bondneedschips
Waiting List
If this is the wrong forum, please feel free to move it or tell me where I should move/repost this too.
I'm new to this world. So fairly inexperienced. So sharing what I have learned so far regarding Casino Royale chips. There are at least 2 versions. And they are VERY different when actually in your hands versus looking at pics on a website.
I ordered my first "set" from American Gaming Supply. This in no way is intended as a slight to that site/company. I have not ordered any others from them, so do not feel its fair to say that one instance, one specific type of chips determines how good or bad a company is. This is strictly a review for the purposes of finding the best version of a specific set of chips. In this case, the Casino Royale styled chips. Since they did not have a "sample set" I ordered 25 each of the 1, 5, 25 and 100 chips. When they came in, at first glance they were what I expected. They looked and felt like they were plastic, like a Monte Carlo set I had ordered off Amazon (I'm new, don't censor me!) But when I tried to do a chip flip or shuffle, I noticed a problem. Instead of a solid, one piece design, it seemed they were a 2-part design, like they were put together: the bottom part, the metal slug insert, then the top placed into the bottom. so if they were one side up, they moved and behaved as expected. But if the other side was up, it felt different and didn't move as smoothly.
So I went searching and found a different set on ApachePokerChips.com. This set was a little different. For one, the edge marks/inserts were different. AGS chips had 4 for every denomination. the colors were different, but the exact same design. Not same theme, but the exact same design. Apache had 3 different designs. A 3-mark, a 4-mark and a 6-mark design. So that alone implied a bit more care/effort went into the design. They also offered a sample set with one of each denomination. So I could get a small set to see what they looked like before getting more to start building a set to use. I ordered the sample. When they arrived, they immediately looked different. They had a bit of a chalky surface. Instead of looking like plastic, they looked more "real" if that is such a thing. They looked more like what I remembered from Vegas and Biloxi. They seemed to stack, flip and shuffle well. I immediately liked them better and ordered 1, 5, 25, and 100. AGS ran $6.50/25, and Apache ran $6.25/25. so both cheaper and better quality. Since then, I've ordered more of other denominations. I regret ordering the ones from AGS. Again, nothing against the company. But for this specific set, the Apache is much better and I now have 100 chips I will never use and do not feel it would be fair or appropriate to try to sell. So while I can't get my money back out of them, I can at least use them to help others be aware of the differences. Below are images of both types. I've circled the same areas on some images. I'm not sure they show very well in pictures, but hopefully they are visible enough so you can see the difference. The ones WITH the $ symbol (and with 3 and 6 edge marks) are Apache's, and the ones without the $ and with only the 4 edge marks are from AGS. I tried out the water/mineral oil to remove the chalky look, so these are a bit darker then they will be when you first get them. Other than that, they are exactly what you'll get from Apache.
I'm new to this world. So fairly inexperienced. So sharing what I have learned so far regarding Casino Royale chips. There are at least 2 versions. And they are VERY different when actually in your hands versus looking at pics on a website.
I ordered my first "set" from American Gaming Supply. This in no way is intended as a slight to that site/company. I have not ordered any others from them, so do not feel its fair to say that one instance, one specific type of chips determines how good or bad a company is. This is strictly a review for the purposes of finding the best version of a specific set of chips. In this case, the Casino Royale styled chips. Since they did not have a "sample set" I ordered 25 each of the 1, 5, 25 and 100 chips. When they came in, at first glance they were what I expected. They looked and felt like they were plastic, like a Monte Carlo set I had ordered off Amazon (I'm new, don't censor me!) But when I tried to do a chip flip or shuffle, I noticed a problem. Instead of a solid, one piece design, it seemed they were a 2-part design, like they were put together: the bottom part, the metal slug insert, then the top placed into the bottom. so if they were one side up, they moved and behaved as expected. But if the other side was up, it felt different and didn't move as smoothly.
So I went searching and found a different set on ApachePokerChips.com. This set was a little different. For one, the edge marks/inserts were different. AGS chips had 4 for every denomination. the colors were different, but the exact same design. Not same theme, but the exact same design. Apache had 3 different designs. A 3-mark, a 4-mark and a 6-mark design. So that alone implied a bit more care/effort went into the design. They also offered a sample set with one of each denomination. So I could get a small set to see what they looked like before getting more to start building a set to use. I ordered the sample. When they arrived, they immediately looked different. They had a bit of a chalky surface. Instead of looking like plastic, they looked more "real" if that is such a thing. They looked more like what I remembered from Vegas and Biloxi. They seemed to stack, flip and shuffle well. I immediately liked them better and ordered 1, 5, 25, and 100. AGS ran $6.50/25, and Apache ran $6.25/25. so both cheaper and better quality. Since then, I've ordered more of other denominations. I regret ordering the ones from AGS. Again, nothing against the company. But for this specific set, the Apache is much better and I now have 100 chips I will never use and do not feel it would be fair or appropriate to try to sell. So while I can't get my money back out of them, I can at least use them to help others be aware of the differences. Below are images of both types. I've circled the same areas on some images. I'm not sure they show very well in pictures, but hopefully they are visible enough so you can see the difference. The ones WITH the $ symbol (and with 3 and 6 edge marks) are Apache's, and the ones without the $ and with only the 4 edge marks are from AGS. I tried out the water/mineral oil to remove the chalky look, so these are a bit darker then they will be when you first get them. Other than that, they are exactly what you'll get from Apache.
