Pro and cons for clay and ceramic chips (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter imlyeman
- Start date
Welcome,
Many of your questions may be answered here, I suggest read this first:
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/new-members-start-here.85303/
Many of your questions may be answered here, I suggest read this first:
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/new-members-start-here.85303/
Clay
- the most traditional material in North American casinos for the last 75 years
- sometimes harvestable from live casinos at face value
- highly sought after and getting rarer, so tends to be quite expensive
- only one company still selling customized chips to the general public
- designs often limited by budget for customization, or else using/re-using what already exists
Ceramic
- many manufacturers in the market so lots of competition, easily available in whatever quantities you need, which keeps prices lower
- not used as often in NA casinos, so little "history"
- highly customizable, usually with few extra charges or restrictions
- durable
- often used as an inexpensive alternative to replicate other chip designs, which may be acceptable or not acceptable depending on your point-of-view
- the most traditional material in North American casinos for the last 75 years
- sometimes harvestable from live casinos at face value
- highly sought after and getting rarer, so tends to be quite expensive
- only one company still selling customized chips to the general public
- designs often limited by budget for customization, or else using/re-using what already exists
Ceramic
- many manufacturers in the market so lots of competition, easily available in whatever quantities you need, which keeps prices lower
- not used as often in NA casinos, so little "history"
- highly customizable, usually with few extra charges or restrictions
- durable
- often used as an inexpensive alternative to replicate other chip designs, which may be acceptable or not acceptable depending on your point-of-view
Welcome here!
commercially available sets advertised as clay aren’t actually clay. It’s just a gimmick. Actual clay chips are much more expensive and only available through here:
http://www.classicpokerchips.com/
Or through the second hand market, namely the classifieds on PCF.
There are decent alternatives in the same price range as ceramics such as ”china clays” from apachepoker.com for instance. But again, not actually clay.
commercially available sets advertised as clay aren’t actually clay. It’s just a gimmick. Actual clay chips are much more expensive and only available through here:
http://www.classicpokerchips.com/
Or through the second hand market, namely the classifieds on PCF.
There are decent alternatives in the same price range as ceramics such as ”china clays” from apachepoker.com for instance. But again, not actually clay.
Mr Winberg
Full House
Some more ceramic pros:
- DDLM! Can't get those in clay!
- Equal widths across the set, meaning equal stack heights
- Equal diameters across the set
Ceramic cons:
- Black is not black, it's dark grey.
- Clanky sound. 43mm sound better than 39, though.
LeLe
4 of a Kind
Get Samples, everyone taste different a lot from each another
Speaking from experience since I also from Singapore and also owned various different material chip sets, I got the most positive feedback and comments from non chippers when I am using the Casino-grade Plastic chips
But generally most local players don’t care what chips you are using
Speaking from experience since I also from Singapore and also owned various different material chip sets, I got the most positive feedback and comments from non chippers when I am using the Casino-grade Plastic chips
But generally most local players don’t care what chips you are using
JackpotJake
Sitting Out
My first ceramic set is on the way. Hoping I do t regret it. Cards mold
I play a lot with both. I like clay better but i play a lot with ceramics and they are super nice too. I just bought some of these 100s (see pic) for a guy i play pretty regularly with and all the guys loved them (60 bucks for 140 chips used ….but they looked brand new). Im starting to really enjoy ceramics and there are a lot of good and affordable options. Artwork can be just awesome on these too.
Be careful if you purchase used clay chips from anywhere. One thing i learned recently is that some of my casino chips are slightly off in stack heights and when i asked a dealer i know why that would be he mentioned that one possibility is that the clay casino chips you buy can often be a mixture of table game chips and poker chips where the chips for table games get handled more frequently over time and get worn down more quickly even though it is somewhat minimally and it can affect the stack size (very slightly) when you play poker and mix the two.
Be careful if you purchase used clay chips from anywhere. One thing i learned recently is that some of my casino chips are slightly off in stack heights and when i asked a dealer i know why that would be he mentioned that one possibility is that the clay casino chips you buy can often be a mixture of table game chips and poker chips where the chips for table games get handled more frequently over time and get worn down more quickly even though it is somewhat minimally and it can affect the stack size (very slightly) when you play poker and mix the two.
A stack of new Paulsons will be much different in height compared to a stack of equal amount of well-worn Paulsons. Sometimes it can be a whole chip-height difference over just 20 chips.
It is always recommended when putting a set together, to get chips of similar wear, to minimize stack height differences.
Which brands of chips is mostly considered Casino-grade plastic chips? Abaiatti?
LeLe
4 of a Kind
It’s almost like asking “what’s better, fruits or vegetables?”
A pro AND con of clay is that there are so many differences. The clays used by the two most common brands around here - CPC and Paulson - are pretty different. And Paulson has even had different clays within its brand - the older leaded clay chips feel different from what’s currently produced.
And the mold of the chip affects it’s feel and sound as much or more than the clay itself. Paulson has two major 39mm molds (one I love and one I hate) plus custom house molds for some casinos, plus oversized molds - all fairly common and all very different. CPC has something like 15 different molds - some I like and some I don’t.
There’s so many differences going on within clay chips and understanding them is like becoming a wine taster.
Generally I prefer clay chips, but to me, their differences can be so significant that there’s some clay chips I dislike so much that I’d rather own ceramics.
But the most important characteristics about chips - do they handle and stack well, are they easily readable and distinguishable from one another, and maybe do they look interesting - can be accomplished by both clay and ceramic. So you can go right (and wrong) with either.
A pro AND con of clay is that there are so many differences. The clays used by the two most common brands around here - CPC and Paulson - are pretty different. And Paulson has even had different clays within its brand - the older leaded clay chips feel different from what’s currently produced.
And the mold of the chip affects it’s feel and sound as much or more than the clay itself. Paulson has two major 39mm molds (one I love and one I hate) plus custom house molds for some casinos, plus oversized molds - all fairly common and all very different. CPC has something like 15 different molds - some I like and some I don’t.
There’s so many differences going on within clay chips and understanding them is like becoming a wine taster.
Generally I prefer clay chips, but to me, their differences can be so significant that there’s some clay chips I dislike so much that I’d rather own ceramics.
But the most important characteristics about chips - do they handle and stack well, are they easily readable and distinguishable from one another, and maybe do they look interesting - can be accomplished by both clay and ceramic. So you can go right (and wrong) with either.
I
I should get the samples from CPC soon! Heard the minimum down time is probably about 6 months or more to make them.
Depending on the mold you choose. If you want the A mold, it’s always running, and you may have your set in a short time. If it’s a mold that just ran, it could be a year or more.
One thing with ceramics in my opinion is, they are super easy to clean unless they have some fancy labels. You just throw them into a bucket of water with some soap and clean them. With the clay I would be much more careful in cleaning them, especially if its something hot stamped or so which would take me a couple hours to clean them gently. That is also something to consider if you ask me, I would never let people smear pizza and beer all over anything thats close to the pokertable but still sometimes cleaning the chips will be neccessary regardless so I appreciate ceramics for that. Just a thought to throw into the room for your choice
4got2flush
Pair
Grab some samples. It really comes down to personal preference. I like clay myself for the sound and feel, but plenty of folks prefer ceramics for some of the reasons mentioned above.
Welcome,
Many of your questions may be answered here, I suggest read this first:
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/new-members-start-here.85303/
That does make a big difference. We're eating wings half the time during breaks.One thing with ceramics in my opinion is, they are super easy to clean unless they have some fancy labels. You just throw them into a bucket of water with some soap and clean them. With the clay I would be much more careful in cleaning them, especially if its something hot stamped or so which would take me a couple hours to clean them gently. That is also something to consider if you ask me, I would never let people smear pizza and beer all over anything thats close to the pokertable but still sometimes cleaning the chips will be neccessary regardless so I appreciate ceramics for that. Just a thought to throw into the room for your choice
I bought samples of Monaco Casino, Horseshoe, Outlaw, Turbo, and Slowplay. I like the look of those ceramics and I like the feel of the plastics inserts. Looking at any of them makes me want to play more poker.
Darren 555
Sitting Out
Back when I played (hosted) more, I used my ChipCo ceramics because they are more durable. Most of my sets are clay though.
I was a bit concerned that the ceramics tend to fade with use. Was that a problem with older technology or was it just the daily grind of casino usage?
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