Minty RHC chip wear - regular home game use (2 Viewers)

So I suppose its worth mentioning that I've definitely seen speculation from a credible source that the boat chips aren't casino grade paulsons. Personally, I have a hard time believing that gpi would have a cheaper clay material for non casino grade chips, but who the hell knows?
They did at one time, but it was restricted to non-casino orders (Paulson Pro Poker offerings, Gemaco promotional chips, etc.). They typically leave out the expensive weight additives.

Imo, your source's speculation is not credible --the Star chips were sold intended for casino use, and are identical to all casino THC chips produced at that time.
 
So I suppose its worth mentioning that I've definitely seen speculation from a credible source that the boat chips aren't casino grade paulsons. Personally, I have a hard time believing that gpi would have a cheaper clay material for non casino grade chips, but who the hell knows?
If you’re talking about what David Spragg said that one time, it’s complete bs. Like BG mentioned, with their Gemaco offerings and such this was true, but for the boat chips they didn’t even know they were selling to a non-casino, so it makes no sense for them to be lower quality material.
This is precisely what I'm wondering with this thread. I want to hear about the wear some people experience with putting minty RHCs into regular play, preferably with pics too :)

As far as flea bites on minty RHC's, I received these 2 racks of Harrah's Cherokee T25's from Apache. As you can see, it's totally possible to get flea bites on brand new chips. I am not sure how this happened as they arrived this way. Perhaps it happened in the mail?

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The Harrah’s chips were used in a few charity events I believe, so they’re not completely mint. I’ve noticed significant flea bites with some of my Harrah’s set from Apache too, so it’s nothing unusual.
 
Oh how I wish I knew the story behind the “boat chips” and why they are even called boat chips, and which chips are the boat chips for that matter. I know there’s a long thread about it but I just get confused reading it. All I can tell is that it’s some sort of spicy issue and I shan’t ask questions. :x
 
So I suppose its worth mentioning that I've definitely seen speculation from a credible source that the boat chips aren't casino grade paulsons. Personally, I have a hard time believing that gpi would have a cheaper clay material for non casino grade chips, but who the hell knows?

This is nonsense. All Paulson THC chips are "casino quality". They don't have a home line or non-casino line on the THC mold. They have some promo marketing chips, like the Gemacos and some of their BCC mold/formula chips, but nothing that is produced on the THC mold with elaborate edge spots, full color palette, and inlays. The source of this rumor is not reliable. I know who is behind it, but I won't call them out. But it's flatly untrue.
 
I got a shuffle stack of mint RHCs about a month ago and have been shuffling them 7-8 hours a day every day while I study/work at my desk. Probably 150+ hours of constant shuffling and the edges are pretty dang sharp still. Only one or two small flea bites that are new as well.
 
Oh how I wish I knew the story behind the “boat chips” and why they are even called boat chips, and which chips are the boat chips for that matter.
I posted a brief overview here that might answer some of your questions.

I know there’s a long thread about it but I just get confused reading it. All I can tell is that it’s some sort of spicy issue and I shan’t ask questions. :x
Ask questions, please! There's an air of "don't talk about this" on the forum, but that's bs. Most of the details have been discussed in public, you just have to comb through dozens or hundreds of old posts to find them.
 
are people actually getting fleabites on mint RHC chips?
Yes my mint casino cancuns have some small flea bites from a few games. Still very sharp edges. Doesn’t bother me in the least as I bought them to play.

CPCs take forever to break-in enough to notice the difference from mint chips. But they are very nice, once they do.

This is 100% true. I have a set of CPCs with hundreds of games logged and they have 1. Very few flea bites 2. Still stand on edge and 3. Shuffle like a dream. So buttery.

they could prob use a wash but I’m lazy.
 
I got a shuffle stack of mint RHCs about a month ago and have been shuffling them 7-8 hours a day every day while I study/work at my desk. Probably 150+ hours of constant shuffling and the edges are pretty dang sharp still. Only one or two small flea bites that are new as well.
did you drop the chips? how did these flea bites occur just from shuffling? do you have a pic of your shuffle stack now? Seriously still sharp? I would say even a once a month set is going to see roughly 60 hours of work per year. 3 years of regular use for 180 hours of play time definitely seems like a decent investment if they are still close to original!!

Also @BGinGA I agree CPCs take a while to break in, but man when they do especially the CSQ mold they are have an amazing feel! @krafticus tourney Speak EC set covers four tables on games housed once a month and these are honestly one of my favorite sets to play... almost zero wear in I think 3 plus years of service at this point (not positive when they were made) Either way I highly recommend buying a CPC set for your work horse chips if it is in the budget!! Keep some play time off the ole Paulson's
 
I got a shuffle stack of mint RHCs about a month ago and have been shuffling them 7-8 hours a day every day while I study/work at my desk. Probably 150+ hours of constant shuffling and the edges are pretty dang sharp still. Only one or two small flea bites that are new as well.
Think about this guys...
Probably at least a couple hundred hours of constant shuffling = what maybe a year in a cardroom = 20 yrs of home play? idk, something like that & that is with Paulsons. CPC's are 100% significantly harder and do take longer to break in.

I know some people will think I'm nuts for saying this, but it is my opinion that a brand new set that is going to be used (not saved) needs a little encouragement to break in the edges ever so slightly. I'm not talking about rounding the edges so they won't stand on edge or anything, I am just talking about knocking the edge down just a smidge. If you have ever worked in a shop where they work with metal you would know what a burr on the edge of metal is. Or have you worked with woodworking? No one would ever leave a cut edge without doing a little sanding to make the edge a little softer.

Chips are not any different. They need the sharp edge knocked down just a bit. It makes them shuffle so much better and feel so much nicer. This process happens naturally and without any effort in a casino, but in a home game where the chips see action once or twice a week this is going to take a really long time before you have that happen. Paulson, bcc, asm, cpc, TRKing, what ever some more so than others, but a long time for any of them in a home game. I have done this with all of the above + oil them up and instant fantastic smooth shuffling wonderful feeling chips. Just like cleaning chips or some of the other crazy stuff people do, it takes a little effort but will produce excellent results.
 
I only own a set of mint RHC chips, but THC are in my opinion clearly superior in look, feel and durability. I don’t own any but it amazes me to see the lack of flea bites on some really used THC’s. I’ve got a shuffle stack of RHC’s that started off mint, and it’s easy to see why they are so prone to flea bites. I’ll get a couple pics up later today.
 
did you drop the chips? how did these flea bites occur just from shuffling? do you have a pic of your shuffle stack now? Seriously still sharp? I would say even a once a month set is going to see roughly 60 hours of work per year. 3 years of regular use for 180 hours of play time definitely seems like a decent investment if they are still close to original!!

Also @BGinGA I agree CPCs take a while to break in, but man when they do especially the CSQ mold they are have an amazing feel! @krafticus tourney Speak EC set covers four tables on games housed once a month and these are honestly one of my favorite sets to play... almost zero wear in I think 3 plus years of service at this point (not positive when they were made) Either way I highly recommend buying a CPC set for your work horse chips if it is in the budget!! Keep some play time off the ole Paulson's

Yeah I’m sure the flea bites are from ocasional rolling off the desk, not shuffling. I’m away from the house visiting family right now so I don’t have a pic but I will take one when I’m back. The chips definitely aren’t razor sharp like when I received them obviously but I’d still consider them much more sharp than round. They shuffle much smoother now with all that time.

And 3 years of sharpness is probably at the bare minimum, assuming all of your players are continuously shuffling at every game. I know that only a couple of my players know how to shuffle their chips and even then it’s only occasionally throughout the night.
 
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there’s not nearly as much clay on clay contact as a THC chip when stacked.
^FYP. the PC mold has a lot more debossed surface area than the THC mold, resulting in far less clay-to-clay contact Same for the home-market Card Pip (suits) mold. But both are superior to the RHC mold in terms of susceptibility to flea-bites.

Chips are not any different. They need the sharp edge knocked down just a bit. It makes them shuffle so much better and feel so much nicer. This process happens naturally and without any effort in a casino, but in a home game where the chips see action once or twice a week this is going to take a really long time before you have that happen.
It has been my experience that a significant change occurs in THC chips after four or five sessions (roughly 50-60 hours), rendering shuffling much easier and subsequent play more enjoyable.
 
I used to own a mint BCC CDI set and the first time I put them in play a friend cut his finger shuffling them. Haha. I like chips slightly broken in but a mint set played once a week requires at least a year of play
 
Started off as 20 mint snappers. Only need 10 for my single table tourney set so I use the other 10 as a shuffle stack. Not sure how much time have been put on these but the flea bites are inevitable unfortunately.

Top 10 mint, bottom 10 shuffled.
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You can see how close the top hats are to the edge on the left side versus the right. Probably wouldn’t take much more than a finger nail to cause a chip.
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Love these chips though! I want to get a mint barrel of THC to shuffle and wear down myself too.

-Alen
 
The Paulson non clay formula creates flea bites much faster then any of their leaded chips.
RHC tend to create flea bites where the hat touches the rolling edge....not so with THC.

I prefer THC obv. but would never say no to cheap and mint casino RHC's.
Looking at many of the HSI mint chips...barrel transport is not recommended ;)
 
You can see how close the top hats are to the edge on the left side versus the right. .....
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I just looked through maybe 30 different RHC's from various casinos and most of the hats were more evenly distributed around the chip so there wasn't nearly as much a difference in distance between the hat and the chip edge, but some were just like this one.

With that said, if you are collecting singles people will value the brand new chips but for these large playable sets I don't really see the point of trying to keep them perfect. No matter what you do, they will not remain perfect if you put them into play. Chips are meant to be used and with that comes some wear including the edges being worn down, edges being dented and/or rounded a bit, the cross hatching being worn and even eventually not being able to stand on edge.

I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about a little natural wear & tear.
 
That’s one of the reasons I bought used HSIs. Not only were they much more affordable....I planned to play these, and did not want to constantly worry about every little nick which was inevitable to happen anyway.
 
I definitely prefer buying "broke in chips" for the singles collection absolutely minty is better.

Funny I have recieved an offer on a minty Aces Casino RHC set, obviously premium Mark up. The idea of owning them really doesn't appeal to me. If they have been kept minty this long, they deserve to stay that way! I would never be comfortable putting them in play and ruining that Monty value. I will take my ole beat up casino used chips! Lol
 
So I suppose its worth mentioning that I've definitely seen speculation from a credible source that the boat chips aren't casino grade paulsons. Personally, I have a hard time believing that gpi would have a cheaper clay material for non casino grade chips, but who the hell knows?
Is this true??

edit - never mind. I kept reading and found the answer.
 

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