Mixing Bud Jones and Paulson in a Set (1 Viewer)

[btbmason]

Hello all,

I'm having a bit of a dilemma with how to handle fractionals for the Horseshoe Cleveland set I am building.

During Jim's Black Friday sale I decided to pick up a couple racks of Horseshoe Cleveland Bud Jones roulette chips. I've never owned these chips, but for the price it seemed like an ok idea to pick them up and use as fractionals for this set.

Now even before receiving them, I'm wondering how people feel about mixing chip types/manufacturers within the same set. The benefits here are the price of the chips comparable to creating Paulson fractionals (buying chips, buying/applying labels) and having stock chips marketed with the same casino name. I'm really wondering how well these chips will play together though.

Is it completely taboo to use different chip types within the same set? I don't see this very frequently, and I guess ultimately it'll come down to how they feel and look once they arrive. My backup plan is using them as point chips for an OFCP set, or a small travel heads up set.

 

[Mental Nomad]

You may get some strong opinions, on this - some people even object to mixing different molds from the same manufacturer.

Take whatever you hear with a grain of salt... and remember that you and your crew will be the ones playing with these chips. Whether or not you and your players like them matters a lot more.

On the plus side, with the kinds of chips you're talking about... you can build a set gradually and sell off any parts that you've decided don't work well, without taking a bath - they mostly maintain their value. Some will even give you a profit!

Good luck!

 

[WillAndrew]

Last time I was at the flamingo in Vegas they did this with their fives in the poker room. maybe 1 in 50 was a Bud Jones. Don't know what they were going for with that, but I couldn't get rid of the plastics fast enough. I think using them solely as fracs, while not the best option, is a much lesser sin than mixing them in amongst clays within a denomination

 

[DrStrange]

My first blush thought - - Let's try mixing creamed horseradish with strawberry ice cream.

But I do have an open mind. Try mixing the chips and see how you like it.

 

[upNdown]

Yeah, my first thought was No Way.
But if your friends are like my friends, they probably won't even notice. So, since you already own the chips, give it a shot.

 

[MykL316]

If you look as far back as the 2003 WSOP, they mixed Paulsons and Bud Jones. The T25 and T100 were Paulsons, and the T500 and higher were Bud Jones.

 

[btbmason]

Thanks for the opinions so far! Honestly I was already kind of leaning away from using them, but my wallet was trying to tell me that it would be ok. I guess the search for something to relabel begins!

You may get some strong opinions, on this - some people even object to mixing different molds from the same manufacturer.

If that's the case I wouldn't even be able to build a Horseshoe Cleveland set! Their $1 and tri-moon snappers are THC while other denoms are RHC.

I think using them solely as fracs, while not the best option, is a much lesser sin than mixing them in amongst clays within a denomination

Hmm, but a lesser sin is still a sin!

Yeah, my first thought was No Way.
But if your friends are like my friends, they probably won't even notice. So, since you already own the chips, give it a shot.

Well, the players in this game actually preferred their old dice chips to my solid blank clay chips because "they were heavier", so I kind of have my work cut out for me here. I'm hoping that once they see that these are in fact the chips that casinos use, I can change some minds.

 

[BGinGA]

Well, the players in this game actually preferred their old dice chips to my solid blank clay chips because "they were heavier", so I kind of have my work cut out for me here

Tape new quarters to the fracs, makes 'em heavier ~and~ shiny.

 

[Mental Nomad]

Tape new quarters to the fracs, makes 'em heavier ~and~ shiny.

Ah, new chip category, similar to CIC: COF (Coin On Face.)

 

[Poker Zombie]

I've used ceramics mixed in with another set before, and Hooter's Las Vegas has done the same. In the end, my players hardly noticed, but it started to grate on me after a while. If there is a differing thickness, stacks will be off (both stacks are 20 high but this one looks to be a chip shorter).

Pulling and stacking chips quickly is also thrown off with a radically different feel to each chip.

Chances are good that you'll manage, but it will absolutely reduce the overall "quality" of your card-room. Hooters didn't care. Then again, they eventually closed their card room.

 

[warewulf]

It makes sense to spend less on the fractional since it's worth less than the others. I like using hotstamp solid chips for the lowest denom in tournament and cash. It makes them stand out more.

 

[Blaster]

"Hello all, .......

Is it completely taboo to use different chip types within the same set? I don't see this very frequently, and I guess ultimately it'll come down to how they feel and look once they arrive. My backup plan is using them as point chips for an OFCP set, or a small travel heads up set.

I've mixed China Clays with Paulsons .. Probably the best / most natural you will do mixing currently available/affordable chips ..
The casual players did not even notice, & the feel is very close.
I personally would not want to mix Bud Jones / hard plastics, or ceramics with clay, however ..

An old starting stack pic, only the 100's and 500's are Paulson, others are custom PGI wall China Clays:

 

[ovo]

real casinos do it, so....

 

[pltrgyst]

Since many real casinos use actual quarters, or metal slugs, as fracs, players are pretty used to this.

I've used Bud Jones cheapo suits mold purple chips as quarters before, and no one even noticed.

Of course, the other option is to not use fracs at all -- scale your buy-ins up x4, issue dollars, and then divide back down when you cash out. The best part of doing this is that you get some use out of your larger denoms that very rarely see play in a .25/.50 game (plus you get practice for actual casino 1/2 conditions).

 

[BGinGA]

I personally would not want to mix Bud Jones / hard plastics, or ceramics with clay, however ..

Yeah, definitely not ceramics. There is a not-insignificant possibility of hard chips damaging the softer clays when put in play together.

RHC chips are already prone to edge chipping; mixing them with harder composition chips pretty much guarantees that damage will occur, and on a quicker timeline.

 

[BGinGA]

real casinos do it, so....

Yeah, like everything real casinos do regarding chips is smart....

 

[MaxB]

I'm wondering how people feel about mixing chip types/manufacturers within the same set.

 

[manamongkids]

pretty sure the commerce has BJ and Paulson chips in play at the same tables

 

[RussB42]

I think it is ok.

I used the BJ Red 25c Hollywoods, CA with Paulsons before.

 

[manamongkids]

 

[btbmason]

Thanks again for all of the input everyone.

I received the BJ roulette chips today and I really like them. I haven't decided for sure what to do with them yet, but I think I still may use them as (very small) fractionals for a micro set at the front of my Horseshoe Cleveland set. I managed to get numbers 1 and 5, so I may use them as pennies and nickels for when we have family games or smaller friendly games. That would still mean adding in Pauslon quarters/dollars, but I'll see how I feel about that when I get all of the chips in one place and play around with them a bit to see how they feel. The biggest problem initially is the thickness, as they are thicker than worn Paulson chips but thinner than new/uncirculated Paulson chips. It's still marginal though so I think it may work out.

I'll take some photos later after cleaning them up a bit.

 

[bergs]

Mohegan does it with their $5s.

I fucking hate it.

 

[btbmason]

Those of you that don't like to see them mixed together may want to look away. Also I need a poker table.

 

[manamongkids]

Mohegan does it with their $5s.

I fucking hate it.

Also their $100 commems

 

[upNdown]

Those of you that don't like to see them mixed together may want to look away. Also I need a poker table.

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The biggest problem initially is the thickness

Yeah. You have three different molds from two different manufacturers in two different materials, you have roulette chips pretending to have denominations, and snappers pretending to be quarters, but you're right, it's that darn thickness that's a problem.
I totally should have looked away like you warned. Fortunately for both of us, my opinion doesn't matter.
Enjoy your chips, brother!

 

[btbmason]

Yeah. You have three different molds from two different manufacturers in two different materials, you have roulette chips pretending to have denominations, and snappers pretending to be quarters, but you're right, it's that darn thickness that's a problem.
I totally should have looked away like you warned. Fortunately for both of us, my opinion doesn't matter.
Enjoy your chips, brother!

That's the point of starting a thread like this really. I'm gathering opinions from different people, obtaining different chips, and trying to find out what works for me.

As far as the molds go, the Horseshoe Cleveland set was made and distributed to the casino with those molds. Anybody who builds a cash set using the default chips that contain both the $1 and $5 chips will have this "problem".

These snappers being used as quarters for this set has been relatively common. Even if I found an RHC chip to make into a quarter, the $1s will still be THC.

The difference in thickness bothers me more than mixing molds or materials. That's just me personally. The funnier part is that there's a bigger difference in thickness between the new snappers and used $1s/$5s than there is between the roulettes and the used $1s/$5s. This has made me realize the snappers are not right for the set I am building. The jury is still out on the roulette chips.

I'm not blessed with an unlimited supply of money, so I took a $29/rack shot in the dark (also knowing I could probably get my money back in the classifieds) to try and save myself a large chunk of money. The labels alone for custom quarters will cost me $20/rack, plus the cost of finding Paulson chips.

I'm happy with my approach so far, and my set is FAR from finished. Thanks for your opinion! (y) :thumbsup:

 

[upNdown]

Aw I'm just having fun. There's lots of chips I don't like, including some of the more expensive sets you'll see here, and I promise you, nobody cares what I think.

 

[Poker Zombie]

To paraphrase TexRex, chips are like a scoreboard at a football game. The chintzy high-school scoreboard and the NFL jumbotron both do the same thing. The mixed sets are closer to the High School system, but if that's what you can afford, then the fun will be there all the same. Those with full casino sets, with relabeled micro-stakes are the pros. They want/need the jumbotron.

The important thing to remember is that chipping is a lifetime endeavor, You have a lot of time to improve your sets.

...and not everyone needs to go pro.

 

[MaxB]

My first set of Aztars (when the Chip Room was selling them uber-cheap), I bought a bunch of 2.50 snappers to use as either 25c or 50c chips. Used them once that way and everyone hated them. This was before I knew Gear and his labels, so I sold most of the snappers and bought Aztar MO 50c chips to take their place..... downfall was that they were not the same mold. I've been toying with converting snappers to 50c chips to match the RHC mold of the others, but the real 50c Aztars were too nice to get rid of (y) :thumbsup:

 

[pltrgyst]

.... The mixed sets are closer to the High School system, but if that's what you can afford, then the fun will be there all the same. Those with full casino sets, with relabeled micro-stakes are the pros....

Not for all of us, though. I have quite a few chips at this point, and my favorite homogenous sets are probably the Vineyards, Mullet Bay CICs, Borland El Ranchos, and Vegas Worlds. (Or maybe a few others -- it changes from week to week.)

But for me, there's nothing like going to the shelves and picking and choosing a mixed set that *really* works, like the old one below.

Or a set with Colony Club quarters, Aztar MO secondary $1s, Chip's Tukwila $5s, and large-star Mesquite $25s.

IMO, there has never been a single casino set whose colors work for me like those -- there's always at least one dud denom (like, for me, the Trop second issue $25s).

Now if I could ever put together an impact set with all 7/8 inch round inlays, so that I could incorporate the Highway 9 hundos, I'd be in hog heaven... :

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