New to custom chips -- need advice (4 Viewers)

[Windwalker]

@windwalker : I suggest ordering a shuffle stack of each mold that appeals to you. Even though they're all made of the same material, they feel and handle differently. Also, some molds accept a larger inlay, which might affect your choice.

Love this idea. Just ordered the full set of 90 from CPC, but they said it’s going to take a few weeks, it apparently has to be sent from the London office?

If I was running at these stakes I'd have my butler working out minor details like poker chips. I'd have people on the payroll to sweat these details.

I'd be too busy with things like yachts, private planes, picking out colors of my next Ferrari, planning my next elephant hunting expedition, etc, etc.

That’s exactly how people go broke, friend.

If this is your cash game, I would suggest:

a) get yourself a casino license in your state or another friendly jurisdiction (Washington State)
b) get some cash chips professionally designed
c) approach GPI with a legit request to purchase chips for said casino
d) let me join in because I'm a nice guy

hahah, wow. That’s creative. If I gave GPI an order for 10,000 chips, do you think they’d do it for an individual? I had no idea who made Paulsons, so this is good intel. I’ll look into the company.

 

[allforcharity]

hahah, wow. That’s creative. If I gave GPI an order for 10,000 chips, do you think they’d do it for an individual? I had no idea who made Paulsons, so this is good intel. I’ll look into the company. (Or have my phantom butler do it).

No. But if 50 people combined ordered 200,000 chips through one outlet, it might be taken semi-seriously.

 

[Bmeister51]

@Bmeister51 Sic'em boy! Go get em!

This is outside of my comfort zone lol and I play nosebleed already... what a fucking game this must be.

 

[Bmeister51]

I have a few questions about the game though as I think I know who plays in it. We may have mutual friends... I play the 20-40 NLH out of Chicago with a bunch of pros.

i assume you’re vetting players and that you have a cash or bank transfer deposit minimum to sit down?

What Is the player pool like? Small group or a rotation?

how do you prioritize who gets a seat? First come first serve?

lastly a game that big will attract some heavy hitters, how do you police keeping pros out of the game?

 

[Jambine]

I have a few questions about the game though as I think I know who plays in it. We may have mutual friends... I play the 20-40 NLH out of Chicago with a bunch of pros.

i assume you’re vetting players and that you have a cash or bank transfer deposit minimum to sit down?

What Is the player pool like? Small group or a rotation?

how do you prioritize who gets a seat? First come first serve?

lastly a game that big will attract some heavy hitters, how do you police keeping pros out of the game?

Great questions. It seems (with a $100,000 min buy) that @windwalker has one of the biggest regular games in the country, maybe the world

 

[Bmeister51]

Great questions. It seems (with a $100,000 min buy) that @windwalker has one of the biggest regular games in the country, maybe the world

Biggest home game I’ve ever heard of outside of a few I know about in Vegas which are the same stakes. But those are pro hosted

 

[Jambine]

Biggest home game I’ve ever heard of outside of a few I know about in Vegas which are the same stakes. But those are pro hosted

True. These games usually go in Vegas where the casino can provide a private suite, dealers, floor person, an adequate cash bank & chips, wait staff, security, and discretion
kind of like "poker after dark"

 

[Windwalker]

I have a few questions about the game though as I think I know who plays in it. We may have mutual friends... I play the 20-40 NLH out of Chicago with a bunch of pros.

i assume you’re vetting players and that you have a cash or bank transfer deposit minimum to sit down?

What Is the player pool like? Small group or a rotation?

how do you prioritize who gets a seat? First come first serve?

lastly a game that big will attract some heavy hitters, how do you police keeping pros out of the game?

Hi! Appreciate all the questions about specifics, but since this is a private game among a group of friends, I’m not sure any of the details are relevant to the discussion I initiated.

I was mostly looking to get some advice on where to get the best custom chips made, and it sounds like CPC is the right choice, outside of having a contact at Paulson’s parent company.

I’ve ordered samples and am now looking for someone to help design the chips. I’ve been told that @Johnny5 is a great resource for that!

Wish me luck!

 

[Jambine]

I’ve ordered samples and am now looking for someone to help design the chips. I’ve been told that @Johnny5 is a great resource for that!

Now that is true. J5 will take good care of you

 

[Bmeister51]

Hi! Appreciate all the questions about specifics, but since this is a private game among a group of friends, I’m not sure any of the details are relevant to the discussion I initiated.

I was mostly looking to get some advice on where to get the best custom chips made, and it sounds like CPC is the right choice, outside of having a contact at Paulson’s parent company.

I’ve ordered samples and am now looking for someone to help design the chips. I’ve been told that @Johnny5 is a great resource for that!

Wish me luck!

completely understandable. Just was curious. Good luck finding some chippies!

 

[Chipandchair]

I think Angel bought GPI for a little more than $100 million. Purchase GPI, make a bunch of chips, then sell GPI. Easy

 

[TKEUofM]

Seriously...... $1k/$2k game and he's here asking where to find better chips...... I smell some BS

 

[Windwalker]

Seriously...... $1k/$2k game and he's here asking where to find better chips...... I smell some BS

I’m a bit confused about some of the underlying hostility here — I literally just wanted to know who makes the best custom chips; said what number / denomination I wanted, and that’s it. Just because we play a larger game doesn’t mean we know the first thing about what companies make great custom chips. None of us are pros, we’re a group of old friends who play against each other. Either way, my game size is irrelevant — I just wanted to know where to get the best custom job order, and who a great designer to help might be.

By your same logic, someone wealthy who has nice cars and decides he/she wants to get a great custom job, and then goes onto a forum called “Custom Cars Forum” to ask who the best vendors are comes under scrutiny because having nice cars means he should know all the relevant vendors?

Which brings me back to a simple question: what does it matter what stakes we play in our game? My question wasn’t about my game, it was about who made the best custom chips. Anything you want to infer from that as BS (since I don’t know you and you don’t know me) is your problem, ne c’est pas?

 

[BGinGA]

my game size is irrelevant

It's relevant to the issue only in terms of assisting you in getting an appropriate number of chips and a breakdown adequate to fit your needs.

There are certainly plenty of people in LA with stupid-money levels of discretionary income to spend at a poker game. Don't know why anyone would question that aspect of your game; I certainly didn't.

Can't go wrong with the winning combination of custom Classic Poker Chips with @Johnny5-designed inlays. Some of the nicest sets on earth fall into that category.

Make sure to get samples of all the available CPC mold choices, if you haven't already. Even when using the same basic materials, the mold design itself can affect how the chips sound and feel, in addition to just how they look.

And feel free to ask for chip spot pattern and color combination advice -- there are some very talented people here in that regard willing to assist, which can be as important as the inlay design.

Best of luck with the journey! We expect to see chip pics (aka pr0n) if you're willing to share 'em when done.

 

[Windwalker]

Can't go wrong with the winning combination of custom Classic Poker Chips with @Johnny5-designed inlays. Some of the nicest sets on earth fall into that category.


And feel free to ask for chip spot pattern and color combination advice -- there are some very talented people here in that regard willing to assist, which can be as important as the inlay design.

I’ve sent @Johnny5 a note, waiting to hear back. I requested the largest set of samples that were available, a little bummed that it’s going to take weeks, since they only have them in their London office, apparently, due to COVID.

I’ll post progress notes here!

 

[Chipenhagen]

Make sure to get samples of all the available CPC mold choices, if you haven't already. Even when using the same basic materials, the mold design itself can affect how the chips sound and feel, in addition to just how they look.

For example, the texture of the individual molds are very different, which cannot be seen on pictures. The former TR King molds (small and (especially) large crown) are relatively smooth, while others are more textured.

Also the colors must be seen in real life as photos are sometimes misleading. Furthermore some of the colors have varied somewhat over time.

Some of the molds and colors really surprised me when I got the samples.

 

[RainmanTrail]

Something to keep in mind is that CPC currently has a long wait for all molds. Even the A mold, which is always mounted, is about a 6 month wait right now. They've gotten a ton of recent orders and are running a skeleton crew at the shop.

Another great designer you should reach out to is @p5woody.

I assume you've discovered the chip design tool by now, but in case you haven't, you'll definitely want to check this out.

www.pokerchipdesigntool.com

 

[BPTDirector]

I’d consider seeking out a private conversation with David Spragg, owner of CPC. He is not only a vendor here but a member under his name. Go directly to the man himself with this kind of order.

 

[Windwalker]

I’d consider seeking out a private conversation with David Spragg, owner of CPC. He is not only a vendor here but a member under his name. Go directly to the man himself with this kind of order.

he just emailed me letting me know it was coming from London, and I've emailed him back -- waiting for a response.

 

[Hornet]

he just emailed me letting me know it was coming from London, and I've emailed him back -- waiting for a response.

Have you considered custom relabeled Paulsons? There are some pros and cons to going that route versus CPCs.

 

[GianThaMan]

Seriously, you must have a couple high roller friends at casinos, they should be able to get in contacts with GPI, and then it would be easy to buy some chips from them. Especially if you order enormous amounts and sell the remainder to the forum. Alternatively, if one of your friends runs a big, wealthy company, they could contact GPI in that company’s name, and then buy the chips for themselves, but that would only work if the company is very big.

 

[Windwalker]

Seriously, you must have a couple high roller friends at casinos, they should be able to get in contacts with GPI, and then it would be easy to buy some chips from them. Especially if you order enormous amounts and sell the remainder to the forum. Alternatively, if one of your friends runs a big, wealthy company, they could contact GPI in that company’s name, and then buy the chips for themselves, but that would only work if the company is very big.

1. We have reached out to GPI through a mutual contact, and are seeing if there’s any possibility. The problem is the minimum order amount, it’s probably not worth the trouble / effort. It’s still just a home game amongst friends.

2. Most of us run / are executives at larger companies, but there are significant ethical issues attached to doing what you suggest, and is a non-starter. It’s a private home game, and not at all something we would want connected with our work.

The CPC direction seems to be a nice one, I’m the only one who even seems to be interested in getting these custom chips done, since most of my friends are perfectly fine playing with our vintage chips, and more recently, with our Paulson Classics and Le Noirs.

 

[GianThaMan]

1. We have reached out to GPI through a mutual contact, and are seeing if there’s any possibility. The problem is the minimum order amount, it’s probably not worth the trouble / effort. It’s still just a home game amongst friends.

2. Most of us run / are executives at larger companies, but there are significant ethical issues attached to doing what you suggest, and is a non-starter. It’s a private home game, and not at all something we would want connected with our work.

The CPC direction seems to be a nice one, I’m the only one who even seems to be interested in getting these custom chips done, since most of my friends are perfectly fine playing with our vintage chips, and more recently, with our Paulson Classics and Le Noirs.

The minimums are fine, just organize a group buy here, and then relabel all of the chips you get to be your own design. Since you guys are such high rollers, you could be public about the group buy, and GPI probably wouldn’t care.

 

[RudysNYC]

if one of your friends runs a big, wealthy company, they could contact GPI in that company’s name, and then buy the chips for themselves, but that would only work if the company is very big.

Theoretically it's only a felony if I announce myself as a gaming agent, right?... "As a matter of gaming integrity I'm going to need 200,000 blanks, Mr. GPI Rep."

 

[Windwalker]

The minimums are fine, just organize a group buy here, and then relabel all of the chips you get to be your own design. Since you guys are such high rollers, you could be public about the group buy, and GPI probably wouldn’t care.

Wow, you must think all new forum members are like babbling, gullible babies!

 

[Thomacetti]

Wow, you must think all new forum members are like babbling, gullible babies!

I think you will fit here just fine
David / CPC will take care of you and assure you a secure set just the way you like it....but don't rush it

May I also mention we have other vendors that offer stuff worthy of a game like yours (tables & custom felts just to name one)
Feel free to ask...this thread will normalize once the babbling, gullible babies had their say

 

[RichMahogany]

I’m personally not a huge fan of plastic chips but there’s always the ability to order a custom set of chips and plaques from Matsui. Beautiful and customizable enough for game security/integrity.

 

[allforcharity]

The CPC direction seems to be a nice one, I’m the only one who even seems to be interested in getting these custom chips done, since most of my friends are perfectly fine playing with our vintage chips, and more recently, with our Paulson Classics and Le Noirs.

Le Noirs are nice. Why not just continue to play with those? On a per-chip basis, they are probably worth more than the average custom CPC chip, unless you go bat-shit crazy on the edge spot levels and shaped inlays. Unless, of course, you *really* want something custom and special for your group, in which case by all means go CPC.

(Not a fan of the Classics, though there are lots of fans here. If you wanted to get rid of them to start your CPC bankroll, I'm sure you'll find plenty of buyers at fair market prices.)

 

[GianThaMan]

Le Noirs are nice. Why not just continue to play with those? On a per-chip basis, they are probably worth more than the average custom CPC chip, unless you go bat-shit crazy on the edge spot levels and shaped inlays. Unless, of course, you *really* want something custom and special for your group, in which case by all means go CPC.

(Not a fan of the Classics, though there are lots of fans here. If you wanted to get rid of them to start your CPC bankroll, I'm sure you'll find plenty of buyers at fair market prices.)

You could just overlabel the Le Noirs, and bam, you’ve got unique, nice, clay chips.

 

[allforcharity]

You could just overlabel the Le Noirs, and bam, you’ve got unique, nice, clay chips.

I've never had the pleasure of handling Le Noirs. Hopefully there is good recess depth.
But the issue with overlabels is that it's never 100% reversible if you needed to restore the original chip for whatever reason. Overlabel removal sometimes causes the protective laminate layer to pop off.