Looking for advise on sub .20 cent chips (1 Viewer)

[gators52]

Hey everyone,

I am getting back into poker and going to host my own NL Cash Game in the near future. I am looking a buying 400-500 chips. I am looking at chips less than .20 cents. I cant justify spending more until the game gets going for 6 months.

I am looking at doing .05/10 NL $10 max buy-in with unlimited buy-ins. Realistically 6-8 people would probably show up at first but would like enough chips for 10 players + rebuys. I would prefer to have the cash value on the chip but it's hard to find chips with 5 cents. I was thinking of finding chips with .25/$1/$5 and then either using a blank or a $25 as the 5 cent chip...not sure. Would be interested in opinions on how to buy chips for these microstakes. If anyone has a cheap way to relabel chips to 5 cents that would also work too, but for my budget that might not be feasible.

In my price range it looks like Nexgens and Claysmiths are the most popular choices. Nextgens dont have a 25 cent chip so that would make a micro stake set difficult unless I used $5 chips as 5 cents $25 dollar chips as 25 cents and so on. However most places seem to be out of the $100 chips (i would use those for $1).

I like the looks of the Nexgens, Poker Knights, Monaco, and Showdown. I am assuming the Poker Nights, Monaco and Showdown chips are exactly the same except for design and color. I have only played with cheap plastic dice chips or nice casino chips. I would like to purchase cheap samples if possible but for my budget I am not sure it make sense to spend $20-$25 on samples when that would be a 1/3 of the cost of my entire set.

Sorry that was long.

Thanks guys.

 

[JustinInMN]

I've played with Desert Heat recently and thought they were pretty cool. Best way to know for sure is get samples. Amazon seems to have sample sets for at least these two claysmith offerings.

Poker knights
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00GV34NAS/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527080750&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=four+aces+poker+5+cent&dpPl=1&dpID=41oTpqjLkUL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1

Desert heat:
https://www.amazon.com/Desert-Heat-Claysmith-Poker-Chips/dp/B005N0IGIA

Also check out @Hobbyphilic 's chip reviews. Here's one on poker knights.

(Spoiler, he's underwhelmed by the design, but that's a matter of taste.)

Not many stock sets have nickels, but if you really need them, I had these Four Aced nickels mismatched with my black diamond set for a while. It seems to be the only stock chip with the nickel denomination out there. Grab 100 of these while you can.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00GV34NAS/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527080750&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=four+aces+poker+5+cent&dpPl=1&dpID=41oTpqjLkUL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1

Or just grab super diamonds to stand for nickels if the Four aces are too white.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B012...=G7K4BD8Q6JZNJBE0J311&dpPl=1&dpID=41mmWPUa3GL

Without a mismatch, you would be looking at structuring your minimum cash game to be .25-.25 with a 20 buy in. (Or de-label a color like you said.)

But assuming you are going to do .05-.10

This would be my breakdown

.05 * 100
.25 * 200
1 * 150
5 * 50

500 chips, Total bank 455.

I've hosted these stakes and we rarely get more than 200 in play, this bank is plenty. You probably don't NEED fives, but getting a small quantity would enable you to host .25-.25 down the line.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

 

[Quicksilver-75]

Hmmmm.....
5c and 25c chips here....

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/thre...ess-sunfly-hybrid-ceramics.29984/#post-553989

Even with new labels you'de he getting a better product and could customize it dtr

 

[JustinInMN]

Hmmmm.....
5c and 25c chips here....

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/thre...ess-sunfly-hybrid-ceramics.29984/#post-553989

Even with new labels you'de he getting a better product and could customize it dtr

True, but double the price of what the op specified.

But I think you and I would agree well worth it

 

[Quicksilver-75]

True, but double the price of what the op specified.

But I think you and I would agree well worth it

True. I had to try...

 

[JustinInMN]

I think ceramic hybrids are what I want to do with the Free River Club set. Hoping there may be a group buy on 39mm blanks in the future.

 

[Lemonzest]

Just a suggestion: If you bought the Apache "Monaco" chips you could get some nice clay chips for less than a dollar each.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/monaco-poker-chips-on-sale-now.30017/

I realize this is more than you want to spend right now. However, on the plus side if you ever decide you don't want to host anymore or you want to buy different chips these chips will have resale value. If you buy cheap chips in the .30/ea price range they will be near impossible to sell and you won't get your money back out of them.

If you bought the Monaco chips you could probably use them for 3-4 years and sell them for what you paid for them or close to it. Even if you only got back 70% of your investment...still a good deal IMO.

If you want to go cheap I would just stick with dice chips or look on craigslist. There are tons of really cheap sets available on craigs, Letgo etc. Also buying locally will save you a few bucks as you don't need to pay freight.

Good Luck!

 

[ilovegravy]

 

[Lemonzest]

Lol this is so true. New person says: Hey here is my budget. PCF advice: Have you considered tripling your budget?!!!

 

[ruskba]

Your constraints are pretty limiting, but these will work as a stop gap while you save for something better.

$5 as $.05
$20 as $.20
$1 as $1

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/cheap-chipco-poker-chips-radisson-poker-room-aruba.30043/

 

[Lemonzest]

Your constraints are pretty limiting, but those will work as a stop gap while you save for something better.

$5 as $.05
$20 as $.20
$1 as $1

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/cheap-chipco-poker-chips-radisson-poker-room-aruba.30043/

This is a great deal. OP buy these chips asap. You won't find better value in your price range. You can actually pay less than your budget for casino grade chips....unheard of.

You might need to give them a little bath with warm water and soap. With some light scrubbing I bet these will look great. I am tempted and I don't even need these...

 

[podunkeric]

I love my Desert Heats and so do the folks who play at my house. Got a 700 pc set for 0.13/chip from The Chip Cave. They have $0.25 chips as well.

 

[gators52]

Thanks for the replies guys! Since I am saving for a wedding my fiance wouldn't appreciate me buying a set of chips for more then $100 right now unless she knows for sure I will actually be using them and i get this home game setup or I do a really good job convincing her now that I need them lol. I am hoping the home game turns into higher stakes and then I use this cheaper set as a fun family/casual game set or just built on it for the bigger stakes.

I think I am going to get like 15 samples from a member here and I just have to pay for shipping to and from my house and then I will actually be able to see and feel a bunch of different types of chips. Maybe doing that and feeling/seeing the difference between different types of chips may convince me to upgrade to something better.

I know everyone here loves nice chips, but when you dont know what nice chips are it's hard to justify spending 2x your budget lol I am still open to any recommendations about other chips to look into and I will take a look at all the links everyone has posted so far.

 

[Darson]

Getting samples is the best thing you can do.

There are many who want a casino feel so want casino chips but these are expensive. For me personally I have not frequented casinos that often to know the difference. Also, none of my pals care about the chips we use, they just play for fun.

So get something you enjoy and can afford.

My current favourite:
https://www.discountpokershop.com/25pc-13g-law-clay-poker-chips-colors-p-722.html

 

[Beakertwang]

I like these, and since they don't have $ markings, they can work as cents, or for tourney play.

https://www.casinosupply.com/products/imperial-casino-10g-poker-chips-25-pkg

 

[moose]

Better chips will hold their resale value better

Cheap chips can only be pretty much given away.

However another option to keep the stakes smaller is to use a single .25 blind.

 

[Lemonzest]

I like these, and since they don't have $ markings, they can work as cents, or for tourney play.

https://www.casinosupply.com/products/imperial-casino-10g-poker-chips-25-pkg

Edge spots and colors look great.

 

[BGinGA]

And you need to set that fiance straight on the poker chip expenditures issue right away.

 

[Beakertwang]

We play micro stakes in our home game. I got my Showdown set from thepokerstore.com. 600 chips w/case for $140. It's a great site. Good customer service, and really fast shipping (I ordered my chips Friday morning, and they showed up via FedEx on Saturday). They run monthly specials, so it's worth checking out.

They allow you to mix and match your denoms on your sets, which is really cool.

I went with 200 5's, 200 25's, 175 100's, and 25 500's, and just treat them as cents. Works great for the nickel/dime game. For tourneys, everyone starts with 1000 to 2000, depending on how long we want to play, and blinds start at 5/10. I could also add chips later if we ever move up to .25/.50 play.

The chips feel like the cheap dice set you get from Target, but look much cooler.

 

[gators52]

Thanks again to everyone who has responded. One of the guys in the forum shipped me a sample pack with stacks of 10 of about 10 different types of chips. I have figured out I like the traditional look and feel of chips like the Milanos. The Majestics were a close second out of the chips I got. I like the chips that weigh less than 11 grams. I didn't really like the ceramics or any of the chips that were slippery and sounded "loud". I thought the showdown chips and poker nights chips weren't bad but I didn't like how heavy they were and felt too similar to the dice chips. I am going to buy a cheap set of the super diamond 9 gram chips for .06 cents a chips and then once the home poker games gets going and hopefully we will increase the stakes soon, I will invest in a set like the Milanos and Majestic in the .30-.40 cent chip range. I don't want to spend .17-.20 on a chip that I will just envy something higher in quality. I will just go super cheap now, to save the money and get a better set when I know I my home game will meet on a regular basis.

 

[codeman00]

One thing I didn’t like about the Milano chips was how drab the colors really were compared to the online photos. It was really disappointing. I ended up going with the much brighter Majestics and really like them.

 

[longflop]

One thing I didn’t like about the Milano chips was how drab the colors really were compared to the online photos. It was really disappointing. I ended up going with the much brighter Majestics and really like them.

Can't that be solved via oiling? I thought that the Milano's received oil really well.

 

[codeman00]

Can't that be solved via oiling? I thought that the Milano's received oil really well.

Unfortunately not in my case. I oiled the Milano’s and they still looked dull to me. The Majestics on the other hand were quite the opposite.

Get sample sets of each before you buy the full set.

 

[Lemonzest]

my 2c. Majestics look much better than Milanos

 

[gators52]

my 2c. Majestics look much better than Milanos

I like the colors of the Majestics better because they are more vibrant and contrast better. However I like the feel of the Milanos and the way the chips are designed better. I do like how the Majestics have a 5 cent chip for my small cash games. It's a toss up to me.

 

[codeman00]

Don’t let the lack of a 5c denomination affect your decision. @Gear can get you some 5c labels and you can swap with an exacto knife or label blanks easy enough.