First Poker Set Buying Advice (1 Viewer)

sheslikeice

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Hey Guys,

I'm looking to buy a set of chips for NLHE cash games $1/2 - $5/10 (6-8 players), and was hoping to get some recommendations on the cheaper side. I got sample sets of the Poker Knights chips and Majestic chips from Apache, and I'm having trouble deciding if I like the heavier chips.

I'm currently considering the Showdown chips (13.5g, $0.16/chip), Milanos (10g, $0.34/chip), and Majestics (10g, $0.42/chip), all from Apache. My plan was to buy 1k chips in the following breakdown:

150 x $1
550 x $5
200 x $25
75 x $100
25 x $500

My biggest issue with the heavier chips was they look substantially worse and seem to be imperfect. Sometimes the top edges hang out a bit too much, or the side isn't perfectly smooth. Additionally, the sample set I had has two chips with off center stickers. Is this just what happens when you buy cheaper chips? Are the Majestics really worth 2.5x the price? The Majestics certainly look way sharper and brighter than the cheaper chips. That being said, shuffling them has a light clicking sound as opposed to the heavy thuds of the 13.5g chips.

Any advice on this or other recommendations would be appreciated. I'd prefer to spend less than $300 on the 1k chips, but I would be okay going higher if it really was worth it.
 
Welcome to the forum!

My first "real" set of chips (before finding this forum) were the Milanos. They work great and I am sure the others will work nicely as well. I would check the classifieds to see if anyone is wanting to sell their old sets that you are looking for. This way you will get them cheaper and you can fill in the holes in whatever set you are looking to get.
 
Some opinions...

Sometimes the top edges hang out a bit too much, or the side isn't perfectly smooth.
I had some of those Claysmith chips and I rubbed off that extra 'seam' on the edge of the chip with one of those green dish scubbie pads. Worked well for me.

Additionally, the sample set I had has two chips with off center stickers. Is this just what happens when you buy cheaper chips?
Yep. But it certainly isn't limited to the cheaper Claysmiths. There's a good chance you'll also encounter that with the Majestics. It's pretty easy to reseat a missaligned label with an xacto blade or pocket knife.

The Majestics certainly look way sharper and brighter than the cheaper chips.
There are several designs in the cheap Claysmith line that use brighter colors than the Showdowns. Mints come to mind.
 
Sometimes I have to remind myself that logic isn't a deciding factor. For example, I just can't fathom that you play NL 5/10 and you're limiting yourself to $300 for a chip set. But I guess it's just as obtuse as me playing 25c/25c with a set of chips worth $4k...

But one piece of advice I wish I took early on is that if you buy a cheap set then you're paying for them. If you buy the right expensive set (e.g. ex casino) then at worst you're renting them and at best you'll sell them for a profit.
 
I'd suggest getting some more samples. Many of us here pulled the trigger on entry level set like you mentioned, only to wish we hadn't a few months later and were back buying something more expensive, and it's hard to offload the types of chips like you mentioned to the secondary market at what you paid for them. If you're sometimes running a $5/$10 game you might find yourself in that category, too.

You may also want to consider ceramics like the Tiki Kings, although they are a little more expensive (.50-60c)than the other options you are looking at : https://www.brpropoker.com/store/p5/Tiki_Ceramic_Poker_Chip.html
 
FWIW, my first set were Claysmith Mints. Very pretty colors and I still like the label design. But in the end I just thought they were too heavy and clankey so moved up to Milanos (and then to Paulson Starbursts... and then... and then... :rolleyes: ).

Now for a little rarely-seen-on-PCF Claysmith pr0n:

2017-02-20 20.04.42.jpg

2017-02-20 19.59.34.jpg

2017-05-28 16.45.16.jpg
 
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Sometimes I have to remind myself that logic isn't a deciding factor. For example, I just can't fathom that you play NL 5/10 and you're limiting yourself to $300 for a chip set. But I guess it's just as obtuse as me playing 25c/25c with a set of chips worth $4k...

But one piece of advice I wish I took early on is that if you buy a cheap set then you're paying for them. If you buy the right expensive set (e.g. ex casino) then at worst you're renting them and at best you'll sell them for a profit.
We must have spent too much time together yesterday - exact same thought at the exact same time :)
 
Thanks for the advice! The NL 5/10 would actually be a 0.05/0.10 game with my friends (basically play with the chips being cents, not dollars). I have another group I like to play with that plays 1/2, or occasionally a smaller 2/5 game. I just wanted a versatile set of chips that could cover both games.

The $300 dollar "budget" was a little arbitrary, and not at all a hard cap. It's just my first foray into the world of non-Walmart type chips and I didn't want to make a costly purchase that I'm unhappy with. I also don't know if I'd get enough use out of Paulsons to justify the $1.5-2 / chip (as nice as they are). That being said, if they really are worth it, it's not like they're unaffordable.

A couple follow up questions:

For people who own the Milanos, do you not find them a little dull / ugly compared to chips like the Majestics? Would you mind posting a picture of a used set so I can compare? The online pictures on Apache really don't look great imho.

I considered the Royals, but I don't like them because the pattern on the chip isn't consistent. Definitely just my personal preference, but I don't like anything more than color change between denominations. Is there some difference between them and the Majestics (besides size and of course the look) that I'm unaware of that makes them superior?

Given my ideal games (listed in original post), would you recommend a different distribution of chips, or maybe a smaller set in general?
 
FWIW, my first set were Claysmith Mints. Very pretty colors and I still like the label design. But in the end I just thought they were too heavy and clankey so moved up to Milanos (and then to Paulson Starbursts... and then... and then... :rolleyes: ).

Now for a little rarely-seen-on-PCF Claysmith pr0n:

View attachment 376268
View attachment 376267


Yeah, claysmith pr0n. :tup:

IMG_20190210_093650.jpg
 
Something else to consider is the security of your game. Are you worried about someone buying a sleeve of chips for inexpensive and sneaking them into play?
 
Something else to consider is the security of your game. Are you worried about someone buying a sleeve of chips for inexpensive and sneaking them into play?

It has crossed my mind, but I trust the people I play with... Perhaps if I'm expending to include people I don't already have a relationship with I would think about going custom (or at least something harder to get).
 
All I'll say is that if you have a semi-regular game, and you peruse this site for any amount of time, you will move on from the Milanos/Majestics VERY quickly. I'd just skip them. Not because they don't do the job (Milanos were my first non-dice set, and I still have them). There are just better options out there for not THAT much more money.

No one's demanding that you buy a set of Jack's or Aurora Star, but a 1,000 piece Milano set (which is what I have) will most likely eventually just become a dust collector on a shelf. They're hard to resell, and once you get something better, you won't find yourself putting the cheap stuff back in play.
 
All I'll say is that if you have a semi-regular game, and you peruse this site for any amount of time, you will move on from the Milanos/Majestics VERY quickly. I'd just skip them. Not because they don't do the job (Milanos were my first non-dice set, and I still have them). There are just better options out there for not THAT much more money.

No one's demanding that you buy a set of Jack's or Aurora Star, but a 1,000 piece Milano set (which is what I have) will most likely eventually just become a dust collector on a shelf. They're hard to resell, and once you get something better, you won't find yourself putting the cheap stuff back in play.

Appreciate the advice. I think I'll just keep playing with my shit chips for now and use the samples as shuffle stacks :) Time to start looking out for good deals on Paulsons I guess :D
 
For 6 to 8 players you don't need anywhere near 1000 chips. Get a smaller set of nicer chips.

This is another factor and a good point. I know you mentioned that you may want to spread various stakes, but if you put some thought into your set breakdown in terms of what denominations and quantities of each that you need, you'll probably find that 1,000 is way more than you need.
 
For 6 to 8 players you don't need anywhere near 1000 chips. Get a smaller set of nicer chips.
^- this.. just get chips you can add on to in the future.. because even if you don't "need" them now, you'll want more chips later.. ;)
If you don't mind used Paulsons in good condition you can get some in the $1 per range (Horseshoe Clevelands are a good example).
 
Just a real quick and rough breakdown idea:

Nickel game
100 x 5 - ante chip
200 x 25 - workhorse chip
200 x 100 - value chip
20 x 500 - just in case bank chip

Quarter game
100 x 25
200 x 100
200 x 500
20 x 2500 (or whatever)

Dollar game
100 x 1
200 x 5
200 x 25
20 x 100

Merge all that together
100 x 1
200 x 5
200 x 25
200 x 100
200 x 500
20 x 2500

But really what I'd suggest is to rethink the nickel game and consider bumping it up to .25/.25. Then you can build a set without the divide-by-100 denomination overlaps and just go with a simpler (and ultimately smaller) 25¢/$1/$5/$25 set.

My crew started with a nickel game and immediately agreed that the stakes were just too low. There was a lot of 'Sure - I'll call it's only pocket change'. Even with the same $20 buy-ins, we found the quality of play is much better in a quarter game vs a nickel game. YMMV
 
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I agree that you should buy a step above your first instinct, because you'll be doing it in a few months anyway. I haven't made the jump to Paulson's yet but it's coming.

I had a custom set of ceramics made and I love them. It's a good price point for entry level plus you don't have to worry about chip security bc they're unique to you.
 
Really appreciate that breakdown advice. I'm thinking a ~500 chip set might be a better move for now. I'm not worried about the nickel game having a low standard of play. We're playing 99% for ego, and people really take it seriously. I'd estimate all but 2 of them would be a winning 1/3 live player. That group has been doing $10 buyin STTs (75% first, 25% second) and would like to try out the cash game structure.

I was thinking something like:
100x $1
200x $5
200x $25
75x $100
25x $500

Might work better for me. At 600 total chips, it's a smaller set too which should keep price down.
 
I'd also consider game security a real thing. If you buy easily obtainable chips they are easy to counterfeit or for chips to be introduced that aren't yours. This also isn't a sleight at your players but it's just something I like to be keen of. I'd say to do some royals if you want a budget option and put some semi custom labels on those bad boys. Apache can hook you up with chips and Gene over at ABC with some labels.
 
Appreciate the advice. I think I'll just keep playing with my shit chips for now and use the samples as shuffle stacks :) Time to start looking out for good deals on Paulsons I guess :D
i echo the you dont need 1000 chips. proper breakdown on chips allows you to have a massive bank with 400 chips.

example would be

100-$1
200-$5
80-$20
20-$100

That's a $4700 bank. how much have you had on your table with 6-8 players?

I have a casino used mixed paulson set and 3/4 of them where under $0.80/chip
 
Hello and welcome!

Try and gers samples of everything you're considering. It's a hedge against spending on something you might not like soon after you get it. You don't need $2 a chip to get good quality.
 
Hello and welcome!

Try and gers [sic] samples of everything you're considering. It's a hedge against spending on something you might not like soon after you get it. You don't need $2 a chip to get good quality.

shelikesice,

Above is probably some of the best advice you can get anywhere on this forum.

It sounds as though it is stating the obvious and more like a generalization but there are actually a lot of choices out there, even among the economical bracket.

You mentioned only some brands but do take some time to consider other options.

If you are not in any hurry to cobble up a a set for your home games (and really you should not be in any hurry), then make do with what you are currently using

In the interim, take the time to secure samples of different chips.

For example, ceramics such as those from PCF site vendor ABC Gifts & Awards or even those from Sunfly are very, very good chips at a price point that won't break the bank.

They say you don't know what you don't know, and that has certainly been true with my personal journey in chipping. And it is very wise words from @allforcharity to taste test and sample the full menu so you don't end up with buyer remorse by limiting yourself doggedly to just a few options.
 
The advice in here is really good. Most of us initially upgraded from crappy, non-denominated dice chips to something like claysmith or Milanos. And initially, it was a big upgrade over crappy Walmart chips. Having denominations on the chips is the bare minimum, in my opinion, to make a game playable. And those kinds of chips are cheap and definite upgrades.

But most of us fairly quickly realized the claysmith/Milano/majestic chips are not only cheap, they are.....cheap. They don’t stack that well. They don’t shuffle that well. They don’t feel or sound right. And so most of us eventually took the plunge into something better (I.e., Paulsons). So while it may seem like buying those cheap chips is a bargain compared to more expensive chips, the couple hundred bucks we dumped into that initial upgrade is forever gone. Those chips won’t ever make it back to our tables. And they are really tough to sell, even at a big discount.

Like most that have posted in here, I’d recommend just going for a cheaper set of Paulsons. The road house chips, cincy horseshoes, lucky 21s or Aransas Queens can all be found in the $1-1.50/chip range, especially for the lower denominations. And those chips, unlike claysmiths or Milanos, can probably be resold later for roughly what you bought them for.
 
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My order of preference on a budget would be:
1) New stock design CPC’s direct from CPC
2) Lightly used stock design CPCs
3) Used Paulsons

I think new/mint CPCs are much better than quite worn Paulsons (I’ve had both) and can be had at really good prices of under $2/chip.

I wouldn’t bother with any plastic or ceramic chips (including China clays, which are plastic). To me when I play with those they feel no better than the dice chips from Costco. Sorry but that’s my opinion. New/mint CPCs/Paulsons feel like pure class.

That being said I’ve never tried Sunfly’s or BCC’s...

If you can play 2/5 or 5/10 I’m sure you can afford chips between 1-2 bucks a piece.
 

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