Poker Blind Structure Generator

Running a home tournament? Enter how many are playing, what's in your chip set and how long you have. You get the starting stacks, every blind level with its start time, and when to color up, paced to finish on time. Free, no signup, and it prints.

Game type

Players

8 players

Your chip set

ColorWorthHow many
White
Red
Blue
Green
Black

Set a count to 0 to leave a color out.

Give each player

White10 × 110
Red4 × 520
Blue7 × 1070
Green2 × 2550

150 in chips, 23 chips each

Left in the box: 70 white, 118 red, 44 blue, 34 green, 50 black. Keep them for making change and coloring up.

Blind structure

15-minute levels. It should finish around level 12, about 3:00 in.

LevelStartsBlindsNotes
10:001/2
20:152/4
30:303/6
40:454/8
51:005/10
61:156/12
71:308/16
81:4510/20Color up the white chips
92:0015/30
102:1520/40
112:3025/50
122:4530/60Expected finish
133:0040/80
143:1550/100

Example: a 3-hour tournament for 8 players

With a 500 chips set, everyone starts with a stack worth 150 in 23 chips, and the levels run 15 minutes each:

Blind levels for a 3-hour home tournament with 8 players
LevelStartsBlindsNote
10:001/2
20:152/4
30:303/6
40:454/8
51:005/10
61:156/12
71:308/16
81:4510/20Color up the white chips
92:0015/30
102:1520/40
112:3025/50
122:4530/60About when it ends

How the structure is built

The blinds start at the smallest chip in play and climb the levels people are used to seeing, never more than doubling in one step. The finish is where the big blind reaches about a twentieth of all the chips in play, because by then the last two players have about 10 big blinds each and every hand is close to all-in. The generator counts the levels to get there and divides your time by them, so a longer evening gets longer levels, not a different game.

The color-ups go where the small chips stop being needed, and only when the box holds enough bigger chips to swap them for. For the chips themselves, how many of each color to hand out, see the poker chip calculator. Short-stacked late in the game? The push/fold trainer drills when to go all-in.

Questions people ask

How do you make a blind structure for a home poker tournament?

Start the blinds at the smallest chip in play, 1/2 when that chip is a 1, and climb the blinds people are used to seeing, never more than doubling in one step. Then set the level length so the big blind reaches about a twentieth of all the chips in play at the time you want to finish.

What is a good blind structure for a 3-hour poker tournament?

For 8 players with a 500-chip set, give everyone a stack worth 150 and play 15-minute levels: 1/2, 2/4, 3/6, 4/8, 5/10, 6/12, 8/16, 10/20, 15/30, 20/40, 25/50 and 30/60. Color up the white chips at 10/20. The game should be over at about 30/60, three hours in.

How long should blind levels be for a 2, 3 or 4-hour tournament?

Divide the time by the number of levels it takes to reach the finishing blinds. For the same 12 levels, a 2-hour game plays 10-minute levels, 3 hours 15 minutes, and 4 hours 20 minutes.

When does a home poker tournament usually end?

When the big blind is about a twentieth of all the chips in play. The last two players then have about 10 big blinds each, so nearly every hand is all-in. Eight players starting on 150 have 1,200 between them, which puts the finish at a big blind of 60.

When should you color up chips in a tournament?

Once the small blind is two or more of the next chip up, the smallest chip is no longer needed. In the 3-hour game above, the white 1s go at 10/20, when the small blind is two red 5s.

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