$1/$2 Home Cash Game – What Chips Should I Buy? (7 Viewers)

[WickedPumpkin]

Hey everyone, looking for some advice.

I host a $1/$2 NLHE home cash game, usually 6–8 players, sometimes aiming for two tables. Buy-ins are $100–$300. I’m trying to upgrade from plastic chips to something nicer but still reasonable on price.

Budget is $200–$300, looking at 800–1000 chip clay-composite sets like Desert Heat, The Mint, Poker Knights, etc.

Main questions:

• What’s the ideal chip breakdown for $1/$2?
• Are 13.5g clay composites good enough long-term?
• Themed vs clean designs — what do players prefer?

Appreciate any recommendations. Thanks.

 

[LowerBama1714]

At least 3-4 rotating cash sets…set them up for all stakes 5c/5c to $100/$200/$400.

Hate tournaments…never ever host tournaments?

Get at least 2 tournament sets that can handle at least 4 tables. T5 and T500.

Should have you covered with that…

 

[ChippinUp]

In terms of breakdown I would look at something like this for a 1/2 game

100-200 $1’s

400-500 $5’s

100-200 $25’s

100 $100’s

If you are willing to up your budget a bit you could look into the group buys with Justin or take a look at BR Pro’s ceramic options. You could probably increase high denominations to reduce the overall chip quantity needed.

Clay composite and other descriptions like that can be a loaded topic around here. Most if not all chips within the budget won’t have any clay and are just plastic for the most part. Unless you are looking at Paulsons, CPC etc I wouldn’t worry about the clay composition but instead get some samples and see what feels best in your hand.

Ultimately the design component is up to you. I love simple chips but also like bright coloured loud chips. That one is personal preference

Take some time to get samples first and see what feels best. If it were me maybe hold off and increase the budget if its feasible as you will end up with a better set that you will be happy with for a longer amount of time.

Good luck!

 

[Tonystark137]

My initial recommendation. Bump the budget up a bit and get a nice Tina set. Semi custom or custom so you have better chip security. One spiked chip and you could especially be out of $100buckets before anyoen knows.

I personally wouldn't buy a set of chips anyone can order off of Amazon or a similar site.

As far as chip break down. I guess it depends on if you rake or not. Do you have dedicated dealers that take tips or not? Factors to consider when ordering how many $1 chips you might want.

 

[cpac54]

At least 3-4 rotating cash sets…set them up for all stakes 5c/5c to $100/$200/$400.

Hate tournaments…never ever host tournaments?

Get at least 2 tournament sets that can handle at least 4 tables. T5 and T500.

Should have you covered with that…

Nailed it.

 

[Jers28]

I had something silly like 400 $1s in my first custom set for my dealers to take tips. No rake, but tips rack up quickly. Then I started having the dealers color up before dropping tips and presto…I run one rack of $1s per table. Added bonus, less wear and tear on chips from being dropped in the boxes (which are now padded lol).

 

[Beakertwang]

Get samples before buying the set. Pay attention to how the chips feel, and how they stack. Some of those slugged chips have really rough edges and are terribly slippery. I had the Poker Knights. They sucked. Also, they’re not “composite clay”. They are plastic. Plastic isn’t necessarily bad, but the clay thing is just marketing (read: a lie).

I’ve seen some comments on here about the Olympus chips. Not super heavy like Right in your price range, too.
https://www.thepokerstore.com/colle...oducts/800-olympus-pure-clay-poker-chips-bulk

 

[WickedPumpkin]

Get samples before buying the set. Pay attention to how the chips feel, and how they stack. Some of those slugged chips have really rough edges and are terribly slippery. I had the Poker Knights. They sucked. Also, they’re not “composite clay”. They are plastic. Plastic isn’t necessarily bad, but the clay thing is just marketing (read: a lie).

I’ve seen some comments on here about the Olympus chips. Not super heavy like Right in your price range, too.
https://www.thepokerstore.com/colle...oducts/800-olympus-pure-clay-poker-chips-bulk

Thank you

 

[JustinInMN]

Stretch your budget to $450 (you are playing 1-2 this shouldn't be a big deal) get 600 semi-customs from @BR Pro Poker for $75/rack.

Many of these designs can be customized with wording, color changes, denomination changes.

https://brpropoker.com/collections/signature-chips

Good breakdown would be something like 200/300/80/20 of 1/5/25/100. If you want downward flexibility to play 50¢-50¢ you could do something like 60/200/240/80/20 of 50¢/1/5/25/100

And yes, get samples !

But the problem with the designs you are considering is they are "stock chips" meaning anyone can buy them, and slip chips into your game. Why take the chance when for just a little more, you can get something designed with more security? Especially at these stakes.

600 chips is plenty for a one table game (and probably could be stretched for two tables in a pinch.)

All that being said, for "stock chips" I do like the designs you listed and they are decent. I just wouldn't want to host games as high as 1-2 with them.

Edit to add pr0n.

Here is my semi custom tournament set based on the Valentino High Roller design.

 

[Machine]

Here is a post I wrote about chip breakdown

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/new-members-optimal-chip-break-down.113118/

 

[Kam]

Building on @ChippinUp response, if I take a range of his examples of 200/400/200/100 for 900 chips:

200 $1’s = $200 bank

400 $5’s = $2,000 bank

200 $25’s = $5,000 bank

100 $100’s = $10,000 bank

Leaves you with a $17,200 bank.

General rule of thumb is you want your total bank to be around ~5000x your big blind to be ‘safe’ for a long session with lots of rebuys etc.

I’d recommend you think about your #1 and #2 work horse chips, which are the $5 and $25s, and do you want stacks on the table of $5s, or balance with more efficient $25s etc? So you could dial back the hundreds (good for bank, but maybe won’t see as much play in game):

180 $1’s = $180 bank

400 $5’s = $2,000 bank

200 $25’s = $5,000 bank

20 $100’s = $2,000 bank

Leaves you with a $9.2k bank, and then you can choose to add more $5 or $25. If you think your game might grow to $1/$3 then the top example would ‘future proof’.

GL

 

[extreme517]

Stretch your budget to $450 (you are playing 1-2 this shouldn't be a big deal) get 600 semi-customs from @BR Pro Poker for $75/rack.

Many of these designs can be customized with wording, color changes, denomination changes.

https://brpropoker.com/collections/signature-chips

Good breakdown would be something like 200/300/80/20 of 1/5/25/100. If you want downward flexibility to play 50¢-50¢ you could do something like 60/200/240/80/20 of 50¢/1/5/25/100

And yes, get samples !

But the problem with the designs you are considering is they are "stock chips" meaning anyone can buy them, and slip chips into your game. Why take the chance when for just a little more, you can get something designed with more security? Especially at these stakes.

600 chips is plenty for a one table game (and probably could be stretched for two tables in a pinch.)

All that being said, for "stock chips" I do like the designs you listed and they'll are decent. I just wouldn't want to host games as high as 1-2 with them.

Edit to add pr0n.

Here is my semi custom tournament set based on the Valentino High Roller design.

View attachment 1618360

View attachment 1618361

View attachment 1618362

This is the best post. Read again and carefully consider. Yes, I highly recommend something more secure/custom for your stakes/multiple tables, etc. Get some custom Tina's or BR Pro ceramics. The BR Pros are frankly better in my opinion.

 

[JustinInMN]

This is the best post. Read again and carefully consider. Yes, I highly recommend something more secure/custom for your stakes/multiple tables, etc. Get some custom Tina's or BR Pro ceramics. The BR Pros are frankly better in my opinion.

Thanks for the kindness

I do agree, I have played with both, the br pros stack better and move better on the table.

In one of the pictures I stacked the chips 100 high with no sweat. With the tina chips, sliding stacks of 20 across the table can feel tippy.

Tina chips are still fine for what they are, but if one has the budget to play 1-2, a $500 investment in a chip set is maybe one bad poker night. It shouldn't be a problem.

 

[LowerBama1714]

This is the best post. Read again and carefully consider. Yes, I highly recommend something more secure/custom for your stakes/multiple tables, etc. Get some custom Tina's or BR Pro ceramics. The BR Pros are frankly better in my opinion.

 

[JustinInMN]

It pays to bring the pr0n.

 

[ChippinUp]

This is the best post. Read again and carefully consider. Yes, I highly recommend something more secure/custom for your stakes/multiple tables, etc. Get some custom Tina's or BR Pro ceramics. The BR Pros are frankly better in my opinion.

I would have to agree on the BR Pro vs Tina. I’ve owned multiple sets of each and prefer the BR Pro. I found they stack better and the injection points were less pronounced.

Tina’s are great and most likely the best value in terms of variety, customization etc.

 

[Moxie Mike]

What’s the ideal chip breakdown for $1/$2?

Think in terms of the total bank, then the breakdown kind of takes care of itself.

How much money is on the table by the end of the night? I assume $3-4000? A breakdown that includes a rack of $25s and a Barrel of hundos would probably be sufficient.

So a bank that included two racks of $1s, 8 racks of $5s, a rack of $25s and a barrel of hundos would be $8700... which should be plenty for two tables of $1-2. This also helps if your game grows to higher stakes like $2-5.

Are 13.5g clay composites good enough long-term?

It depends on how often you play and what you consider 'long-term'. The China Clays (as they're known) tend to have durability issues. That's not to say they'll be powder after a year of use, but don't be surprised to see one break here and there.

Have you looked at the Bank chips from Apache - they're reasonably priced, easy to relabel and very durable. If you don't like the retail price on them, you might even be able to scoop some up in the classifieds here and there.

Themed vs clean designs — what do players prefer?

I think you'll find most of your players don't care very much about the equipment. The most important aspects are that the colors are diverse to avoid dirty stacks, that they're not slippery (a common issue with cheap China Clays), and don't smell weird (also a common complaint with CCs).

 

[WickedPumpkin]

Stretch your budget to $450 (you are playing 1-2 this shouldn't be a big deal) get 600 semi-customs from @BR Pro Poker for $75/rack.

Many of these designs can be customized with wording, color changes, denomination changes.

https://brpropoker.com/collections/signature-chips

Good breakdown would be something like 200/300/80/20 of 1/5/25/100. If you want downward flexibility to play 50¢-50¢ you could do something like 60/200/240/80/20 of 50¢/1/5/25/100

And yes, get samples !

But the problem with the designs you are considering is they are "stock chips" meaning anyone can buy them, and slip chips into your game. Why take the chance when for just a little more, you can get something designed with more security? Especially at these stakes.

600 chips is plenty for a one table game (and probably could be stretched for two tables in a pinch.)

All that being said, for "stock chips" I do like the designs you listed and they are decent. I just wouldn't want to host games as high as 1-2 with them.

Edit to add pr0n.

Here is my semi custom tournament set based on the Valentino High Roller design.

View attachment 1618360

View attachment 1618361

View attachment 1618362

So do you suggest I customize my own chip or buy a set that’s on the BRPROPOKER.com?

 

[Kam]

You can do a ‘semi-custom’ with them (the custom aspect helps improve security a little vs generic design). Pick one of the designs and they can change the text/ modify etc.

I’d recommend buying a couple of samples from them for like $10-$20 to make sure you like ‘em before pulling the trigger on a big set. They always have great reviews here for quality.

GL

 

[WickedPumpkin]

You can do a ‘semi-custom’ with them (the custom aspect helps improve security a little vs generic design). Pick one of the designs and they can change the text/ modify etc.

I’d recommend buying a couple of samples from them for like $10-$20 to make sure you like ‘em before pulling the trigger on a big set. They always have great reviews here for quality.

GL

so you are saying for example: pick like the dragon chips and tweak the design and wording of my personal liking so it makes it a little more custom?

 

[extreme517]

So do you suggest I customize my own chip or buy a set that’s on the BRPROPOKER.com?

Do some degree of customization to make them a unique set that someone else can't buy off the shelf and smuggle into your game.

 

[Skullzer]

This tool has help me:

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/poker-set-selection-tool.74208/

 

[JustinInMN]

So do you suggest I customize my own chip or buy a set that’s on the BRPROPOKER.com?

For what I am suggesting you should select one of the designs (or better get samples) and then when you order you can get text and colors customized to your own. That would enhance your game security and just plan be cooler than stock designs on Amazon .

 

[Kam]

You can always email Kristil at BR Pro Poker <[email protected]> - they help and can let you know what can be done.

 

[WickedPumpkin]

You can always email Kristil at BR Pro Poker <[email protected]> - they help and can let you know what can be done.

I just emailed them!

 

[ChippinUp]

I just emailed them!

Kristi is awesome

 

[RocAFella1]

https://tigerpalacechips.com/produc...-1-2-cash-set-cali-colors-black-20s-800-chips

 

[Phoe9x]

https://tigerpalacechips.com/produc...-1-2-cash-set-cali-colors-black-20s-800-chips

35 chips per table is playable right? You think they’ll split off so it can fit in OPs budget?

 

[RocAFella1]

35 chips per table is playable right? You think they’ll split off so it can fit in OPs budget?

800 chips per table including 4 racks of $5s. #PCFapproved

 

[ChipFinderSK]

https://tigerpalacechips.com/produc...-1-2-cash-set-cali-colors-black-20s-800-chips

OP’s top end of budget is about 1/2 the first lay away payment