It used to be, in poker, cash games were king. You would go to your local neighborhood or family game and participate in some of the craziest variations of ‘poker’ imagined. There they would play anything from ‘Jacks or Better’ to ‘No Peekie.’ Sometimes, I miss that madness. Now, ever since Chris Moneymaker took a couple of dollars and turned it into 2.5 million dollars at the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP), tournament poker is THE game of choice. Instead of trying to tooth and claw at every pot, sometimes going on wild winning and losing streaks, tournament poker allows for a nominal buy in with limited exposure and hours of play for a possibly larger overall prize.

As a result, here are some logical questions that we frequently get asked here at Nevada Jacks:

• How can I make my home game set up similar to that?
• What blind structure should I use?
• How many poker chips do I need for a tournament?

We are going to answer all those questions by giving you what we have used successfully for many years. This format is easy to use and is very similar to the classic WSOP tournament structure. This tournament structure can be easily adjusted to account for addition players and desired tournament durations. With just a one 500pc Nevada Jack Tournament Poker chip set, you will be able to run a single table tournament with rebuys and add ons. Yet, the same set is flexible enough to accommodate a 2 table (20 person) freezeout.

Here is how it works!

The Nevada Jack Tournament Poker Chip Set

Whether you already have one or need to purchase one, the 500pc Nevada Jack Tournament Set contains the following chips and quantities.

160 – $25 Green Nevada Jack Skull
160- $100 Black Nevada Jack Skull
100 – $500 Yellow Nevada Jack Skull
50 – $1000 Grey Nevada Jacks Skull
30 – $5000 Purple Nevada Jack Skull

The Buy In and Starting Chips

For your chosen buy in or just for your entertainment each player gets the following chips to start with.

EACH PLAYER GETS 23 CHIPS

8 – $25 Green Nevada Jack Skull
8 – $100 Black Nevada Jack Skull
4 – $500 Yellow Nevada Jack Skull
2 – $1000 Grey Nevada Jacks Skull
1 – $5000 Purple Nevada Jack Skull

Note: For a 10 player table, this structure will only use 230 of the 500 pc Nevada Jack tournament poker chip set. The remaining chips can be used for coloring up during breaks or allowing for rebuys and add ons. This configuration will only use 460 chips to start a 20 player tournament. There are not enough chips to allow for rebuys or add ons. The remaining chips can be used to color up during breaks.


The Blind Structure

Each blind level will last 20 minutes. You can tweak the blind time to make the tournament finish quicker (turbo) or last longer by subtracting or adding to this time. You may also delete levels to speed play. It is recommended that you schedule a break after every 3 or 4 levels. You can also get more action and faster play by adding an ante. Generally, antes should be 10% of the big blind staring around the level where the big blind is 1000. This a good starting point. Give it a try and personalize it to meet your own needs. There is plenty of flexibility.

SMALL BLIND / BIG BLIND

25 / 50
50 / 100
75 / 150
100 / 200
150 / 300
200 / 400
300 / 600
400 / 800
500 / 1000
600 / 1200
800 / 1600
1000 / 2000
1500 / 3000
2000 / 4000
3000 / 6000
4000 / 8000
6000 / 12000
8000 / 16000
10000 / 20000
15000 / 30000

The Prize Structure

A typical pay out structure for you prize pool is laid out as follows:

1st Place – 50% of the prize pool
2nd Place – 30% of the prize pool
3rd Place – 20% of the prize pool

You can always adjust your pay out to be more generous to more players or tighten it up all the way to WINNER TAKES ALL!

Larger Poker Tournaments

If you require more buy ins, rebuys or add ons, you may need to purchase more than one Nevada Jack tournament poker set. This may also require you to adjust the blind times, blind levels, breaks and / or ante to allow for your allotted timeframe.