Free tool
How many poker chips do you need?
We make a lot of chips and the most common mistake people make is buying too many chips. Tell the calculator your buy-in, your players and your chips; the output is each player's stack and shows what's left in the bank.
- Buy-in and players.We'll suggest blinds that put everyone about 100 big blinds deep. Turn Auto off if your game runs different stakes.
- The chips you actually own.Pick a set size or type in your colors and counts. Already have numbers printed on them? Switch to Denominations on chips.
- Deal.Identical stacks that add up to the buy-in exactly, never more of a color than the set holds, and a bank total for rebuys and change.
What usually goes wrong at the table
Nobody agreed on the values
Unmarked chips mean somebody assigns values at the door, and that somebody usually invents a six-step ladder. Fewer denominations, further apart. That's the whole trick.
All the big chips, none of the small ones
We see it in orders every week: a hundred blacks and twenty-five whites. The small chips do all the work in a cash game. Buy those first.
A blind with no chip to post it
Set the stakes before the chip values and you can end up with 25¢ blinds and no chip under a dollar. Every hand starts with making change.
The bank is empty after one rebuy
A 300-chip set can seat eight players on paper and still have nothing left when the first person busts. Keep a quarter of the set in the box.
Cheat sheet
Chip colors and what they're worth
Casinos settled this a long time ago and home games mostly follow along. If your set is unmarked, this is the convention to borrow, or let the calculator assign values for you.
| Color | Value | Where you'll see it |
|---|---|---|
| White | $1 | Everywhere, casino or kitchen table |
| Red | $5 | The chip people picture when they hear "poker chip" |
| Blue | $10 | Home games only; casinos skip it |
| Green | $25 | Standard on every casino floor |
| Black | $100 | The big chip in most home sets |
| Purple | $500 | Bigger games and tournaments |
| Yellow | $1,000 | Usually the T1000 in a tournament set |
We print every one of these colors, with the value on the face or without it. See the denominated sets.
Buying a set
Set size by player count
Our floor is 30 chips per seat; 50 or more plays better if the night runs long or people rebuy. Whatever size you land on, plan to keep about a quarter of it in the bank.
| Players | Gets you by | What we'd buy |
|---|---|---|
| 2–4 | 200 | 300 chips |
| 4–6 | 300 | 500 chips |
| 6–8 | 500 | 750 chips |
| 8–10 | 750 | 1,000 chips |
Three hundred chips is a comfortable four-to-six-player set. Five hundred covers eight with rebuys and stretches to ten if nobody goes on a heater.
Denominations
Skip $10 and $50
Each chip should be worth four or five of the one below it: $1, $5, $25, $100, $500. Casinos leave out $10 and $50 on purpose. Two values that close together mean someone is breaking a chip on nearly every bet, and the pot takes twice as long to count.
Three colors run most home cash games. Four is plenty. The calculator uses this ladder whenever it assigns values to an unmarked set, and it gives the smallest chip to whichever color you have the most of.
Which game
Cash game or tournament?
In a cash game every chip is money. People buy in for what they like, rebuy when they bust, and cash out when they leave. The stack you deal is the buy-in, and this calculator is built for exactly that.
In a tournament the chips are points. Everyone starts with the same stack, the blinds go up on a clock, and you play until one person has them all. The same physical set works fine for both; for a tournament, use T25 / T100 / T500 / T1000 values, start about 100 big blinds deep, and build the clock with our tournament blinds calculator.
Under the hood
What the calculator is actually doing
It's an exact solve, not a percentage split. Every stack is identical, every stack adds up to the buy-in, and no color is dealt beyond what your set holds (total count divided by players). Among the stacks that work, it leans toward plenty of small chips for the blinds and only as many big chips as the buy-in needs.
Unmarked chips get values assigned along the casino ladder. Marked chips get checked: if your values and counts can't produce the buy-in for that many players, it says so instead of guessing. Share copies a link to your exact setup; text it to the group and the chip values are settled before anyone shows up.
Questions we get about chip counts
How many poker chips do I need per person?
Thirty is the floor. Fifty is comfortable. If the game runs late or people rebuy, plan on 75 to 100 each. In set sizes: 300 chips seats four to six, 500 seats six to eight with room for rebuys.
What are the standard poker chip colors and values?
White $1, red $5, green $25, black $100, purple $500. That's the casino convention. Blue is a $10 chip in most home sets but doesn't exist on a casino floor, and yellow usually plays as T1000 in tournament sets.
How should I set up chips for a $20 buy-in?
Ten- and twenty-cent blinds put everyone 100 big blinds deep. Three or four colors on a 4×/5× ladder (10¢, 50¢, $1, $5) cover it. Put $20 and your player count into the calculator with whatever set you own and it deals the stacks for you.
Why do chip values jump by 4× or 5×?
Because $5 next to $10 means someone is making change on every other bet. Values that multiply by four or five, like $1, $5, $25, $100, keep the pot easy to read and the game moving. It's the same reason casinos don't stock $10 or $50 chips.
Should I buy a 300-chip set or a 500-chip set?
Three hundred is enough for six players in a normal cash game. If you host seven or more, or you want rebuys without emptying the bank, get five hundred. Our poker chip sets come in both sizes with the value printed on every chip.
Does the same set work for a tournament?
Yes. The chips don't care. In a tournament they're points instead of money, so use T25 / T100 / T500 / T1000 values, start everyone with the same stack, and put the blinds on a clock. Our tournament blinds calculator builds the schedule and tells you how many of each chip to deal.
Ready to stock the table?
Build a ready-to-play set with denominations printed on every chip, design your own from scratch, or plan a tournament next.
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