Thanks all for the replies. BG do you have any suggestions on a place where I can find 1,000 chips of decent quality and price range of about $100-$150?
There are some decent options around the 15c/chip mark -- not premium chips, but not premium prices, either.
First step is determining exactly how many chips you need, then figuring out the best long-term way to spend your chip budget.
What game(s) do you host/run? Cash, tournaments, both? How many players (typical, maximum, future)? If cash, what stakes? If tournaments, what starting stack size and total time allotment?
Those all determine the optimal set breakdown for your specific needs. You may need more than 1000 chips, or you may need far less. With additional info, we can help assess your specific requirements.
I’m not sure I agree with the premise that slippery chips would have anything to do with a good poker experience... Can you elaborate?
Certainly. There are basically two categories of poker chips -- those that enhance the experience, and those that detract from it.
A chip set doesn't have to cost thousands of dollars to have a positive influence on the overall experience. And some expensive chips are downright horrible to play with. Money literally means nothing -- it's all about good design.
But poorly-designed chips -- identified by several charteristics, see below -- can be a constant reminder and irritant that can infringe on an otherwise good experience.
So what chips are poor choices, that can negatively affect the poker experience?
Slippery chips are the number #1 experience killer, but not the only one. Zombie hit on several of the reasons why slippery chips cause frustration, but it's mostly because people will spend a large amount of time dealing with needless 'chip issues', almost all of which can be easily avoided by simply avoiding slippery chips in the first place.
Chips can also exibit poor design when it comes to color choices, denomination style and size, and readability. All of these negatively affect game play, and detract from the experience. When players cannot readily determine the value of chips or readily distinguish chips from one another, it causes errors, wastes time, and generally degrades the experience.
Other poorly-designed equipment can also detract from a positive poker experience/environment -- a table surface that is either too slick, too hard, or with near-zero slide (making dealing or otherwise manipulating cards difficult), cards that are too 'sticky', too slick, or easily marked, or seating positions that are physically uncomfortable (like playing on a pool table). Just like subpar chips, all of those can make a poker session experience seem pretty poor.
But creating a positive poker environment doesn't need to be super-expensive. It just takes making the right choices within the given budget constraints.