I'm trying to set up a home poker game with friends for the first time. I swear I read the FAQ like three times, but I still couldn't understand the info presented there. Could someone help a ****** figure out how to structure the game?

So, here are the details:
7-9 players in total, with 1-2 players probably joining in a bit later into the game
I have a 300 chip set: 1x100, 1x100, 1x50 and 1x50 in different colours.
I'm expecting to spend about 4ish hours, but I don't yet know if it's going to be one or two games.
Rebuys will be allowed.
Top 3 players with the most winnings split the buy-ins according to some ratio, so it's more of a tournament game.

How should I split the chips between people (i.e. how many of each per person) and which denominations should I use? And is it advisable to increase the blinds, and if so, how much and how often?

I figured I could give at most 30 chips per person (10,10,5,5) have one backup set of chips for a rebuy and then just give a slip of paper or something that constitutes a rebuy that the most stacked person in the table can trade for chips, if more than one rebuy is needed.

Is this a tournament, or a cash game? You seem confused on this point?

If this is indeed a tournament set-up (which it appears to be), then I would go with pretty standard chip set-up: 8x$25, 8x$100, 4x$500. That would be for $3000 chips. You could feel free to add additional $1000 chips out of your fourth color depending on what you want the starting level to be. For timing and blinds, work backwards. If you know you want to be at 4 hours, you can figure what the blind level should be when the tournament is over. For example, if you use the standard blind levels: 25/50, 50/100, 100/200, 200/400, 300/600, 500/1000, 1000/2000, 1500/3000, etc., then you know that your tourney will likely be over when the levels are 1000/2000 if you use $3000 chips per player. Total chips ($30kish)/BB ($2k) = 15 (that about the level when the tourney will end). That's your 7th blind level. If you use 30 minute blinds and allow for 1 or 2 10-minute breaks, then your tourney will be done in four hours. If you want to add another 30 minutes to the tournament, either add another blind level (75/150 or 150/300, as examples) or add two more $1000 chips to the starting stacks (total chips ($50k)/BB ($3k) = 16). Another popular option is to make the first two blind levels at 45 minutes each instead of 30 minutes. It allows a lot more play early when the players have significant blinds to be able to "make a few moves".

I've run tournaments in my house for 15+ years and this is the what has worked out best for me..... sort of field tested. Good luck!

This thread is a goldmine of possible information and suggestions for you on starting up (and maintaining) a home game. You will get little trolling and lots of folks with lots of experience doing just what you are interested in doing. I will add to mokis question, what kind of stakes are you thinking about and what games of poker, NLH, Studs, Omaha? Keep asking stuff!

The simplest way to run a tournament is to use Blindvalet.com. Here is how to set it up:

1. Choose the total number of players, 4 hours for duration, 15 minute blinds.
2. Click on the checkbox for rebuys.
3. Choose chips denominations of 25-100-500-1000. Put in 3K or 4K chips per player.
4. Make the initial small blind 25.
5. Put in your best guess at the number of rebuys. If you have a cautious group of players, it will probably be about half of your player pool size.

OK, the words "Chip Distribution" is a button. Click it to see how many of each chip to give each player.

Now click on "Payout Structure" above where you put in all these settings. It should default to paying 3 players, which is what you want. Just enter the buyin and rebuy amounts, and you are done.

Click on "Tournament Clock" and you are ready to start your tournament.

As a side note, you're going to have a hard time adding players later, unless you put their stack on the table and blind them off. As long as they won't be more than an hour late, that should be fine, if you are willing to do that.

Holy crap this tool is awesome.

I figured as much that adding people much later would be difficult, but I assume they won't be too late.

Anyway, yeah, it's going to be a NL Holdem tournament game with rebuys, as:
a) The buy-in is fairly small and splitting the cash later on would be a royal PITA.
b) It's a really casual crowd, I don't want people getting wiped out in 15 minutes and then have nothing to do for the rest of the night.

I assume I could make something like this work?

Yeah, Blindvalet is not perfect, but for what you want, it works really darn well.

I like rebuys for the same reason as you. It gives players a safety net. I usually allow rebuys for the first hour. After that, they need to play good, and avoid really bad luck. Tournaments have some nice advantages over cash, but the early knockout is a disadvantage.

I almost always have someone who is coming an hour late because of work. We put out a stack and toss in the blinds for him when they come around. It isn't too bad. But if they were to come two hours late, they would not have much of a stack left. Hey, you try it and see.

Good luck!

My home game is cash ring game NLH with a few additional tweaks we have added over the years. None of us want to do tournaments anymore although we used to. As your group prospers/grows you may want to add a cash table for the bustouts. In fact after a while the advantages of cash games may become more attractive to your group. Maybe not. Rebuys are a good idea ( if they are not unlimited) to give victims of coolers and bad beats a chance to recover and not take too many early exits! It is very important to make your initial few sessions very player friendly indeed. This will create a very good atmosphere for your beginning group and encourage later additions. Late comers will soon come to understand the disadvantage they have in a tournament (not a cash game problem) and either decide arrive early or drop out if they just can't change their schedule. A bustout cash table could be a method to keep these late arrivers interested in your club. They can't make the T in good time but they can come and play cash table later. Good Luck to you!