Howdy! New to forum (1 Viewer)

[elfmag]

Hi everyone! I've been stalking around the forum for a while just absorbing information and learning a lot more about poker chips than I ever really planned to. Now I'm stuck with the knowledge and I can't go back!

I've got a home game that meets weekly/every 2 weeks and I've been planting seeds about getting some better chips. We currently play with dice chips . I can hold out but as I've gotten older I've found that I like nice things and that extends into the utensils used for degeneracy.

Anyway, I bought some samples of Monty Carlos, Milanos, Majestics, and Tiki Kings. I like the feel of the China Clays but the sound of the Tiki Kings and the fact that we can semi-customize without having to put stickers on ourselves. I showed these to the crew and I didn't get much of a response from anyone. One guy said he wanted HEAVY chips 13/14g, which, to my knowledge, can't be found in nicer chips. Another guy said he wanted actual clays until I told him they can cost around $2/chip. I'm about to the point of just buying some myself but I don't want to just show up like "We are playing with these now." And since they would be used for our home game I would want people to enjoy using them. Y'all have any thoughts on how to proceed?

Happy to be on the forum!

 

[BlueChipSpecial]

Welcome to PCF!

Do you host the game? If so, your house, your rules/chips.

 

[allforcharity]

Hello and welcome!

You can't make everybody happy. If you're footing the bill, make yourself happy. Is everyone gonna quit playing because you've gotten nicer chips?

 

[RolloPollo]

Howdy!!

 

[elfmag]

Welcome to PCF!

Do you host the game? If so, your house, your rules/chips.

The game floats. We host them at different people's homes.

 

[elfmag]

Hello and welcome!

You can't make everybody happy. If you're footing the bill, make yourself happy. Is everyone gonna quit playing because you've gotten nicer chips?

You are absolutely right! I'm not worried about people not playing but rather wanting to continue playing with icky chips or getting a different set later.

 

[Rieguy]

I'm about to the point of just buying some myself but I don't want to just show up like "We are playing with these now." And since they would be used for our home game I would want people to enjoy using them. Y'all have any thoughts on how to proceed?

Humans are creatures of habit, but even the people with the least amount of poker chip knowledge will quickly realize any of the options you laid out are better than dice chips. Maybe better to introduce them into your home game first, instead of forcing them onto them while someone else is hosting. A good breakdown will matter too depending on your stakes.

Also I have no idea what surface you guys play on, but a nice table or poker mat are equally as important as chip upgrades (to me at least). The latter can be had for decent prices, although I would recommend figuring out chips first.

Welcome!

 

[elfmag]

Humans are creatures of habit, but even the people with the least amount of poker chip knowledge will quickly realize any of the options you laid out are better than dice chips. Maybe better to introduce them into your home game first, instead of forcing them onto them while someone else is hosting. A good breakdown will matter too depending on your stakes.

Also I have no idea what surface you guys play on, but a nice table or poker mat are equally as important as chip upgrades (to me at least). The latter can be had for decent prices, although I would recommend figuring out chips first.

Welcome!

We actually have a pretty nice table that we have been making incremental improvements to. Just improved the felt to speed-cloth and are about to improve the railing. I'm trying to look ahead and figure out what we want to do for chips so I and everyone else can start saving for it too. We normally split the cost of our equipment, which is one of the reasons I don't want to just buy them myself since I would feel like I was making a decision for everyone when we normally make them together. One thing I may do is buy a birdcage and racks to put our chips in and after we have done the railing we will talk more about the chips themselves. One of them actually just got back to me about the chips used at TCH Austin (Claysmiths). I've read some reviews on them and most seem pretty positive. Your thoughts?

 

[Rieguy]

We actually have a pretty nice table that we have been making incremental improvements to. Just improved the felt to speed-cloth and are about to improve the railing. I'm trying to look ahead and figure out what we want to do for chips so I and everyone else can start saving for it too. We normally split the cost of our equipment, which is one of the reasons I don't want to just buy them myself since I would feel like I was making a decision for everyone when we normally make them together. One thing I may do is buy a birdcage and racks to put our chips in and after we have done the railing we will talk more about the chips themselves. One of them actually just got back to me about the chips used at TCH Austin (Claysmiths). I've read some reviews on them and most seem pretty positive. Your thoughts?

I've never handled Claysmiths so I don't really have an opinion on them actually. If you are leaning towards going with a general consensus with your regulars, I would say make sure they have all actively handled your samples vs. just seeing pictures of different options. There's no substitute for actually seeing and messing with the chips in person.

As for the birdcage, those are excellent for display and when keeping the chips in one person's home, but they aren't really the best option if your plan is to travel with the set or regularly bring it to different places.

 

[brewdawg]

I've never handled Claysmiths so I don't really have an opinion on them actually. If you are leaning towards going with a general consensus with your regulars, I would say make sure they have all actively handled your samples vs. just seeing pictures of different options. There's no substitute for actually seeing and messing with the chips in person.

As for the birdcage, those are excellent for display and when keeping the chips in one person's home, but they aren't really the best option if your plan is to travel with the set or regularly bring it to different places.

I was about to say that on the birdcage. I have them for most of my sets and for displaying at home they look great. And they do make an impression when you walk in with them. But I always worry about them coming apart when transporting them.

I would recommend taking a look at the Harbor Freight Pelican-style cases that are discussed in the forums. I am looking at those as soon as I can figure out how I want to put the chips inside the case.

Also, welcome to PCF and the journey of a thousand chipsets...

 

[Phish1321]

Hello and welcome to PCF

 

[elfmag]

I've never handled Claysmiths so I don't really have an opinion on them actually. If you are leaning towards going with a general consensus with your regulars, I would say make sure they have all actively handled your samples vs. just seeing pictures of different options. There's no substitute for actually seeing and messing with the chips in person.

As for the birdcage, those are excellent for display and when keeping the chips in one person's home, but they aren't really the best option if your plan is to travel with the set or regularly bring it to different places.

True. I'll probably order some samples of different claysmiths and just request on venmo the difference. That's a good point about the birdcage.

I was about to say that on the birdcage. I have them for most of my sets and for displaying at home they look great. And they do make an impression when you walk in with them. But I always worry about them coming apart when transporting them.

I would recommend taking a look at the Harbor Freight Pelican-style cases that are discussed in the forums. I am looking at those as soon as I can figure out how I want to put the chips inside the case.

Also, welcome to PCF and the journey of a thousand chipsets...

Since this seems to be a problem when it comes to transport I might look into that. There's also the Versa 1000 Chip bird cage. Seems sturdy enough but roughly 3x the price (still around the same as acrylic ones though!).

 

[elfmag]

I was about to say that on the birdcage. I have them for most of my sets and for displaying at home they look great. And they do make an impression when you walk in with them. But I always worry about them coming apart when transporting them.

I would recommend taking a look at the Harbor Freight Pelican-style cases that are discussed in the forums. I am looking at those as soon as I can figure out how I want to put the chips inside the case.

Also, welcome to PCF and the journey of a thousand chipsets...

I was looking into this, and it seems that Hobbyphilic has a video that covers exactly what you are talking about and how he customized it!

 

[harrysallout]

Howdy & welcome.

Some different setups with the Apache 4800 case and other options too.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/my-apache-4800-storage.81623/​

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/what-does-everyone-use-for-cases.72302/​

 

[elfmag]

I've also found the 1000 chip case by versa games! It's about the same price as an acrylic one.

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

Welcome to PCF! Fellow Houstonian here - up north in Atascocita. What part of town are you in? I have lots of different styles of chips from cheap sluggos, nicer china clays, cards mold ceramics and several different clay chips. If you're interested in a hands on showing, I'd be happy to have you over sometime. Give me a shout!

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

BTW, if you are carrying chips from house to house, I wouldn't get a birdcage. Apache 4800 all the way. Inexpensive, easy to customize, very safe, and can lock it with a padlock. Holds up to 800 chips plus some cards and Dealer Buttons. I have one configured for 700 that I can show you if you like.

 

[elfmag]

Welcome to PCF! Fellow Houstonian here - up north in Atascocita. What part of town are you in? I have lots of different styles of chips from cheap sluggos, nicer china clays, cards mold ceramics and several different clay chips. If you're interested in a hands on showing, I'd be happy to have you over sometime. Give me a shout!

That'd be awesome! We used to live is Meyerland area, moved to Marble Falls, now we're back and live by Hermann Park.

BTW, if you are carrying chips from house to house, I wouldn't get a birdcage. Apache 4800 all the way. Inexpensive, easy to customize, very safe, and can lock it with a padlock. Holds up to 800 chips plus some cards and Dealer Buttons. I have one configured for 700 that I can show you if you like.

The Apache seems good. The 800 chips is what gets me though cuz I was hoping for something that can hold 1000. Any experience with Versa cases?

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

That'd be awesome! We used to live is Meyerland area, moved to Marble Falls, now we're back and live by Hermann Park.

The Apache seems good. The 800 chips is what gets me though cuz I was hoping for something that can hold 1000. Any experience with Versa cases?

Nice! My boys grew up in Meyerland. My ex has a house there. Used to spend a lot of time in that area with them, but they're grown now.

It may be possible to do 1000 in an Apache 4800. There are some threads on here where others show their configs if you want to search for them. There is also a model 5800 that is bigger and has wheels and a handle. Like a suitcase. Not sure if anyone is using that one.

@Ben8257 You have a bunch of Apache's. Have you used the 5800? Do you recommend any good cases that hold 1000 chips?

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

Here's another thought. Are you only playing single table? Do you really NEED 1000 chips? What is your current configuration? I'll bet we can help you get that down to 800, or possibly even less, unless you just like A WHOLE LOT of chips on the table.

Regarding good chips at a good price. Have you seen Cards Mold chips yet? They are sort of the latest craze around here. Personally I love them. They're ceramic, but they are designed to emulate clay chips. They do have a debossed circle and mold in them to look like compressed clay. They have a decent weight, sound and feel, they can be FULLY customized, and they cost less than 40 cents a chip. Here are some pics of a custom design that I had done.

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

Do you play cash, tournament or both? Invite me to your next game and I'll bring some chips to show your crew.

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

We actually have a pretty nice table that we have been making incremental improvements to. Just improved the felt to speed-cloth and are about to improve the railing. I'm trying to look ahead and figure out what we want to do for chips so I and everyone else can start saving for it too. We normally split the cost of our equipment, which is one of the reasons I don't want to just buy them myself since I would feel like I was making a decision for everyone when we normally make them together. One thing I may do is buy a birdcage and racks to put our chips in and after we have done the railing we will talk more about the chips themselves. One of them actually just got back to me about the chips used at TCH Austin (Claysmiths). I've read some reviews on them and most seem pretty positive. Your thoughts?

Sorry, let me know if I'm being a pest...

Saw this message and I'm pretty sure TCH Austin uses ChipLab chips. According to THIS POST

Chip lab is pretty expensive for sluggos. (heavy 13-14 gram chips with metal slugs inside) Best sluggos in my opinion are Poker Knights or Claysmith 12 stripes. Both are well under 20 cents each. ChipLab are around a dollar a piece, I believe. But I think they offer some security options so that might be why a poker room would use them. I've seen 12 stripes in poker rooms too.

 

[Ben8257]

I am 100% vested in Apache cases, I help people with set ups all the time.

In a 2800 you can fit up to 660 chips including tubes. In a 3800 you cannot fit 1,000 chips but it is maxed out and no room for anything else,much better for 800 chips. The 4800 series case can fit up to 2,100 chips (triple stacked) double stacked up to 1,400 chips but you have to add foam to make the height correct. There are other configurations, some use Matsui racks standing on side.

Happy to help and share pictures if you figure out how many chips you are looking for.

As other have said, get samples... Don't spend your money on lower end chips if there is any chance that one day you would see yourself wanting "real clay" skip the lower steps... they don't hold their value and when you decide to buy the fiber things in life... these will just become dust collectors

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

My bad. I gave some BAD information. I have the 3800, not the 4800. Set up for 700 chips.

Thanks @Ben8257 !!! I knew you were the guy to ask!

 

[elfmag]

I was talking to one of the players. We agreed that 700ish is probably enough and don't need 1000.

Here's another thought. Are you only playing single table? Do you really NEED 1000 chips? What is your current configuration? I'll bet we can help you get that down to 800, or possibly even less, unless you just like A WHOLE LOT of chips on the table.

Regarding good chips at a good price. Have you seen Cards Mold chips yet? They are sort of the latest craze around here. Personally I love them. They're ceramic, but they are designed to emulate clay chips. They do have a debossed circle and mold in them to look like compressed clay. They have a decent weight, sound and feel, they can be FULLY customized, and they cost less than 40 cents a chip. Here are some pics of a custom design that I had done.

View attachment 907522
View attachment 907523

I'll check out the Car Molds. We do like a LOT of chips on the table but even then i dont think we really need 1000 as we have a set of 1000 dice chips and there are normally around 200 that arent touched. Do you where I can find samples for the card molds?

 

[elfmag]

I am 100% vested in Apache cases, I help people with set ups all the time.
View attachment 907636
In a 2800 you can fit up to 660 chips including tubes. In a 3800 you cannot fit 1,000 chips but it is maxed out and no room for anything else,much better for 800 chips. The 4800 series case can fit up to 2,100 chips (triple stacked) double stacked up to 1,400 chips but you have to add foam to make the height correct. There are other configurations, some use Matsui racks standing on side.

Happy to help and share pictures if you figure out how many chips you are looking for.

As other have said, get samples... Don't spend your money on lower end chips if there is any chance that one day you would see yourself wanting "real clay" skip the lower steps... they don't hold their value and when you decide to buy the fiber things in life... these will just become dust collectors

Good point. I don't know if I will ever go full clay since the step below is fine by me. If I were to go full clay it would probably be when I have fuck-you money (can I say the F word here? ). The 3800 is good for 800 chips. Is that including racks, buttons, and cards too?

 

[Ben8257]

Good point. I don't know if I will ever go full clay since the step below is fine by me. If I were to go full clay it would probably be when I have fuck-you money (can I say the F word here? ). The 3800 is good for 800 chips. Is that including racks, buttons, and cards too?

We typically sensor some of our cuss words and you may catch a warning hut it is rare.

3800 will easily fit 800 chips with all accessories.

Believe me... I came to the forum looking for $.50 or less chips myself saying "there is absolutely no way I am ever paying $3 for a damn poker chip, especially in a full playable set!" At that point we were building a slugged set of plastic 08 Casino Royale chip sets

Shortly there after I saw the 05 CDIs,absolutely loved the colors, they were Paulson chips and I got a few singles. I knew what my dream set was. But again $3 plus per chip? Who the hell pays that kind of money for poker chips. Then one early morning a member in Hawaii posted this little 200 chip set for $2.75 per chip... I couldn't say no

I thought "we Maybe I can built a little set for special occasions?" That's all it took to get me to jump head first into the chipping rabbit hole! Fast forward 30 months later and the set looks like this now

Also started building my first cash set when we literally never played cash games at all back then... but I was obsessed with the Aces Blaze Orange $3, so while building the 05 CDIs I was also working on these.

So may options in this hobby, I really hope you find some lower end chips that make you forget about all the other finer sets out there!

Ben

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

I was talking to one of the players. We agreed that 700ish is probably enough and don't need 1000.

I'll check out the Car Molds. We do like a LOT of chips on the table but even then i dont think we really need 1000 as we have a set of 1000 dice chips and there are normally around 200 that arent touched. Do you where I can find samples for the card molds?

Samples? Yeah, from me. I have over 3000 cards mold.

 

[elfmag]

Where did you buy them from? Do you have to go through Alibaba?

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

Where did you buy them from? Do you have to go through Alibaba?

Yes, I bought them from several group buys here where we dealt with the sellers on Alibaba. I had my customs designed for the first big GB run by @SeanGecko Then late last year I ran a GB for the Aria's tribute chips. I did have some new China Club tributes too, but I have too many sets so I sold them.

Does you group play cash or tournament? I was serious when I offered to bring some chips to one of your games to let your gang try them out. I can also put together a smaller sample set of cards mold that I can sell to you.