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Home game

Poker chips have no fixed value: at a home game, the table decides what each color counts for, and the usual scheme is white 1, red 5, green 25 and black 100. Give every player the same chips, set the blinds so each stack is about 100 big blinds, and keep the rest in the case.

Here chips are counted, not paid for: in a game without money they measure decisions and are worth nothing when the night ends. Below: the colors, a chip calculator for your own set and table, and a ready-made chart for four to eight players.

First lesson · 6 min The cards Split your set Chips per player Questions

Poker chip colors and values

There's no official scale. This is the one most home sets follow, and the one the calculator below uses.

  • 1 White
  • 5 Red
  • 10 Blue In some sets
  • 25 Green
  • 100 Black
  • 500 Purple In larger sets

Sets vary, and that's fine. What matters is that the whole table agrees on the values before the first hand, and that each color is a round multiple of the one below it, so making change is easy: five whites make a red, five reds a green, and four greens a black.

Chip calculator

Split your set

Enter how many players you have and how many chips of each color are in your set. It works out each player's chips, the starting blinds and what stays in the case.

Each of the 6 players gets

  • White × 1 16
  • Red × 5 16
  • Green × 25 8
  • Black × 100 8
Stack
1,096
Blinds
5/10
Big blinds
109

Left in the case: 4 white, 4 red, 2 green, 2 black.

The three rules it follows

  1. Every player gets the same chips. Whatever doesn't divide evenly stays in the case, for making change.

  2. A color worth less than a tenth of the small blind, or more than twenty big blinds, stays in the case too: at those blinds nobody needs it.

  3. The blinds are the level that leaves each stack closest to 100 big blinds, and the small blind can always be posted with the chips dealt.

How many chips per player

The same rules, worked out for four to eight players with the two most common set sizes.

300-chip set (100 white, 100 red, 50 green, 50 black)

Pl. White Red Green Black Blinds Stack
4 25 25 12 12 10/20 1,650 82 BB
5 20 20 10 10 5/10 1,370 137 BB
6 16 16 8 8 5/10 1,096 109 BB
7 14 14 7 7 5/10 959 95 BB
8 12 12 6 · 1/2 222 111 BB

500-chip set (150 white, 150 red, 100 green, 100 black)

Pl. White Red Green Black Blinds Stack
4 · 37 25 25 25/50 3,310 66 BB
5 30 30 20 20 10/20 2,680 134 BB
6 25 25 16 16 10/20 2,150 107 BB
7 21 21 14 14 10/20 1,876 93 BB
8 18 18 12 12 10/20 1,608 80 BB

A dot means that color stays in the case at those blinds. BB: big blinds, the stack measured in big blinds.

Why 100 big blinds

The big blind is the unit a game is measured in. With 100 of them, a player can lose a few hands and still play normally; with 20, someone ends up all-in every few hands; with 300, the night runs long and the blinds barely matter. A hundred is the usual middle ground.

Who posts the blinds

The two players to the left of the button put chips in before the cards are dealt: the small blind, usually half the big blind, and the big blind. The button moves one seat to the left after every hand, so everyone posts the same over an orbit.

The small blind and the big blind, in depth

How many chips you need

About fifty per player: a 300-chip set comfortably covers six players, and a 500-chip set eight to ten. With fewer chips per player the game still works: the blinds just start lower, and the calculator picks them for you.

No money involved

Nothing on this page has a price. A home game without money plays exactly the same: the chips show who's ahead and go back in the case at the end, worth nothing. That's how Pokeo works too: its chips can't be bought or exchanged for anything.

How to host a poker night

Common questions

What are the values of poker chips?

There's no official value. The usual home scheme is white 1, red 5, green 25 and black 100, with blue 10 and purple 500 in some sets. Any scale works as long as the whole table agrees on it before the first hand.

What color poker chip is worth the most?

Of the four common colors, black, at 100. Larger sets add purple at 500. White is the lowest, at 1. The order matters less than agreeing on it: any color can be worth anything if the table says so.

How many poker chips does each player get?

With a 300-chip set and six players: 16 white, 16 red, 8 green and 8 black each, a stack of 1,096 with blinds of 5 and 10, just under 110 big blinds. For other tables, use the calculator or the chart on this page.

What should the blinds be in a home game?

Whatever leaves each player about 100 big blinds. With stacks worth around 1,000, blinds of 5 and 10; with stacks of around 200, blinds of 1 and 2. The small blind is usually half the big blind.

Do poker chips have to be worth money?

No. A game without money plays the same: the chips track who's ahead and are worth nothing when it's over. Plenty of people learn that way, and it's how Pokeo works: its chips can't be bought or exchanged.

Keep going

For the night Poker blind timer A blind structure that fits your chips, on a big clock for the middle of the table. Dealing How to deal poker Shuffle, cut, burn and turn, and what to do when a card flips over. At home Hosting a poker night What you need, how to deal and the three arguments that always come up.

First the cards, then the chips

The course starts with the cards, and right after, in “Chips and the pot”, you'll see what chips measure in a hand where none of them is worth anything. The button and the blinds at a home game come in path 3, “Playing with friends”.

First lesson · 6 min The cards Every card has two facts: rank and suit. You'll learn to read both, and which one says which card is worth more. Play now

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