Hi from Australia (4 Viewers)

Gongalope

Gongalope

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Hey. Long time lurker. First time poster..

Here to learn more about some reasonable chips for a begginer poker player.

I previously bought desert palms clays.. they are a bit tired now and some are starting to crumble. Doing the research into what to look at next.
 
Gongalope said:
Hey. Long time lurker. First time poster..

Here to learn more about some reasonable chips for a begginer poker player.

I previously bought desert palms clays.. they are a bit tired now and some are starting to crumble. Doing the research into what to look at next.
Click to expand...
Welcome @Gongalope , my guess is those clays are what we here call "China clays" never really heard if real clay crumbling... well not since the 20s - 30s when they literally made chips from compressed clay. Everything in the market now is a "hybrid clay" meaning select plastics and other materials are added to make them hold up better.

Unfortunately only CPC out of Maine, USA are still making compressed clay for the home market and come with a large price tag. With a lower budget in mind,and sounds like you are already familiar with China clays I would suggest Majestics. OR if you would like to step up to a 43mm chip the Royals are a fantastic CC option. Both are sold by a vendor here @Apache and the website is
https://www.apachepokerchips.com/

Obviously there are many other options but the chipping market has exploded in the pandemic and chips prices have skyrocketed, lots if folks hunting High end compressed clay chips and simply not enough out there to fill the demand.

Also we have quite a few Australian members here, always a good idea to try and see if any are close by and maybe join them for a game as often members have lots of sample sets and different chips you can check out without paying fortunes in shipping costs.

Best of luck on your hunt for a new set!

Fellow Chipper Ben
 
Ben8257 said:
The Kevin I know would never say such blasphemous comments... I believe you are going through withdraw brother! Quick go buy a couple racks of chips!!

You can thank me in the morning!

Cheers Brotha!! Haha (damn enablers)
Click to expand...
If he wants to end up here, then he should jump in head first. If not....

...RUN!!

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Gongalope said:
Hey. Long time lurker. First time poster..

Here to learn more about some reasonable chips for a begginer poker player.

I previously bought desert palms clays.. they are a bit tired now and some are starting to crumble. Doing the research into what to look at next.
Click to expand...
Ben has given you some excellent advice, and while it's true that a new set of custom CPCs can be pretty pricey, It is also possible to find good condition used CPC for reasonable prices here in the classified section. Here is a recent example at around $1 a chip, which is pretty good for real compressed clay chips.
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/asm-a-molds-inlays-removed.92530/

If you will give us a better idea of what stakes you want to play, and your budget, we can possibly help you find something in here.

As he also stated there are many china clay chips that tend to sell at between 20-50 cents each. Higher end for new at retail and lower for used here on the classifieds. And least expensive would be the slugged (heavier 13-14 grams) plastic chips from companies like Claysmith. 12-20 cents at retail and sometimes dirt cheap here on PCF.

Another option that has been really popular lately have been the cards mold ceramic chips from a Chinese vender that several members here have dealt with directly. Here is an ad for a member selling several different sample set if you would like to check them out.
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/thre...-caesars-ca-club-ncc-map-r-es-starlite.92614/

Also there is a group in AUS that has been trying to get together a cards mold group buy, so definitely check out this thread. It might be possible to join this and purchase a fully custom chip set.
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/ceramic-cards-mold-group-buy-australia-eoi-only.78365/
 
thanks all for the welcome,

the more i look around, the more i think my budget needs to grow.. haha..

i have order samples from jackspoker just to give me a rough idea of what we have locally.

our games are very sporadic, would be aiming for bi monthly. usually tournament, but most of the players like the cash value on the chips (would love to play cash games, but feel like i would scare off half the current player base )

we are all very much beginner players. so i definitely don't see myself throwing 1k away on chips. but as with all hobbies.. the more i research, the more i seem to fall down the rabbit hole.
 
Gongalope said:
thanks all for the welcome,

the more i look around, the more i think my budget needs to grow.. haha..

i have order samples from jackspoker just to give me a rough idea of what we have locally.

our games are very sporadic, would be aiming for bi monthly. usually tournament, but most of the players like the cash value on the chips (would love to play cash games, but feel like i would scare off half the current player base )

we are all very much beginner players. so i definitely don't see myself throwing 1k away on chips. but as with all hobbies.. the more i research, the more i seem to fall down the rabbit hole.
Click to expand...
Tell us more about the type of game you like to play. A tournament set for a full table of ten can be put together with as few as 300 chips.

And you really should introduce cash games to your group. MANY of us here prefer cash, and it's NOT scary. I play cash with nickel / dime blinds and $10-30 buy-in. Even when I don't get good cards, I can play for hours and break even, or have a small gain, or small loss. The thing with cash is it's easier to control how much you lose. Ever play in a tournament and go all in early and lose? What do you do then? Sit around and watch the other players? With a cash game, you just buy back in and keep playing.

In a small tournament, one or two people win big, and a couple more may win a little, and everyone else loses everything. In cash, a few will win more than they bought in for. A few will lose more, and some will be about even. Those that want to play loose can keep buying as often as they want, while those that prefer to play tight can do so and limit their losses. You can't do that in tournament play because of the forced increases in the blinds and the goal of playing until one winner has all the chips.

A typical cash set will have around 400 chips, so even if you paid $1 a chip, you can get two sets (cash and tournament) for well under $1000. And if you go with china clay or ceramic, the sets would be around $150-200 each.
 
TX_Golf_N_Poker said:
Tell us more about the type of game you like to play. A tournament set for a full table of ten can be put together with as few as 300 chips.

And you really should introduce cash games to your group. MANY of us here prefer cash, and it's NOT scary. I play cash with nickel / dime blinds and $10-30 buy-in. Even when I don't get good cards, I can play for hours and break even, or have a small gain, or small loss. The thing with cash is it's easier to control how much you lose. Ever play in a tournament and go all in early and lose? What do you do then? Sit around and watch the other players? With a cash game, you just buy back in and keep playing.

In a small tournament, one or two people win big, and a couple more may win a little, and everyone else loses everything. In cash, a few will win more than they bought in for. A few will lose more, and some will be about even. Those that want to play loose can keep buying as often as they want, while those that prefer to play tight can do so and limit their losses. You can't do that in tournament play because of the forced increases in the blinds and the goal of playing until one winner has all the chips.

A typical cash set will have around 400 chips, so even if you paid $1 a chip, you can get two sets (cash and tournament) for well under $1000. And if you go with china clay or ceramic, the sets would be around $150-200 each.
Click to expand...
When you put it like that. It makes a lot of sense..
Maybe next session I'll have to try cash game and see how everyone gets on board with it.

Unfortunately when I bought my first set i didn't know what I was doing. So my breakdown included .5c .10c .25c .50c 1$ 2$ 5$ and 25$

Feel like I could probably minimise the different denominations and at the same time the number of chips

Are there any downsides to playing a tournament but using cash chips?
 
Gongalope said:
When you put it like that. It makes a lot of sense..
Maybe next session I'll have to try cash game and see how everyone gets on board with it.

Unfortunately when I bought my first set i didn't know what I was doing. So my breakdown included .5c .10c .25c .50c 1$ 2$ 5$ and 25$

Feel like I could probably minimise the different denominations and at the same time the number of chips
Click to expand...

Definitely you can set up a set to be more efficient. Rule of thumb is to typically have a jump of 2.5 to 5 times between each denomination on the table. 50 cents to $1 and $500 to $1000 are notable exceptions that some will make. But you certainly would not want all those fractional chips on the table together. I use 0.05 - 0.25 - $1 - $5 - $20 as my cash denominations, no matter what stakes I play. For nickel / dime blinds I would give each player:

10 x 0.05
10 x 0.25
17 x $1

That's a $20 buy-in for the first 10 players. Add a couple of $5s for a $30 buy-in. Then any rebuys after that would get $1s (until they are gone) & $5s and make change at the table.

So a full set for this game would be 100 nickels, 100 quarters, 200 $1s and 100 $5s. You would want more $5s and some $20s or $25s if you are going to play larger stakes. If only playing nickel / dime, you could get away with only 100 $1s and 40-60 $5s. But at PCF, we live by the mantra that MOAR is BETTER!!! LOL.

Gongalope said:
Are there any downsides to playing a tournament but using cash chips?
Click to expand...

Most here will tell you not to use the same set of chips for both tournaments and cash games, mainly for security. Suppose you are playing a tournament with 25-100-5000-1000 denominated chips. Early on an unscrupulous player slips a $25 chip or two in their pocket. No big loss in the tournament, but then after the tournament ends you start a $1/2 cash game with a $200 buy-in, using the $1, $5, $25, and $100 chips from the same chipset. Unscrupulous player cashes out early and goes home, but at the end of the night your bank turns up $50 short. So not a good idea, in my opinion, to play a tournament with any of the same chips that are going to be used in a cash game. No matter how much you trust the guys you play with, why even risk it? Take away the opportunity.
 
TX_Golf_N_Poker said:
Definitely you can set up a set to be more efficient. Rule of thumb is to typically have a jump of 2.5 to 5 times between each denomination on the table. 50 cents to $1 and $500 to $1000 are notable exceptions that some will make. But you certainly would not want all those fractional chips on the table together. I use 0.05 - 0.25 - $1 - $5 - $20 as my cash denominations, no matter what stakes I play. For nickel / dime blinds I would give each player:

10 x 0.05
10 x 0.25
17 x $1

That's a $20 buy-in for the first 10 players. Add a couple of $5s for a $30 buy-in. Then any rebuys after that would get $1s (until they are gone) & $5s and make change at the table.

So a full set for this game would be 100 nickels, 100 quarters, 200 $1s and 100 $5s. You would want more $5s and some $20s or $25s if you are going to play larger stakes. If only playing nickel / dime, you could get away with only 100 $1s and 40-60 $5s. But at PCF, we live by the mantra that MOAR is BETTER!!! LOL.



Most here will tell you not to use the same set of chips for both tournaments and cash games, mainly for security. Suppose you are playing a tournament with 25-100-5000-1000 denominated chips. Early on an unscrupulous player slips a $25 chip or two in their pocket. No big loss in the tournament, but then after the tournament ends you start a $1/2 cash game with a $200 buy-in, using the $1, $5, $25, and $100 chips from the same chipset. Unscrupulous player cashes out early and goes home, but at the end of the night your bank turns up $50 short. So not a good idea, in my opinion, to play a tournament with any of the same chips that are going to be used in a cash game. No matter how much you trust the guys you play with, why even risk it? Take away the opportunity.
Click to expand...
Yeah. Fair enough.. suppose I'll have 2 different cash sets and just alternate.. and once we get a few more games under the belt (or I keep browsing here) I'll look at getting some more..

How do you work out cashing out of 20 buy in cash game? Just keep a large bank of coins. Force people to cash for only whole dollars?
 
Gongalope said:
Yeah. Fair enough.. suppose I'll have 2 different cash sets and just alternate.. and once we get a few more games under the belt (or I keep browsing here) I'll look at getting some more..

How do you work out cashing out of 20 buy in cash game? Just keep a large bank of coins. Force people to cash for only whole dollars?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what you mean. Why two cash sets? Why not one dedicated to cash and one dedicated for tournaments?

Yes, cashing out can be a pain. I keep a cash envelope with a lot of $5s and $1s and a pouch full of quarters on hand. As host I feel It's my responsibility to at least get pretty close. Not going to get it down to the exact nickel though when playing nickel/dime. And if you play 0.25/0.50, 0.50/0.50, or 0.50/$1, most players are good with rounding down to an even dollar. You can also encourage your regulars to pay in smaller bills, but generally they won't...
 
TX_Golf_N_Poker said:
I'm not sure what you mean. Why two cash sets? Why not one dedicated to cash and one dedicated for tournaments?

Yes, cashing out can be a pain. I keep a cash envelope with a lot of $5s and $1s and a pouch full of quarters on hand. As host I feel It's my responsibility to at least get pretty close. Not going to get it down to the exact nickel though when playing nickel/dime. And if you play 0.25/0.50, 0.50/0.50, or 0.50/$1, most players are good with rounding down to an even dollar. You can also encourage your regulars to pay in smaller bills, but generally they won't...
Click to expand...
Sorry. Should have elaborated more.. the next set I want to buy is cash. (No real logic to this.. just like the look of cash sets) and then more chips at a later date? Once our game gets back into a solid regime post covid.
 
Gongalope said:
How do you work out cashing out of 20 buy in cash game? Just keep a large bank of coins. Force people to cash for only whole dollars?
Click to expand...
No cash, just use an app to transfer funds. We have something called ”Swish” over here, the US folks have Venmo. Surely there’s something similar down under?
 
Whoa now... EASY with this
Gongalope said:
so i definitely don't see myself throwing 1k away on chips.
Click to expand...
Please ignore any prior recommendations of trying out real clay chips... "throwing away"?????? Blasphemy Captain!!!! This is a hobby of lucrative "investment" opportunity here. We are not clooecting deeds to Ocean from Property in Arizona! Lol

And do you Refrence $1k as if for an entire set of chips? If you were ever to get into real clay many of our racks cost well in excess of that amount alone.

This rack for example...
20210418_111320.jpg

I built this rack a chip at a time until I found the last 30 at once from @RivieraDanny (who hooked me up big time!) Sure I got a few of those For $10 a chip, but also spent $25 on some of them. I probably have $1,700 invested in the rack... but I can tell you I would laugh at someone offering me $3k for it in this market. I say laugh at $3k because I would kindly say no to $5k... everything in life has a price, but I can promise you these aren't going anywhere.

So what's the point? Like anything else... invest wisely and you will have no problem getting your money back out of chips, at least the High quality ones... often going for low grade slugged chips that 95% of userers here have no interest in... you are lucky to get 50% of your investment back.

Can you overpay for quality chips? Of corse you can, do your research and know what the going rates are before you make an "investment", ask a veteran if they think you are getting a good deal. Many of the chips that do move now often move behind the scenes, if something seems out of the ordinary high on a price... there is nothing wrong woth asking a friend!

Again if you think low grade chips will serve your needs... congratulations! Grab a set and run like Kevin said from this place and Never look back! If you ever do get your hands on quality chips by accident... you will be ruined!

Throw away.... this hobby has been around for decades! It is neither recession or inflation proof by any means, but with now near 10k members here and thousands more on other platforms, eBay buyers that do not participate in online forums. This hobby is around to stay!

I realize by "throw away" you mean that your new poker group may not ever really get off the ground. As in "I bought these chips and now nobody wants to play" ... and therfore my suggestion would not be to invest in slugged chips from JacksPoker, instead buy something decent like HSIs or Jack's casino used chips that you know you can get your money back out of... if the group doesn't materialize and you do decide to sell. Why would a local not just buy their own new chips rather than buying them "used" off of you unless you sell for a loss.

So don't throw away a single penny "invest" wisely in quality products you can get your money back out of. Even if you can't afford it all at one time, you can space out your purchases to build the set, and you can join us in the pride and joy of owning that which the majority of your poker players will never have available to them!

Again good Luck with the build!

Ben
 
Last edited:
Gongalope said:
(would love to play cash games, but feel like i would scare off half the current player base )
Click to expand...

This can be done! Set the expectations of your players for no limit. Here's what communicate for .10/.25 no limit:

- buy in from $10-$25 at a time.
- bring at least 3 buy ins for the night.
- expect to win/lose about 1 or 2 buy ins.

I think that'll be good for newbies, and it allows gamblers to play more. I this game half the table were gamblers that bought in at least 3 times but the others didn't.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/official-home-game-pics-thread.4135/page-449#post-1789842

Welcome!
 
Last edited:
SteveEH said:
.10/.25 no limit:
Click to expand...
:eek::eek::eek: EEEK! This has me tilted! Which is funny because I don't often get tilted by the things that tilt other players here. LOL.

At the last meetup in KC they played .10/.20 at the micro table. I typically play .05/.10 for micro stakes. I have a set which originally came with .10, .25 and .50 chips, but I don't care for the .50 chips, so one time we used them and played .10/.25. It wasn't horrible, but I didn't like it so I recently added a nickel chip to that set so I could go back to my normal nickel / dime blinds.

I'm mostly just messing with you, but as advice to @Gongalope most people here assembling a chip set with micro stakes denominations will go with either .05 - .25 - $1 chips, or .10, .50 - $1 chips. I personally have a strong preference for the first. There are also many who when they want to play small will just forego nickels and dimes and play .25 / .25.
 
TX_Golf_N_Poker said:
:eek::eek::eek: EEEK! This has me tilted! Which is funny because I don't often get tilted by the things that tilt other players here. LOL.

At the last meetup in KC they played .10/.20 at the micro table. I typically play .05/.10 for micro stakes. I have a set which originally came with .10, .25 and .50 chips, but I don't care for the .50 chips, so one time we used them and played .10/.25. It wasn't horrible, but I didn't like it so I recently added a nickel chip to that set so I could go back to my normal nickel / dime blinds.

I'm mostly just messing with you, but as advice to @Gongalope most people here assembling a chip set with micro stakes denominations will go with either .05 - .25 - $1 chips, or .10, .50 - $1 chips. I personally have a strong preference for the first. There are also many who when they want to play small will just forego nickels and dimes and play .25 / .25.
Click to expand...
FYI my small blind consists of two 5c chips ;)
 

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