In a cash game, chips are money. A red chip worth $1 at 8 p.m. is worth $1 at midnight, and every one of them has to be counted at the end. Picking the right values makes betting easy during the game and counting easy after it.
Three rules for chip values
- The smallest chip equals the small blind, or divides into it evenly. If the small blind is $0.25, you need a $0.25 chip.
- Each colour is worth a simple multiple of the one below it, such as 4 or 5 times. Values like $1, $5 and $25 are easy to count; $1, $3 and $7 are not.
- Three or four colours are enough. More colours means more mistakes when stacks are counted at 1 a.m.
Which colour is worth what
There’s no law of chip colours, but many US casinos use white or blue for $1, red for $5, green for $25 and black for $100. Players who have been to a casino will expect that order, so it’s a sensible default: lightest colours for the smallest values, darkest for the largest.
Home games at lower stakes often shift everything down, so white becomes $0.25 and red becomes $1. Whatever you choose, write the values on a card and leave it on the table all night.
Starting stacks by stakes
These stacks give every player a full buy-in of about 100 big blinds, with enough small chips to post blinds and make small bets. Each adds up exactly to the buy-in.
| Colour | Value | Chips | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | $0.05 | 20 | $1 |
| Red | $0.25 | 16 | $4 |
| Green | $1 | 5 | $5 |
| Starting stack | 41 | $10 |
| Colour | Value | Chips | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | $0.25 | 20 | $5 |
| Red | $1 | 15 | $15 |
| Green | $5 | 6 | $30 |
| Starting stack | 41 | $50 |
| Colour | Value | Chips | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | $0.50 | 10 | $5 |
| Red | $1 | 20 | $20 |
| Green | $5 | 15 | $75 |
| Starting stack | 45 | $100 |
| Colour | Value | Chips | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | $1 | 20 | $20 |
| Red | $5 | 16 | $80 |
| Green | $25 | 4 | $100 |
| Starting stack | 40 | $200 |
Want a bigger or smaller buy-in at the same blinds? Change the number of the largest chip and leave the small ones alone, so every player can still post blinds and make change.
How many chips you need
Multiply players by chips per starting stack, then add about half again for rebuys. Eight players at $0.50/$1 with the 45-chip stack above use 360 chips to start, so a 500-chip set leaves 140 spare. If your group rebuys a lot, hand out rebuys mostly in the largest colour to make the spares last.
Mistakes to avoid
- Chips too small to post the blinds, leaving players making change all night.
- Too many high-value chips in the starting stack. Nobody wants to bet a $25 chip on a $3 pot.
- Values that change mid-game, like turning the white chip into $0.50 at 11 p.m. In a cash game, a chip’s value is fixed.
- Unwritten values. If it isn’t written down, someone will count it wrong, and the count won’t match.
Once the values are set, the rest of the night is about recording who bought what. Our host’s guide covers everything else to plan.
Settle your own tableEnter buy-ins and cash-outs and get the fewest payments, in any currency.
Open the calculatorQuestions
- How many chips should each player start with?
- Around 40 to 50 chips is plenty for a cash game: enough small chips to post blinds and make small bets, and a few larger ones so the stack stays manageable.
- What are standard poker chip colour values?
- Many US casinos use white or blue for $1, red for $5, green for $25 and black for $100. Home games can use any values, as long as they are agreed and written down.
- Is a 500-chip set enough?
- For six to eight players at one table, usually yes. Eight starting stacks of 45 chips use 360, leaving 140 for rebuys. For bigger games or many rebuys, get more chips or hand out rebuys in larger denominations.
- Do cash game chips work differently from tournament chips?
- Yes. In a cash game every chip is worth real money for the whole night. In a tournament, chips only measure your share of the prize pool, and their values often bear no relation to the entry fee.
Hosting soon? Start a game in Tally Poker and let each player approve their own buy-ins.
