Ceramics: Golden Dragon vs Turbo (1 Viewer)

[flippyflop89]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to make a review / comparison post after receiving a couple sample packs of poker chips. I wish I had found something like this so paying it forward for the next person. Message me for more pics if you want.

Golden Dragon Ceramics:
These have a really nice design and I love the colors. The texture is there but more of a fine gritty feel than some sort of raised etching or anything. They feel nice and smooth around the edges without any obvious tab feels. These were originally at the top of my list because I wanted to semi custom them by swapping the quarter and 1 colors. Having planned a .25/1/5/10/50 set I wanted to adjust a few things about the denominations.

Turbo Ceramics:
Clearly an EPT "tribute" but man I love this design. Also at half the cost I wanted to give them a shot. They are bright with sharp contrast where needed. They definitely have more of a linen / cross etched texture and aren't quite as slippery as the GDs. I did compare a couple where one would be less textured than others but the feel difference is slight and not enough of an issue to change my mind on them. Just noticeable a bit. Edges are also very smooth and have no noticeable tabs on them.

Honestly if you hadn't told me the prices I wouldn't know which one was more costly. The Turbos are my favorite anyway and it helps that they are cheaper but both would have made me a happy camper. The color on the GDs isn't bad by any means but the Turbos just seem to have a really quality color to them. They are brighter / bolder.

Definitely not an expert and newer to the forum but I am happy I bought samples. I don't think either would have dirty stack issues. There are a few similars but they aren't close in denominations. Like the Turbo .25 and 100 might be confusing from the side, or maybe the purples and pinks? I think both sets are pretty safe although i did not get the orange semi custom GD so maybe that would be close to the red or something.

Pics attached

 

[studog]

Lookit me, a new chipper, gettin' paid! I've looked at both those sets. Your post is a big help. Thanks!

My complaints:
Golden Dragon doesn't go quite high enough in denominations.
Turbo doesn't have the standard colour set. Also the amount of digits on the high denominations is a bit too busy.

I'm currently considering Laurel Crowns. They are "standardly available" so adding on later won't be an issue. They have the standard colour set (Vegas). They have a wider variety of denominations, including some higher values. And I like how they look.

What I'd ideally be able to buy is replica The Lodge chips, which have the super-bright colours.

 

[DuckFat]

I have a 1500 set of turbos that I use weekly. Everyone says it's nice and they like it. The only rare complaint is the chips are slippery. They are more slippery than clays most people are accustomed to (especially the grimy sticky ones that some people don't clean). You can make tall stacks that won't move but with people bumping into the table, excitement, table slamming, card throwing, any stack over the standard 20 is likely to fall.

The colors don't cause any confusion unlike some clays with huge edge spots (King's Casino). The gray 1 and green 25 are the most likely to get mixed up in a dirty stack but not often.

Turbo doesn't have the standard colour set. Also the amount of digits on the high denominations is a bit too busy.

.25, 10, and 50 aren't standard denominations so those colors don't matter. Why order these anyway? Microstakes games can use the green 25 for 0.25. 10 and 50 are just weird to use.
There is no standard color for chips above 1000
The only non-standard color in the set is the blue 500 which I don't mind

I originally thought it would've been better if they used the 50 purple color for the 500 chip. But since my 100, 500, and 1000 chips actually come into play during a cash game I can tell you from experience that the color contrast is appreciated. A purple 500 would stand out against the black and yellow chips, but the light blue stands out more and it's grown on me. A purple 500 might be too similar to the pink 5000 (those haven't come into play, yet)

My only complaint is with the 1000 banana chip, the white 1000 on the yellow background makes the number essentially vanish.

 

[studog]

There is no standard color for chips above 1000
The only non-standard color in the set is the blue 500 which I don't mind

I didn't know that; I've seen 5,000 as pink a lot. The purple 500 is a must have though.

My only complaint is with the 1000 banana chip, the white 1000 on the yellow background makes the number essentially vanish.

I hadn't really noticed that until you pointed it out. Thanks!

 

[DuckFat]

I didn't know that; I've seen 5,000 as pink a lot. The purple 500 is a must have though.

You might be able to ask them to make a purple 500 if you want this set. I didn't think about it when I ordered. Aria and Bellagio use a white 5k chip with red and blue markings, they're called 5k flags, I think the closest thing they have to a pink chip is the 25k raspberry. Caesar's casinos use an ugly brown for 5k if I remember that correctly.

 

[flippyflop89]

I have a 1500 set of turbos that I use weekly. Everyone says it's nice and they like it. The only rare complaint is the chips are slippery. They are more slippery than clays most people are accustomed to (especially the grimy sticky ones that some people don't clean). You can make tall stacks that won't move but with people bumping into the table, excitement, table slamming, card throwing, any stack over the standard 20 is likely to fall.

The colors don't cause any confusion unlike some clays with huge edge spots (King's Casino). The gray 1 and green 25 are the most likely to get mixed up in a dirty stack but not often.


.25, 10, and 50 aren't standard denominations so those colors don't matter. Why order these anyway? Microstakes games can use the green 25 for 0.25. 10 and 50 are just weird to use.
There is no standard color for chips above 1000
The only non-standard color in the set is the blue 500 which I don't mind

I originally thought it would've been better if they used the 50 purple color for the 500 chip. But since my 100, 500, and 1000 chips actually come into play during a cash game I can tell you from experience that the color contrast is appreciated. A purple 500 would stand out against the black and yellow chips, but the light blue stands out more and it's grown on me. A purple 500 might be too similar to the pink 5000 (those haven't come into play, yet)

My only complaint is with the 1000 banana chip, the white 1000 on the yellow background makes the number essentially vanish.

I just got my set in and love them. I'm doing more of a micro stakes denomination for mimicking T25 tournament play so the 10 and 50 are great for me (.25/1/5/10/50). I also bought 25s so id have good ratios for cash games (.25/1/5/25)

Also the yellow I got in the sample has a black background now in the center. Looks way easier to read than some old pics I've seen online. I can send you a pic tomorrow if you want to see it.

 

[DuckFat]

I just got my set in and love them. I'm doing more of a micro stakes denomination for mimicking T25 tournament play so the 10 and 50 are great for me (.25/1/5/10/50). I also bought 25s so id have good ratios for cash games (.25/1/5/25)

Also the yellow I got in the sample has a black background now in the center. Looks way easier to read than some old pics I've seen online. I can send you a pic tomorrow if you want to see it.

I also made my set into a hybrid when I added 500 chips to the initial 1000. Got more 100s, and added 500, 1k, 5k, 10k. I don't know if I'll ever run a tournament but I won't come close to running out of chips during a cash game again.

The center number was never a problem. The it's 4 1000s in the yellow area

 

[flippyflop89]

I also made my set into a hybrid when I added 500 chips to the initial 1000. Got more 100s, and added 500, 1k, 5k, 10k. I don't know if I'll ever run a tournament but I won't come close to running out of chips during a cash game again.

The center number was never a problem. The it's 4 1000s in the yellow area

Nice, yeah I think even playing with a SS of like $200 will be an adjustment for the guys. Figured 20k was going to be too hard to wrap their heads around, but we play tournament style rules / payout anyways so I'm glad to hear others had similar plans. Yeah I hear ya on the yellows. I didn't get those in bulk so not too worried yet. Honestly if I decide to really start doing more tournaments I might just get a second (different) set of chips so the cash chips (turbo's) don't every get mixed up with the other set. I trust my friends but might as well reduce temptation.

 

[Old State]

Turbo…because I will never understand the attraction to “fantasy” casino named chips etc. For me if I’m not going full custom I want a generic design.

 

[MrBoosh]

Great review! I love my Turbo tournament set! I feel that they are highly underrated as a more budget friendly set. I actually prefer the feel of the Turbos over the Tina no molds samples that I have. I must agree that the only complaint I would have might be that the yellow 1000 is a little bright for reading the white on the chip. If that could be adjusted then I would have no issues with them. That being said, the yellow 1000 is really not that big of an issue at all.