Chip denominations and starting stacks
How many chips you need, what each colour could be worth, and ready-made stacks for cash games and tournaments.
On this page
A chip is worth whatever your group decides. What matters is that everyone agrees before the first hand and that there are enough small chips for the blinds and for making change.
Common colours
There is no official standard, but many sets and card rooms follow roughly this pattern. If your set is different, pick values and say them out loud before the first hand.
| Colour | Typical value |
|---|---|
| White | 1 |
| Red | 5 |
| Green | 25 |
| Black | 100 |
| Purple | 500 |
| Yellow | 1,000 |
Cash-game stacks
Aim for about 40 chips per buy-in, with plenty of the chip used for the small blind. In Poker Night, set the buy-in size to the total below.
| Blinds | Buy-in size | Stack per buy-in | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 / 2 | 200 | 20 × 1, 16 × 5, 4 × 25 | 40 |
| 5 / 10 | 1,000 | 20 × 5, 16 × 25, 5 × 100 | 41 |
| 25 / 50 | 5,000 | 20 × 25, 25 × 100, 4 × 500 | 49 |
Tournament stacks
In a tournament everyone starts with the same stack. These match the blind structure templates in this guide.
| Night | Starting stack | Per player | For 8 players |
|---|---|---|---|
| About 2 hours | 5,000 | 8 × 25, 8 × 100, 4 × 500, 2 × 1,000 | 176 chips |
| About 3 hours | 10,000 | 8 × 25, 8 × 100, 6 × 500, 6 × 1,000 | 224 chips |
| About 4 hours | 15,000 | 8 × 25, 8 × 100, 8 × 500, 10 × 1,000 | 272 chips |
How many chips to buy
| Set size | Comfortable for |
|---|---|
| 300 chips | Up to 6 players, with some spare for rebuys |
| 500 chips | 8 to 10 players |
| 1,000 chips | Two tables, or big tournament stacks |
Check the breakdown of a set before buying: many 500-piece sets have too few small chips.
Heavier clay or ceramic chips stack better and are easier to count at the end.
Count the whole set once when it’s new and note the numbers inside the case. It makes the end-of-night count much easier.
Read next
How Poker Night settles up
From buy-ins to “who pays whom”: chip value, how the net is calculated, what the balance check means, Direct vs Banker mode, charges, paying each other, and how to read the summary you share.
Home game settlementBlind structures for 2, 3 and 4-hour tournaments
Three worked-out templates with starting stacks, level times, breaks and colour-ups, plus how to adjust them on the night.
Blind structure & tournament clockCash game night or tournament night?
The two ways to run a poker night, side by side — and how to pick the right one for your group.
Poker etiquette at a home game
String bets, acting out of turn, slow-rolling and the other habits that make a game fun — or ruin it.