Good chip bad chip. (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Damo
- Start date
ekricket
Royal Flush
My opinion is this, a combo of these factors.
Material - not just what it’s made of but what’s in it too
Construction method
Prior use
Condition
Availability
PCF social acceptance - they claim they are inclusive and not elitist, yet they are here because they WON’T use dice chips anymore (they can, the chips themselves are “good enough”), they are just too horrid and it’s just such bad taste to use them, even though it’s literally the only chips some people can afford.
I know it sounds elitist, but they assure me they are not. I guess you could change this to “are they popular with the cool kids”. It’s not cool to hate on chips that are the only chips someone can afford to use to gamble with.
Material - not just what it’s made of but what’s in it too
Construction method
Prior use
Condition
Availability
PCF social acceptance - they claim they are inclusive and not elitist, yet they are here because they WON’T use dice chips anymore (they can, the chips themselves are “good enough”), they are just too horrid and it’s just such bad taste to use them, even though it’s literally the only chips some people can afford.
I know it sounds elitist, but they assure me they are not. I guess you could change this to “are they popular with the cool kids”. It’s not cool to hate on chips that are the only chips someone can afford to use to gamble with.
Thanks for that. I’m in a position where it’s hard to justify big money on a product that my friends care little about.
Construction wise, they all look like they’ll outlive me, so they’ll all do a job of being moved around a table every once in a while.
Also, living in Ireland, I have no realistic access to US products unless I can justify absorbing huge shipping costs, which I can’t.
Construction wise, they all look like they’ll outlive me, so they’ll all do a job of being moved around a table every once in a while.
Also, living in Ireland, I have no realistic access to US products unless I can justify absorbing huge shipping costs, which I can’t.
To add to @ekricket list, I’d say mold and inlay type:
Maker - Paulson typically valued more
Then within Paulson, THC are valued more than RHC
Smaller inlays are generally favored over large oversized promo inlays (Vineyards the most common one to buck that trend though)
Spot and color combo pattern of the chip - a lot of casinos have RHC with questionable and lazy spot patterns and colors, just kind of ‘meh’ functional. But when they get it right and put some design effort in, a similar RHC mold with decent spots and colors can be valued a lot more
Final note - beauty is in the eye of the degen. Check out this thread where pretty much all the sets would be close to or set the ‘expensive’ bar:
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/windwalker’s-chipping-journey-in-pr0n0graph1c-detail.60841/
Maker - Paulson typically valued more
Then within Paulson, THC are valued more than RHC
Smaller inlays are generally favored over large oversized promo inlays (Vineyards the most common one to buck that trend though)
Spot and color combo pattern of the chip - a lot of casinos have RHC with questionable and lazy spot patterns and colors, just kind of ‘meh’ functional. But when they get it right and put some design effort in, a similar RHC mold with decent spots and colors can be valued a lot more
Final note - beauty is in the eye of the degen. Check out this thread where pretty much all the sets would be close to or set the ‘expensive’ bar:
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/windwalker’s-chipping-journey-in-pr0n0graph1c-detail.60841/
TheYeti
Two Pair
Nobody here buys chips for their players, they buy them for themselves. Get whatever trips your trigger and is within your budget.
Jimulacrum
Full House
I don't see why folks can't just use a pile of cash to play with. Chips are overrated.
DrStrange
4 of a Kind
The difference between bad chips and ok chips is a big deal. Bad chips are slippery; can't be stacked and are hard to handle. Bad chips are hard to tell apart, more so to a color-blind player. "Dice" chips are the local standard for bad chips. But Walmart sells really bad chips too.
I have some sample chips meant to be a give-away who are not only super slippery but also break easily. Even so, the subject matter might make these chips desirable to the right buyer.
There are many options for someone looking for ok chips. A set that might run $100 +/- is likely plenty good enough for a low stakes game. "Tina" chips are a possibility. I think these could be most new members first stop. Most home game players can tell the difference between bad and OK. < kind of like the difference between bad wine and OK wine.>
For many of use, the vintage casino chip proves irresistible. It isn't as though they are that much better as a tool for gaming. Yet, the allure can be quite seductive. "Worth" is all in the eye of the beholder. An oh so elusive tropicana V1 set cost well into five figures if you can buy one at all. Are they really better than a Tina knockoff to anyone but the conseur?
Buy what makes you happy. I was plenty happy with my first "non-dice" chips for the first few years I had them. -=- DrStrange
I have some sample chips meant to be a give-away who are not only super slippery but also break easily. Even so, the subject matter might make these chips desirable to the right buyer.
There are many options for someone looking for ok chips. A set that might run $100 +/- is likely plenty good enough for a low stakes game. "Tina" chips are a possibility. I think these could be most new members first stop. Most home game players can tell the difference between bad and OK. < kind of like the difference between bad wine and OK wine.>
For many of use, the vintage casino chip proves irresistible. It isn't as though they are that much better as a tool for gaming. Yet, the allure can be quite seductive. "Worth" is all in the eye of the beholder. An oh so elusive tropicana V1 set cost well into five figures if you can buy one at all. Are they really better than a Tina knockoff to anyone but the conseur?
Buy what makes you happy. I was plenty happy with my first "non-dice" chips for the first few years I had them. -=- DrStrange
Well - i would never have multiple sets if i wouldn‘t have ‚my‘ players.
Good chips stack well, have denominations that are easily read, and each denomination is easily discernable from the others. Thats about it.
Expensive chips though? That's a whole different story. Manufacturer, material, and mold will affect how they look and feel, in addition to color choices, spot patterns and inlay art. And if we're talking about casino chips - which casino and where can make a difference. Those factors will determine if a chip is worth a dollar, ten dollars, or a hundred dollars to any individual collector. And that stuff is mostly subjective.
Those new faro dunes for example? A lot of people think they're a great deal at around $5 apiece and I don't disagree. But since I don't like hot stamps on spotted chips, I don't like fantasy chips, and I'm not a huge fan of the current paulson clay formula, I probably wouldn't buy them at any price. If that all sounds really nit-picky, that's my point - it's all subjective. But that's how we get to market prices and why one mint set of paulsons can be worth ten times as much as another set of mint paulsons.
Expensive chips though? That's a whole different story. Manufacturer, material, and mold will affect how they look and feel, in addition to color choices, spot patterns and inlay art. And if we're talking about casino chips - which casino and where can make a difference. Those factors will determine if a chip is worth a dollar, ten dollars, or a hundred dollars to any individual collector. And that stuff is mostly subjective.
Those new faro dunes for example? A lot of people think they're a great deal at around $5 apiece and I don't disagree. But since I don't like hot stamps on spotted chips, I don't like fantasy chips, and I'm not a huge fan of the current paulson clay formula, I probably wouldn't buy them at any price. If that all sounds really nit-picky, that's my point - it's all subjective. But that's how we get to market prices and why one mint set of paulsons can be worth ten times as much as another set of mint paulsons.
LeLe
4 of a Kind
If OP is just looking for poker chips as means of tools in poker, you should just go for the cheaper option, no point going into the expensive route if you not into it.
However, there’s still some good advise that which will helpful like
1. Get denominated chips, it help a lot and already a much improvement from dice chips without denominations
2. Get the right chips breakdown, u don’t need 1 & 2 in the same set, same as 5 & 10. You don’t want 50% of your chips in $1 If you are playing $1/$2, you will want more % to be allocated for the workhorse chips which will be the $5
3. Avoid certain colour combinations, make it colour blind friendly. You don’t want every denominations to be a shade of similar colour, it will just be a dirty stack nightmare
However, there’s still some good advise that which will helpful like
1. Get denominated chips, it help a lot and already a much improvement from dice chips without denominations
2. Get the right chips breakdown, u don’t need 1 & 2 in the same set, same as 5 & 10. You don’t want 50% of your chips in $1 If you are playing $1/$2, you will want more % to be allocated for the workhorse chips which will be the $5
3. Avoid certain colour combinations, make it colour blind friendly. You don’t want every denominations to be a shade of similar colour, it will just be a dirty stack nightmare
I was expecting to walk into an interrogation room.
The main difference is self worth, you can look at dudes chips and know if he is a nit or not.
Second thing I do is ask for a cup of coffee, if it’s a Kureeg ( cure - egg ) or a drip pot o swill, you know you’re in OMC’s house.
If you walk into $4 chips on the table you know he’s a scrub donkey, the question is how scrubby?
If they are using dice chips you know you don't even need to ask, the best reserve whiskey they have is Fireball.
Second thing I do is ask for a cup of coffee, if it’s a Kureeg ( cure - egg ) or a drip pot o swill, you know you’re in OMC’s house.
If you walk into $4 chips on the table you know he’s a scrub donkey, the question is how scrubby?
If they are using dice chips you know you don't even need to ask, the best reserve whiskey they have is Fireball.
Uh oh, was that an ad hominem?
We did that for years, cash & only cash played.
Most of the guys from my old games (if they were still around
) would give me so much shit for using any kind of chips.
Jimulacrum
Full House
The poker I grew up with was played for piles of coins (and the occasional bit of paper cash). We also didn't play table stakes; players were expected to put more cash in play or pull light if they ran out of cash. It more or less worked for my drunken kitchen-table games with crazy rules and wild cards with my family, but I would not want to play like this in general. Needless to say, there's a certain lack of rules and order in that kind of situation.We did that for years, cash & only cash played.
Most of the guys from my old games (if they were still around
Yep, we drew light all the time as well.
Nobody every failed to pay off either (ie: welsh on a bet, lookin' at you G-Man)
Mike Wells
3 of a Kind
Pretty bright colors
The options would be RHC or CPC solids. The issue with CPC is that it is moving (new orders will see a different process starting back in April), so there will be a much longer lag time on delivery for newly ordered chips.
You could see about members selling their CPC custom sets, DoubleEagle might part with his in this thread
I think we are going to see a bit of a low tide with chip sales. Then, I think the need will build up, and newer members will be buying anything available in the previously loved CPC custom sets until CPC can get back to a 6 to 8 month cycle. The urgency for quality opportunities for complete sets hasn't quite dried up yet.
I think CC via Tina satiates most of the new members, as they seem to prefer value over quality. However, as time goes on, the members who want higher-end chips will grow, and with supply down and demand up, well, you know that age-old story of boy meets girl...
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You’ll need to try and give us a rough budget you’re willing to spend, also most options will be US based, but also we have quite a few members in Europe who can advise on the local poker store type online options.
Budget clays would be vintage ASM chips. Most often solid colours and very limited molds. Often very cheap, though, at 0.20-0.40 per chip average. Semi-customizable if you have a drill press or bottom router and a line on custom printed stickers and are willing to put in a little work.
$400 won't go that far unless you find a local who'll give you a great deal. Which is OK, there's still plenty of chips available in that budget, but few that we forum snobs would get excited about.
Price with inexpensive chips is usually determined by the manufacturing technique / material composition. With lots of competition for cheaper chips, what's available segments pretty cleanly by price point (unlike say vintage clay, or historically notable clay, etc...)
But lower prices tend to come with less consistency or certainty. Will the chips be slippery or not? Will they have flashing left on the chips (flaky plastic left over from the molding), or will they be smooth? Will there be any "spinners" which are chips that aren't properly flat, resulting in uneven stacking...
I'd recommend spending some time watching Hobbyphilic's youtube channel. He's here on the forum and is the best in the game at presenting chips from different price points honestly with good footage and commentary. Whatever he's showing you'll be able to find online, especially those videos like "2025 chip buyers guide."
Lastly, chips don't make the game, people do! Obsessing over any material good while having an constrained budget is sure to lead to pointless agony. You'll have more fun playing with scraps of paper with your best friends than you will in a crummy game with people you don't like with an immaculate $12-per-chip Tiger Palace set.
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