Expertly Reviewed by: David Chen, CFA • Updated: October 2023
This professional poker blind calculator helps tournament directors and players determine the ideal blind structure for any home game or professional event. By solving for growth rates, levels, or blind targets, you can ensure your tournament finishes exactly on schedule with a balanced stack-to-blind ratio.
Poker Blind Calculator
Leave exactly one field blank to calculate its value.
poker blind calculator Formula
Source: Poker Tournament Structure Standards
Variables:
- Starting Big Blind ($B_s$): The initial big blind level when the tournament begins.
- Target Final Big Blind ($B_f$): The expected big blind level when the tournament is scheduled to end (usually 5% to 10% of total chips in play).
- Total Number of Levels ($N$): The number of intervals (rounds) available before reaching the target time.
- Growth Rate ($G$): The percentage increase of the blinds between each consecutive level.
Related Calculators:
What is poker blind calculator?
A poker blind calculator is an essential tool for managing the pace of a poker tournament. In any structured game, blinds must increase periodically to force action and ensure the tournament concludes within a specific timeframe. Without a calculated structure, games can either end too quickly (becoming a “crapshoot”) or last indefinitely.
Professional tournament directors use these formulas to ensure that at the final table, the average stack remains deep enough to allow for skillful play. Usually, the goal is to have the total chips in play equal to approximately 20-50 Big Blinds by the time the tournament is meant to conclude.
How to Calculate poker blind calculator (Example)
- Identify your starting blind (e.g., 100).
- Determine how many hours you want to play. If levels are 20 mins and you want a 3-hour game, you have 9 levels ($N=9$).
- Decide on your target final blind. For 10 players starting with 10,000 chips (100k total), a final blind of 5,000 ($B_f$) is ideal.
- Input these into the calculator to find the Growth Rate ($G$) required to hit that target.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is a good blind growth rate for home games?
Most home games use a growth rate between 25% and 50% per level. A 33% increase (e.g., 100 to 150) is very common for balanced play.
How long should each blind level be?
For fast “Turbo” games, use 10-15 minutes. For a professional feel, 20-30 minutes is standard for small tournaments.
How do I determine the final big blind?
Take the total number of chips in the tournament and divide by 20. That should be your big blind in the final level.
Does this calculator include antes?
This calculator focuses on the Big Blind. Antes are typically 10-12% of the Big Blind or a “Big Blind Ante” equal to one Big Blind.