Poker blind structure calculator
Enter your players, the starting stack and how long you want to play. The calculator builds a blind schedule that starts 100 big blinds deep, rises 25%–50% a level, and brings the game to a close around your end time — then opens it in the poker timer with one click.
Build your blind schedule
| Level | Blinds | Starts | Stack in BB | Avg stack in BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25/50 | 0:00 | 100 | 100 |
| 2 | 50/100 | 0:15 | 50 | 53 |
| 3 | 75/150 | 0:30 | 33 | 38 |
| 4 | 100/200 | 0:45 | 25 | 30 |
| 5 | 125/250 | 1:00 | 20 | 26 |
| 6 | 150/300 | 1:15 | 17 | 23 |
| 7 | 200/400 | 1:30 | 13 | 19 |
| 8 | 250/500 | 1:45 | 10 | 16 |
| 9 | 300/600 | 2:00 | 8.3 | 15 |
| 10 | 400/800 | 2:15 | 6.3 | 13 |
| 11 | 600/1,200 | 2:30 | 4.2 | 9.4 |
| 12 | 750/1,500 | 2:45 | 3.3 | 8.6 |
| 13 spare | 1,000/2,000 | 3:00 | 2.5 | — |
| 14 spare | 1,500/3,000 | 3:15 | 1.7 | — |
| 15 spare | 2,000/4,000 | 3:30 | 1.3 | — |
Dimmed rows are spare levels after the estimated end, in case the game runs long. Average stack uses a simple model: players bust at an even pace until two are left at the estimated end.
How the schedule is built
- First blinds: 100 big blinds deep. The first big blind is the “nice” value closest to your stack ÷ 100, with a small blind that your smallest chip can post exactly.
- End point: all chips worth 20 big blinds. By then the last two players have about 10 big blinds each, and every hand is close to all-in or fold. So the big blind at your end time is total chips ÷ 20.
- Growth: the same step every level. Your length ÷ level length gives the number of levels; the blinds rise by one constant percentage to get from the first big blind to the last. It’s held between 25% and 50% — outside that range the calculator tells you which level length fits instead.
- Round to real chip amounts. Each level becomes the nearest value of 1, 1.2, 1.5, 1.6, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 8 × 10ⁿ (so 150/300 and 600/1,200, never 137/274), always higher than the level before.
- Add spare levels. Three more levels follow the estimated end, because a game with two careful players can outlast any plan.
What makes a good blind structure
Starting depth
The starting stack divided by the first big blind decides how much poker gets played before the blinds matter. 100 big blinds is the standard: enough to fold for a while, raise, and still recover from a lost pot. 50 big blinds plays noticeably faster; below 30, pre-flop all-ins come early and often.
Growth per level
Blinds that rise 25%–50% a level keep every level meaningful without turning the late game into a coin flip. Early jumps look bigger (25/50 to 50/100 doubles the blinds) because the small blind can’t go below your smallest chip; after the first few levels the steps even out.
Level length
Level length sets the pace more than anything else. For an evening at home, 15–20 minutes is comfortable; 10 minutes makes a brisk game; 5 minutes is a turbo. Whatever you choose, run it on a clock everyone can see — the poker timer takes this calculator’s schedule directly.
Antes and breaks
Antes add chips to every pot, which rewards playing hands as the blinds climb. Many tournaments now use a single big-blind ante (paid by the player in the big blind for the whole table) starting a few levels in; for a casual game you can skip antes entirely. Plan a short break every couple of hours — it’s the natural moment to color up small chips (see the chip calculator).
Worked example: the FizzPoker blind ladder
FizzPoker’s online tables start everyone with 10,000 chips at 50/100 and climb a fixed 12-level ladder; the host picks how long each level lasts. Here is the whole ladder with its start times at each speed:
| Level | Blinds | Rise | Turbo starts 3-min levels | Fast starts 5-min levels | Normal starts 10-min levels | Slow starts 15-min levels | 10,000 in BB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 50/100 | — | 0:00 | 0:00 | 0:00 | 0:00 | 100 |
| 2 | 75/150 | +50% | 0:03 | 0:05 | 0:10 | 0:15 | 66.7 |
| 3 | 100/200 | +33% | 0:06 | 0:10 | 0:20 | 0:30 | 50 |
| 4 | 150/300 | +50% | 0:09 | 0:15 | 0:30 | 0:45 | 33.3 |
| 5 | 200/400 | +33% | 0:12 | 0:20 | 0:40 | 1:00 | 25 |
| 6 | 300/600 | +50% | 0:15 | 0:25 | 0:50 | 1:15 | 16.7 |
| 7 | 400/800 | +33% | 0:18 | 0:30 | 1:00 | 1:30 | 12.5 |
| 8 | 500/1,000 | +25% | 0:21 | 0:35 | 1:10 | 1:45 | 10 |
| 9 | 700/1,400 | +40% | 0:24 | 0:40 | 1:20 | 2:00 | 7.1 |
| 10 | 1,000/2,000 | +43% | 0:27 | 0:45 | 1:30 | 2:15 | 5 |
| 11 | 1,500/3,000 | +50% | 0:30 | 0:50 | 1:40 | 2:30 | 3.3 |
| 12 | 2,000/4,000 | +33% | 0:33 | 0:55 | 1:50 | 2:45 | 2.5 |
The rises range from 25% to 50%, averaging 40% a level. With six players, 60,000 chips are in play, which is 20 big blinds at a 3,000 big blind — level 11. That level starts after 30 min (turbo), 50 min (fast), 1 h 40 min (normal) or 2 h 30 min (slow), so a six-player game usually wraps up soon after. With nine players (90,000 chips) the 20-big-blind point would be a 4,500 big blind — past the top of the ladder, so the final 2,000/4,000 level holds until someone has every chip.
Want to run it on a live table? Open the ladder in the poker timer, or set up a free online tournament and let the table keep time.
Questions people ask
What is a good blind structure for a home poker tournament?
Start around 100 big blinds deep, raise the blinds 25%–50% a level, and use 15–20-minute levels. For six players with 5,000 chips each, that means starting at 25/50 and reaching 750/1,500 — where the 30,000 chips in play are worth 20 big blinds and the game is nearly over — after 2 h 45 min of 15-minute levels.
How much should the blinds go up each level?
Between about 25% and 50%. Much less and levels feel identical; much more and the game becomes all-in or fold within a few levels. FizzPoker’s own ladder averages 40% a level from 50/100 to 2,000/4,000.
How long will my poker tournament last?
A good rule of thumb: the game is nearly over once all the chips in play are worth about 20 big blinds. Six players with 5,000 chips have 30,000 in play, so the end comes around a big blind of 1,500; the calculator shows which level that is and when it starts.
When should antes start in a poker tournament?
There is no fixed rule. Many tournaments now use a big-blind ante — the player in the big blind posts one ante for the whole table, usually equal to the big blind — and add it a few levels in, once stacks are getting shorter. For a casual home game, leaving antes out entirely is fine.
What should the starting blinds be?
About one hundredth of the starting stack, so everyone starts 100 big blinds deep: 25/50 for 5,000 chips, 50/100 for 10,000. The small blind should equal your smallest chip, so nobody needs change to post it.
Can I play a tournament online with the blinds handled for me?
Yes. FizzPoker runs free No-Limit Hold’em tournaments in the browser for 2–9 players: everyone starts with 10,000 chips, the blinds climb a 12-level ladder from 50/100 on their own, and the host picks 3, 5, 10 or 15-minute levels.