How to Color-up Chips Correctly in Poker: Chip Race, Round Up and Rounding
Recently, I’ve had many poker players tell me that the method tournament directors use to color-up chips is almost completely inconsequential. The basic argument goes something like this: with a proper blind schedule, the value of the small chips is negligible. Therefore, instead of taking the extra time to follow the color-up rules, I’m just going to round everybody up to the nearest denomination. Who cares if a player gets an extra couple hundred chips when the blinds are 500/1000?
While this statement may make sense on the surface, the consequences of “rounding up” or “rounding” can prove to be much larger than a mere extra 200 chips. To illustrate, I’ve developed a hypothetical, but common, home poker tournament situation. You determine the proper bet size for Player A.
Players A and B are very savvy poker players and playing the last hand before the break. During the break, the tournament director will color-up the black (100) chips. There are 1,600 chips in the pot and Player A is first to act after the flop. His stack had dwindled to 6,800 chips, but he hit bottom pair and wants to take a shot at winning the pot immediately. He believes a half-pot size bet is probably appropriate. How much should Player A bet?
If you said it depends on the color-up method, you are right. Normally, Player A would bet 800 chips in an attempt to win the hand, but not if the tournament director uses an inappropriate method to color-up chips.
Of course, the normally accepted method for coloring up chips is a chip race. This is best illustrated in Robert’s Rules of Poker, Version 11. It states (in part):
The lowest denomination of chip in play will be removed from the table when it is no longer needed in the blind or ante structure. All lower-denomination chips that are of sufficient quantity for a new chip will be changed up directly. The method for removal of odd chips is to deal one card to a player for each odd chip possessed. … the player with the highest card by suit gets enough odd chips to exchange for one new chip, the second-highest card gets to exchange for the next chip, and so forth, until all the lower-denomination chips are exchanged.
This is a mathematically sound method and fair to everybody since each player’s chances of obtaining a higher denomination chip is directly proportional to the number of odd chips he/she possesses; however, a common method of coloring up chips in home poker tournaments is to simply round up to the next denomination when coloring up. For example, a player with 5,600 chips would have 6,000 chips after removing all black (100) chips from play. The general consensus among tournament directors advocating this method is that no player should have chips taken away without losing them in a pot.
A more recent trend is to round up or down to the nearest denomination. For example, a player with 5,600 chips would have 5,500 chips after removing black (100) chips from play, but a player with 5,800 chips would have 6,000 chips after removing the same chips from play. While this method more closely approximates a chip race scenario, it can still cause catastrophic issues (as well as problems trying to color up odd 500 chips to 1000 chips).
The Round Up and Rounding Methods can grossly affect the course of a tournament. Let’s take another look at the hypothetical situation.
Chip Race Method
If the tournament director is racing chips and Player A believes a half-size pot bet is appropriate, then he will probably bet 800 chips into the 1,600 chip pot. If he loses the pot, he will have 6,000 chips left.
Round Up Method
Now, let’s say the tournament director uses a color-up method in which she always rounds up to the nearest denomination. Player A would probably increase his bet size to 1,200 chips. If he loses the hand, he will have 5,600 chips remaining, and after coloring up black (100) chips, that total will increase to 6,000 chips. In essence, Player A was able to bet 400 additional chips without any incurring any additional risk.
Rounding Method
In contrast, let’s assume the tournament director uses a color-up method in which she always rounds up or down to the nearest denomination. Player A would probably bet 1,000 chips. If he loses the pot, he will have 5,800 chips remaining, and after coloring up black (100) chips, the total will increase to 6,000 chips. Again, Player A was able to bet 200 additional chips without incurring any additional risk.
These examples illustrate how the color up method can affect the size of a players bet, and ultimately, affect the outcome of a hand. If Player B hit middle pair on the flop, he might call a bet of 800 chips, or even read it as a sign of weakness and raise. In all likelihood, Player B would win the pot with a call or raise, increase his chip stack, and leave Player A with only 6,000 chips. However, if Player A is able to take a shot at winning the pot by betting more than half the pot without increasing his risk, Player B might have to fold the hand. Now, because of the increase in bet-size, instead of having a chip stack of 6,000, Player A has a stack of 8,400 chips.
In addition, Player B also has to consider what the additional chips represent to his stack. If calling an 800 chip bet decreases Player B’s chip stack to 9,800, he can pull the trigger knowing he will at least have 10,000 chips if he loses the pot; however, calling a 1,000 chip bet would take his chip stack down to 9,600 and would, if the Rounding Method is used, actually take his chip stack down to 9,500 chips if he loses the hand. Calling a 1,200 bet would, of course, drop his stack down to 9,400 and guarantee the most he could have is 9,500 if he loses the pot.
So, not only did the color-up method influence Player A’s ability to size his bet, it influenced Player B’s likelihood and ability to make a call.
Even slight changes in chip stacks can have a big effect on the outcome of a tournament. Savvy players can take advantage of these situations to increase their bet sizes (and increasing their chances of winning a pot) without increasing the amount of risk taken.
It’s the job of tournament directors to ensure a player is never able to “take a shot” at winning a pot without increasing his/her risk. Of course, there are always going to be those who find ways to exploit rules, but changing a perfectly good method of coloring up chips simply to save a few seconds is not justification for opening a giant loophole in the rules.
[thanks to stuartpilbrow and kc via cc]
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