Poker Chips Value Chart
Often you don’t have to guess the value of a poker chip. Since the colors aren’t straightforward, many poker chips have the values printed right on them. They’ll have a valuation like $5, $10 and $20. If you’re lucky enough to join a high-limit game you may see denominations of $1,000 all the way up to $25,000. Here is a 'Poker chip colors and values' Chart: White chip: 1 unit or $1. Red chip: 5 units or $5. Blue chip: 10 units or $10. Green chip: 25 units or $25. Black chip: 100 units. Free Printable Poker Chips Description. Poker is a fun card game which is widely played by just about everyone. There are many different ways of playing poker but the most common is probably Texas Holdem. I find Texas Holdem to be a fun game but I'd much rather play 5 Card Draw.
Published Sunday, Mar. 15, 2020, 10:37 am
Join AFP's 100,000+ followers on Facebook
Purchase a subscription to AFP Subscribe to AFP podcasts on iTunes
News, press releases, letters to the editor: augustafreepress2@gmail.com
Advertising inquiries: freepress@ntelos.net
(© Lightfield Studios – stock.adobe.com)Every poker game in casinos around the globe uses poker chips in place of cash. Coins and paper money are not viable choices in a professional setting. And with an abundance of poker chips and sets available for sale, there’s no reason your private game shouldn’t include them as well.
If you’re thinking of learning how to play poker, there’s never been a better time to start! You now have myriad choices of where to play, how to learn etc. Similar to googling pokies near me searching for poker games will turn up countless results.
If you’re new to the game, you may not know yet precisely how the system works with poker chips instead of cash. Therefore, we’ll go through an explanation of the standard values to help you understand.
Why Poker Chips Are Better Than Cash
Poker chips eliminate many issues that occur from playing with cash. For example, they create a uniformity in the values and make playing the game more straightforward and more convenient. This is particularly true when there is a set “buy-in,” and all players that paid the fee to play, receive the exact amount and values in chips.
The chips come in different colors, each with an equivalent of money value. They are typically a composition of clay, plastic, metal, or acrylic. In most casinos, poker chips come in set values that you can use at any other table or card game.
It’s worth noting that while chips are considered the currency inside of a casino, outside, they hold no value whatsoever. Unless you want to count them as a souvenir from the casino you visited. However, most people will trade in all of their chips upon leaving the casino for their cash equivalent.
Chip Values
As mentioned before, poker chips come in unique values to color combinations. And this varies depending on the casino that you’re in. But don’t worry, it’s not something you need to memorize, on the chip itself, you will find its corresponding monetary value.
For example, here’s a typical set of poker chips with common monetary values:
- White – white chips commonly have the lowest value of between $.50 to $1
- Pink – these chips sometimes have the values of $2 to $2.50
- Red – many casinos use red to represent $5
- Blue – often blue will represent $10
- Yellow – usually these are worth $20 each
- Green – for instance, might be worth $25
- Black- commonly black is a high value such as $100
- Purple- For some reason, almost around the whole world, purple chips are worth $500 each.
- Orange and Grey – these chips often represent $1000 and $5000.
These numbers tend to vary depending on the casino you’re playing in. To date, there has never been a universally agreed-upon value for all chips. One thing that they always eliminate is the problems that come along with playing for cash.
Even those that love to play poker at home should invest in a nice set of poker chips. They have a way of setting the perfect atmosphere to get into the game.
Share this:
Related
Hot Reads: Today
- House passes CASH Act: Increases direct payments from $600 to $2K (8894)
- New round of SBA funding targets small businesses, but benefits all (3899)
- Update: Missing Staunton man located (3201)
- Augusta County Sheriff’s Office locates wanted Deerfield man (2304)
- Strasburg woman dies in single-vehicle crash in Shenandoah County (1999)
Hot Reads: This Week
Old Casino Chips Value
- House passes CASH Act: Increases direct payments from $600 to $2K (8894)
- Holiday greenery can spread boxwood blight to your landscape, according to Virginia Cooperative Extension experts (4315)
- New round of SBA funding targets small businesses, but benefits all (3899)
- Update: Missing Staunton man located (3201)
- Augusta County Sheriff’s Office locates wanted Deerfield man (2304)
Recent News
If you are setting up a poker home game and want to know what each chip is worth and how many to give to each person, you have come to the right place. I have been a poker tournament player for over 10 years and can give you
What are the poker chip values for home games?
- White or Gray – $1
- Red – $5
- Blue – $10
- Green – $25
- Black – $100
- Purple – $500
- Yellow – $1,000
- Pink – $5,000
- Orange- $10,000
While these are the traditional values assigned for poker chips, what denominations you use can be tailored for whatever type of game you happen to be playing. The rest of this article will cover everything you need to know about optimizing your poker home game so that your friends will think you are a pro.
What Values for Common Chip Sets?
The traditional chip values for each color were established by casinos to represent real money. In other words, a blue chip at a casino can be traded in for a $10 bill
Nowadays, this system doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for home games unless you happen to be playing a high stakes cash game
Most people either play cash games for small amounts of money, where the highest denomination is something like $5. Or, they play a tournament.
Setting Up Cash For Games
In cash games, your chips count as actual money and there is no prize pool. If you run out of chips you are out of the game unless you reload. This format is the easiest to organize and play, since you don’t have to worry about a tournament clock or rising blind levels.
Cash Game Chip Values
Poker Chip Value Chart
If you are using your poker chips to play a home cash game, I recommend just following the traditional rules. White is $1, red is $5, blue is $10, green is $25
If you want to play higher stakes, say $5/$10 or $10/$20, you will need black and possibly purple chips. Or, you can just convert the white chips to $100 and red to $500 if your set does not contain black and purple.
How Many Poker Chips Do We Need for Cash Games?
A good rule of thumbs is to figure that you need at least 50 chips for every person in the game
If you have 6 or more players, you will definitely want to invest in a 500 piece set, like this inexpensive one (Click to see Amazon Listing).
If you want to customize the denominations of an individual poker chipset, you will likely need to get a higher-end brand, like my absolute favorite chipset.
How Many Poker Chips per Person? What Do They Start With?
In cash games, poker players may buy in for as much as they want. If you want to set a minimum or a maximum, that is fine. A 20 big blind(bb) minimum and a 100bb maximum are common.
Here are the chip distributions for common stack buy-in sizes:
$1.00/$2.00 Blinds
$2.00/$5.00 Blinds
$5.00/$10.00 Blinds
$10.00/$25.00 Blinds
What If We Want to Play Smaller Stakes?
If you want to play a small friendly game, feel free to play as low as you want. For example, you could make chips worth the following:
- White – $0.10
- Red – $0.25
- Blue – $1.00
Here is a good distribution for playing .10/.25 blinds. For a friendly game, I recommend playing with 40 big blind stacks of $10 each:
$0.10/$0.25 Blinds
By choosing to play 40bb each, no one would be likely to lose more than $50 in a typical night. I included the 100bb distribution if you prefer deeper stacked play.
Tournament Setup & Starting Stack Distributions
Tournaments are actually a fairly recent invention that has grown immensely in popularity since Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker in 2003. Now, it’s the most common poker format played in home games.
The great thing about tournaments is that it’s easy to limit the amount you can lose in a session. If it’s a $10 buy-in that’s all you can lose for the events. Just throw your money in a hat and play.
Poker Chip Value Guide
Tournaments do, however, take a bit more organization and
- Setup and decide on the prizes
- Manage the rising blind levels
- “Color up” the chips as the blinds go up
Poker Tournament Chip Values
If you decide to play a poker tournament and want to be able to play more than 5 or 6 blind levels, then you will need at least 4 chip colors. Most chip sets now come with at least red, white, green, and black.
Here is a simple and flexible chip value system commonly used in live poker tournaments:
- Red – $25
- White – $100
- Green – $500
- Black – $1,000
- Pink – $5,000
This distribution will work perfectly in most events with less than 30 people.
If you get to the point where $5,000 or $10,000 chips are needed, you can just bring $25 chips back into play and change them to whatever is needed. Or, if you have a 5th color, usually either black or pink, you can designate them as $5,000 or $10,000 chips
How Many Poker Chips Are Needed for Tournaments?
Tournaments tend to require fewer chips per person since the chips are usually worth more each. Even so, a common 300 piece set will still only accommodate up to 6 players. It is definitely worth your while to have at least a 500 piece set for every 9 people that will be playing.
I did some research and found a really good inexpensive 500-piece set (Click for Amazon price). I would suggest getting one of these for every 9-person table you are hosting.
What If My Chip Set Only Comes with Three Colors?
Some of the cheaper chips sets come with three colors. Usually, you get white, red, and blue.
For tournaments, if you only three chip colors you will want to assign them as follows:
- Red – $25
- White – $100
- Blue- $500
If you have different colors, use the same values but just assign them to whatever color you want.
How Many Poker Chips per Person?
For most home game tournaments, a solid option is to have each player start with 3,000 chips using the following distribution:
- 8 Red $25 Chips
- 8 White $100 Chips
- 2 Green $500 Chips
- 1 Black $1,000 Chips
Old Poker Chips Value
This will have each player starting with 60 big blinds. I find this amount to be a good balance between having enough room to play without having the event take too long.
What If We Want to Play Deeper Stacked?
If you want to play a deeper stacked tournament and have enough chips to go around, I recommend starting with $10,000 chips each with the following distribution:
- 8 Red $25 Chips
- 8 White $100 Chips
- 8 Green $500 Chips
- 5 Black $1,000 Chips
What blind levels should we play?
Based on the recommended chip distributions, here is a solid blind level schedule:
Helpful hint: If you want a deeper stacked feel to the tournament but don’t have many chips, just play a standard 3,000 stack with longer blind levels. Instead of the usual 15 or 20-minute blind levels, you might play 30 or 45-minute levels.
How Long Should Blind Levels Be?
For most home games, I advocate never having blind levels higher than 20 minutes. 15 minutes is a really popular choice. Even 1 table events will still last a couple of hours using this speed.
If you want a fast event, go with
When Should I Color up the Chips?
Here is a good schedule for removing smaller chips and introducing a larger denomination:
What Is a Good Tournament Prize Schedule?
For friendly home poker tournament games, I recommend a fairly wide distribution of prizes. Therefore, I suggest paying out at least 1/3 of the field. Here is an example payout structure:
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, I have given you all the information you need to get set up for your poker home game. If I missed anything please be sure to let me know in the comments and I will get it added.
Also, if you need more help planning your poker event, be sure to check out my article on hosting the perfect poker night. And don’t forget to use high-quality playing cards, they’ll take your game to the next level. Thanks for stopping by!
Related Products
If you want to really add class to your home poker games, here are a few products that I recommend:
- Copag Playing Cards– My favorite premium brand of playing cards. Trust me on this, don’t use those cheap Bicycle cards anymore.
- Octagon Folding Table– For smaller games with 5 players or less.
- Oval Poker Table– For games with 6 or more players.
- Heavy Duty Folding Chairs– These will fit any size player up to 600 pounds. I come from a rather “large” family if you catch my drift. Make sure you have good solid chairs to prop them up.
Casino Chip Value Guide
Related Questions
What is a short stack in poker? A short stack if poker is usually any chip stack that is 40 big blinds or lower. 50 to 100 big blinds is a
Poker Chip Value Chart
What poker table shape is best for home games? The best poker table shape for a home game varies based on how many players you are hosting. You will also need to factor in the size of the space you are fitting the table into. A safe bet is to buy an oval-shaped table. They usually seat at least 6 players comfortably and come in a variety of sizes.
How many buy-ins should I take to a poker game? When going to a casino or home game to play poker, it is usually a good idea to take at least 3 buy-ins for the stake you intend to play. However, it is a personal decision as to how many buy-ins you can stand to lose in one session. Limiting the amount of money you can lose in a poker session is known as setting a “stop-loss.”