Poker blind structures for home games

Ready-made blind structures for 2, 3 and 4-hour tournaments. Each one is exactly what the Poker Night Clock timer builds for 8 players with 10,000 chips each. Print one, or let the timer build one for your own players, chips and night.

Build a structure for your game

2-hour blind structure

8 players, 10,000 chips each, 12-minute levels and a 10-minute break every 4 levels. Likely to finish after about 1 h 56 min.

3-hour blind structure

8 players, 10,000 chips each, 15-minute levels and a 10-minute break every 4 levels. Likely to finish after about 2 h 58 min (usually between 2 h 50 min and 3 h 5 min).

4-hour blind structure

8 players, 10,000 chips each, 15-minute levels and a 10-minute break every 4 levels. Likely to finish after about 4 h 8 min (usually between 4 hours and 4 h 15 min).

How these structures are built

Starting depth

Every player starts with 100 big blinds: 50/100 blinds with a 10,000 stack. That leaves room to play for the first hour without anyone being forced all in.

Blind increases

Each level raises the blinds by about a third, in round amounts your chips can pay. Shorter games use shorter levels and slightly bigger steps.

Game length

A home tournament usually ends somewhere between the level where the blinds reach 5% of all the chips in play and the level where the big blind alone does. The level length is chosen so that point falls on your target time.

Breaks

A break every four levels gives time for drinks, rebuys and colouring up the smallest chips.

Adjusting for your game

More players means more chips in play, so the same structure runs longer; fewer players finish sooner. A bigger or smaller starting stack moves the blinds up or down to match. These structures have no antes. Many groups add a big blind ante once the blinds reach a few hundred. The poker timer handles all of this: enter your players, stack and how long the night should be, and it builds the levels, breaks and antes for you. To split your chip set into stacks first, use the chip calculator.

Questions

What is a good blind structure for a home poker game?

Start everyone with about 100 big blinds, raise the blinds by roughly a third each level, and take a short break every four levels. With 10,000 chips that means starting at 50/100. Then fit the level length to your night: with eight players, 12-minute levels suit a 2-hour game and 15-minute levels a 3 or 4-hour game, with smaller steps between levels for the longer night.

How long should blind levels be?

For most home games, 15 to 20 minutes. Use 10 to 12 minutes for a quick game after work and 25 to 30 minutes for a deep-stack game. Longer levels mean more hands at each blind level and a longer night.

How many blind levels does a tournament need?

Usually 10 to 18. The game tends to end once the big blind reaches about 5% of all the chips in play, so a structure only needs enough levels to get there, plus one or two in case the table plays slowly.

When should antes start?

Antes are optional in home games. If you use them, start once the blinds are a few hundred, often after the first break. A big blind ante, where the big blind posts one ante for the whole table, is the simplest to run.