We all wonder about this from the moment we accept to host a poker tournament. Sure, we want to impress our friends and come across as real experts. But do we truly have everything we need for a tournament to run smoothly? Read on to find the exact number of chips you need.
Okay, so this is the obvious one so I saved it for last since you might have forgotten. Cash-style games require about 40 chips on hand for each player. For example, to comfortably host a typical $1-$2 no-limit Texas Hold 'em game with $200 buy-ins for ten players, you'll need: - One hundred $1 chips (white) - Two hundred $5 chips (red). For a normal game of poker at home (6-10 players), it is recommended that you have a suitcase with 500 poker chips. For less than 6 players, you can use 300 chips, but remember that at some point you may want to invite more players or try rebuy tournaments.
Poker and Its Brief History
Poker dates back to the sixteenth century. Namely, during this period, the Germans played Pochen. After some time, a French game Poque emerged. This version spread all over the world and caught the attention of many players. Of course, the game went through a series of amendments only to transform into what we know today as Poker.
There are many variations that make this game riveting. A number of players can try them out either from the comfort of their homes or in different poker rooms. It is true that you need a bit of luck in Poker, but the outcome actually depends on your skills and the ability to deduce from what’s happening. Ultimately, this is what differentiates professional players from ordinary people and helps them walk away with thousands of dollars.
Here, we’ll take a closer look into poker chips and establish just how many you need.
So How Many Should You Include?
Poker chips represent real money that players use in order to wager. If a person has a massive stack of them, then you’ll infer that they’re dominating the game. Thus, they, in a way, show how dominant a player is at the current state of the game.
Say that one day you decide to organise a private game of Poker and invite your close friends. In order for this to be a success, you need to start looking for a poker chip set. Firstly, you have to determine how many people you’ll invite. Do you want to invite your four closest friends for a simple home game? Or do you want to go big and create a private tournament? These questions ought to be answered so that you can plan the distribution of chips.
Regardless of your decision, some experts believe that each player should have at least 40–50 chips, while others think it might even be better if you could include 75–100 chips per person. The reasoning behind the latter is that it would prevent participants from having to trade higher denominations for lower ones between each other. Apart from this, a number of people might be late to the party or decide to rejoin the game. For this reason, it’s always a good idea to have some extra poker chips at hand. And some games even have a rebuy period — this means that all eliminated players can purchase another stack of chips and become active participants once again. Having this will definitely refresh the game and ensure that everyone has a fun time.
Additionally, some people enjoy seeing a larger starting stack. This makes them feel like they’re professional players, and having only 25 chips won’t cut it for them. Therefore, if you can, you should obtain a bigger set.
You can include 300 chips for less than 6 players in case you want each participant to have up to 50 of them. However, you should keep in mind that some of them might prompt you to invite more people and that you might regret not having more chips.
On the other hand, if you want to turn your poker game into a tournament, you can have 6–10 players. And in this case, we’d recommend having at least 500 chips. Of course, you are free to increase this number if you want to ensure that the participants have all they need to savour this game.
If you end up having more than 10 players, then the number of chips will increase proportionally. Sometimes, even more than 1,000 chips will be used. However, this is most often the case for large-scale poker tournaments. And we’re sure that your fun Friday-night game will most likely have up to 10 players.
Apart from the above, the quantity isn’t the only thing you should have on your mind. Specifically, it is important to think about denominations. Some suggest that it is vital to have the majority of chips in the lowest denomination. For instance, if you have 500 chips and four values ($1, $5, $10, $25), then you should start with 200 chips (for the first value) and lower the amount all the way down to 50 chips for the last denomination.
All in all, these numbers should serve as recommendations. In the end, you might decide to either increase or decrease your number of chips. But before you reach any conclusion, remember that the game might not go as planned, as well as that having more might help you dodge a bullet.
Chip Colours
A standard suitcase will offer 3 to 5 different chip colours. They make it easy for players to differentiate one value from another.
There is no universally accepted colour scheme that represents chip values. They mostly differ from one region to another, or even from venue to venue. But usually, home sets have blue, white, red, and in some cases, black, and green chips. Additionally, some manufacturers offer an array of colours that you won’t come across very often. Among these are yellow, grey, pink, orange, and purple. Also, it seems that this trend has spread all over the poker world. However, the usage of less traditional colours is reserved only for larger values ($1,000) or fractional figures (e.g. $2.50).
What is more, the colour scheme is sometimes determined by the local regulatory body. For instance, if we take a closer look into casinos in the US, then we can deduce that those in Illinois and New Jersey use a similar scheme. On the other hand, Nevada does not have a set list of colours; thus, its casinos have the liberty to use different ones to symbolise $1.
Additionally, when delving deeper into the chips distributed in Australian casinos, we were able to find some similarities. And we’ll mention some which are frequently used below. However, we need to point out that this might differ in your favourite casino, as well as that you should always make sure that you are familiar with each value:
- White chip: $1
- Red chip: $5
- Blue chip: $10
- Green chip: $25
- Black chip: $100
- Purple chip: $500
To reiterate, the above is by no means the same in each venue. Perhaps one day there will even be a universal colour scheme that will make everything easier.
Always Arrange Your Stack Neatly
This is one piece of advice you should always follow. Keeping your chips in stacks of 5, 10, 25 is a great strategy. It’ll make the job easier both for you and your opponents, as you’ll both be able to estimate the amount you have. Also, if other players adhere to this as well, then you’ll be aware of what you’ll get from them if you win.
On the other hand, some players came up with the idea of hiding their larger denomination chips from others. However, some believe that this is unethical and dishonest. Of course, if you’re an avid poker player, you’ll inevitably encounter those who resort to this. Their ultimate goal is to fool you and assure you that they have less money than they actually do.
How Many Chips Do You Need To Play Poker Real Money
Therefore, if you want to avoid being one of those players, you should be straightforward and strive to make all of your chips visible at all times.
How Many Chips Do You Need To Play Poker
Summary
In conclusion, the number of chips you should get depends on the type of poker game you’ll hold in your home. The higher the number of participants, the more chips you will need. However, even if you opt for a small gathering, it’s advisable to have some extra chips in case something goes wrong. This way, you won’t get frustrated, and you’ll keep everything under control.