I have come up with the following 1000 chip set breakdown to handle one-table of either a 10c/20c blind cash game, or a single-table-tournament. Set is designed to also be able to handle 1 rebuy-or-1-addon as well as 1rebuy+1addon tournaments as well.

I have come up with the following. I also used BlindValet.com to create tourney structures for 2-hour 5 mans (gamble-ments), 2.5 hour 8 mans, and 3 hour 10-mans (our max attention span) for T4000 starting chips to ensure that a decent structure exists for these formats.

This eliminates cash and tourney chips from being used on the same tables. If our game grows to the point where we are using $25s in the cash game, i will add on to the set (at 30 cents a chip it won't kill me) and move all the tournament denoms up by a factor of 10 or something like that.

We usually play a cash game (weekly, every couple of weeks), the tournament structure is to help entice some of the farther-away friends who need to drive an hour+ to get here. A chance at a cash for a big first place is just the thing to convince them the gas and tolls are worth it once every couple of months so we can have a full 10 handed game afterward.

I value your opinion on the below. Thanks in advance!

base cash set for 10c/20c $10 buyin and sustainable for .20/.50, .50/.50 games as well:
200 x .10 (dimes)
140 x 0.50 (half-dollars)
160 x 1
140 x 5

tourney:
120 x 25
100 x 100
60 x 500
80 x 1000

Tournament starting stacks = T4000 = 12 x 25, 7 x 100, 4 x 500, 1 x 1000. There are 100s to color up the 25s, and enough 500s/1000s to rebuy each player in a full table twice.

I printed out the "BlindValet" generated structures for 5-handed (2 hr), 8 handed (2.5 hour) and 10 handed (3 hour) tournaments with those starting stacks.

Examples:

8 handed No Rebuy 2.5 hour:

20 minute levels:
25/50
50/100
75/100
100/200
200/400
300/600
500/1000
800/1600
1500/3000
3K/6K

8 handed 1 rebuy OR one addon for the players who didn't rebuy, 2.5 hour:
25/50
50/100
100/200
250/500
400/800
600/1200
1000/2000
2k/4k

etc.

And how does it do, in preventing tourney chips from showing up on the cash game table... for cashouts?

For a cash game with $10 buy-ins, at only 50 BB.... perhaps you'd use the redbirds.

I'd encourage even MORE action than you currently do (with that structure) and go with all whites, for big, big pots.

You're light on blacks, perhaps. When blinds move up, or you make change for a purple T500, you wipe out the blacks in your stack.

It's not that bad, really- i often use a 8/8 stack for the lowest chips- it's just something to consider. I'd make a few of the stacks 12/12/3/1, to get more of the blacks on the table for passing around.

Interesting.... are you trying to really drive a lot of action on this round? or was that a typo?

You might consider 25/25, 25/50/ 50/100 75/150, if you have the time, given the 80BB start.


This one... how fast do you want the chips to move?
If someone is driving an hour to get here, busting out in 20 minutes or less might not prove appealing, long-term.

I've never really made a tourney structure. I was using the Blind Valet defaults when I entered in the settings (Players, desired time, rebuys/addons). The 75/100 was a typo.

I would really appreciate advice on how to better structure a tournament than the BlindValet.com settings. I just took them as written. Most of our "tournaments" are like double-the-blinds whenever someone busts out kind of style. When I took my T4000 buy-in and applied a "2/3/4/6" (ie, 50/75/100/150, 200/300/400/600, etc) small blind progression, changing the number of players or length of time (15 vs 20) minutes between rounds seemed to make some dramatic changes in the tourney structure. This is by far the toughest part for me to settle on a chip breakdown. Most nights we're only 5-6 handed but I want to be able to handle the occasional full table cash game / tournament as well, and have structures that work for 5, 7-8, and 10 players with and without rebuys.

I've actually considered swapping the sets so that I make my tourney chips from one set and cash games from another to prevent the chips from being interchangeable. But at the same time I really like the chips I'm looking at and my game is people I know solidly, or their friends. Nobody more removed than that. And 10 handed I ought to be able to know if I've sold a $25 chip into play at the .10/.20 game or not. That's what I meant about separating the chips; $5s and under used on cash games and the bigger ones on tourneys. This will work as long as we play .10/.20 (been a couple years now, and people are starting families so i doubt that they are going to ask for higher stakes soon).

We've never had more than 5 or 10 $5 chips on the table so I really don't think it will happen any time soon. If this was a club or a more popular/open-invite game I would spend the money on custom chips etc for security. As it is the chips I am using will be readily available for 0.32 a chip to whoever wants one, with 2 day shipping.

In the FAQ there is also a tournament structure which (conveniently) lists 10 people x 4000 chips as the structure. I could just use his structure. Doesn't go over shorthanded games though.

(3rd in a row post)

Here's an idea, gleaned from a few posts around...
20 min levels 7-9 players remaining
15 min levels 4-6 players remaining
10 min levels 1-3 remaining

That, with the structure below, should allow for a decent amount of time with higher Ms if there's a full table of people who showed up especially for the tournament, but also adjusts to shorten a 4-6 player "pre cash game" tournament as well. Even if 4 players start, M doesn't hit 20 till a round or so after play resumes following the first break.

1) Is the idea above and the execution in the blind structure below correct? Adding the 25/25 level at the beginning gives a lot of play as well.

2) Is starting at T5000 correct? Seems right to me for the time a tourney would take estimating the number of players who either start initially or remain as it goes on.

3) How to adjust starting stacks for rebuys and addons? Do those double the length of a tournament or just extend it by a level?

Thanks!

T5000 (12/12/7)

25/25
25/50
50/100
75/150
100/200
150/300
200/400
300/600
400/800
600/1200
1000/2000
1500/3000
2000/4000
3000/6000
etc (SB = 2/3/4/6 * next denom chip progression)

I haven't seen that. Seems a bit extreme. The increasing blinds already make people feel a lot of pressure late in the tournament.

I have made the first round or two a bit longer (30 min instead of 20, for example), because those seem to go by quicker as people are adjusting to the game and you have the maximum amount of loose, slow play. That was with 1st time players though. Generally, though, the round length never changes.



1-4 table tournaments usually end when the big blind is about 1/20 the chips in play. (At that point people will be all in very easily).



If adding rebuys and addons doubles the number of chips in play, and your blinds double every two rounds, the tournament will last 2 rounds longer.

So if you have 8 players x 5000 each, + 8 x5k rebuys and 8 x5k addons (that would be a very loose rebuy game) for a total of 120,000 chips, the final big blind would be 6000 (give or take a level or two). With your structure, 10-minute rounds gets you there in ~2.5 hours.

I prefer shorter rounds over bigger blinds jumps.

A t5k freezeout for 8 players will only get to ~1000/2000 blinds, so you can go with slightly longer rounds (13.6 minutes. 15 if you don't mind the risk of running a little past 2.5 hrs.)

that looks perfect.

Hey, fishboy! You're almost at your first major milestone! You drafting up a good 5k post?

I have discovered (And my GF said it right away when I showed her my chips as well) that the set of chips I like a lot, looks pretty similar in color when I have .10s, .50s, and $1s on the table at a time.

Again please assume that I cannot change the game from 10c/20c:

Would it be a serious problem to play those blinds with 5c, 25c, and $1 chips instead of 10c, 50c chips? The 10c and 50c are what are pretty similar. There are major color differences between the 5c 25c and $1 chips.

I would adjust my chip count and get 200 nickels and 200 quarters in this case.

This may be better for .25/.25, .05/.10, .25/.50 flexibility?

My cash set would then be:

200 5c
200 25c
100 $1
100 $5

10c and 25c chips are also an option but I suspect this is less preferable than 5c and 25c? Makes for weird betting amounts (85c bets and the like)

Good catch considering the colors and how they contrast, or don't.

I like sticking with the standard denoms. It will give you the best use of these chips for the longest time.

Now, if we would assume you could move to a single .25 blind, or .25/.25, you could save the money on .05 chips completely. Consider how much of a difference this would make to your average pot size. I would guess very little.

I am pretty much stuck in the .10/.20 for the time being with these players.

... because.... they won't do anything else?

It's just what we've done for a couple of years, and nobody wants to buy in for more than $10. Increasing the blinds will only make an already shortstacked game even more shortstacked.

However, I've come to a resolution to my issue.

I will be getting a non-denominational compression clay (Hopefully from the same "series" that my denom chips are from), in pink base color, to be the "small blind" chip without a denom on it. This way it will cover all sorts of games and we can move up to .25/.50 without me needing to change a thing about my set, which will work for 10c/20c now with non-denom "10c" chips as well as 50c chips. It takes away .10/.25 but we could play "12.5c/25c" with the non-denom chips anyway.

Way excited about my chips. I've even decided that I'm going to roll two acrylic racks so I don't need to lug around both my tourney and my cash sets around at the same time (usually I guess cash set would go with tourney for the side game but not always the other way around).

So you play 50 BB deep now, and with a single .25 blind it would be 40 BB. However, there would a nickel less in blinds than .10/.20. And no SB to contend with.

I mean, I understand. There is a difference there, but how much?

Sounds like you have a solution. Link to the chips you are considering?

Are you serious?

why not? 1-bit 2-bit. Buyins are only in increments of $1 or $5, and restrict cashouts to 2-bits minimum, or more likely $1.