Curious on opinions using plaques in Tourney sets... Does size really matter?? (1 Viewer)

Off-topic: Any idea how many chips you and Brie have, Ben? Whenever I see you post pr0n, it's HUGE sets -- and lots of them. Did you to add support to the floorboards of your home?? Are there chips EVERYWHERE at your home?
 
Off-topic: Any idea how many chips you and Brie have, Ben? Whenever I see you post pr0n, it's HUGE sets -- and lots of them. Did you to add support to the floorboards of your home?? Are there chips EVERYWHERE at your home?
Bout 16k chips
Plus all these

16040111580935548456221285153312.jpg


Plus some singles floating around not counted

Oh and I forgot Bill's customs that are on the way
 
We are over 40,000 now @liftapint and I moved the collection to the basement (solid foundation) just the singles (ehh around 2,000) and a few sets we are working on up here.

Sorry for Brie posting all the death, I try not to include that!
20200928_223730.jpg

Most are 1,400 plus but we only have 500 Lady luck Tourney HS chips, 650ish silver Tounged Devils, just bought Bill's Burbons which is about 650, my second TRK set is only 500 chips. So we have some smaller sets. But yes we try to cover at least 2 tables with most of our sets!

Ben
 
For a second I thought you were cleaning chips with Glenlivet. That would've been an interesting experiment.
Bill sent me a cheers pic!! His signature move, I had a pour and sent that one earlier!! I'm pretty sure that would melt the paper inlays of the MGV2 chips, can't even get these guys wet!! Just soap, a little water and a magic eraser. And they are pretty nasty for home use chips!! 220 down, 180 to go tonight!!
 
We are over 40,000 now @liftapint and I moved the collection to the basement (solid foundation) just the singles (ehh around 2,000) and a few sets we are working on up here.

Sorry for Brie posting all the death, I try not to include that!
View attachment 564265
Most are 1,400 plus but we only have 500 Lady luck Tourney HS chips, 650ish silver Tounged Devils, just bought Bill's Burbons which is about 650, my second TRK set is only 500 chips. So we have some smaller sets. But yes we try to cover at least 2 tables with most of our sets!

Ben
Got my ticket!!! Can’t wait :LOL: :laugh:
ABE07901-C22A-4492-B418-72C66757C9FC.jpeg
 
Got my ticket!!! Can’t wait :LOL: :laugh:View attachment 564322
Far from the big leagues yet brother, but you always have a room here with us if you ever make it down.

Hopefully one day we have something meet up worthy!! I look at @k9dr, @inca911, @ekricket, @slisk250, @Irish, @Poker Zombie, @Godzilla28, @detroitdad, @WhiteMamba1646 and many other meet ups games and dream that one day we will make that level man!!

Enjoying the hobby honestly, this is Brie and my life now... hard to remember life before you guys!!
 
Back to the plaques for a moment, now that I've scrubbed the idea of using Glenlivet to clean chips from my mind... :confused

My own preference is to use only one denom of plaque in any game. IMO, having more then one plaque denom dilutes their prestige factor.

I have used one denom of plaque along with an oversized hexagonal chip as the next largest denom, and that worked out OK...
 
Just got back recently from my SoNapa trip so finally able to snap some pics of my DeepStack HU set. 10 million starting stacks and blinds start at 25k/50k.

I like to have plaques later in MTT tournaments so in starting you might only have 2-4x T5ks. I also think it adds to the prestige of bubble phase to HU play.

I remember for cash games when Tom Dwan and Gus Hansen was playing nose bleed levels 6 max in Macau. They had box size blocks of plaques on either side of them and would play cards btw those blocks. I was seated at the table next to them separated by a red velvet rope. This was mid 2012 so I guess they didn't play in secret high roller rooms yet. I thought it was so cool that they were playing with 5k HKD plaques which is like $650/$1300 blinds and I'm next to them playing 10/20 HKD ($1.30/$2.6) blinds. Didn't win any money but got Hansen's autograph on my Ferry ticket.

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Our Zombie World Edition tournament set uses plaques. T100,000 is a smaller size, and the T500,000 and the T1,000,000 are the same, larger size.

So the thinking on the set went along these lines...

Chips for the 4 lowest denoms (T500-T25,000), plaques for the top 3 (T100,000-T1,000,000). However, the T1,000,000 rarely hits the table, unless requested. I just had a little OCD with a set ending at half-million, and a million makes the set rebuy-frenzy proof for less cost. Storage space was also a concern, so T1,000,000 cuts the storage space requirements for T500,000s roughly in half. So while I have 3 plaque denoms in the set, I only needed 2 sizes.

So why two sizes vs a single size?

We made cardboard cutouts to the dimensions of each of the plaques sizes. We order a lot of stuff from Amazon, so cardboard boxes are pretty common around here. This helped me get both a visual on storage requirements, and to put them into simulated play.

Our tournament starting stack (9-14 players T1,000,000 /15-20 players T500,000) starts with 3xT100,000 in each stack. We focused on ease to port between tables, one handed, with little risk of dropping, even if you had already amassed 1/2 the plaques at the table. Of course we also looked at how they paired with chip size, and a full table.

I also wanted the same size as the plaques in Casino Royale. Careful study of the scene where Le Chiffre has his plaques atop 2 barrels of chips gave me the approximate size needed.

The Casino Royale plaques were determined to be too big for carrying around, so those were reserved for the T500,000 and the T1,000,000. They are extremely unlikely to hit the table before we get to the final table, so their cross-table portability was not an issue. The smaller size was then selected based on it's size relative to the larger plaques, and the chips. They are easy, even for a small hand, to carry a dozen or so.

The larger plaques usually come into play around the T5000 color-up (level 12). As you can see from the our knockout graph below, there are generally 7 players remaining at that time. Plenty of room to spread out, even if an eliminated player acts as a dedicated dealer for the table.
View attachment 563887
Average knockouts per level. Red line= knockouts, Green line is a trendline. Levels 4, 8, 12, and 16 are breaks. Players may sacrifice chips to get a fresh stack during the rebuy period, which is why there are a few "top-off" eliminations in level 8 (last chance to rebuy).

When the bigger plaques hit the felt, they are immediately noticed, which is why I really like the set. When a new denom hits the table in a all 39mm chip game, not everyone notices. There is no missing the big plaques, even among the other plaques.

Starting Stack (representing with @detroitdad's capper)
View attachment 563892

Ending stack...
View attachment 563897
Holy crap, that is some serious level 3 plaque sizing thinking going on. You must be one of those chip nerds I keep hearing about.
 
Back to the plaques for a moment, now that I've scrubbed the idea of using Glenlivet to clean chips from my mind... :confused

My own preference is to use only one denom of plaque in any game. IMO, having more then one plaque denom dilutes their prestige factor.

I have used one denom of plaque along with an oversized hexagonal chip as the next largest denom, and that worked out OK...
I concur with the above. Personally, I would much prefer to just have chips, so if there will be plaques, make it one plaque. And if I got a plaque, I would still cash it in for chips if I could though.
 
On topic:
I like plaques, and if more then one denom I prefer to have different sizes.

Off topic:
Hoping next year to talk @toynoob into 25k starting stacks with 20/20/15/15 starting stack

You have to admit that the 16/16/12/12 starting stacks was smooth as butter!!
I concur. In my T20k tournaments I use 20/20/5/15. I don't think we lose that much time when counting stacks and all-ins. If anything, people have become better at stacking their chips. If we lose time, we easily make it up since there's hardly any change making. For some reason, people just can't learn when and how to make change, so this is a big win!

However, I recommend reducing the T500. More than 5-6 don't really contribute with anything other than being pretty stacks. The T500 usually has a limited use, but it's even more limited when there is an excess of T100 since you can easily use 5×100 if your out of them. My 0.02. :)
 
On topic:
I like plaques, and if more then one denom I prefer to have different sizes.

Off topic:



I concur. In my T20k tournaments I use 20/20/5/15. I don't think we lose that much time when counting stacks and all-ins. If anything, people have become better at stacking their chips. If we lose time, we easily make it up since there's hardly any change making. For some reason, people just can't learn when and how to make change, so this is a big win!

However, I recommend reducing the T500. More than 5-6 don't really contribute with anything other than being pretty stacks. The T500 usually has a limited use, but it's even more limited when there is an excess of T100 since you can easily use 5×100 if your out of them. My 0.02. :)
I know many don’tlike That many T500s in there but its still a symmetry issue for me, also with the CDIs finding the 1K chips can be difficult. I don’t disagree that less would be an issue at all. The Idea of 70 chips in starting stacks just seems awesome... absolutely not necassary... hell we run 12/12/7/5 or 12/12/5/6 around here all the time and it runs very s and efficient.

Honestly it would be fine with like a 16/16/8/14/1 or even leave the last 5K off for a 20K start... just don’t want to loose the wow factor in the starting stacks. Really 16/16/12/12 did play well but we only had 6 players per table when we chipped up the T25s... i could see anymore actually being a burden with filled tables. Little things that can be adjusted that is if i can find the chips over time.

We can all be honest... that rediculous set was not built for efficiency... i just have a hoarding issue and want to get them all in play to justify my own sickness!! Haha My dream of everyone having monster starting stacks is probably not realistic...

Oh and update... I am getting work done for T100k and T500k MSK plaques for the CDI set and I am going with 2 different sizes... so i defeated the whole purpose for this thread. **warning to all noobs... do not even read my posts I have a sickness and try to justify it without any cause or reason!

Just Incase I decide to follow the norm these days and ditch the T25. Make it also capable of a 500 BB T100,000 set, kind of an ambidextrous, multi use mess!! Haha otherwise there is no need for these plaques, I have plenty of 25k octagons to cover.... but if you can expand it why the hell not?? Something like 20/12/12/6/2 starting stacks!
 
I must have missed this thread last month, fun topic! I use them in two of my sets, one cash and one tourney.

First is my PNY tourney set, and I use them largely out of necessity, as a full two table T10k tourney set would be near impossible to build and cost a bloody fortune with the t1k chips going for $30-$40 a pop. When I first put the set together, I had t1k and t5k ceramic plaques made. I went oversized - both were 73mm x 105mm (not even sure the vendors sell these anymore).

1605722496605.png


These were nice and served their purpose but they were HUGE and pretty heavy/clunky. The 1k/5k were the same size, but because they were ceramic with a solid edge color, they were relatively easy to distinguish. At a later point I upgraded to 1k & 5k Matsui plaques from the old group buy, these were a hair smaller:

1605722837534.png


The quality on these was awesome, and being much lighter than the ceramics they weren't nearly as clunky. However with the combo of the t1k / t5k being the same size and having very similar edge designs (beveled edges with the white band), they were impossible to distinguish in a stack, to the point where we often used the older ceramics instead.

Taking all that into account, when I upgraded again to custom MSK plaques, I selected smaller plaques and used different sizes:

1605724099238.png


full


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These work *much* better, in my humble opinion, especially the 2k plaques, which are 82mm x 57mm. Having a stack of 5-10 of these is very manageable, and the different plaque sizes makes it completely obvious which plaques are which.

1605727001266.png


Comparison on PNY plaque sizes over the years:

20201118_131231.jpg


20201118_131302.jpg


20201118_131336.jpg


So overall my opinion for using plaques in tourneys would be:
  • Keep them smaller
  • Use them for 1 or 2 denominations max, more than that is cumbersome
  • If you do have 2 different plaques, make them different sizes
For cash, I don't mind them for the big status chip, especially in a big limit set. I have the $5 president/money MSK plaques that I use in my skittles set for a 25¢/25¢ micro-stakes beers and BS game. I forget exactly what size they are but they're definitely smaller, similar to the PNY 2ks.

1605727660910.png


1605727645658.png
 
I must have missed this thread last month, fun topic! I use them in two of my sets, one cash and one tourney.

First is my PNY tourney set, and I use them largely out of necessity, as a full two table T10k tourney set would be near impossible to build and cost a bloody fortune with the t1k chips going for $30-$40 a pop. When I first put the set together, I had t1k and t5k ceramic plaques made. I went oversized - both were 73mm x 105mm (not even sure the vendors sell these anymore).

View attachment 575986

These were nice and served their purpose but they were HUGE and pretty heavy/clunky. The 1k/5k were the same size, but because they were ceramic with a solid edge color, they were relatively easy to distinguish. At a later point I upgraded to 1k & 5k Matsui plaques from the old group buy, these were a hair smaller:

View attachment 575990

The quality on these was awesome, and being much lighter than the ceramics they weren't nearly as clunky. However with the combo of the t1k / t5k being the same size and having very similar edge designs (beveled edges with the white band), they were impossible to distinguish in a stack, to the point where we often used the older ceramics instead.

Taking all that into account, when I upgraded again to custom MSK plaques, I selected smaller plaques and used different sizes:

View attachment 576007

full


full


These work *much* better, in my humble opinion, especially the 2k plaques, which are 82mm x 57mm. Having a stack of 5-10 of these is very manageable, and the different plaque sizes makes it completely obvious which plaques are which.

View attachment 576058

Comparison on PNY plaque sizes over the years:

View attachment 576067

View attachment 576068

View attachment 576069

So overall my opinion for using plaques in tourneys would be:
  • Keep them smaller
  • Use them for 1 or 2 denominations max, more than that is cumbersome
  • If you do have 2 different plaques, make them different sizes
For cash, I don't mind them for the big status chip, especially in a big limit set. I have the $5 president/money MSK plaques that I use in my skittles set for a 25¢/25¢ micro-stakes beers and BS game. I forget exactly what size they are but they're definitely smaller, similar to the PNY 2ks.

View attachment 576064

View attachment 576063
Solid post brother!! Thank you for sharing... as always epic pron and fair assessment on the plaques! Like I said I am ordering some soon and went with slightly different sizes!
 
In another thread it was brought up that a couple of us prefer smaller plaques. It seems the norm that plaques increase in size as the denominations get larger... I am not a huge fan of this. Why you may ask? I prefer the extra elbow room on the table. Maybe this isn’t even worth discussing but with a group buy for MSK plaques curently happening, rather than clogging up that order thread I thought maybe I would move this to its own thread.

Especially at final tables when multiple tables are combined... everyone can’t wait to combine tables and stop playing 5 of 6 handed in an orbit eating up your stacks in blinds pretty quickly. This usually results in combining tables to their full capacity (usually 10 but some places combine at 9) All of us have been there and even at a full size table you can’t help but feel cramped up! For chip leaders this can be even worse with a mound of chips in front of them... Which brings me to my question.

If poker chips are generally the same size, why do plaques generally increase in size??

Usually plaques in the top end of your set only account for 3 - 4 denoms if not less, if it is acceplatble for 4 - 5 denoms of chips to be the same size, can we not do the same with the plaques? Of course the answer is yes but it seems like most sets all increase in size as they go up!

I get that they a larger and more appealing but when table space is at a premium all packed in there, wouldn’t you prefer to have the most space possible? Also storage of different sizes can be an absolute nightmare, my real question here is are you a fan of the plaques increasing in size?

I wish I had more pron I have many plaques at home and can share later, thi one shows what I am talking about
View attachment 563830

I was thinking about the recent group buy that @Perthmike ran for the custom PCA plaques. I absolutely love the small ones, but 2 denoms in one size and 2 in the larger... Curious Mike if my comments above have any merit? Do you like having the larger plaques with the smaller ones, do you think all of them being the smaller size would take away from the set?? I do understand that as the larger plaques are put into play that the table will not be filled any more and really this does play a part in the discussion. Also @Poker Zombie, @AfterTheFact even @BGinGA... excuse my ignorance, i am not sure if you own sets that include plaques but assume you do sir. Any opinions on plaque size and table space in your opinions!

Because of the table spacing concerns above I would prefer the entire set to be the smallest size avalible (shown below the Blue $1K and yellow $5k PCA plaques)

This pic is a mess and not in order to really show plaque size, but its the only one I have of Mikes Plaques!! Lol
View attachment 563836
Hard to really tell but the small PCA plaques are truly much smaller than the larger sizes shown. The Havanah High Hand Plaque is absolutley awesome but massive!

I realize this is probably not the best written OP but seriously interested in peoples opinions on plaque sizing and think it is a valued discussion to members thinking abut making a high value investment in custom plaques.

***Anyone with quality Plaque Pron rather the same size or increasing feel free to share, since I failed showing quality examples! Lol

I realize this is another BEN book and appreciate anyone that takes time to read this, when it is honestly a relatively minor issue.

Fellow Chipper Ben
Awesome! I haven't read the rest of the thread yet (I will) but I'm with you 100%. I only have a few miscellaneous plaques right now, but when I do get a set to go with my tournament chips, they will be all the same size - smallish like the blue PCA or maybe the Franklin/Trump plaques in your pic.
 
I must have missed this thread last month, fun topic! I use them in two of my sets, one cash and one tourney.

First is my PNY tourney set, and I use them largely out of necessity, as a full two table T10k tourney set would be near impossible to build and cost a bloody fortune with the t1k chips going for $30-$40 a pop. When I first put the set together, I had t1k and t5k ceramic plaques made. I went oversized - both were 73mm x 105mm (not even sure the vendors sell these anymore).

View attachment 575986

These were nice and served their purpose but they were HUGE and pretty heavy/clunky. The 1k/5k were the same size, but because they were ceramic with a solid edge color, they were relatively easy to distinguish. At a later point I upgraded to 1k & 5k Matsui plaques from the old group buy, these were a hair smaller:

View attachment 575990

The quality on these was awesome, and being much lighter than the ceramics they weren't nearly as clunky. However with the combo of the t1k / t5k being the same size and having very similar edge designs (beveled edges with the white band), they were impossible to distinguish in a stack, to the point where we often used the older ceramics instead.

Taking all that into account, when I upgraded again to custom MSK plaques, I selected smaller plaques and used different sizes:

View attachment 576007

full


full


These work *much* better, in my humble opinion, especially the 2k plaques, which are 82mm x 57mm. Having a stack of 5-10 of these is very manageable, and the different plaque sizes makes it completely obvious which plaques are which.

View attachment 576058

Comparison on PNY plaque sizes over the years:

View attachment 576067

View attachment 576068

View attachment 576069

So overall my opinion for using plaques in tourneys would be:
  • Keep them smaller
  • Use them for 1 or 2 denominations max, more than that is cumbersome
  • If you do have 2 different plaques, make them different sizes
For cash, I don't mind them for the big status chip, especially in a big limit set. I have the $5 president/money MSK plaques that I use in my skittles set for a 25¢/25¢ micro-stakes beers and BS game. I forget exactly what size they are but they're definitely smaller, similar to the PNY 2ks.

View attachment 576064

View attachment 576063
2k Plaque just looks amazing!
 
Plaques are part of my HSI set if they are to be played as Tourney chips or "Gulp" Cash Chips.....
The 1k and 5k chips were oversized and expensive already, Something appealing about a high value plaque. Only thing is you can't have too many or they stop being special. 1-2 plaques per player for a starting stack of a 5000 for a sit and go or rebuy tourney gives everyone the opportunity to have a plaque at least at the start of the game like a big shot.

6BUHzvC.jpg

I3vXs9a.jpg
 
Something appealing about a high value plaque. Only thing is you can't have too many or they stop being special.

...says the guy who has a nice large stack of plaques in 2 denoms! (Heh)

I've got 140 on the way myself!

Plaques are probably better used in tournaments as they will see regular play.
 
...says the guy who has a nice large stack of plaques in 2 denoms! (Heh)

I've got 140 on the way myself!

Plaques are probably better used in tournaments as they will see regular play.
once the rebuys and colour up's start "Plaques Away"

I'd have more $1000's but only about 8 would fit in the case I have without major adjustments. Another 8-$1000 plaques doesn't do much for a set to make it worth while so sticking with the 40-1k and 20-5k's this allows for he breakdowns above (post#50) for 5k tourneys (my favorite starting stack) or 10k/20k one table if so inclined
left most-up to 2 tables and if reduced to 4k starting stack 3 tables
2nd from left- up to 2 tables with some limited add-on/rebuy option
2nd from right - only 1 table with this starting stack but lots of rebuy options
right most- only 1 table with this starting stack but lots of rebuy options with plaques etc

Other sets with more and cheaper higher value chips can serve larger games. Its just fun for all of your sets to be tourney sets too.
 
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Plaques are part of my HSI set if they are to be played as Tourney chips or "Gulp" Cash Chips.....
The 1k and 5k chips were oversized and expensive already, Something appealing about a high value plaque. Only thing is you can't have too many or they stop being special. 1-2 plaques per player for a starting stack of a 5000 for a sit and go or rebuy tourney gives everyone the opportunity to have a plaque at least at the start of the game like a big shot.

6BUHzvC.jpg

I3vXs9a.jpg
These look great! What size are plaques? 82x57 or 94 x 66? Also, are those standard 39mm chips next to them?
 
I couldn’t resist the plaques for a DDLM tournament set. Just loved the artwork on the 5K…they’re pricey, but worth it, imo.
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