Should I buy discounted used casino chips or new casino chips? (Horseshoe Southern Indiana) (1 Viewer)

Raphmivey

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So you might be aware that there is a chiproom sale coming... I plan on buying my first paulson casino chips small set with common denoms: 1s, 5s, 25s and 100s

For all of these, used and new chips are available. For most of them, used chips are one dollar less per chip then the new ones which is equal or more than half the price...

So the price of used chips is very appealing for a noob like me, but I'm afraid I might regret it at some point in the future... Are the used chip worth it? I imagine the 1s and 5s are very worn generally speaking but what about the 25s and 100s? are they generally and good shape? (FYI 25s are .69$ used and 1.69$ new and 100s are .99$ used and 1.99$ new)

I'm sure it depends on people but I'd really like to hear what the community has to say since I actually never played in casinos in the US (no idea how used chips feel and look vs new ones)... thx!!!

Math
 
My first Chip Room sale was for PCA chips way back when. I was in the boat you are. I went with used primary chips because of how inexpensive they were. But I liked the look of the secondary $5, but they were $1 each!!! Big money at the time :wow: so I bought 2 racks of them to use for special occasions. Well I love them so much I bought 8 racks of them altogether and about 1800 secondary chips total. I sold the used chips. They were much more used that these though and the $1 & $5 had dirty stack Issues.

since then I have bought used Empress and Horseshoe Cleveland sets and have sold them as well.

For me casino used it usually too used.

if you can afford the new chips you won’t be disappointed.

plus cleaning all of the finger gunk (aka hooker juice) off them sucks.
 
I would rather handle buttery (not too raggedy) used Paulsons than sharp dusty new ones. For me, the biggest downside to used chips is the potential for stack height inconsistencies due to uneven wear across the set. Cleaning hooker juice is not as horrible as it sounds, especially when you consider the MASSIVE price difference between new and used.
 
Definitely stick to your budget. The new chips are great, but really it's just for me. Majority of the people I play with wouldn't bat an eye at dice chips. During the game people aren't focused on the chips, they're just game pieces. I never noticed how worn casino chips were in years of playing until I started buying new chips for home use. It just wasn't important to me as a player.

New chips will retain value (possibly gain depending on color) and be easier to sell. They won't require cleaning like the used ones will to remove grime aka hooker juice.

Ask yourself if you're just shopping for nicer game pieces, or if you're also getting into collecting and budget accordingly.
 
I'm firmly in the mint new camp. To be honest, I've never actually purchased used Paulsons. However, I've handled used chips in casinos.

You can't really go wrong going either route - because they're Paulsons.

My only suggestion is to buy direct from the Chip Room - that will be the best price point. Don't wait for resellers to list in the classified section. More often than not, you'll get bent over in the classified.
 
i like used.... the mint i always worry about chipping/ damage when pots get splashed or when prop bets get paid off and single chips get tossed at one player from multi directions ... when my golden eagle take flight at the table i chew people a new azz hole! but it will always happen lol the used ones i am less worries about the landings... rounded edges dont chip as easily
 
i like used.... the mint i always worry about chipping/ damage when pots get splashed or when prop bets get paid off and single chips get tossed at one player from multi directions ... when my golden eagle take flight at the table i chew people a new azz hole! but it will always happen lol the used ones i am less worries about the landings... rounded edges dont chip as easily
This for me too. Most people outside the chipping community don't care enough (or at all) about the chips to treat them with the respect they deserve. That said, as long as they're not bike tires or spinners, I love both new and used. Cleaning hooker juice isn't that terrible, it's just showing them the love they deserve!
 
Used/worn is far less worrisome while in use. It’s just too stressful monitoring a group’s eating, drinking and pot splashing behavior over several hours. Used are simply awesome.

That being said, either will be fine as you will own two or more sets in short order
 
I don't really have a dog in this fight. I'm not about to buy any Paulson's anytime soon. But I've used a wide range of Paulson's both used (sometimes heavily) and new. Both have their charm. I for one think there is something somewhat comforting about well used chips. If it wasn't for fear of stack height issues, I'd probably always want used ones.

Edit: plus, used chips shuffle so much better than new chips. It's not even a fair fight.
 
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I agree with the advice above that secondary (mint) chips will be much more easily resalable and will hold their value. I also agree that you should not spend more than you can afford. As far as which chips will be worse than others, it can be difficult to tell. These are primaries from Horseshoe Cleveland:

IMG_5397.jpg


The good news is they clean up pretty well. There are threads on PCF that discuss the best methods of getting rid of hooker juice.

IMG_5483.jpg


Here is an example of the height difference between used and new @DiamondRattler mentioned:

IMG_5699.jpg


One thing to keep in mind... in previous Chiproom sales, the secondaries will go very quickly! Make sure you research techniques for getting your PayPal account and browser ready if you decide to go that way! Good luck!

JT
 
In past sales, secondaries went quickly... But this sale has barrels and barrels of chips. I don't expect $1 through $100 to sell out. JMHO.

If you're on the fence about price, you're probably stretching your budget. If so, your set may be up for sale when you find something you like better. I think you'll find that new chips will hold their value, while used chips might need to be sold at a slight loss to move them.
 
These chips don't look that worn, compared to other used chips Jim has sold in the past, so they will handle better on the poker table than mint chips. You won't go wrong buying used. You won't go wrong buying mint. I say spend what you can afford and don't worry about it. I've missed plenty of chip opportunities in my time. It doesn't bother you that much, cause there are plenty more chips in the future.
 
Very interesting to see all the replies here. I currently do not have any chip sets, as I did not know this collectible world existed until a few months ago, and only saw chips in a casino as a game board piece like described above. I personally do not have any interest to collect these chips and will be buying used hooker juice filled primary chips. Part of the fun to me is thinking about the fact that I might have had those chips in my hand at one time or the other over the past years. I wanted a good cash set and a good tournament set and was about to pull the trigger on some CPC until I realized some of the casinos I have been to over the years have some sets out there. It adds more fun to the whole thing to me to buy the primary, but I will be keeping these in perpetuity to play with on my new Chanman table once it arrives! That is how I got wrapped up in all this to begin with, researching poker table builders! Down the rabbit hole I went buying new card sets based on feedback here and now new chips. Very costly poker table research :)
 
Honestly every single comment in this thread is very valuable. Thank you all!

I think I know what I'll do but still need to think about it a little. In any case I know I cannot go wrong :p I'll let you know what I decided and why if you guys are interested.

Cheers!

Math
 
new is overrated .... if you plan on playing frequently with your chips, then new become used over time (as far as listing them on PCF).

Buy the colors that you like best from that Chiproom sale ... if it means mixing primary and secondary to get the best colors, go for it
 
I for one found out that I can´t enjoy round edge casino used chips. I can get by slightly used chips that still have square edges though, however greatly prefer mint/near mint. But as you can see in this thread everybody differs and I am prone to some OCD :)
 
Used casino chips are typically a great value, usually clean up nicely, and play very well.

Mint casino chips typically hold their value better, require a bit of a break-in period to get 'perfectly' playable, and can be expensive. With rare exception, they will never become 'casino-used' condition with home use.

Both serve the chipping community well, but I prefer the 'perfectly broken-in" feel of near-mint THC chips. It took me a few Chip Room sales to realize it, but I no longer buy used chips.
 
Your budget is alway the most important factor. I would say to you it's like buying anything new or used. If you buy new you will want to baby them. If used you care a little less when they are in play. If you have players who do/try chips tricks and throw their chips, lean more to used. If you have people who just like clean even stacks, building towers go new. Either way you go, know that 9 times out of 10 you will be buying another set...addictive. Lastly, love the sets you buy, don't buy for investments.You're heading down an expensive rabbit hole so buy what makes you happy.
 
@Raphmivey I was lucky enough to get a sample set as I am considering buying enough for my first set as well. I'm really glad you asked this questions as I am considering the primaries versus the secondaries as well.

There was a comment on chip stack height so I've included a picture of the secondaries/"new" (left) versus the primaries/casino new (right). IMO they are very close in stack height unless I received a very nice selection of primaries.

Lastly, there is a significant color "sharpness" difference between the secondaries and primaries, however, for the price point it is difficult to decide what to do!

Best of luck with your decision-I'm in the same boat!

Edited: I am gathering the the sample sets were both new primaries and new secondaries. Apparently no used primaries were in the sample sets.

IMG_4189.jpg
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My first chiproom sale was the ceveland horseshoes. I bought a bunch of casino used primaries at great prices. After playing with them a few times, I hated them and sold them. (It's worth mentioning that my players thought they were cool chips.) I'll never buy used RHC's again (and I think I just realized that I'll never buy any RHC's again at all, so I definitely have some bias.)
So my advice based on my tastes is to buy new.
Also, I'd urge you not to mix and match, unless you can do it with new primary chips - uneven stack heights suck.
But finally, if you're going to be anal about new chips - worrying about splashed pots, worrying about food getting on them, etc - don't buy them.
 
Buy used chips if you need ALOT of chips and are going to play the hell out of them. In this sale you can probably snatch up 1000+ Decent condition 1s and 5s... it’s a rare opportunity to actually get that many matching chips for a price that’s remotely affordable. Building monster sets is hard, and extremely expensive, so if you want a rack for every player on the table, this is a great opportunity.

Buying used is also a good idea for your first set... I bought my first set used, (Jim actually shipped me 4 racks of mint though... not by mistake, there just wasn’t a huge demand for those roulettes at the time)

But I agree with @BGinGA ive gotten rid of most of the used chips I have bought, and I’ve kept most of the minty chips I’ve bought, I Probably wouldn’t buy any casino used chips to build a set any longer, unless they are really old vintage really old chips.

If you already caught the bug, and can only afford the used ones, you will still be extremely happy, you will just come back next year and buy some moar, I mean hell, you are going to come back and buy moar anyway, you are screwed buddy... WELCOME!
 
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I went with a used tournament set, and new cash chips (Except 50c chips) whatever you do, don't ever use your tournament chips as cash chips

I don't look at chips as an investment, if I did I would never use them. I do count them after every game, if a chip goes missing challenge your players about it I've only ever lost two $1 chips while were playing on an outside deck, I know this is true because the offender was seen committing the crime they also admitted guilt. Over time used or new Casino chip become more secure (this means you or anyone else cant buy more without paying very high prices, or they may not even be available at all)

Personally I love used Paulson bike tyres, I like to shuffling chips while playing. Cleaning is fun to start with, but gets old real quick

My players prefer new Paulsons, I mix three different molds, from three different Casinos with fantasy plaques, they don't care

My advice is within a set, the chips should be all used, or all new, buy spares

Have Fun
PS New Paulson chips you use in your home game will never wear, this takes years of 24/7/365 use
 
Bumping this thread because i relied on it really heavily when deciding between buying new and used HSIs. I ended up buying a full set of used chips, and then a barrel worth of new chips to shuffle and geek over.

I absolutely love my used set. Primary 1s have definitely seen battle, but the 5s and 25s were in great shape, shuffle incredibly well, look great. Played with them once, and it’s soooooooo nice to not have to worry about them getting scuffed up or greasy or whatever. People loved the chips, I loved getting to play with them, but i really loved not having to worry or stress about one getting messed up. I may buy a cleaner for the 1s since they show dirt, but will probably leave the 5s and 25s as is
 

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