Everything you need to know about running poker tournaments with Chip Challenger.
Chip Challenger is a free, browser-based poker tournament manager designed for home poker games. It provides a blind timer, player tracking, table management, and automatic payout calculations—all running directly in your web browser with no installation required.
Chip Challenger is built for home poker players and casual tournament organizers. Whether you host weekly games with friends or occasional poker nights, it provides the structure and timing tools you need without the complexity of professional tournament software. For users who want more control or larger events, optional Pro features are available.
Yes. The core features of Chip Challenger—including the blind timer, player management, table assignment, and payout calculation—are completely free. No payment or credit card is required to run a poker tournament.
No signup is required. Guest users can create and run tournaments immediately. Your tournament data is stored locally in your browser. Creating an account does not unlock additional features by itself, but is required if you choose to subscribe to Pro features such as cloud sync and saved player lists.
The blind timer automatically tracks the current blind level and counts down to the next level. When a level ends, an audio alert notifies players. Pro users can pause the timer, skip levels, or adjust timing during a tournament. Several preset blind structures are included for all users, with custom structures available in Pro.
Most tournaments can be set up in under a minute. Simply add players, choose a blind structure, and start the timer. No account or installation is required.
Absolutely. Chip Challenger is specifically designed for home poker tournaments. Set your buy-in amount or a fixed prize pool, add players, configure your blind structure, and start the timer. The app handles the rest, including tracking eliminations and calculating payouts.
Yes. Chip Challenger is fully responsive and works on any modern browser. The interface adapts to different screen sizes, making it usable on phones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers.
Yes. The large-format display is optimized for visibility from a distance, making it ideal for casting to a TV or projector. The blind timer and current level information are clearly visible to all players in the room.
The free version includes full tournament functionality for standard home games: blind timer with presets, player tracking for up to 9 players, single-table management, elimination tracking, automatic payout calculation, and local data storage. No account required.
Pro unlocks additional features including unlimited players, multiple table support, custom blind structures, rebuys and add-ons, saved player lists, cloud sync across devices, tournament save and load, series management with cumulative leaderboards, and shareable public leaderboard links. Explore all Pro features.
No. The free version is fully functional for standard home games with up to 9 players at a single table. Pro is designed for larger games, multi-table tournaments, or players who want to track statistics over time.
Currently, Pro does not include a built-in free trial. Users can subscribe when needed, for example for larger or multi-table tournaments, and cancel at any time.
Yes. Chip Challenger includes a Layout Editor that lets you drag and drop modules like the timer, blind levels, player strip, chip values, and stats. You can resize each module and save up to 5 custom layouts. This feature is unique to Chip Challenger — no other poker blind timer or tournament manager offers visual layout customization.
No. Most poker blind timers and tournament managers use fixed layouts that cannot be modified. Chip Challenger is the only browser-based poker tool with a visual drag-and-drop layout editor for customizing what appears on your TV or big screen.
The default and custom layout is available to all users for free. Saving custom layouts requires Chip Challenger Pro.
The Layout Editor includes modules for: Timer, Current Blinds, Tournament Stats, Player Strip with avatars, Next Payout, Average Stack in Big Blinds, Bounty Leaderboard, and Chip Values. You can also add empty spacers for custom positioning.
Every host has different priorities. Some want a giant timer, others prefer showing chip denominations for new players, or next payout information for competitive games. The Layout Editor lets you design the perfect display for your specific audience and venue.
Yes. You can reset and start a new tournament at any time. Pro users can additionally adjust advanced settings during play, such as blind levels, player counts, and tournament structure.
Chip Challenger supports standard freezeout tournaments. With Pro, rebuy and add-on formats are also supported. The tool works with any poker variant that uses blind levels, such as Texas Hold'em or Omaha.
Yes. While it provides structure for formal tournaments, you can also use it simply as a blind timer for casual poker nights. Setup takes less than a minute, and you can adjust or ignore features as needed.
Yes. With Pro, you can organize recurring tournaments into leagues (called "series" in the app). Each league uses a shared template for consistent settings across all events, and tracks cumulative standings on a leaderboard.
Pro users can configure custom point systems that assign points based on finishing position. Points accumulate across tournaments in a league, creating cumulative standings. You can also limit scoring to only count each player's top N results per season.
Yes. Pro includes shareable public leaderboard links. Generate a link for your league and share it with players — they can view standings, individual tournament results, and player breakdowns without needing an account. Learn more about Pro league features.
Yes. Chip Challenger includes a built-in poker tournament blinds calculator that automatically generates a full blind structure based on your tournament length, number of players, and starting stack size. Try the blinds calculator.
The calculator builds a smooth blind progression that increases pressure over time while keeping blinds rounded and practical for real chip sets. It avoids awkward values and adapts to short or long tournaments. Try the blinds calculator.