Hi from Illinois - New Member (1 Viewer)

[ChipMonster]

Hello, I finally created an account here after following the site for a little while. I’m located in the far north suburbs of Chicago and would love to meet some people to start playing home games. I love playing poker but have only played live games a handful of times through other random home games, charity tournaments, etc.

I bought a cheap set of Versa Outlaws years ago for a guys golf trip and want to step up my game a bit and have a better set. I ordered several sample sets and out of the ones I’ve received, the Paulsons are of course the best feel but I don’t like the design (and actually don’t even know what I truly want/need yet). I didn’t get a sample of the CPC chips but might do so dependent on how many chips I actually need and the total price. I don’t know if I’m ready for that type of price commitment for those or Paulsons (and don’t know how to even get a matching set of Paulsons).

With everything I know so far, I think I’ve decided on a set of the Dia De Los Muertos but am having trouble deciding the breakdown I’d need to host games for 12 people max - cash games and tournaments. I know people say not to mix a tournament set with a cash set but I’d keep them separate by having $.25, $1, $5, $25 for cash games and then using $100 and up for tournaments. Please give me thoughts on a 1,000 chip set + a handful of plaques broken out per below with distribution so I can keep everything together in a single acrylic case in racks or if I’d be better off with a different amount/breakdown/denominations/distribution.

Cash game: .5/1 with $100 buy in 12 people max

240 x $0.25 chip (keep at 240)

240 x $1 chip (keep at 240)

60 x $5 chip (round to 100 for rebuys)

24 x $25 chip (round to 80 for rebuys)

For $100 distribution - 1 barrel quarters ($5), 1 barrel dollars ($20) 5 $5’s ($25) and 2 $25 ($25). rebuys in $25 or $5 combo

660 chips for cash game


Tournament: $20k start 100/200 starting blind + 12 people + ~5 rebuys

170 x $100 chip (round down to 160 since rebuys will be in higher denominations)

34 x $500 chip (round to 60 for rebuys)

51 x $1,000 chip (round to 60 for rebuys)

51 x $5,000 chip (round to 60 for rebuys)

10 x $10,000 plaque for chip up (for chip up - will need to make this custom)

10 x $25,000 plaque for chip up (for chip up)
Initial Distribution - 3 $5k ($15k), 3 $1k ($3k), 2 $500 ($1k) and 10 $100 ($1k)

340 chips plus 20 plaques for tournament

Looking forward to hearing thoughts and learning more about this community!

 

[allforcharity]

Hello and welcome!

 

[Benjaminotaur]

Hello and welcome from the very (very) South Side of Wisconsin!!

For a one table max, I would say you could pare down the $0.25 and $1 to 200 each (or even 160 on the quarters if you’re set on the $0.50/$1 stakes) and beef up your $5 allocation. Your stacks aren’t as easy to set up at the start, but you’ll have a lot more flexibility on the upper end to support growth in the game

240 x $0.25 = $60
240 x $1 = $240
100 x $5 = $500
80 x $25 = $2000
Total bank $2800

Buy in with 12 x quarters, 17 x $1, 6 x $5, 2 x $25 for $100

160 x $0.25 = $40
220 x $1 = $220
200 x $5 = $1000
80 x $25 = $2000
Total bank $3360

Same # of chips

For your tourney set, I’m not super familiar with what will work best for the distribution for the 100/200 starting blinds, but I’d suggest trimming your T100 to 150 plus spares. Any buy ins will be much more efficient with 4 x T5k chips and have them color down from other players at the table. For at least some of those buy ins, you’ll likely be close to coloring up some of the lower denom chips anyhow, so you won’t need as many low denom chips as you think. Just enough to get started. Same goes for the T500 and the T1k (although slightly less so for the T1k). I’d need up the T5k quantities with what you’re trimming in the lower denoms.

A 10/2/8/2 distribution gives you a 20k starting stack, and the quantities below give you enough for 15 full starting stack buy ins, enough T5k chips to buy up all the T100/T500 chips, and gives you enough spare T5k chips for another 13 buy ins. Plaques would be totally up to you if you wanted them, but for a single table set up like this, I’d say you could probably pass on both the 10k and 25k options. Or if you’re set on getting some plaques, get $100 plaques for you cash set. Win-win!!

T100 x 150
T500 x 30
T1K x 120
T5k x 100
Total: 400 chips

Again, someone else might be able to speak better of whether this distribution will allow for proper bet sizing at these blinds, but the numbers are tight and trim, which the wallet always appreciates!

 

[Tonysquander]

Welcome to PCF!

 

[Fran]

Welcome to the forum !

 

[TomC727]

Welcome from the southwest suburbs.

 

[MrBoosh]

Hello and welcome to PCF!

 

[ChipMonster]

Hello and welcome from the very (very) South Side of Wisconsin!!

For a one table max, I would say you could pare down the $0.25 and $1 to 200 each (or even 160 on the quarters if you’re set on the $0.50/$1 stakes) and beef up your $5 allocation. Your stacks aren’t as easy to set up at the start, but you’ll have a lot more flexibility on the upper end to support growth in the game

240 x $0.25 = $60
240 x $1 = $240
100 x $5 = $500
80 x $25 = $2000
Total bank $2800

Buy in with 12 x quarters, 17 x $1, 6 x $5, 2 x $25 for $100

160 x $0.25 = $40
220 x $1 = $220
200 x $5 = $1000
80 x $25 = $2000
Total bank $3360

Same # of chips

For your tourney set, I’m not super familiar with what will work best for the distribution for the 100/200 starting blinds, but I’d suggest trimming your T100 to 150 plus spares. Any buy ins will be much more efficient with 4 x T5k chips and have them color down from other players at the table. For at least some of those buy ins, you’ll likely be close to coloring up some of the lower denom chips anyhow, so you won’t need as many low denom chips as you think. Just enough to get started. Same goes for the T500 and the T1k (although slightly less so for the T1k). I’d need up the T5k quantities with what you’re trimming in the lower denoms.

A 10/2/8/2 distribution gives you a 20k starting stack, and the quantities below give you enough for 15 full starting stack buy ins, enough T5k chips to buy up all the T100/T500 chips, and gives you enough spare T5k chips for another 13 buy ins. Plaques would be totally up to you if you wanted them, but for a single table set up like this, I’d say you could probably pass on both the 10k and 25k options. Or if you’re set on getting some plaques, get $100 plaques for you cash set. Win-win!!

T100 x 150
T500 x 30
T1K x 120
T5k x 100
Total: 400 chips

Again, someone else might be able to speak better of whether this distribution will allow for proper bet sizing at these blinds, but the numbers are tight and trim, which the wallet always appreciates!

This is awesome, thank you very much for the detailed insight! I’m going to digest your info and will come back with any follow up questions.

Hello and welcome to PCF!

Thank you!

Welcome from the southwest suburbs.

Thanks!

Hello and welcome!

Thank you!

 

[BottomPair7]

Hello and welcome from Iowa!

 

[Just1Better]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

 

[ChipMonster]

Update: I’ve ordered a sample set of CPC stock chips to see how I like them and am now leaning towards building out completely separate cash and tournament sets. Plus, I’d like room to expand the game as needed so may consider an overall larger set and give me the ability to keep even numbers.

2 questions: what tournament chips without a denomination do people like and does BR Poker ever run website sales?

 

[Benjaminotaur]

That’s awesome! Samples are your friend.

1.) BRPro hasn’t offered much in the way of sales that I’ve seen, but they do offer price breaks at certain quantities of chips ordered. Depending on how big you’re thinking, or if there are more people combined into one buy, it can make a huge difference in price.

2.) We like bounty chips for our tournaments, and I think an all in chip saves a lot of time restocking chips after a shove and snap fold. I’ve also got rebuy chips for when I need to teach everyone’s rebuys when a set doesn’t allow for unlimited rebuys

 

[lane_robert_s]

Welcome

 

[ChipMonster]

Ok, slow day at work today and playing around in Excel I think I have a great way to break this down in a way to cover a 10 person T100 tournament plus 9 person rings for anything between a .25/.50 game up through a 2/5 game (almost covered but likely wouldn’t get this deep very often)

Apologies for the screenshots of Excel, but let me know where I may be overlooking something. I’m now leaning towards the Nevada Jack chips and would custom change the colors.

 

[ChipMonster]

Just to close the loop on this thread, I pulled the trigger on Indiana Grands and have a nice little cash set started. Many many samples later, the IG’s were the ones that did it for me and I decided to spend a little bit more and get something I would be excited about and want to hang onto for the long run. Paulsons did kind of ruin me as I was completely set on getting ceramics until I got my hands on some Paulsons. I will not stress the importance of getting as many samples as possible because the colors, overall look and sound/feel of a chip has to be experienced first hand instead of judging online. I was close to ordering ceramics and even ordered custom color samples to see if that would push me over the edge (and save $$).

I put this set together from Apache and several other members of the forum and couldn’t have done it without this community. A special shout-out to @KHarp1 for a ton of general insight and even sending me some sample sets to play with, @Machine for the generosity of sending me a dealer button gratis and @Jeevansluck and @Senzrock for parting ways with sample sets.

I spent way too long yesterday getting these all cleaned up and oiled and they are shining like diamonds now and anxious to get into play.

My next steps are toying around with building out a custom cash set and custom tournament set but that is a long term plan since it will be $$$ (or winning the lottery and buying up all of the Tigers and Empress Stars).

Thanks again everyone and if any new members want to pick my brain on anything I’ll be happy to talk through my impressions of different chips.

 

[KHarp1]

Nice set, looking good!

 

[lolfdgb]

Great set, welcome!

 

[libbylord]

Welcome to PCF!

 

[improviseallday]

Just to close the loop on this thread, I pulled the trigger on Indiana Grands and have a nice little cash set started. Many many samples later, the IG’s were the ones that did it for me and I decided to spend a little bit more and get something I would be excited about and want to hang onto for the long run. Paulsons did kind of ruin me as I was completely set on getting ceramics until I got my hands on some Paulsons. I will not stress the importance of getting as many samples as possible because the colors, overall look and sound/feel of a chip has to be experienced first hand instead of judging online. I was close to ordering ceramics and even ordered custom color samples to see if that would push me over the edge (and save $$).

I put this set together from Apache and several other members of the forum and couldn’t have done it without this community. A special shout-out to @KHarp1 for a ton of general insight and even sending me some sample sets to play with, @Machine for the generosity of sending me a dealer button gratis and @Jeevansluck and @Senzrock for parting ways with sample sets.

I spent way too long yesterday getting these all cleaned up and oiled and they are shining like diamonds now and anxious to get into play.

My next steps are toying around with building out a custom cash set and custom tournament set but that is a long term plan since it will be $$$ (or winning the lottery and buying up all of the Tigers and Empress Stars).

Thanks again everyone and if any new members want to pick my brain on anything I’ll be happy to talk through my impressions of different chips.

Wow what a great pickup!

I'd say welcome to PCF but it looks like we started on the same day, and I have some catching up to do- millions of samples but no set yet.

How did you decide between IG vs other Paulson sets?

 

[ChipMonster]

Wow what a great pickup!

I'd say welcome to PCF but it looks like we started on the same day, and I have some catching up to do- millions of samples but no set yet.

How did you decide between IG vs other Paulson sets?

Thanks and welcome to you as well! I have some samples available. PM me and we can work something out if you’re interested.

Basically, I decided on Indiana Grands for several reasons 1) I think the entire lineup flows together very nicely and the colors are very vibrant in person. The $5 will be the workhorse chip and is probably my favorite chip in the lineup. I also considered Jumers, Jacks and Horseshoe Indiana Paulsons but they just didn’t hit the right buttons for me. 2) They are readily available. I didn’t want to find a chipset that I liked and then try to cobble it together a rack or barrel at a time and possibly never get exactly what I need. I’m sure that’s fine for people with multiple sets with a long term plan but not for me and my first legit set. 3) in my opinion they are the best bang for the $$. Yes, some of the Tigers, Empress Stars, Aurora Stars, etc. are stunning but those are in a completely different league that I’m not in. 4) a deal popped up for a rack of $1s in the classifieds and I jumped on it and haven’t looked back. From my set in the pictures above, I just added another rack of $1 and another rack of $5 and now I’m done.

My long term plan is to possibly build a custom cash + custom tournament set through CPC but that is probably a multi year project.