Newbie questions (1 Viewer)

[Finkdaddy]

I’ve only been playing poker since early last year, but it’s become an obsession. Up until now I’ve been using a 300 piece Dice set, but I just finished building a very nice custom table, and I’d like to get chips to match. So I have a couple of questions.

How many chips do I need if I will normally have 8 people playing? I will almost always be playing low stakes cash games with family and friends, but occasionally I’d like to host something larger.

Also, what would be a good brand to buy for a guy on a budget?

To be honest, I’m not even sure I’m asking the right questions, so any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[Sparty]

Hi there. You might want to start by searching some of the home game threads like this one.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/thoughts-on-my-cash-set-breakdown.51355/page-2

 

[Finkdaddy]

Hi there. You might want to start by searching some of the home game threads like this one.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/thoughts-on-my-cash-set-breakdown.51355/page-2

Perfect. Thank you.

 

[FordPickup92]

What kind of budget are we working with?

 

[Beakertwang]

What’s “low stakes” mean for you?

And what’s your budget?

 

[Finkdaddy]

What kind of budget are we working with?

Not a ton. Perhaps $200 or so.

What’s “low stakes” mean for you?

And what’s your budget?

Maybe a couple hundred dollars for chips. When I play with family, I’ll probably top off the buy in at $20.

 

[toynoob]

Have you held the different clays, ceramics, and "official casino weight" plastics to see what u prefer?

 

[Legend5555]

1. What is your budget?

2. What blinds are you typically playing?

3. How many people do you want to support total?

4. Are you thinking about running cash and occasional tournament? If so, we will recommend two separate sets.

 

[Beakertwang]

With $20 buy-ins, I'm probably playing 5¢/10¢, or possibly .25/.25 blinds. The latter would be preferred, for three reasons: 1) nickels are hard to find, 2) 5¢/10¢ will probably play like .25/.25 anyway, and 3) you won't spend $50 of your budget on $5 worth of bank with nickels.

$200 will get you 400-500 china clays from Apache. I'd recommend 43mm Royals (no nickels), but the Pharaohs and Majestics (both have nickels) are OK.

This breakdown should serve you fine:
.25 x 100
$1 x 200
$5 x 100

 

[FordPickup92]

Not a ton. Perhaps $200 or so.


Maybe a couple hundred dollars for chips. When I play with family, I’ll probably top off the buy in at $20.

I'm in agreeance with @Beakertwang's statement.. likely dont need to repeat the same thing lol

I'm going to tag @kjh817 here since we were just discussing something similar

 

[Finkdaddy]

With $20 buy-ins, I'm probably playing 5¢/10¢, or possibly .25/.25 blinds. The latter would be preferred, for three reasons: 1) nickels are hard to find, 2) 5¢/10¢ will probably play like .25/.25 anyway, and 3) you won't spend $50 of your budget on $5 worth of bank with nickels.

$200 will get you 400-500 china clays from Apache. I'd recommend 43mm Royals (no nickels), but the Pharaohs and Majestics (both have nickels) are OK.

This breakdown should serve you fine:
.25 x 100
$1 x 200
$5 x 100

That's perfect. Thank you very much!

 

[BirdCage]

Welcome to the forum! I was in the same boat a couple of weeks back, this thread might help, too --> https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/china-clay-poker-chip-cash-set-comparison-picture.51383/

My used Dunes set arrived and it looks awesome. I will use it tomorrow for the first time. I picked up this set --> https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/cc-dunes-800-chip-cash-set.47831/

The China Clays do seem to be a practical and affordable step-up from the striped dice chips. To me, they all look so good, however, reading the tea leaves, it seems that some have better quality control consistency than others (i.e., colors, thickness, labels, flatness, etc.) All that being said, I probably would have been happy with any of the China Clay setups.

I'd recommend posting a "wanted" ad in the forum and looking for a used set once you decide on the variation.

Finally, I was warned that China Clays were just a stepping stone to Paulson chips. Could be the case. However, it does appear that Paulson chips will run at least $1 per chip, so double to quadruple the cost of China Clays.

And to further confuse, ceramic chips are liked by some and look very cool. Cost-wise, they are in between CC's and top-quality clay chips. Good link to see some cermaic options --> https://www.brpropoker.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html

Things to consider.

And Rule #1: get sample chips!!!

 

[Finkdaddy]

Welcome to the forum! I was in the same boat a couple of weeks back, this thread might help, too --> https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/china-clay-poker-chip-cash-set-comparison-picture.51383/

My used Dunes set arrived and it looks awesome. I will use it tomorrow for the first time. I picked up this set --> https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/cc-dunes-800-chip-cash-set.47831/

The China Clays do seem to be a practical and affordable step-up from the striped dice chips. To me, they all look so good, however, reading the tea leaves, it seems that some have better quality control consistency than others (i.e., colors, thickness, labels, flatness, etc.) All that being said, I probably would have been happy with any of the China Clay setups.

I'd recommend posting a "wanted" ad in the forum and looking for a used set once you decide on the variation.

Finally, I was warned that China Clays were just a stepping stone to Paulson chips. Could be the case. However, it does appear that Paulson chips will run at least $1 per chip, so double to quadruple the cost of China Clays.

And to further confuse, ceramic chips are liked by some and look very cool. Cost-wise, they are in between CC's and top-quality clay chips. Good link to see some cermaic options --> https://www.brpropoker.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html

Things to consider.

And Rule #1: get sample chips!!!

That’s great stuff. Thanks for the info!

 

[DarkestHorse]

I bought samples from Apache poker of China clay Majestics ($.42/chip), 13.5g Casino Royale ($.15/chip), China clay Royals ($.49/chip), and separately got Ceramic Chipco chips ($.35-$.50/chip used or $.70+/chip new from ABC trophy with their blank).

We have a pretty new to poker group at the moment, but I gave about 10 people the samples and asked them to rank cheapest to most expensive. Every single one picked majestic as the cheapest and the casino royale and chipco as the most expensive.

Edit: I should point out that most beginners think heavier is just better. They would also think some premium clay chips are cheap, so take the survey with a grain of salt.

I prefer China clay(and basically any chip) to the heavy 13.5g chips because I don’t like handing and shuffling heavy chips. But I would highly recommend used chipco / ceramics(google Royal Yaks for roughly $.50/chip chipco) over China’s clay.

If budget is really an issue I would get Nexgens because I like lighter chips. If you don’t mind heavy, pick your favorite 13.5g design.

One really important thing to point out is that China clay objectively has a “chemical”y smell. It was mild enough not to bother me (has to be within an inch of my nose to smell them), but some people couldn’t stand it. My hands would also smell like them after handling. The smell will lessen over time, but likely never go away completely.

My casino royale 13.5g also had a slight rubber smell.

TLDR; Get samples and I highly recommend used ceramics

 

[Finkdaddy]

I bought samples from Apache poker of China clay Majestics ($.42/chip), 13.5g Casino Royale ($.15/chip), China clay Royals ($.49/chip), and separately got Ceramic Chipco chips ($.35-$.50/chip used or $.70+/chip new from ABC trophy with their blank).

We have a pretty new to poker group at the moment, but I gave about 10 people the samples and asked them to rank cheapest to most expensive. Every single one picked majestic as the cheapest and the casino royale and chipco as the most expensive.

Edit: I should point out that most beginners think heavier is just better. They would also think some premium clay chips are cheap, so take the survey with a grain of salt.

I prefer China clay(and basically any chip) to the heavy 13.5g chips because I don’t like handing and shuffling heavy chips. But I would highly recommend used chipco / ceramics(google Royal Yaks for roughly $.50/chip chipco) over China’s clay.

If budget is really an issue I would get Nexgens because I like lighter chips. If you don’t mind heavy, pick your favorite 13.5g design.

One really important thing to point out is that China clay objectively has a “chemical”y smell. It was mild enough not to bother me (has to be within an inch of my nose to smell them), but some people couldn’t stand it. My hands would also smell like them after handling. The smell will lessen over time, but likely never go away completely.

My casino royale 13.5g also had a slight rubber smell.

TLDR; Get samples and I highly recommend used ceramics

That is a great advice. Thank you so much!