buy a set of chips to run your home cash games or tournaments. Well, you’ve come to the right place.

Poker is a popular card game that is played in casinos, card rooms, and homes throughout the United States. When you are hosting a poker game, whether it is a cash game or a tournament, you will need to know how to determine the chip amounts and how many chips to give to each player. If you plan on using your chip set for a variety of games, including games like blackjack or craps, you may want some additional colors as well to handle the diversity. T1000 Tournament – 41 chips per player. 20 – Red; 16 – Green; 5 – Black; Plus, have some purple chips around for re-buys and color-ups. T10000 Tournament – 46 chips. Rebuy tournaments: With each rebuy and add-on, the total chips in the tournament will increase. The total chips in rebuy tournaments will be equal to the sum of all players 'player's starting chips (including extra starting chips, if any)' plus the sum of chips given to all players through a rebuy request plus the sum of chips given to all players through an add-on request.

When you consider buying a new set of premium poker chips, the first thing you need to consider is how many chips you need. The answer is: it depends! Yeah, I know, you wanted a more specific answer than that, but if it was that easy you wouldn’t need to search for the answer now would you?

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What Kind of Game Are You Hosting

One of the first things to consider is what kind of poker game are you planning on hosting? Are you hosting T100 or T10,000 tournaments, structured Hold’em games in your basement, or just general use for whatever card games you want to play? It all makes a difference. The optimal set of chips for a T10,000 tournament may be completely different than the optimal set of chips for a $10 home game. A no-limit game is also different than a limit game, and must be taken into consideration. Also, using the chips for other games, like Blackjack, may require additional consideration. You need to start by looking at what you intend on doing with the set before spending your money on something that is not right for you. In general, a tournament set will require more chips per person, and a lower number of colors. A home cash game, on the other hand, will usually require less chips per person, but may also require a wider range of colors or values.

Denominations

What denominations do you need? Do you need denominations at all? Most people like to have a nice set of chips with denominations. A home game just feels better with a good set of chips with nice graphics and denominations. You can also have a set of plain chips that can be used for whatever game value you are playing. Here are some things to consider:

  • Chips without denominations can be used for home cash games, as well as tournament play, without needing extra chips for low value or high value denominations.
  • Some chips simply have a number denomination, without the dollar sign ($). These can be used for either dollar or penny chips so that the “5″ can be five dollars or five pennies.
  • Chips with denominations can always represent different values by dividing or multiplying the face value. A $5 chip can always be used for $.05.
  • You can usually buy low value and high value chips with a high quality chip set. If it is that important for you to actually have $.01 chips, you can buy them.
Another thing to consider, especially for your poker games and tournaments, is the blind value. You will need to set a big blind and little blind value for your game. It is important to make sure you have enough of the big blind chips, but you won’t need so many of the small blind chips. The reason is that the small blind chips will only be used when the small blind folds pre-flop. If the small blind calls, they can simply remove the small blind chip and replace it with a big blind chip.
Your overall chip distribution should look something like this, at least to start:
Lowest denomination chip x 5 – ($5)
Lowest denomination chip x 100 – ($100)
This is a good starting point. Then, you need to decide how you want to round off your set. If you are looking for a well-balanced home game set, the general distribution for a 500 piece chip set you will find is something like this:
  • 150 – $1 – White
  • 100 – $5 – Red
  • 100 – $25 – Green
  • 100 – $100 – Black
  • 25 – $500 – Purple
  • 25 – $1,000 – Yellow
This will give you the standard distribution indicated above, plus a few additional high-end chips in case you need them. This would be a good set for games with $1 ante or $2 blinds.

Chip Colors

If you are buying non-denominational chips, it is best to follow the standard colors. You can also post a chart near your game table to let everyone know the chip values. Common chip color values are:

How To Distribute Poker Chips 6 Players

  • White (1)
  • Blue (2)
  • Red (5)
  • Green (25)
  • Black (100)
  • Purple (500)
  • Yellow (1,000)

Best Way To Distribute Poker Chips Near Me

So, How Many?

OK, we’ve held you around here long enough. There is clearly a lot of math that can be done to determine the exact breakout of chip colors/denominations based upon tournament games, buy-in, and size, but you are looking for some guidance. This is general guidance, and not law.

If you are planning on mainly hosting tournaments, you will need fewer colors/denominations based upon your tournament structure. A good general rule of thumb is to have a 4/3/2/1 distribution of chips. You want more of the lower value, and less of the higher value chips. So, if you were to buy a 1,000 piece set, you may have the following breakdown:

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  • 400 – Red (lowest denomination)
  • 300 – Green (lowest x 5)
  • 200 – Black (lowest x 20)
  • 100 – Purple (lowest x 100)

If you plan on playing a lot of cash games, you may be able to go to a 2/2/1 split: In addition, you may want to consider purchasing white ($1) and blue ($2) chips. These chips are used more in cash games and much less in tournament play

  • 400 – Red (White)
  • 400 – Green (Blue)
  • 200 – Black (Red)

This can vary, of course, depending on the game. If you plan on using your chip set for a variety of games, including games like blackjack or craps, you may want some additional colors as well to handle the diversity.

T1000 Tournament – 41 chips per player

  • 20 – Red
  • 16 – Green
  • 5 – Black
  • Plus, have some purple chips around for re-buys and color-ups.

T10000 Tournament – 46 chips per player

  • 20 – Green
  • 15 – Black
  • 6 – Purple
  • 5 – Yellow
  • Plus, have some grey (5,000) chips around for re-buys and color-ups.

General home use (multiple games)

How to distribute poker chips

If you are getting a set for general home use, to play multiple different games including poker, blackjack and others as well as multiple game values, here is a general guideline for the number of chips needed. You will want to have about 75-100 chips per person, and a wider variety of colors available for versatility.

  • 1-3 players – 300-400 chips
  • 3-4 players – 400-500 chips
  • 5-6 players – 500 -600 chips
  • 6-8 players – 600 -800 chips
  • 8-10 players – 800 – 1000 chips

The standard chip set breakdowns that you will find are fine for your general games, and usually carry more than the standard 4-5 colors for tournament play. This will provide an overall chip set that is useful for multiple purposes. If you find that you need additional quantities of individual colors, you can always order more of them later.

DK Outlet carries a large selection of casino quality poker chip sets in all sizes and colors. Stop in today and buy a set for yourself.