Venturalvn
Full House
For the better part of 10 years we've had a core group of 5-6 players, and a rotating cast of fill-ins for a monthly-ish game. Although they know that I'm "crazy" about chips, no real appreciation has ever been paid to my custom ASMs. I basically have to tell whoever is hosting that I'll be bringing my chips, because if I don't mention it, dice chips will already be cut into stacks before I show up. Sometimes newer players will say "oh cool," but that's about it.
This weekend, though, it was different. 2 new players came to the game, and immediately upon buying in they started studying the chips. First came the visual inspection, then the shuffling, and between the 2 of them the discussion began.
"The Beach in Santa Barbara...I don't know that one..."
"You ever heard of this place?"
"Wait how'd they even get this many chips out of there?"
And finally after a few rounds of side talk, I was asked one of the coolest questions I've been asked yet. While holding up a Beach $1, "Did this place close down or something?"
For the first time in 10 years, I had players at the game who thought the chips were from a legitimate card room in SoCal. They mentioned the feel. They mentioned liking them better than the chips at the Bike or Commerce (California loves those BJs...) They mentioned the colors. They mentioned the sound. They mentioned how legitimate it was with the matching dealer button. This spawned talk from a third new player that night, again liking them over the Bud Jones rampant in LA.
I know this isn't a big deal to most, but having done the design and inlay myself all those years ago and having them largely ignored from my core group, it was one of the greatest feelings I've had in our home game in many years. I even lost for the first time in a while against one of the tougher new invites, but I couldn't have felt better about the night regardless. An appreciation for good, custom clay chips was worth more than $100 in my book.
Chalk one up for the "crazies"...
This weekend, though, it was different. 2 new players came to the game, and immediately upon buying in they started studying the chips. First came the visual inspection, then the shuffling, and between the 2 of them the discussion began.
"The Beach in Santa Barbara...I don't know that one..."
"You ever heard of this place?"
"Wait how'd they even get this many chips out of there?"
And finally after a few rounds of side talk, I was asked one of the coolest questions I've been asked yet. While holding up a Beach $1, "Did this place close down or something?"
For the first time in 10 years, I had players at the game who thought the chips were from a legitimate card room in SoCal. They mentioned the feel. They mentioned liking them better than the chips at the Bike or Commerce (California loves those BJs...) They mentioned the colors. They mentioned the sound. They mentioned how legitimate it was with the matching dealer button. This spawned talk from a third new player that night, again liking them over the Bud Jones rampant in LA.
I know this isn't a big deal to most, but having done the design and inlay myself all those years ago and having them largely ignored from my core group, it was one of the greatest feelings I've had in our home game in many years. I even lost for the first time in a while against one of the tougher new invites, but I couldn't have felt better about the night regardless. An appreciation for good, custom clay chips was worth more than $100 in my book.
Chalk one up for the "crazies"...
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