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Learn how to determine the number of chips you will need for you poker game, as well as the breakdown of denominations. Whether for a tournament or cash game, a.

A

Ace-High: A five-card hand containing an ace but no pair; beats a king-high, but loses to any pair or above.

Aces Full: A full house with aces over any pair.

Aces Up: Two pairs, one of which is aces.

Action: The betting.

Active Player: A player still in the pot.

Add-On: The opportunity to buy additional chips in some tournaments.

Advertise: To make a bluff with the deliberate intention of being exposed as a loose player.

All-In: When a player bets all his or her remaining chips.

An Ace Working: An ace in hand.

Angle: Any technically legal but ethically dubious way to increase your expectation at a game; a trick.

Ante: A token bet required before the start of a hand.

B

Baby: A small card.

Back Door Flush (or Straight): When the last two cards make a player's hand, even though he or she played on the flop for some other reason.

Back Into A Hand: To draw into a hand different from the one you were originally trying to make.

Bad Beat: When a strong hand is beaten by a lucky hand; a longshot win.

Bankroll: The amount of money you have available to wager.

Behind: You're behind if you don't have the best hand before the last cards have been dealt.

Belly Buster: A draw to fill an inside straight; a gut shot.

Bet: To voluntarily put money or chips into the pot.

Bet For Value: Betting in order to raise the amount in the pot, not to make your opponents fold.

Bet Into: To bet before a stronger hand, or a player who bet strongly on the previous round.

Bet The Pot: To bet the total value of the pot.

Betting Black: Betting $100 amounts (black is a common color for $100 chips).

Betting Green: Betting $25 amounts (green is a common color for $25 chips).

Texas Holdem Starting Chip Amounts Chart

Betting Red: Betting $5 amounts (red is a common color for $5 chips).

Betting White: Betting $1 amounts (white is a common color for $1 chips).

Betting Interval: The period during which each active player has the right to check, bet or raise; the round of betting. It ends when the last bet or raise has been called by all players still in the hand.

Bicycle: The lowest possible hand in lowball: Ace-2-3-4-5. Also called a wheel.

Big Bet Poker: Another term for pot-limit and no-limit poker.

Big Blind: The forced bet in second position before any cards are dealt. Usually this is a Live Blind, which means that the player in this position can raise if no one else has before the cards are dealt.

Big Slick: The Ace-King card combination.

Black Leg: Archaic term for crooked card-sharp.

Blank: A card that is of no value to a player's hand.

Blind: A forced bet that one or more players to the dealer's left must make before any cards are dealt to start the action on the first round of betting.

Blind Raise: When a player raises without first looking at his or her cards.

Blow Back: To lose back one's profits.

Bluff: To bet or raise with a hand that is unlikely to be the best hand.

Board: In flop games, the five cards that are turned face up in the center of the table; in Seven-Card Stud, the four cards that are dealt face up to each player.

Boat: Another name for full house.

Bottom Pair: When you use the lowest card on the flop to make a pair.

Bounty: A small amount of cash awarded to a player when he knocks out another player in some tournaments.

Brick: A blank.

Bring-In: The forced bet made on the first betting round by the player dealt the lowest card showing in Seven-Card Stud and the highest card showing in razz.

Bring It In: To start the betting on the first round.

Broadway: An ace high straight.

Brush: A cardroom employee responsible for managing the seating list.

Buck: In all flop games, a small disk used to indicate the dealer, or used to signify the player in the last position if a house dealer is used; a button.

Bug: A Joker that can be used to make straights and flushes and can be paired with Aces, but not with any other cards.

Bullet: An Ace.

Bullets: A pair of Aces.

Bump: To raise.

Buried Pair: In stud games, a pair in the hole.

Burn: To deal off the top card, face down, before dealing out the cards (to prevent cheating); or to set aside a card which has been inadvertently revealed.

Bust: A worthless hand that has failed to improve as the player hoped; a busted hand.

Bust a Player: To deprive a player of all his chips; in tournament play, to eliminate a player.

Bust Out: To be eliminated from a tournament by losing all your chips.

Busted: Broke, tapped.

Busted Flush: A hand with only four of five cards in a flush.

Button: In all flop games, a small disk used to signify the player in the last position if a house dealer is used; a buck.

Buy-In: The minimum amount of money required to sit down in a particular game.

C

Cage: The cashier, where you exchange cash for chips and vice versa.

Call: To match, rather than raise, the previous bet.

Calling Station: A player who invariably calls, and is therefore hard to bluff out.

Cap: In limit games, the limit on the number of raises in a round of betting.

Card Room: The room or area in a casino where poker is played.

Case Card: The last card of a denomination or suit, when the rest have already been seen.

Case Chips: A player's last chips.

Cash In: To leave the game and convert one's chips to cash, either with the dealer or at the cage.

Cash Out: To leave a game and cash in one's chips at the cage.

Caught Speeding: Slang for caught bluffing.

Chase: To stay in against an apparently stronger hand, usually in the hope of filling a straight or flush.

Check: To abstain from betting, reserving the right to call or raise if another player bets. Also another name for a chip.

Check-Raise: To check and raise in a betting round.

Check In The Dark: To check before looking at the card or cards just dealt.

Cheese: A very substandard starting hand.

Chip Race: As the limits increase in tournaments, lower denomination chips are taken out of circulation. Rather than rounding odd chips up or down for each player, the players are dealt a card for each odd chip. The player with the highest card is given all the odd chips, which are then colored up.

Chop: To return the blinds to the players who posted them and move on to the next hand, if nobody calls the blind.

Cinch Hand: An unbeatable hand; nuts.

Closed Hand: A hand in which all cards are concealed from the opponents.

Closed Poker: Games in which all of the cards are dealt face down.

Coffee Housing: An attempt to mislead opponents about one's hand by means of devious speech or behavior.

Cold: If a player says his cards have 'gone cold,' he's having a bad streak.

Cold Call: To call a raise without having already put the initial bet into the pot.

Cold Deck: A fixed deck.

Color Up: To exchange one's chips for chips of higher value, usually to reduce the number of chips one has on the table.

Come: Playing a worthless hand in the hope of improving it is called 'playing on the come.'

Come Hand: A hand that has not yet been made, requiring one or more cards from the draw to complete it.

Come Over The Top: To raise or reraise an opponent's bet.

Commit Fully: To put in as many chips as necessary to play your hand to the river, even if they're your case chips.

Community Cards: In flop games and similar games, the cards dealt face up in the center of the table that are shared by all active players.

Connectors: Consecutive cards which might make a straight.

Counterfeit: In Omaha Hi/Lo, when the board pairs your key low card, demoting the value of your hand.

Cowboy: Slang for a King.

Crack: To beat a powerful hand.

Crying Call: A call with a hand you think has a small chance of winning.

Cut It Up: To split the pot after a tie.

Cut The Pot: To take a percentage of each pot for the casino running the game.

It is sometimes difficult to play and run a tournament. If you have some of the right products, it makes it a lot easier. This will allow you to focus more on playing. The keys to a successful tournament: being well organized, having good structure and using Quality Poker Supplies.

Tournament Supplies

The poker supplies that are used will have a big impact on the overall tournament experience. The use of quality supplies will make for “casino” like feel to your tournament.

Poker Chips

How many poker chips will you need to successfully host a tournament? Generally, you will want about 50-75 chips for each player. If you want to have a 20 person tournament you will need approximately 1000-1500 chips of the right color mix. You will need only four or five chip colors for tournaments of 40 players or less. You will need more of the lower denominations than you do of the higher denominations.

Here are the most common chip color denominations for home use chips:

• White - $1
• Red - $5
• Blue - $10
• Green - $25
• Black - $100
• Purple - $500
• Yellow - $1,000
• Pink - $5,000
• Orange - $10,000

Poker Chip Trays

Poker chip trays are extremely useful for handling and storing poker chips. At the beginning of the tournament they can be use to hold each players chips. This makes it easy to hand out the chips and assures that they are getting the right amount of chips. Chip trays also are helpful for carrying chips when a player has to move to another table.

Poker Tables

You will need to have enough seating for everyone. What you will need for tables will depend upon how many will be in your tournament. There is a wide variety and quality of tables that can be used. You need to make sure everyone has enough room. You may need to add an extra table. If you would like a quality table or multiple tables and it doesn't fit into your budget. You may want to learn how to build a poker table. This will save a significant amount of money.

Tournament Manager/Software

Using a tournament manager or tournament software helps you focus on playing and not as much on running the tournament. The software will make the tournament have that true casino tournament feel. Using this program will help you to just focus on the game and not worry about all of the details. The software does many things to assist you. Its main function will be to act as the tournament clock and count down the rounds and increase the blinds. The software will produce a random seating chart, so everyone knows where to sit. If you do have multiple tables it will move players as needed and tear down tables. Also it will keep track of who has paid and determine the prize payouts. All of these things are customizable to fit the needs of your tournament. WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Other Tournament Accessories

There are some other things you may want to use in your tournament. Dealer buttons will keep track of who is dealing and where the blinds are. Use a good deck of playing cards. Make sure none of them are bent, torn or marked. It is always a good idea to have a few back up decks. Using 2 decks of playing cards can help speed up play. While one hand is going on the person to deal next can be shuffling the other deck. A playing card shuffler can also be used to help speed up the play or help those people who have never quite mastered the skill of card shuffling. If your tournament changes locations each time, try using a poker chip carrier case for transporting your chips.

Tournament Structure

Structure is the most important ingredient to a successful tournament. This includes how much to buy-in for, how many dollars in chips players start with, what the blinds start at and how much and fast should the rounds increase, how many places pay out, how much each place receives. What type of tournament are you going to play; limit, pot limit or no limit and whether you allow rebuys and/or add-on?

Buy-In Amount

Buy-in amount are always set by the comfort level of the people playing in the tournament.

Starting Chip Amount

How many dollars in chips should the players start with? Whether you want players to start with $100, $200, $1000, $5000, $10,000, it doesn’t really matter. This may depend on the quantity and color of chips that you have and the number of people are playing. Depending on your buy-in amount, you could have you starting chip amount the same as the buy-in.

Blinds

The blinds should start with the big blind being about 1% of the players starting chip amount. For example, if everyone starts with $5000 in chips than the big blind would start at $50 and the small blind $25.

Progression of Blinds

The one thing that will eventually make a tournament end is the blinds. Blinds continue to increase as the tournament progresses forcing people to play. The blinds should increase at an interval no bigger than double of the previous round.

Length of Rounds

How fast should the blinds increase? That depends upon the total number of players and the number of players per table. The more players the longer the rounds should be. A single table 6 person tournament could have 10-12 minute rounds, while a multi table 18-30 person tournament could have 20-30 minute rounds.

Generally speaking, the longer the rounds and the slower the blinds increase, the longer the tournament will last; this will reward skill. The shorter the rounds and the faster the blinds increase, the shorter the tournament will take; this will reward luck. You will want to find the right balance for your tournament.

A tournament will usually end during a round when the big blind reaches 5-10% of the total chip count. For example, a 20 person tournament with each person starting with $5000 will have a total chip count of $100,000. The tournament should end when the big blind is between $5000 and $10,000.

A 25 person tournament will usually last 3-4 hours.

Type of Tournament

A tournament where once you lose all your chips and you are eliminated is called a ‘freeze out’. An option that you can add to your tournament would be to allow rebuys and add-ons. A rebuy allows a person to buy back into the tournament if the get knocked out. An add-on is an option to purchase more chips. Rebuys usually take place during the first round, but can be extended to the second or third round. An add-on is usually bought at the end of the rebuy round(s). Rebuys and add-ons are normally the same cost as the tournament buy-in amount and get you the starting chip amount.

Prize Payouts

You will need to determine how many places pay out and how much each place receives. This once again is total up to you. You could have winner take all or you could spread the wealth to several spots. If you have 10 players, pay out the top 3 spots and for every 6 more players add another pay out spot. When paying multiple places, first place should normally receive 40%-50% of total prize pool. Very large tournaments (100+) generally pay the top 10%, with first place receiving 25-30% of the prize pool.

Tournament Organization

Organization is how the tournament is run. This includes things like how many chips people get, where they sit, how many at a table, timing the rounds, coloring up of chips,. If you are have a larger tournament with multiple tables then there is the moving of players and the closing of tables.

Starting Chips

When starting the tournament, make sure that each player has enough chips. Have at least 20 chips of smallest denomination. For example, when starting with $5000, your blinds start at $25-$50; have at least 20 green $25 chips. The reason for this is that a player won’t run out of the small denomination chips. A good starting amount could be 20 green ($500), 20 black ($2000) and 5 purple ($2500).

Seat Assignment

You will need to randomly assign seating to all players. Have each player draw for their seat assignment. Don’t allow players to pick their seats. Some players may want to sit on one side or the other of another player to get an advantage. You will also need to determine how many sit at each table. Give everyone enough room, don’t crowd them in. Add an extra table if you need too. Most large poker tables seat 8–10 players comfortably.

Multiple Tables

When playing with multiple tables, as players get knocked out, you will need to move players to balance the tables. As more players get knocked out you will need to close a table by moving all players from that table to other tables, until you eventually get to the final table

Texas Holdem Chip Distribution

Tournament Clock

You will need to keep track of the timing of each round. Using some sort of a timer works well as the tournament clock.

Round Information

Have a “Round Chart” that shows how much the blinds will be each round and how many minutes the rounds last for. This will help to eliminate any confusion.

Poker Chip Starting Amount

Chip Coloring Up

At certain points in the tournament you will want to color up chips. This will help reduce the amount of chips players have sitting in front of them. Coloring up is the exchanging of lower denomination chips for higher denomination chips. There will come a time when a color is no longer needed. For example, if you have green $25 chips in play and the blinds have now become $100 / $200, you can colors all the green chips up to black $100 chips. When you do color up some players will be left with extra chips. They may have 7 green chips, leaving them with an extra 3 green chips after coloring up.

You can handle these extra chips in one of three ways, chip elimination, chip rounding up, or chip race off.:

Texas Holdem Chip Count

• Chip Elimination - the removal of all extra chips.
• Chip Rounding Up - turning of any extra chips into the next chip denomination.
• Chip Race Off - randomly determining which players get their extra chips colored up. Any player with extra chips is eligible to win a colored up chip. All of the extra chips are placed in front of the player. A player will receive one card for each chip that they have. The high card wins the chip.