Poker chip colors aren't universal law, but there's a widely recognized standard — and following it means anyone who's played before instantly knows what your chips are worth. Here's the standard color-to-value convention, plus how to assign values to whatever set you happen to own.
Most casino and home sets follow this convention for cash-game dollar values:
| Color | Standard value |
|---|---|
| White | $1 |
| Red | $5 |
| Blue | $10 |
| Green | $25 |
| Black | $100 |
| Purple | $500 |
| Yellow / Orange | $1,000 |
The one to remember above all others: red is $5 and green is $25. Those two are the most consistent across casinos and the ones your players are most likely to expect.
In a tournament, chips represent tournament points, not dollars — a $20 buy-in might get you 10,000 in tournament chips. So the same red chip that's "$5" in a cash game might be worth 100 or 500 in your tournament. What matters in a tournament is that your denominations form a clean ladder (like 25 / 100 / 500 / 1000), not that they match the cash convention.
If your set doesn't follow the standard colors — or you just want values that make your game run smoothly — follow three principles:
Tell it the colors and counts you own; it assigns clean denominations, builds a balanced starting stack, and makes sure you won't run dry on any color. It does the value-assignment thinking for you.
For a home game, three to four colors is ideal. Two isn't enough to build a deep stack or run late blinds; five or more turns the table into a confusing rainbow and makes color-ups a chore. Three or four gives you a clean ladder from starting stack to final table.
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