For those of you that know me, I started collecting poker chips officially in 2013, just about 10 years ago now. I can’t believe it’s actually been that long, can you? Lots of you have been doing this even longer since the ChipTalk days and even longer than that when ASM was the hip thing to know. But for me, my interest in the mid to late 00’s poker chips started with seeing some really awesome clay poker chips by a little website called Sidepot. I was enthralled by the absolute majesty of the “Modern Clay” and eventually the “In Play” poker chips. I had only bought and used common metal slug chips at the time and dreamed of having something like this in my hands. I ordered a sample set and must have played with this for countless hours. Only problem was that I simply couldn’t justify or afford something that was about $1 or so a chip in cost. That was a ludicrous amount of money, especially for someone working a simple data entry job for $7 an hour in the mid 2000s.
Well, I never forgot about those chips. So when I discovered PCF later, I continued to search out these In Play chips. Eventually, I got my hands on a set of them, taking a big leap into the ocean of no return we know as “this hobby”. I fell in love with the feel, the texture, the weight, the acoustics, and eventually - the oil process - especially with the BCC clay formulation. Countless hours spent with a tiny brush and a little cap of oil, watching as the dull and dry clay was brought to a vibrant exuberance with a little coat of oil. I was fascinated with how it absorbed into the chip and breathed life into them. This process was actually far more enjoyable than playing poker with them. I only ever had a couple home games where I used these chips. Most of my relationship with them involved just staring at them before and after maintenance. Then they would sit on a shelf for 6 to 12 months and I would do it again after they dried out.
So, why am I talking about this right now? You might be wondering why I reminisce like they are some long lost friend that had their life cut short by a horrible accident or disease.
When I started this hobby, I was in a good place in life. I had a good job, not too many expenses, wasn’t married, didn’t have kids, and could take a leap or two on something that was an expensive venture. Well, expensive to me at the time ($1 a chip, right?) So, I collected and traded and built sets like many of us do. I owned all sorts, including Paulson sets like NPS chips (some of you remember). But I never ever traded or sold the In Plays. They were always my dream chippies.
Today, I have a wife and two kids, a house, two cars, and a laundry list of bills that I didn’t have before. With inflation, we are all spending more and I don’t know about you guys but my business didn’t keep up with paying me or my colleagues the difference in cost of living. I am always very meticulous in paying all my bills and keeping debt manageable so that the risk to me and my family is small. But as with all things, unexpected things happen and if I don’t do something now, I could be a slave to debt for my entire life like my dad was.
So I have to ask myself, “How badly do I want to live on the edge when I could sell something that would significantly help me keep a padding against debt piling up in my life?” Not only this, but I can’t imagine how many of you out there have asked me for like eight years if I would consider selling my In Plays lol. It’s not fair to have such a beautiful set of chips just wasting away on my shelves while they could be married to others dancing their days away on the felt.
So I have decided to let my In Plays go. I’m not letting all my chips go. But this is by far my most prized set.
However, I have some demands from the community before I do so.
My set is not huge but contains some little treasures like 125 quarters and 100 half dollar chips as well as a bunch of 500s and 50 x 1000 and 50 x 5000 chips. Yeah, only about 1400-1500 chips total. So try to figure out who really needs them. I would hate to sell these and find out they sat on a shelf for another five years while their chippie brothers and sisters were looking for them in home games to no avail.
This whole post might seem dumb to some people who are new or might have more buying power than others but to those that helped me build the set painstakingly over the years, you’ll understand where I am coming from and you’ll also know that this is a pretty emotional decision for me. I didn’t want this day to come but if they go to people that will actually use them (for they are meant to be played with after all) I will feel less separation anxiety.
Thanks for listening and I hope to talk to some of you soon.
I also have one other lot I am going to let go of immediately since I don’t have an emotional attachment to them. I picked up some Ballys $1s in Dover two days before that casino rebranded. I had an inside scoop on the rebranding and was able to access 300+ of the brand new Paulson chips as they were taken right out of the boxes. They literally never changed more than 1 hand from factory to me. They are so brand new that they have the colored dust on them still. I’ll include some pictures in this thread at the end to show you. Since they are 100% perfect and never used, I’ll be listing them at $200 a rack. They are live chips still and I think 2x price is fair considering the length I went to get them.
Anyway, talk to you guys soon.
Not pictured: at least one rack of $25s I am still looking around the house for and I swear I have another rack of $5s too but I am still in the process of looking and collecting everything together. All chips are in great condition except for like 10 of the $1s but like I said all defects or quirks will be detailed and documented clearly and photographed.
Well, I never forgot about those chips. So when I discovered PCF later, I continued to search out these In Play chips. Eventually, I got my hands on a set of them, taking a big leap into the ocean of no return we know as “this hobby”. I fell in love with the feel, the texture, the weight, the acoustics, and eventually - the oil process - especially with the BCC clay formulation. Countless hours spent with a tiny brush and a little cap of oil, watching as the dull and dry clay was brought to a vibrant exuberance with a little coat of oil. I was fascinated with how it absorbed into the chip and breathed life into them. This process was actually far more enjoyable than playing poker with them. I only ever had a couple home games where I used these chips. Most of my relationship with them involved just staring at them before and after maintenance. Then they would sit on a shelf for 6 to 12 months and I would do it again after they dried out.
So, why am I talking about this right now? You might be wondering why I reminisce like they are some long lost friend that had their life cut short by a horrible accident or disease.
When I started this hobby, I was in a good place in life. I had a good job, not too many expenses, wasn’t married, didn’t have kids, and could take a leap or two on something that was an expensive venture. Well, expensive to me at the time ($1 a chip, right?) So, I collected and traded and built sets like many of us do. I owned all sorts, including Paulson sets like NPS chips (some of you remember). But I never ever traded or sold the In Plays. They were always my dream chippies.
Today, I have a wife and two kids, a house, two cars, and a laundry list of bills that I didn’t have before. With inflation, we are all spending more and I don’t know about you guys but my business didn’t keep up with paying me or my colleagues the difference in cost of living. I am always very meticulous in paying all my bills and keeping debt manageable so that the risk to me and my family is small. But as with all things, unexpected things happen and if I don’t do something now, I could be a slave to debt for my entire life like my dad was.
So I have to ask myself, “How badly do I want to live on the edge when I could sell something that would significantly help me keep a padding against debt piling up in my life?” Not only this, but I can’t imagine how many of you out there have asked me for like eight years if I would consider selling my In Plays lol. It’s not fair to have such a beautiful set of chips just wasting away on my shelves while they could be married to others dancing their days away on the felt.
So I have decided to let my In Plays go. I’m not letting all my chips go. But this is by far my most prized set.
However, I have some demands from the community before I do so.
- I have been out of the selling game for a long time and just looking at the recent sales of chips turns my stomach a little. There is almost no way I could even afford to be in this hobby with the prices of sets that I used to collect being so high. With that said, if I were to even sell my chips, I would have no way to know what the fair market value (FMV) of them even is. I could look at recent sales and throw prices out there but that doesn’t seem very representative and it’s not how I operate. I am not someone who is looking to bankrupt someone looking for 20 chips to complete a rack of their favorite set.
- I don’t want to sell the set as one sale unless whoever buys it wants to help others complete their sets. This is an insane decision on my part and it makes things a lot harder for me because packaging just one set verses producing 12 smaller packages would be a lot easier but it would also concentrate these beautiful chips to one person and I feel like that isn’t right. I collected them in a bunch of purchases and without people selling small lots, I wouldn’t have been able to get where I am today. So I am hoping to sell by barrels or racks to a couple people (if possible, I won’t dismiss an outright offer to take the lot but I would hope you guys work out amongst yourselves in the spirit of sharing).
- When I place the chips for sale, I will be 100% transparent about the general quality of the chips. There are manufacturing quirks to BCC so I am going to do my best to sort them into barrels of equal quality and if some chips have defects or quirks, that will be noted and we can sell these separately if we need to.
- I do not have a timeline on how fast to sell these or when I will post them. I need to figure out the FMV of each denomination. If some community members would be so kind, I would appreciate some help in determining this. Again, I’m not looking to extract maximum value, I just want to get a reasonable amount but still make them accessible. Please help me do this for the community if you can.
- Lastly, it’s been so damn long - if I promised a right of first refusal for some chips in this set to someone over the years, please remind me in a PM and we will work out something privately. I feel like I might have done this over the years but it would take me eons to figure that out lol. So just remind me.
My set is not huge but contains some little treasures like 125 quarters and 100 half dollar chips as well as a bunch of 500s and 50 x 1000 and 50 x 5000 chips. Yeah, only about 1400-1500 chips total. So try to figure out who really needs them. I would hate to sell these and find out they sat on a shelf for another five years while their chippie brothers and sisters were looking for them in home games to no avail.
This whole post might seem dumb to some people who are new or might have more buying power than others but to those that helped me build the set painstakingly over the years, you’ll understand where I am coming from and you’ll also know that this is a pretty emotional decision for me. I didn’t want this day to come but if they go to people that will actually use them (for they are meant to be played with after all) I will feel less separation anxiety.
Thanks for listening and I hope to talk to some of you soon.
I also have one other lot I am going to let go of immediately since I don’t have an emotional attachment to them. I picked up some Ballys $1s in Dover two days before that casino rebranded. I had an inside scoop on the rebranding and was able to access 300+ of the brand new Paulson chips as they were taken right out of the boxes. They literally never changed more than 1 hand from factory to me. They are so brand new that they have the colored dust on them still. I’ll include some pictures in this thread at the end to show you. Since they are 100% perfect and never used, I’ll be listing them at $200 a rack. They are live chips still and I think 2x price is fair considering the length I went to get them.
Anyway, talk to you guys soon.
Not pictured: at least one rack of $25s I am still looking around the house for and I swear I have another rack of $5s too but I am still in the process of looking and collecting everything together. All chips are in great condition except for like 10 of the $1s but like I said all defects or quirks will be detailed and documented clearly and photographed.
