Ceramics? Love'm or (1 Viewer)

[Pacificrim]

I’m looking start my own home game and to build a set within my budget.
Should I start with a cash game or tournament set? Or both?
thanks
Pacificrim

 

[BottomPair7]

To answer your initial question in the title -yes. I do love my ceramics for the price point and quality of them. My group really likes them too.
As far as cash vs tournament goes, I prefer cash. My group started with tournaments. It minimizes losses in some with a fixed buy-in, but that was the only benefit we had. I work weekends, so my game is on a Thursday night. Cash games let people come a little late if they need to, cash out early and buy back even if they bust and want to keep playing. My group changed from tournaments to cash and haven't looked back. We play 25¢/25¢ mostly NLTH.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

You're just asking for preferences. Whats your budget? And do you prefer to play cash or tournament?

 

[SteveEH]

If your budget is Ballin, get samples and decide for yourself. If your budget is limited, get ceramics.

I switched my game to cash years ago because I wanted people playing for the whole night.

 

[allforcharity]

Some ceramics are better than others.
Some plastics are vastly superior than others.
Compression clays are universally good, IMHO.

Get samples to evaluate for yourself.

 

[buzzmonkey]

Everything is subjective. Does your group play more cash or more tournaments? Is our budget 10 cents a chip, 80 cents a chip or several dollars a chip? Are you looking for something artistic or something classic looking? Have you gotten samples to see how each feels and stacks?

For me personally, I'm not a collector so I wanted my chips to play with. I wanted something custom both for security and aesthetics. My budget was under a dollar a chip for the set I needed. We play both tourneys and cash, but for a long time I was only hosting for cash so I bought a cash set. Later I started hosting tourneys and bought a couple custom tourney sets. I wanted the chip colors to be fairly precise. So for me the answer was Ceramics and I've been very happy with my Chipcos and then my BRPros.

 

[detroitdad]

I love them

 

[Darson]

View attachment 1184611

That’s a really nice ceramic set - one that isn’t trying to imitate clay and plays nicely with the theme.

 

[Old State]

My first custom chip set was a 1200 chip clay set from ASM (now CPC) 20 years ago. They only had one edge spot option then, were $1 each, and took about 5 months to get. Now they have all types of options but are a lot more expensive and still take as long to get.

After years of use, clay chips start to get tacky. At casino level if usage they get disgusting. ASM/CPC can’t be cleaned as aggressively as say Paulsons. Because of this I went with custom BRPRO ceramics for my next set. Unlimited artwork options, easy to clean, less than $1 each in bulk, and you get them in 2-3 weeks once the artwork is finalized.

I am enjoying the ceramics and got 43mm to make them more unique. I toyed with the idea of a new CPC set but can’t justify the cost …especially since I already own some.

I’m very much about the authentic casino feel and many casinos use ceramic chips. They have a lot of advantages.

 

[warma]

Ceramics, specifically cheap Tina/Alibaba ceramics have a critical role in the chipping kingdom:

They offer the ability to secure an inexpensive, customizable set that allow a host/chipper to validate their assumptions around set size, betting structure, and chip design or be more care-free about their chips.

Starting a new game? Shifting formats? Uncertain how many chips of each denom to buy? Want to see if you like a certain custom design or test-drive a casino set? Want a temporary set while you figure out your permanent set? In college or high school? In an environment where your chips could be lost/damaged/stolen?

Cheap ceramics are perfect.

If you want something of higher quality and more permanent, but still reasonable? Then quality ceramics (BR Pro Poker/CPC/SunFly) and even custom high-end plastics (SunFly/Matsui) could be a great deal.

 

[studog]

Cash games let people come a little late if they need to, cash out early and buy back even if they bust and want to keep playing.

Tournaments can allow later-comers, let people leave early (blind their stack down until they're out) and have rebuys.

The main advantage to a tournament over a cash game is the tournament has a defined ending time. Once the blinds are 33% 66% of all chips in play, both remaining players are all in every hand until someone wins.
With cash, you run into the problem of people wanting to keep going, because they're down, because they're up, because they're not tired. It can be tricky to nicely wrap up a cash game that didn't have a set end time when it started.

They are different beasts though. It's like asking which is better, the 5K marathon, or the 100m dash? They're both just running, right?

 

[improviseallday]

Ceramics, specifically cheap Tina/Alibaba ceramics have a critical role in the chipping kingdom:

They offer the ability to secure an inexpensive, customizable set that allow a host/chipper to validate their assumptions around set size, betting structure, and chip design or be more care-free about their chips.

Starting a new game? Shifting formats? Uncertain how many chips of each denom to buy? Want to see if you like a certain custom design or test-drive a casino set? Want a temporary set while you figure out your permanent set? In college or high school? In an environment where your chips could be lost/damaged/stolen?

Cheap ceramics are perfect.

If you want something of higher quality and more permanent, but still reasonable? Then quality ceramics (BR Pro Poker/CPC/SunFly) and even custom high-end plastics (SunFly/Matsui) could be a great deal.

FWIW I like the feel of BR Pro better but Tina/Chenglin's colors are too vibrant to pass up. I would make the same choice even if the prices were swapped.

 

[PlaidDragon]

FWIW I like the feel of BR Pro better but Tina/Chenglin's colors are too vibrant to pass up. I would make the same choice even if the prices were swapped.

Tina colors ARE pretty vibrant. I wonder though how they’ll hold up over time compared to higher grade ceramics like those of abc/brpro. I’ve had a set of the latter for years and it looks as good now as when they were new.

Time will tell.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Absolutely love my Tina 43mm ceramics for all the reasons listed: fully custom, cheap, and more room for the art and colors.

The Ice Cardroom set has a bunch of spinners in the lower denoms, 5c and 25c; dont know if that will get worse with age but time will tell. Doesnt bother me very much and love both purchases.

 

[exodus]

Ceramics are the best way to start getting into this hobby before jumping into the deep end of Paulsons. As for cash or tournament. It's really up to what your group is going to play or be used to playing. I ended up going with a cash game set, but I can use it as a T1 tournament set if I need to. My group tends to only play one format a night so there isn't any security risk.

 

[Pacificrim]

Absolutely love my Tina 43mm ceramics for all the reasons listed: fully custom, cheap, and more room for the art and colors.

The Ice Cardroom set has a bunch of spinners in the lower denoms, 5c and 25c; dont know if that will get worse with age but time will tell. Doesnt bother me very much and love both purchases.
View attachment 1185438View attachment 1185440

Two really nice sets you have there. I’m budgeting now for my first ceramic set.

You like the 43mm over the 39?

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Two really nice sets you have there. I’m budgeting now for my first ceramic set.

You like the 43mm over the 39?

I do. More room for art and people love the size. No complaints.

 

[springbox]

I really like the Sunfly Hybrids. I'm also a big fan of the Super Poker World art, but I just don't like the texture of unlabeled ceramic (BRPros) vs. clay. The price&customization vs. clay can't be beat though, for the exact same functionality.