Championship Poker Series (CPS) CHIPS REVIEW ??? (1 Viewer)

KingZilla

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If someone has posted a detailed review of these chips, please point me to the post. I have read both positive and negative comments about these chips made in numerous posts, but I've not seen a full critical review of them. If someone who owns these chips wants to take the time to do an objective review, it would be a good reference for any who are considering these. I'd really like a review of these compared not only to other China clays, but to Paulson chips. After all the goal with CC's was to mimic or come close to Paulsons. The crosshatching on these was something new to CC's so I'd like to hear more about that. I read one post elsewhere that the crosshatching was too "heavy".
Thanks in advance to anyone who will do this.
 
I think the easiest thing would be to order a sample for $10 or less and make your own decisions. Any given item can get great reviews, but might not be exactly what you want, making the other great reviews worthless in your needs.

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As for what I can add to a 'review', as for size, they might be marginally bigger (like barely noticeable) when compared to a Bellagio $1 cheque I have. The Bellagio has an oversized inlay, so there isn't as much textured area that the CPS chips have. I feel like if you want/are looking for the crisp, can almost cut your finger, sharp edge of a new Paulson, you won't find that with the CPS chips. They are ever so slightly rounded on the transition from top to sides. I can't compare to other China clays as I have not tried them before. Ultimately, get a sample, and get what suits, imo.
 
I got to put them into play once, for my last home game in Connecticut, before we move to Florida this Sunday. Initially the cross-hatching made shuffling difficult, as the chips would stick a bit too much. But continued play with them alleviated that issue.

While I can't provide you with an in-depth review, I will say that getting these at $0.25/chip was an amazing price and I'm very pleased with my purchase. I only got tournament chips, my favorites being the bright green 25 and bright orange 5,000 value chips, they REALLY pop as far as their colors go.

The black 100 and blue 500 chips can have some issues when splashed together in a pot given some color similarities, but it's not game breaking imo.
 
I've owned sets of Milanos, Pharaohs, and Desert Palms CCs in addition to CPS, plus casino used and new Paulsons. I could post a review later today or this week with some comparisons.
 
Mint Paulsons they most definitely aren't - if mint Paulsons are what you want, buy some. ;)

That said, I think they do compare pretty closely and favorably with heavily-used Paulsons feelwise (with a bit larger diameter and more weight than you'll find in a worn-down Paulson.) The crosshatching looks nice and creates a nice texture that makes them feel less plasticky, but also creates the occasional issue with chips sticking together or not being able to move across each other at certain angles, making them especially difficult to shuffle out of the box. Compared to other china clays they have their advantages and disadvantages (as worn Paulsons would) but the colors are second to none in the china clay market and almost stack up to the Paulson originals in that respect.
 
The 100's and 500's were the problem as far as too close on the colors that effected play on numerous occasions. Bought two racks of 500 cash chips and that solved the biggest problem. Oiled and cleaned they play well in a tourney. Sound is not anywhere close to what you were hoping for when shuffling but all that aside it was a steal on price.. the colors due look close to the WSOP set and really have been given praise overall in my game. I was not effected by the 1st run of chips as they fit perfect into the custom racks that were bought for them but the second batch that came posed some problems with certain denoms differing in size and affected the chip racks being able to support a full 20..... I will alternate sets to keep the games fresh as that's what a good chip snob will do but in all honesty I think the were worth the purchase when it was all said in done. Overall 7.9
 
My quick and dirty insights after having my CPS tourney set in play once:

PROS:
- Great bang for the buck.
- Colors, edgespots and labels look great.
- They have a nice feel thanks to the texturing.

CONS:
- The T500 base color is a little too close to the T100 for my liking. A couple of my players remarked that they couldn't quickly tell them apart when mixed in a pot.
- They don't all fit the Chipco racks that I ordered specifically for them. IIRC, the T25s were a good fit, T100s were super-tight, T500s could only get 19 to a row. Ultimately I switched over to wider racks.

Overall I'm happy with my purchase. For about $400 I've got a 1500 chip tourney set (with buttons and bounty chips) that can handle up to 50 people. I probably won't ever run a tourney that big, but it never hurts to be prepared. :)
 
I will say I had hoped the yellow 1K chip would be a deeper/richer yellow. But, it's certainly better than the typical extremely pale yellow you see with most china clays. They did well in that regard, but nowhere near as awesome as the orange 5K that just blows me away.
 
One thing that scares me a bit about the China Clays is the reports about flaking on Pharaohs/Desert Palms. I know it's a bit early in their life cycle but have you guys noticed flaking in your games thus far?
 
I have used (shuffled) mine many times while playing tourney's online, and no flaking at all.

They just get better and better with the shuffling.

I rotate the chips for each tourney, so I can pretty much keep the chips with the same amount of use.

Best China Clays I have ever had.........
 
Thanks to those who offered quick reviews/comments. Let me be clear. I've been in the chip community a long time. I have owned every type of chip out there, numerous sets of them. I can make my own decisions. What a review does is let me (and everyone else) know what a new chip or new type of chip is like. I was especially interested in these because of a NEW feature: crosshatching. As may be known there was a LOT of "hoopla" about these chips, so natural curiosity about the finished product should be expected. I am not lazy. I have been reading tons of posts and comments on these chips, but never a real critical or detailed review. All I got were "drive by" observations like some in this thread.
I actually used the reviews section on another chip forum over the years, many times. It helped me become more informed and to make decisions occasionally. I just thought that a chipset with all the anticipation (and subsequent sales) such as this one had, would merit such a review. I will not be buying any CPS chips. I will be following the new offering by Apache of another China clay with a new mold that is in the concept stage right now.
 

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