Best Chip Manufacturer (2 Viewers)

I started with Kings Chips, 14.5 grams slugged plastic, they are great for getting started... But then I got a hold of some REAL CASINO chips and I thought HEY these are real chips.....

The fact that you can put together a small set together 1 rack at a time for (yes more then china clay or what ever you are thinking) and they are REAL chips, from a REAL casino that is way cool, then you decide to get a full set of chips from the same casino and you sell or trade your other chips (or you hold on to them)..

Took 2 years for me to get this cash st together, but they are nice, and the investment holds value...: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/empress-joliet-il-cash-set.17170/

Then for me I thought of a really awesome theme and BAM customs.....:https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/notes-from-the-music-shack.16231/

If you want to avoid all the run around, get a custom set and call it good... it will be your colors, your edge spots, your label the way you want them....and it is the closest to REAL casino chips that are customs you are gonna get..


Good luck..
 
The Music Shack are a beautiful set. Gratz. (And one of the best-executed buttons, ever.)

it is the closest to REAL casino chips that are customs you are gonna get..

Here, I'll quibble... CPC also has casino customers. They are not "like" casino quality, they are casino quality. (Though they don't let us order on the molds reserved for active casinos.)
 
The Music Shack are a beautiful set. Gratz. (And one of the best-executed buttons, ever.)



Here, I'll quibble... CPC also has casino customers. They are not "like" casino quality, they are casino quality. (Though they don't let us order on the molds reserved for active casinos.)

^^true that, I should have said CLOSEST TO PAULSON with out getting Paulson..
 
The Music Shack are a beautiful set. Gratz. (And one of the best-executed buttons, ever.)



Here, I'll quibble... CPC also has casino customers. They are not "like" casino quality, they are casino quality. (Though they don't let us order on the molds reserved for active casinos.)

The day Nomad doesn't quibble is the same day the sun forgets to set.

My analysis didn't include cheap ceramics like Nile Club or Scroll chips. So I went ahead and modified it. :p
 
Interesting. None of those would even make my top 20 for purchases (maybe the Aztars), if i had an unlimited supply of money.

Including mid-range ceramics and Milanos (possibly the worst china clay ever produced) in the list is laughable. Perhaps you simply haven't been exposed yet to the really good stuff. :)

Would appreciate to know what is your top 10 list
 
This isn't explicitly his top ten, but at least ten casino sets he really, really likes.
Unfortunately, many of the sets in that list are not available to us chippers. :(

Here are my top 35 playable cash sets if cost is no concern (custom sets excluded). All are TRK small crown or Paulson top hat & cane mold (except where noted), and are listed in alphabetical order. I'm sure I have left out two or three others that belong here:

Ambassador Plaza, San Juan (Paulson)
Aruba Palm Beach Hotel/Casino (Paulson)
Capitol City Casino, CA (Paulson)
Casablanca Casino, Aruba (Paulson)
The Casino at the Ritz-Carlton, San Juan (Paulson, RHC mold)
The Condado Beach Hotel/Casino, San Juan (Paulson)
Emerald Princess Casino, GA (Paulson)
Empress Casino, Joliet (Paulson)
Fitzgerald's Casino/Hotel, Reno (TRK, 1976 ed.)
Four Queens Hotel/Casino (Paulson, 1989 ed.)
Dunes Hotel/Casino (Paulson, house mold, 1989 ed.)
Horseshoe Casino, Gardena (Paulson)
Kings Crown, Las Vegas (TRK, fantasy)
Lakeshore Inn Resort, CA (Paulson)
Mapes Hotel/Casino, Reno (TRK)
Mardi Gras, fantasy (BCC, T-mold)
Mesquite Star, NV (Paulson, RHC mold)
Money Tree Casino, Reno (TRK)
Nevada Lodge, NV (TRK)
Olivia's Poker Hall, WA (Paulson, RHC mold)
Outpost Casino, CA (Paulson)
Pick Hobson's Riverside Hotel/Casino, Reno (TRK)
Player's Hotel/Casino, Reno (Paulson)
Pointe After Casino, WA (Paulson)
President Casino on the Admiral, St.Louis (Paulson)
President Casino New Yorker (Paulson, RHC mold)
The Riverboat, fantasy (BCC, web mold)
Riverside Hotel/Casino, Reno (TRK)
Royal Venture Cruise Line, GA (Paulson)
Savannah Sun, American Cruises (Paulson)
Silver Star Casino, Las Vegas (Paulson, 1978 ed.)
Starlite Cruses (Paulson)
Tropicana Hotel/Casino, Las Vegas (TRK, 1st ed.)
20th Century (Paulson, fantasy)
The Vineyard Casino, CA (Paulson, RHC mold)

Pics of nearly all can be found in either the PCF Gallery or the Poker Chip Pr0n forum.
 
Here are my top 35 playable cash sets if cost is no concern (custom sets excluded). All are TRK small crown or Paulson top hat & cane mold (except where noted), and are listed in alphabetical order.....

Dang, I only have 14 of those. Must get cracking, now that I've got the list... :cool:
 
Unfortunately, many of the sets in that list are not available to us chippers. :(

Here are my top 35 playable cash sets if cost is no concern (custom sets excluded). All are TRK small crown or Paulson top hat & cane mold (except where noted), and are listed in alphabetical order. I'm sure I have left out two or three others that belong here:

Ambassador Plaza, San Juan (Paulson)
Aruba Palm Beach Hotel/Casino (Paulson)
Capitol City Casino, CA (Paulson)
Casablanca Casino, Aruba (Paulson)
The Casino at the Ritz-Carlton, San Juan (Paulson, RHC mold)
The Condado Beach Hotel/Casino, San Juan (Paulson)
Emerald Princess Casino, GA (Paulson)
Empress Casino, Joliet (Paulson)
Fitzgerald's Casino/Hotel, Reno (TRK, 1976 ed.)
Four Queens Hotel/Casino (Paulson, 1989 ed.)
Dunes Hotel/Casino (Paulson, house mold, 1989 ed.)
Horseshoe Casino, Gardena (Paulson)
Kings Crown, Las Vegas (TRK, fantasy)
Lakeshore Inn Resort, CA (Paulson)
Mapes Hotel/Casino, Reno (TRK)
Mardi Gras, fantasy (BCC, T-mold)
Mesquite Star, NV (Paulson, RHC mold)
Money Tree Casino, Reno (TRK)
Nevada Lodge, NV (TRK)
Olivia's Poker Hall, WA (Paulson, RHC mold)
Outpost Casino, CA (Paulson)
Pick Hobson's Riverside Hotel/Casino, Reno (TRK)
Player's Hotel/Casino, Reno (Paulson)
Pointe After Casino, WA (Paulson)
President Casino on the Admiral, St.Louis (Paulson)
President Casino New Yorker (Paulson, RHC mold)
The Riverboat, fantasy (BCC, web mold)
Riverside Hotel/Casino, Reno (TRK)
Royal Venture Cruise Line, GA (Paulson)
Savannah Sun, American Cruises (Paulson)
Silver Star Casino, Las Vegas (Paulson, 1978 ed.)
Starlite Cruses (Paulson)
Tropicana Hotel/Casino, Las Vegas (TRK, 1st ed.)
20th Century (Paulson, fantasy)
The Vineyard Casino, CA (Paulson, RHC mold)

Pics of nearly all can be found in either the PCF Gallery or the Poker Chip Pr0n forum.
Thank you so very much! And cost is always a concern, but we can always pick and choose our battles. We all make compromises in life and I am sure all chippers eventually settle on a set (or ten) that they like and can afford (or have to sell a kidney for). :ROFL: :ROFLMAO:
 
Kings Crown, Las Vegas (TRK, fantasy)

@BGinGA, you tag this as fantasy, here, but in the photos @Psypher1000 linked there's a King's Crowna casino set. Two different sets?

Also, I notice very few fantasy sets in your "top" list. Do you have a notional preference for casino sets over fantasy, or is that simply the designs you most liked?
 
@BGinGA, you tag this as fantasy, here, but in the photos @Psypher1000 linked there's a King's Crowna casino set. Two different sets?

Also, I notice very few fantasy sets in your "top" list. Do you have a notional preference for casino sets over fantasy, or is that simply the designs you most liked?

Although none of the King's Crown chips were ever used in a casino (aside of the relabeled Sharkey's chips), the original set was actually made for a casino (that never opened). The other sets (with different features) were made later, and are considered fantasy sets. I much prefer those to the originals.

Generally speaking, glossy inlays, faux-shaped inlays, shared colors/spots, and substandard molds don't carry much personal appeal, and many fantasy sets contain several of those attributes. The Horseshoe Casino Gardena (the original set that used many of those color/spot combos) still remains the best execution of those designs, along with textured shaped inlays with a classic design. The other fantasy sets in the list above typically use unique color/spot combinations; many have shaped textured inlays. Condition and availability also played a factor, as did evaluation of the $1, $5, and $20/$25 chips in particular (given the 'cash set' criteria).

A few other older fantasy sets came close, but did not make the cash set cut (Deadwoods, Samurai Palace, Noirs, Le Cove). Two glaring (and intentional) omissions are ceramics and high-end plastic chips (B&G, Bud Jones, RTP, Abiatti, Matsui, etc.), along with RHC chips containing faux-shaped inlays. Only one hot-stamped set made the list. There are also several fantastic tournament sets that are not included here.

No one was more surprised than me to see not one, but five RHC-mold sets make the list, and all with oversize inlays. I strongly suspect none would be on a slimmed-down top twenty list. :)
 
@kk405 - another handy tidbit: the sets that @BGinGA posted can all reasonably be expected to maintain value or appreciate. No guarantees, of course (maybe next year, everyone quits poker), but it's perfectly reasonable to expect money spent on them to be in a collectible asset that will maintain value, as long as you don't put heavy wear on the chips. The prices are likely to go up over time to at least match inflation, and some sets will go up in value if something makes them "hot" to the market. (Like being featured in a popular film.) This also means that you may find them on Craigslist or a garage sale and score an incredible value.

Ceramics, unless they were originally from a casino, or were made on a mold no longer in use (such as the Chipco concave chips) don't appreciate, because the design can simply be re-printed on new ceramic blanks on demand. If customized, they are even less likely to hold value, because a potential next owner is unlikely to want the same customization. (But you never know... there's a thread here on the forums for lovers of hot-stamps to post their initials, so that chippers can look out for each other when looking at old troves of hot-stamped chips, which show up periodically.)
 
That first one looks nice, I will say. the next nine are good but they don't resonate with me as well.
Ha! I feel exactly the opposite. In the Players Hotel Casino set, three of the chips have the same spot pattern and the fourth is close enough to make them all look the same. Kinda gives me a headache.
The other nine on the list are awesome.
image.jpg
 
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Ha! I feel exactly the opposite. In the Players Hotel Casino set, three of the chips have the same spot pattern and the fourth is close enough to make them all look the same. Kinda gives me a headache.
The other nine on the list are awesome.
View attachment 74757

Forgot the Argosy Riverside. Those I like too, but in some of the cases I think you are either joking or intentionally trolling me.

The Lake Elsinore chips are almost useless, why in the name of Jesus Christ would you need $1, $2, $3, $4 and $5 chips? Even if we accept limit sets, the $2 chip virtually renders the $4 chip pointless. also the top set of the Aladdin chips are hard to read the denominations because of the background design.

The King's crown chips are okay but after seeing the Metronome chips, I just like those worlds better.
 
No, I'm not trolling you, though I've been meaning to, for your love of those spades chips. But obviously we have very different tastes.
And no, there's no need for $2, $3, and $4 dollar chips, but I'd be good using the $1, $5, and $25 in that set.
I like inlays with a fairly simple, Cassie sort of look.
 
There's a simple answer. I am a metal person first and foremost. Hell, I had two cats I named after metal-related songs or bands, one of said names I may end up making a custom chip for (I literally just got an idea a couple of days ago I think might work), because some of the people here have incredibly good designs. I would extrapolate further but I'm not about to cross any lines or violate any community standards by stating about my feelings about wanting to date or pursue other activities with goth chicks.

The real critical point though came about when a person who I have been friends with for 7 1/2 years took one look at the design and even with her not being a poker player, she openly said to me that she would be willing to learn Texas Hold 'em on the contingency that we used THOSE chips. That was the point when it came from being a "wow, these are just cool chips" to a must-buy. This is someone who I probably will be friends with until I am dead, so yeah.

Those are awesome designed chips and while they aren't Paulsons (heaven forbid, some of us don't have 4 digits to plunk down on just poker chips), they will likely serve my needs just fine. I know I could do a full custom at that price on ceramic chips, but I have yet to be able to put my design to paper.

But yeah, at least 3 of those designs are actually worse than the designs I have seen just on this forum. I like the Majestics more than them and I had problems with the labels not being consistent.
 
Hey, I'm no Ritchie Rich. I bought Paulsons after a lot of reading and a bunch of samples and a bunch of incremental budget increases.
I was gonna go with China clays because that's all I could reasonably afford. I couldn't decide between majestics and milanos. Then I decided that for the extra money, ceramics were worth it. But I couldn't decide between Nile clubs or Veneratis. And when I decided that spending the extra on Veneratis was worth it, I figured it might be worth spending a bit more on Scrolls.
While I was debating exactly how much to spend on ceramics, I ordered some Paulson samples. When I got my hands on those, I figured if I was gonna spend 75 or 80 cents apiece on good ceramics, it was definitely worth upping that to a buck apiece on Paulsons.
Then about a month later, I came into an extra grand, and over a period of a few weeks, I spent it on about 450 paulsons, building a small mixed casino cash set. Because I figured if I was gonna spend a buck apiece on Paulsons, I might as well spend $1.50-$2.50 apiece on good paulsons that I really liked.
I didn't spend big money on Paulsons because I have money to waste. I chose to splurge on them after a lot of careful consideration and plenty of silly rationalizations.
Since then, I've probably dropped another grand on a good sized set of Cleveland Horseshoes that includes higher denoms I can use for tournaments. I bought those because Poker chips in general and Paulsons in particular are addicting. But it's not because I have money to burn. I don't. I haven't bought any new clothes in a while, and I haven't gone to any shows or concerts or ball games in a long time either.
 
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Haven't seen a good Paulson go for less than $1.50 each, if you really want to talk price. I might be able to get HS Cincinnati for a decent cost and my final set will be Paulsons until I generate custom chips. I am going to have to work first. But yes, there were reasons for me to go with it and much feedback from people who I want to teach the game for was my rationale. Originally I was going to do NJ Saloon for the last ones, but the Aztars really impressed me.

Also it never hurts to ask for a discount from people. I actually managed to knock it down to 65c a piece for my Wicked Spades. I wouldn't have tried it at 80c.
 
Hey, I'm no Ritchie Rich. I bought Paulsons after a lot of reading and a bunch of samples and a bunch of incremental budget increases.
I was gonna go with China clays because that's all I could reasonably afford. I couldn't decide between majestics and milanos. Then I decided that for the extra money, ceramics were worth it. But I couldn't decide between Nile clubs or Veneratis. And when I decided that spending the extra on Veneratis was worth it, I figured it might be worth spending a bit more on Scrolls.
While I was debating exactly how much to spend on ceramics, I ordered some Paulson samples. When I got my hands on those, I figured if I was gonna spend 75 or 80 cents apiece on good ceramics, it was definitely worth upping that to a buck apiece on Paulsons.
Then about a month later, I came into an extra grand, and over a period of a few weeks, I spent it on about 450 paulsons, building a small mixed casino cash set. Because I figured if I was gonna spend a buck apiece on Paulsons, I might as well spend $1.50-$2.50 apiece on good paulsons that I really liked.
I didn't spend big money on Paulsons because I have money to waste. I chose to splurge on them after a lot of careful consideration and plenty of silly rationalizations.
Since then, I've probably dropped another grand on a good sized set of Cleveland Horseshoes that includes higher denoms I can use for tournaments. I bought those because Poker chips in general and Paulsons in particular are addicting. But it's not because I have money to burn. I don't. I haven't bought any new clothes in a while, and I haven't gone to any shows or comerts or ball games in a long time either.

^^^^^ Classic slide down the slippery slope. :)
 
You see, I went to test drive a three year old Civic at the dealership, but the more I thought about it, it only made sense to buy a new Tesla.
That is precisely why they put a Tesla showroom next to each Honda dealership :D
 
.... why in the name of Jesus Christ would you need $1, $2, $3, $4 and $5 chips?

Twos and threes are sometimes used for limit games. Threes and fours are most often used as drop chips, so -- unless you keep a large 3/6 limit set using threes (as I do, because I love the orange Ace's $3s), they're rarely seen outside casinos, and rarely available in quantity.

But "moar chips" is always better -- and sets with many denominations, even mostly worthless ones like $10 and $50, provide more eye candy and more flexibility for people with oddly structured games.

AFAIK, Jesus Christ didn't even own a set of poker chips, but he was definitely a gambler, and he did roll stones.
 
why in the name of Jesus Christ would you need $1, $2, $3, $4 and $5 chips? Even if we accept limit sets, the $2 chip virtually renders the $4 chip pointless.
Not really. The $1 and $5 are obvious. As for the 2, 3, and 4, Cali card rooms frequently spread a variety of limit games. The $2 and $3 chips would be use for $4/$8 or $6/$12, respectively. The $4 could be used for $8/$16. The $3 or $4 could have been used as a drop chip. Even though a $2 chip *could* be used at any of the tables, you wouldn't normally see that - and if a dealer did see a $2 chip hit the pot of an $6/$12 game due to a player switching tables they would probably switch out the trip $2 chips with two $3 chips. Most casinos prefer to have the bets made all with the same base chip, and to keep the bet stacks consistent for immediate visual recognition of proper bet sizing.

"Why not just use the $2 chips for $8/$16?" To help manage table/rack space better.
 

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