[Zetack]

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Thanks ZeTack....I completely agree with the reverse engineering. I like the idea of T2000 or T1500. Values can be assigned arbitrarily (but please tell me I'm not the only person that this drives nuts - not matching chip values to the casino cash values). I might just go with H.P.T.'s blind schedule. For T1500 it looks like you need 5,25, and 100 (maybe 500) so I think I could get away with 3 colors.

I am confused/amused by your T150 w/ 15 $10 chips! Speed tourney? No SB?

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Sorry that wasn't clear, that was just an example that our smallest chip was 10 bucks and by our reverse engineering everybody got t150 dollars worth of tens, or 15 chips each. I believe the total starting chip stack in that one was t1950: 2 - 500's 4 - hundreds, 4 - fifties, 8 - 25's, and 15 tens. (Not my idea btw, I would've done it a bit differently, but it worked just fine).

I haven't played in a Casino, but I agree that unorthodox chip colors suck, it took me about halfway through my second tourney to get comfortable with the colors at this home tourney, and the new guys spend the entire tourney peering at the chart on the wall going "how much are the blues again" or at the bet on the table going, "how much is that?". Course that's what happens when the host decides to make greens be hundreds and blacks be five hundreds and the fifties are blue with white piping and the tens are white with blue piping...hey, if only I ran the zoo, ya know?

--Zetack

Edit: personally I don't think you need to have chips smaller than the small blind of the first level. H.P.T has ans increase of blinds from 10/20 to 15/30. I'd just make the second level 20/40 and if you go deep into the tournament before you start doubling blinds you can still get a lot of play: for instance 10/20, 20/40, 30/60, 40/80, 50/100 gives you plenty of play and if doesn't give you enough I go for longer levels rather than smaller increases. But that's just a matter of personal preference, I guess, plus it means less coloring up later.