Beaten to death..but still a dillema for # of chips needed

[Thalum]

I know this has been beaten to death, but I amthinking about buying 1000 of ten's pharoahs chips and have been trying to come up with a good mix.

I've looked at about 5 different threads on the subject, but each one is fairly specific in that it is only for 500 chips, or only tourney's or only cash games etc.

My goal is to put together the "difinative" set of my lifetime..flexable for any situation, cash game or tourney.

The particulars:
-1000 chips

-I mainly play tourneys of up to 8-10 people, but want flexability to expand to 20 people

-Must also be able to do cash games of all limits

I toyed with the idea of $2000 in chips to everyone for tourneys, with 20 people it breaks down to:

400x $25
200x $100
20x $500

To round it out, I'll probably go:

400x $25
200x $100
50x $500
25x $1000

This leaves 325 chips for a cash game setup. If we played a cash game, it would probably be low limit..like .25/.50 blinds or at most .50/$1 blinds..so now I need to squeeze .25/$1/$5 with only 325 chips left.

My question is, am I too top heavy on the $25 chips? If I had 20 people tourney, I am sure I could get away with giving less $25's, and add in $100's instead.

As well, what kind of chip count in .25/$1/$5 should I have for a decent 10 person limit game?

Thanks alot!

[jtr]

Can you be flexible about your tournament buy-in amount, or are you really wedded to the idea of a $2000 buy-in with these denominated chips?

I ask because I'm in the same situation, with too small a budget to go for 1000 chips. I'm concentrating on getting my set (500 or 650) right for cash games and then once that's done, I'll go with whatever tournament buy-in I need to. It might be $1000, but it might only be $500 or even $100 to get the best use from the chips.

It seems to me that if you're flexible on this one thing, then your set instantly becomes a lot more versatile. And surely in a tournament people are well aware that the chips are not worth their face value anyway!

[bubbafry]

There was some discussion on flexible sets for cash games/tourneys in this thread (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1911889&page=3&view=colla psed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=1).

[The Link King]

[ QUOTE ]
There was some discussion on flexible sets for cash games/tourneys in this thread (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1911889&page=3&view=colla psed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=1).

[/ QUOTE ]

Also...

SOME OTHER BREAKDOWN THREADS (Cut 'n Paste)
Here's are some links with some options...
Breakdown Thread 1 (http://www.texasholdem-poker.com/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8188&sid=04e0fa7a22c578ee5341eb14e ece211e)

Breakdown Thread 2 (http://www.texasholdem-poker.com/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7991&highlight=breakdown)

Breakdown Thread 3 (http://www.texasholdem-poker.com/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8209&highlight=breakdown)

Breakdown Thread 4 (http://www.texasholdem-poker.com/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8898)

Suits group buy discussed breakdowns (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1026765&page=&view=&sb=5& o=&fpart=all&vc=1) - alot of pages but I think there was some good info there.

See HPT Chips Needed (http://www.homepokertourney.com/chips_needed.htm) if you haven't already

Also try "breakdown" here... (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/search.php?Cat=) and here (http://www.texasholdem-poker.com/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/search.php)

- TLK

[b8factor]

I have another post in the top 30 messages that talks about this very subject.

However to say lifetime, you can only do that if you constantly change what each chip is worth over time, if you use the denoms on the chip than good luck. As time goes on 10/20 and 20/40 will be small games and the LARGE games will be 25-50 and 50-100. Just as when I bought mine 1-4 Studd was the low and 5-10 was the high. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

For 8-10 ppl you are ok, but when you go to 20, you will run out of chips to use for BOTH cash game and tourney IF you do not want to constantly have to "make change" in the tourney.

I bought a set of 1200, 500 white 300 red 200 blue 100 orange and 100 black back in 93. It is a stretch to use them for a 20 person game with 300 in chips blinds starting at 1-2. And strange for many tourney players to start at 1-2 when the norm is eaiterh 5-10 or 25-50.

I cant do 30 ppl without bringing in the 100's and the just starts each player off with two few # of chips that it becomes an all in fest or a "make change" nightmare.

But then I am hyper critical about having the correct amount of chips for the given game type. When playing 10/20 I like ONLY blueon the table. 5/10 some white and teh rest red. A toruney , 3 colors max till final table and then 2 more colors. The reson is that the amount of chips in front of a player can change the game's action, Loose too tight. For instance, a 10-20 game with all blue will normaly be tighter than a 10-20 game with all red. Reason, ppl have more chips with red and therefore dont feel they need to tighten up sooner. Chips creat an illusion of your postion at the table. I often see new holdem players get nervous when they have only 5 chips left in a tourney EVEN if those 5 chips = 70% of thier starting buy in. C R A Z Y. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

Most ppl here will give you an answer that works as a "homemade" solution but won't give you the same feel as going to a REAL Casino. It depends on what you want the "feel" of the game to be.

If I was only getting 1000 I would go with 3 colors with a greater number on the center color. Maybe squeeze in a few 4th for LARGE chips.

If you can opt for the 2000, you WILL be better off for your purpose. I think that you need 5000-10000 to do what you really want, ""difinative" set of my lifetime..flexable for any situation, cash game or tourney"

i.e.

800 white 1 denom
2000 red 25
2000 blue 10
2000 green 25
2000 black 100
1000 purple 500
200 orange 1000

[neotope]

I don't understand why people need to play tournaments with chips that have a high value. Instead of starting a tournament out with blinds of 10 and 20 you could always start out with 1 and 2. I know this is not as much fun and is not how they do it on TV but it makes it much easier for your set.

Now this would only be a problem if you think you'll have a cash game where you need 200 chips worth $100 or 20 chips worth $500.

[Douper]

no need to duplicate the .25/1/5 chips. Just use your tourney set. 25 = $0.25 100 = $1 etc. no need to be short on any chip.

I have a 650 set as follows:

200 x 5
200 x 25
200 x 100
50 x 500

we play tourneys and .25/.50 NL and a chip shortage has never been a problem, we usually have 10 people and have no problems

[standpat]

this may sound stupid.. but why don't you just buy the non-denom pharao set.. then you can choose the value yourself and you will have all the chips in play regardless of the format you are playing..

but if you want denominated chips you can buy 800

150 0,25
150 1
200 5
150 25
100 100
50 500

then start with a 1500 in chips and blinds starting at 5/10 for tourneys
10 man tourney. 10 5's 10 25's 7 100's and 1 500 then you will have enough cips left for rebuy and the set will be sufficient for regular low stakes cash game.. I would probably buy 20 1000 also to have all the cips /images/graemlins/laugh.gif but I can see that this adds up.. so I guess it isnt as easy as first tought!!

[smoore]

25 person tournament set, each buyin gets T750:

10 Red @ $5
4 Green @ $25
6 Black @ $100

For color up I have:
40 Green
40 Black
20 Yellow @ $500

The 600 chip set works great for up to 25 people. Each buyin is exactly one stack. Blinds start at 5/10. Change is made between players as needed, it's not obtrusive at all.

If I were to redo it I would ditch the $5 chips and start the blinds at 25/50 or 25/25, $3000 starting stack:

Starting stack
8 @ $25 = $200
8 @ 100 = $800
4 @ 500 = $2000

$750/$10 = 75 BB in current configuration
$3000/$50 = 60 BB in "new" configuration
$3000/$25 = 120 BB in "alternate new" configuration.

More agressive (except alternate) but I can increase the length of the earlier rounds to balance it out.

Basically my point is that if each buyin is a single stack of chips, each rack of chips will serve 5 people. If you want a bigger buyin tournament each player gets two stacks. Don't forget color-up chips.

If I were going for "ultimate egyptian" set. I would use $5 chips to start in the tournament. You start the cash game when the $5 chips come off the tournament table (round 4 or so) as you can count them and verify that no one pocketed some. If you're short a $5 chip or two bring ALL action to a grinding halt and it will mysteriously appear on the floor. No cash game can start until all chips are accounted for.

edit: with this set I see the $5000 plaques from the chipco egyptians in your future /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Thalum]

lots of great advice here, I will have to mull it all over to make my decision.

Thanks alot folks!