Newbie - Looking to assemble a poker chip set for a $5-$10 game (1 Viewer)

embers102286

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Hi All,

Apologies if this is the scrubbiest of scrub topics, but I have been doing as much research as my days allow to invest in a chipset for a single-table $5-$10 game that I will be hosting in the future.

From what I have researched so far, I was quoted almost $3.50 per chip from Classic Poker Chips - this may be due to supply chain or what have you, but that price seemed a bit outrageous to me.

Basically what I am looking for is a set with:

- $1 - qty 100 (for tipping dealer)
- $5 - qty ~200
- $10 - qty ~500 (referencing how stacks look when watching Brad Owen's vlogs)
- $100 - qty ~100 (used for larger stack buy-ins / rebuys)
- $500 qty ~50 (used only for rebuy)

Willing to take criticism if I am headed down the complete wrong path, but just wondering what folks' knowledge here have to add for me.
 
Hello and welcome!

Your total bank with this breakdown (~$41k) seems workable, but those yellow $10s aren't super practical, imo, although they do look sweet! I might do something like:

$1 x 100 (tips, as mentioned)
$5 x 200
$10 x 50 <-- just for show/variety, and because you want them!
$25 x 400
$100 x 100
==== (everything above here more than covers $2,000 per player)
$500 x 50 (additional rebuys/add-ons/game-gets-crazy insurance)

900 chips, total bank $46k (50 fewer chips than proposed, $5k more bank, and more $25 workhorse chips)

I may be wrong, but I hope this is helpful!
 
Hi All,

Apologies if this is the scrubbiest of scrub topics, but I have been doing as much research as my days allow to invest in a chipset for a single-table $5-$10 game that I will be hosting in the future.

From what I have researched so far, I was quoted almost $3.50 per chip from Classic Poker Chips - this may be due to supply chain or what have you, but that price seemed a bit outrageous to me.

Custom clay chips are expensive. It's just the reality of it. A lot of new users have sticker shock, so that's normal. You're talking about a hand-made/hand-crafted product using a decades old process. It takes time and money and years of experience to get them to come out right. And with supply chain issues and inflation, you can only expect CPC's prices to go up. I don't think they've ever had a price adjustment down... ever.

If you want to look at more cost-effective alternatives check out full color custom ceramic chips, or ceramic hybrids (ceramic chip with sticker inlay).

Basically what I am looking for is a set with:

- $1 - qty 100 (for tipping dealer)
- $5 - qty ~200
- $10 - qty ~500 (referencing how stacks look when watching Brad Owen's vlogs)
- $100 - qty ~100 (used for larger stack buy-ins / rebuys)
- $500 qty ~50 (used only for rebuy)

Willing to take criticism if I am headed down the complete wrong path, but just wondering what folks' knowledge here have to add for me.

I know Bellagio and Aria are heavy on the $10 chip in their 5/10 games, but a $10 chip is pretty specific to those stakes. If you ever plan on running other games/limits a $20 or $25 chip will provide you with far more versatility/flexibility, as @dmoney suggested.

I'd personally skip the $10 chip entirely.
 
Hi! Welcome!

Yes, the Classic Poker Chips are expensive :(. Unfortunately this isn't a supply chain things but CPC chips are compression-clay chips that are very labour intensive. While they keep the process partially secret, it involves mixing the clay and aging it for several weeks, cutting the edgespots manually and inserting them into the chip, and then using a combination of heat and pressure to actually press the chip. They're also a smaller operation compared to Paulson/GPI, and so they have lead times of a year or more, depending on what mold you want. This is very much not a knock at CPC, I have CPCs that I LOVE, and am currently in the process of ordering more to expand my set. If you want completely completely-custom casino-quality chips, they're the only company that sells to the public.

However, if you are dead set on compression-clay chips, hope is not lost. A great way to get them in the $1/chip or less range is from @TheChipRoom. He's a member that buys up chips from defunct casinos and resells them here in quantity. However, since the prices are very fair and compression-clay chips are in high demand, they usually sell out in minutes. He usually has a sale every few months or so. Here's a link to the last one so you can get an idea: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/black-friday-sale.81599/. They also get traded alot at the classifieds, and you can usually find $1 chips

Depending on your budget, here are some other options that will be cheaper than compression clay:
  • 0.60 - $1/chip - Semi-custom or completely custom ceramics from @ABC Gifts and Awards (https://brpropoker.com). They have some stock designs you can tweak, or you can get whatever you want printed on blank chips for a lead time of 3 weeks or so
  • ~0.50/chip - "China Clays" which are plastic chips with a more premium feel to metal-slugged "dice chips". A few good examples are Milanos, Pharoahs, Majestics, and Dune Tributes. I think all these and more are available off the shelf from @Apache (https://apachepokerchips.com). You can also get them blank to put your own labels on to customize
  • ~0.40 - $1/chip - Non-clay used casino chips. A few examples of these would be ChipCo ceramincs, Bud Jones roulette chips, and injection-molded plastic chips like Abiattis, Gemacos, B&Gs, etc. These pop up alot in the Classifieds section from other members, as well as form various site vendors like @Stas (https://www.pokerchipforum.com/forums/russian-casino-chips.109/).
  • ~0.35/chip - Chinese "Cards Mold" ceramics, which are custom ceramics ordered in bulk from Chinese manufacturers. While the chips are good and the price is great, the whole process takes about a year from start to finish, as it involves finding other people to get in on your buy to hit the 10,000 chip pricing structure, having everyone in the groupbuy find an artist and prepare the design files, waiting for the chips to be produced, waiting for the chips to be shipped to North America on a very slow boat (and incurring the pain of supply chain shipping issues), and waiting for a member to unpackage all the fregit, sort the chips out, and reship them all to the appropriate members. I've gotten a set, and I'd recommend it, it just requires patience.
  • ~0.30/chip - Stock ceramics, like sold at Apache Poker Chips and from various other sources online, like Nile Clubs or Scrolls
  • ~0.20/chip or less - Metal-slugged ABS plastic chips, like dice chips. I know most of these are sketchy, but there are a couple good options options like the Casino Royale tributes or to a lesser extend the Monte Carlo Poker Clubs

A couple more things to note when buying chips:
  • Definitely get samples, there's a huge variety in how chips feel, and it has a huge impact on the set. There are some samples that people lend out to new members for free, like these ones: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/thre...y-for-new-chippers-see-inside-for-rules.52550
  • There is no such thing as "official casino weight". Most casino chips nowadays are somewhere around 9g per chip, whereas the "official casino weight" chips you see online usually have a metal slug and are around 13g.
  • Most of the chips advertised online as "clay" aren't actually clay, they're mostly plastic. The only manufacturers of compression-clay chips are Paulson/GPI, and CPC/ASM, and some older defunct ones like BCC.
  • In addition to all the great info here, member @Chris Manzoni has a youtube channel where he shows his samples of chips, discusses how to form set breakdowns and starting stacks, etc. It's a great resource: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpOtRc3qrrEKXXV7jFAfgVQ
  • If you want China Clays or Ceramics and don't mind gently used, they pop up often in the Classifieds for very cheap or sometimes even free from members looking to upgrade to compression-clays
 
Is this game limit or only no limit?
No limit

Is this game limit or only no limit?
Hi! Welcome!

Yes, the Classic Poker Chips are expensive :(. Unfortunately this isn't a supply chain things but CPC chips are compression-clay chips that are very labour intensive. While they keep the process partially secret, it involves mixing the clay and aging it for several weeks, cutting the edgespots manually and inserting them into the chip, and then using a combination of heat and pressure to actually press the chip. They're also a smaller operation compared to Paulson/GPI, and so they have lead times of a year or more, depending on what mold you want. This is very much not a knock at CPC, I have CPCs that I LOVE, and am currently in the process of ordering more to expand my set. If you want completely completely-custom casino-quality chips, they're the only company that sells to the public.

However, if you are dead set on compression-clay chips, hope is not lost. A great way to get them in the $1/chip or less range is from @TheChipRoom. He's a member that buys up chips from defunct casinos and resells them here in quantity. However, since the prices are very fair and compression-clay chips are in high demand, they usually sell out in minutes. He usually has a sale every few months or so. Here's a link to the last one so you can get an idea: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/black-friday-sale.81599/. They also get traded alot at the classifieds, and you can usually find $1 chips

Depending on your budget, here are some other options that will be cheaper than compression clay:
  • 0.60 - $1/chip - Semi-custom or completely custom ceramics from @ABC Gifts and Awards (https://brpropoker.com). They have some stock designs you can tweak, or you can get whatever you want printed on blank chips for a lead time of 3 weeks or so
  • ~0.50/chip - "China Clays" which are plastic chips with a more premium feel to metal-slugged "dice chips". A few good examples are Milanos, Pharoahs, Majestics, and Dune Tributes. I think all these and more are available off the shelf from @Apache (https://apachepokerchips.com). You can also get them blank to put your own labels on to customize
  • ~0.40 - $1/chip - Non-clay used casino chips. A few examples of these would be ChipCo ceramincs, Bud Jones roulette chips, and injection-molded plastic chips like Abiattis, Gemacos, B&Gs, etc. These pop up alot in the Classifieds section from other members, as well as form various site vendors like @Stas (https://www.pokerchipforum.com/forums/russian-casino-chips.109/).
  • ~0.35/chip - Chinese "Cards Mold" ceramics, which are custom ceramics ordered in bulk from Chinese manufacturers. While the chips are good and the price is great, the whole process takes about a year from start to finish, as it involves finding other people to get in on your buy to hit the 10,000 chip pricing structure, having everyone in the groupbuy find an artist and prepare the design files, waiting for the chips to be produced, waiting for the chips to be shipped to North America on a very slow boat (and incurring the pain of supply chain shipping issues), and waiting for a member to unpackage all the fregit, sort the chips out, and reship them all to the appropriate members. I've gotten a set, and I'd recommend it, it just requires patience.
  • ~0.30/chip - Stock ceramics, like sold at Apache Poker Chips and from various other sources online, like Nile Clubs or Scrolls
  • ~0.20/chip or less - Metal-slugged ABS plastic chips, like dice chips. I know most of these are sketchy, but there are a couple good options options like the Casino Royale tributes or to a lesser extend the Monte Carlo Poker Clubs

A couple more things to note when buying chips:
  • Definitely get samples, there's a huge variety in how chips feel, and it has a huge impact on the set. There are some samples that people lend out to new members for free, like these ones: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/thre...y-for-new-chippers-see-inside-for-rules.52550
  • There is no such thing as "official casino weight". Most casino chips nowadays are somewhere around 9g per chip, whereas the "official casino weight" chips you see online usually have a metal slug and are around 13g.
  • Most of the chips advertised online as "clay" aren't actually clay, they're mostly plastic. The only manufacturers of compression-clay chips are Paulson/GPI, and CPC/ASM, and some older defunct ones like BCC.
  • In addition to all the great info here, member @Chris Manzoni has a youtube channel where he shows his samples of chips, discusses how to form set breakdowns and starting stacks, etc. It's a great resource: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpOtRc3qrrEKXXV7jFAfgVQ
  • If you want China Clays or Ceramics and don't mind gently used, they pop up often in the Classifieds for very cheap or sometimes even free from members looking to upgrade to compression-clays
Thank you so much for all of this detail
 
I'm a bit confused, is this a cash game or a tournament. The title said $5-$10 so if those are the blinds and you plan on having tens of thousands of real dollars wagered you should pay the money and invest in custom chips for security reasons. You don't have to go with CPC but I would not feel comfortable with chips that can be acquired on eBay, Amazon, or whatever. If you mean a $5 or $10 tournament then use whatever, there are plenty of options. Get samples and pick something you like within a budget you feel comfortable with. Custom ceramics are not everyone's cup of tea but they would provide security at a low cost (.99c per chip give or take a few cents)

Also, not a scrub topic, this is what we do here and many people are more than happy to help you with all things poker related.
 
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I'm a bit confused, is this a cash game or a tournament. The title said $5-$10 so if those are the blinds and you plan on having tens of thousands of real dollars wagered you should pay the money and invest in custom chips for security reasons. You don't have to go with CPC but I would not feel comfortable with chips that can be acquired on eBay, Amazon, or whatever. If you mean a $5 or $10 tournament then use whatever, there are plenty of options. Get samples and pick something you like within a budget you feel comfortable with. Custom ceramics are not everyone's cup of tea but they would provide security at a low cost (.99c per chip give or take a few cents)

Also, not a scrub topic, this is what we do here and many people are more than happy to help you with all things poker related.
Seems pretty clear he meant cash game since he wants the $1 chips for dealer tips. JMHO.
 
I'm a bit confused, is this a cash game or a tournament. The title said $5-$10 so if those are the blinds and you plan on having tens of thousands of real dollars wagered you should pay the money and invest in custom chips for security reasons. You don't have to go with CPC but I would not feel comfortable with chips that can be acquired on eBay, Amazon, or whatever. If you mean a $5 or $10 tournament then use whatever, there are plenty of options. Get samples and pick something you like within a budget you feel comfortable with. Custom ceramics are not everyone's cup of tea but they would provide security at a low cost (.99c per chip give or take a few cents)

Also, not a scrub topic, this is what we do here and many people are more than happy to help you with all things poker related.
You’re absolutely correct in terms of game integrity, the chips should be custom. My buddy showed me his invoice from CPC and I was just a tad surprised their prices had increased 52% from a year ago
 
If you were to put custom labels over existing Paulson rhc cash chips it wouldn’t have to be a fortune.

You’d be looking at around 1-2$ a chip (2-4$ for the 100s) for mint stuff if you’re not terribly picky about the spot patterns. And then the cost is the labels which is I think 20c a label / 40c a chip with gear?

Hsi has a good selection for 1$ chips a bit over $1 a chip, jack near mint 5s are by far the most inexpensive and readily spotted red at the moment that would work with a new/mint set at around 1.75-2 a chip. 10s and 100s just depends on what color you want.
 
You’re absolutely correct in terms of game integrity, the chips should be custom. My buddy showed me his invoice from CPC and I was just a tad surprised their prices had increased 52% from a year ago

ya definitely sticker shock on those. It is really cool to own a set of one of a kind custom clay chips from cpc but the cost and the long lead time is a bit prohibitive. I would spend some time poking around the forum, there are many options for custom and semi custom chips that will not break the bank and still provide a good level of security for you guests. There is no substitute for getting your hands on some chips to see for yourself the differences in feel and sound of each option. Maybe place a wanted ad in the classified section for samples of different chips, there are also sample sets that move around to give new chippers a taste of different styles of chips available.
Good luck on you quest!
 
$3.50 a chip from CPC is for the level 5 and above spots on the molds with the highest use 'up-charge'. A very functional and very secure set of custom chips can be had for considerably less. None of my custom sets from CPC have spots higher than L4.

For a game as large as it sounds like you are spreading, it would absolutely be worth the wait to get a custom set, purely for the security of the game it will provide. Start playing with the chip design tool http://www.pokerchipdesigntool.com/ , see what you can come up with just with L4's and below http://www.classicpokerchips.com/pokerchips/realclay/edgespots.htm and I think you will be pleasantly surprised at what you can get that's not $3.50 per chip.


(Note that the A-mold "A-crest on CPC's list) is always mounted so the wait will be much shorter. It's also one of two molds with the lowest add-on price for the specific mold.)
 
Also, with current pricing you can get some great looking CPC chips for under $2 each with level 1 and 2 inserts. Prices do go up Jan 1 though. Have you visited http://pokerchipdesigntool.com/ yet? That will give you a better idea of what you can get for the money.
E39C7C5F-93C8-4EC7-981B-6EE5376625BE.jpeg
 
$3.50 a chip from CPC is for the level 5 and above spots. A very functional and very secure of custom chips can be had for considerably less. None of my custom sets from CPC have spots higher than L5.

For a game as large as it sounds like you are spreading, it would absolutely be worth the wait to get a custom set, purely for the security of the game it will provide. Start playing with the chip design tool http://www.pokerchipdesigntool.com/ , see what you can come up with just with L4's and below http://www.classicpokerchips.com/pokerchips/realclay/edgespots.htm and I think you will be pleasantly surprised at what you can get that's not $3.50 per chip.


(Note that the A-mold "A-crest on CPC's list) is always mounted so the wait will be much shorter. It's also one of two molds with the lowest add-on price for the specific mold.)
I think we posted almost the same thing at the same time ha
 
This is also true, you could go solid for the $1 and stick to spots mostly at level one and maybe some level 3 for the high denoms since you will need much less of them. As far as time, the fastest turnaround would be the A mold since it is always in production.
If you go with dmoneys breakdown: solid for the $1, level 1 for the $5, $10, and $25, and level 3 for the $100 and $500 you are looking at about $1600. Not sure on the time table, you would need to ask CPC but A mold is always running. Then you would have a completely unique set of custom compression clay poker chips. There are plenty of samples of A mold chips running around, I would check out samples before I buy anything, not everyone likes every mold, its defiantly a personal thing.
 
If you hosting $5/$10 stake game regularly, customise chip of some sort or using very rare casino set is almost a must for security reason

For the breakdown, I will skip on $10 and get $25 denom instead those are your primary workhorse chips

$5 are consider blind Chips and you will not require more than 1 rack per table

$1 x 100 (for your tips)
$5 x 100
$25 x 300
$100 x 200
$500 x 100

$25 & $100 will be your main chip that the people will be using, if you can afford more I will add in another rack of $25 to make it 400

$500 is for rebuyin also and to build your chip bankroll
 
You’re absolutely correct in terms of game integrity, the chips should be custom. My buddy showed me his invoice from CPC and I was just a tad surprised their prices had increased 52% from a year ago

Their prices have absolutely not increased 52% from a year ago. Prices went up like 2-3% in 2021. The prices vary significantly by chip spot pattern and other factors. Your friend had ordered something different than what you were requesting.
 
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I'm a big fan of BR Pro ceramics. While they aren't the same as clay, the are considerably less money, fully customizable across the entire face and edges, and feel and play great. My first custom set were ChipCo chips and I like these even better.

brpropoker.com
 
Hello and welcome. I play in 5/5 games with straddles ranging from 10-100. I don’t host regularly anymore because it’s a lot of work. But have hosted a lot over the past years. Not sure how much hosting experience u have, but below are some things I have learned from years of experience.

1. Ur chip breakdown is gonna depend largely on your buy in ranges. I have played with all kinds of buy in ranges but from a hosting perspective I think it is a very good idea to reasonably cap the buy ins. Degens can’t control themselves. That is a fact. U will have to take control. Whatever the limit is people are going to want to go there especially the stuck players. All my chip breakdowns are the same and should be able to accommodate any 5/5 to 10/25 game:

$1 x100-200 (I typically just have $1s for tipping and in case I ever want to host a 1/2 game).
$5 x200
$25 x200
$100 x200
$500 x100
$1k x100
$5k x40

I am not sure why u would need/want $10s.

2. Players are squirrels. Somewhere I posted about the non monetary aspects of hosting - food and other accommodations. If u have not hosted before, be prepared. Clean up can be a nightmare depending on what u r going to provide these guys.

3. Chips. For a game of this size, u r going to need custom chips. Obviously people want to play with nice chips but chip security is paramount. A relabel Paulson set is a great idea (that’s what I use). BR pro Ceramics are an awesome way to go as well. U can get custom chips pretty quickly and they hold up great. Compared to Paulsons they are relatively inexpensive. I used my chipco ceramic set for about 17 years. No complaints. Also I am a big fan of 43 mm chips for the hi denominations- $500 and above. It is important to distinguish these chips so there are no mistakes. I know there are some that are anti 43 mm but for a game of this size the idea is no limit the possibility of issues/disputes. Br pro makes 43 mm ceramics.

If u have any questions feel free to PM me. Hope this helps! Good luck!
 
I'm under the impression that, even at stakes like this, the players couldn't give a rat's ass what kind of chips they're playing with. So if you're running the game mostly to keep the players happy rather than for your own satisfaction, forget about CPCs and get ceramics. They look amazing, they feel just fine, and they're cheap as hell versus either brand new CPCs or used but still decent Paulsons.

You can get them from ABC (aka BR Pro), from Sun-Fly, or from "Tina" and end up with great-looking, great-feeling chips. ABC is reasonably-priced, has fast turn-around, has top-notch customer service, and is local to the US. Sun-Fly has some "hybrid" options that can make for a more distinctive and classic-looking chip, those might be worth looking into if you want to take the appearance up a notch - but again, if the players don't care, maybe you shouldn't care either.
 
You can get away with 500-600 chips for your 5/10 cash games as long as you are careful with your breakdowns and have enough bank. Your workhorse will be the $25 (or $20, if you'd rather).
 
Br poker is doing 1000 chip bundles for $700 right now. Doesn't get easier than that

That being said... The CPCs are highly satisfying.
 

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