6-8players - Chip Quantity ??

[ORGrinder]

I'm going to be starting up a monthly card game... so I need to invest in some chips.

I'm not sure, however, how many to buy and in which denominations (i.e. colors).

My idea is to play a 10/20 limit game with something like a 20 dollar buy in. But I'm not sure how many chips that buy-in should get each player and what the breakdown of those chips should be (e.g. how many $5, $10, $20 chips each).

Can anyone offer any suggestions?

[mindgame]

A ten/twenty game won't need many chips at all, really. I play 10/20 a couple times a week at the local casino and the typical buy-in is about $500. Although they only have $5 chips at the casino, this is a mistake. If they had $10 chips life would be much easier for the players. It's what I'd recommend. You'll need about 50 of the $10 (typically yellow or orange) for each player, plus another 5 or 10 $5 chips each for the small blind (those are usually red). Other than that I'd get about 50 or 100 more $25 or $100 chips (typically green or black, respectively) for rebuys in order to keep cash off the table.

Thats: 50- 80 reds
400-500 yellow
50-100 green or black

*****
I'm editing this because I see that although you are using the denominations mentioned, you'll only be buying in for $20 or so. If that's the case don't worry about the rest of this post.
*****

One caution. Ask yourself how well you know these players. Unless you know all of them REALLY well, you might buy chips that are a little harder to find--especially for the $25 and $100 denominations. Chips are so widely available on the internet now that it would be an irresistable temptation to some to sneak in the occasional $25 or $100 chip.

Don't just blow that caution off. I've learned the hard way--it's why all my $25's and $100's are from fairly obscure, closed casinos, and why I change out both denominations randomly with different chips from week to week. I have yet to be in ANY home game that I didn't eventually find a cheat. And no one ever wants to believe me until I embarass him and expose him in the act. It's always broken up the game. People are SO deeply into denial about cheating that on one occasion, after exposing the cheater red-handed, they kicked ME out of the game!!!

[Dave B]

speaking of chip size....i asked why the our local casino uses $1 chips for their 4/8 game (why not the $2 that they use for 6/12). I was told that when they tried $2 chips there wasnt any action. I guess the allure of a stack of chips resulted in more callers.

Maybe that is why Harrahs does the same thing???? When I played there at the 5/10 tables, it was really weird to have a big pot w/ only 30 chips in it. I am used to 3/6 and 4/8 w/ $1 chips and having a stack of 100-300 chips for a big pot.

[mindgame]

Well if there's an angle, no doubt the casinos have figured it out!

I played in Manistee, Michigan, though-- their $4/8 game--and we used $2 chips. Worked fine. Also, you bought in for a rack, $200, and that was clean. So like Prof. Harold Hill's fond of saying "Ya gotta know the territory."

[ORGrinder]

hey mg... i thinking about it (after i already purchased my chips... lol) is 10 red ($5) chips per person really enough? i suppose that if the small blind simply trades their 5$ for a 10$ if they decide to call that it would work out just fine, but seems to me 10 5$'s would run out rather quickly on the small blinds.

i am, of course, NOT speaking from experiance... as i said, this if the first time hosting a home game. perhaps from your experiance this isn't the case and 10 $5 on a 10/20 game is a-okay ?

[mindgame]

For you smallest small blind all you need are 5 to 10 chips of that denomination for each player in the game. Making THAT change is really no hassle, and typically the small blind will do it while the cards are being shuffled when he's up next.