Advice for a noobie on chips to get! (1 Viewer)

[Dradis]

Hi everyone! I am new to the forum and love learning all that i have so far. Never realized how much information there is on poker chips.
I am looking to get a good set of tournament chips about 1000 chips. Blinds will start at 25/50 probably 5k or 10k chips start. Usually have about 10 to 16 players on average. My budget I would say after looking threw this forum would be around 1000$. I have little over 1k dice chips but I want to get something nice to play with. I dont know brands of chips very well and looking for help to point me in the right directions. I did like the elite Paulson's (not sure if that's their name) also the mint collection on bbo poker was cool. If you have any advice for me I would be grateful!!

 

[SteveHNo96]

Hi everyone! I am new to the forum and love learning all that i have so far. Never realized how much information there is on poker chips.
I am looking to get a good set of tournament chips about 1000 chips. Blinds will start at 25/50 probably 5k or 10k chips start. Usually have about 10 to 16 players on average. My budget I would say after looking threw this forum would be around 1000$. I have little over 1k dice chips but I want to get something nice to play with. I dont know brands of chips very well and looking for help to point me in the right directions. I did like the elite Paulson's (not sure if that's their name) also the mint collection on bbo poker was cool. If you have any advice for me I would be grateful!!

Buddy, you came to the right place.


From my experiences, most chip sets can be divided into five categories: Casino chips, Ceramics, China Clays, Dice Chips and Store Chips.

If you're gonna buy store chips, don't waste your time. Don't waste my time. I don't like these.

Dice chips, you have some experience with. I'm going to just skip over those.

China Clays are often loved by many chip collectors, they're not too expensive and people use them for home games. I myself have been tempted a few times by them. They're not too expensive either, a good set will cost you about $200. Majestics are fairly popular and you can see them here: https://www.apachepokerchips.com/product/majestic-poker-chips/

Ceramics: These are the ones I have the most experience with. They're more durable than a regular poker chip and you can customize the hell out of them. They weigh about 10g each, so you don't have to worry about hauling 500-chip sets that weigh a ton. My favorite is the Wicked Spades because I love heavy metal although Dia De Los Muertos has been selling on this forum like a rash: You can find them at places like www.brpropoker.com, they run about $350 for 500 chips.
43mm ceramics have been hot also, and those run about $1 a chip if you buy 500.

Paulsons are harder to come by but once you get them you'll be happy you did. They come in different styles, some look really fancy and some people even take to labeling other chips to make a home game set. I don't know if they're going to get any in but Apache made a deal with Gaming Partners International to make a couple of sets and they're not too terribly priced: https://www.apachepokerchips.com/product/monaco-poker-chips/

OTOH, if you have $1000 and don't mind a fairly well used set,Apache has a set like the ones from the Lucky 21 Casino: https://www.apachepokerchips.com/product/500-lucky-21-casino-paulson-set/

 

[Sparty]

great advice above from @SteveHNo96

Get samples of everything you can before you buy.

https://brpropoker.com/ has some good deals if you like ceramics.
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/black-friday-flash-sale-nevada-jack-skulls.49841/page-2

The Classifieds are always full of great chips. Also, you can search threads, many new members have asked the same question over the years.

 

[SteveHNo96]

Definitely get samples, and in my opinion, never get anything of lower quality than China Clays.

Don't bother with dice chips, ones with laser inlays or 14g "CASINO WEIGHT" chips. Those will just bog you down.

Also this is just personal experience, but I don't like hot stamped chips.

I eventually will buy an actual Paulson set. Right now I have a GPI/Apache Monaco set, but am looking at eventually getting a full Paulson.

 

[allforcharity]

You don't need 1000 chips for 16 players. You may be able to get away with 500 or 600 in a reasonable tourney structure. And if your budget is $1000, that can get you some good stuff.

Get samples and/or seek out local chippers to get some first hand experience with a variety of chip types.

 

[Sparty]

You don't need 1000 chips for 16 players. You may be able to get away with 500 or 600 in a reasonable tourney structure. And if your budget is $1000, that can get you some good stuff.

Get samples and/or seek out local chippers to get some first hand experience with a variety of chip types.

@allforcharity brings up a great point. I'm all for "MORE CHIPS!", but the following (610 chip set) would work for a 10k starting stack for 20 players:

160 - T25s
160 - T100s
80 - T500s
160 - T1000s
50 - T5000s

610 total chips. Each player starts with 8/8/4/7 (T25/T100/T500/T1000). And you've got extra 1000s and 5000s for rebuys.

if you only had 13 (or less) players: you could use the above set and start players with 12/12/5/6 instead.

 

[Dradis]

Thanks for some quick replies so far! Taking what you all are saying. I order 3 samples so far. Ordered samples of majestics, bbr ceramics, and apache elite. I will order more samples if more are listed. Getting all excited to get them samples now!

 

[BGinGA]

I am looking to get a good set of tournament chips about 1000 chips. Blinds will start at 25/50 probably 5k or 10k chips start. Usually have about 10 to 16 players

My budget I would say after looking threw this forum would be around 1000$

looking for help to point me in the right directions.

If you have any advice for me I would be grateful!!

1. You don't need 1000 chips to cover the game you specified. 600 chips will work great, see below for breakdown.
2. A budget of $1000 for 600 chips works out to around $1.67 per chip. See below for quality chip options in that price range or less.
3. First step in your chip quest is to ask questions. [x] check. Next up is to get samples of chips in your price range, to determine what you actually like and dislike.

600 chips will support up to 20 players with starting stacks up to 20000 chips (12/12/5/6/x or 8/8/4/7/x), with extras for color-ups and re-buys:
160 x T25
160 x T100
80 x T500
140 x T1000
60 x T5000
------------
600 chips

BRProPoker offers stock, semi-custom, and full custom ceramic chips for reasonable prices. A 600 ceramic chip set (39mm, 10g) from BRPro will cost about 60c/chip for stock designs, 70c/chip for semi-custom designs, or 84c/chip for a totally one-of-a-kind custom design. Custom oversize 43mm chips cost 94c/chip. A 600-chip set of ceramics from BRPro will run between $360 and $564 plus roughly $20 shipping.

Sun-Fly offers several styles and sizes of stock ceramic chips, including specialty chips with mold markings (vintage/polyclay), and chips with a recessed center and laminated label (hybrid/polyinno). A set of 600 ceramic chips from Sun-Fly can cost anywhere between 50c/chip (stock 39mm design) up to 81c/chip for a stock 43mm hybrid chip design. Custom chips are also available (see web site for options), and generally run about 60c-70c per chip for most designs. A 600-chip set of ceramics from Sun-Fly will typically cost between $300 and $486, but with roughly $150 for overseas shipping.

Classic Poker Chips offers stock clay sets starting at 99c/chip (solids), $1.31/chip (hot-stamps), or $1.80/chip (inlays), and prices can escalate quickly for custom sets. CPC's chips with inlays are outside of your price range, but their Atlantic Club hot-stamped set is very nice, and a great bargain for an affordable high-end clay chip set. A 600-chip set of new clay chips (solids or hot-stamps) from CPC can be had for $600 to $800 plus roughly $30 shipping. 600 chips with inlays are likely to cost at least $1100 or more (and in some cases, a LOT more).

Paulson no longer manufactures chips for the home market, but lots of options exist on the secondary market for both new and used clay chips in your price range. Check the PCF Classifieds section for listings, along with the site vendors here who often offer chips on their respective forums in the PCF Marketplace.

https://brpropoker.com/
https://www.apollonchips.com/
https://www.sunflycasinochips.com/casino-chips.html
http://classicpokerchips.com/

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/forums/poker-chip-forum-classifieds.25/
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/#marketplace.20