What advice do you wish you knew at the beginning of your journey of poker chips? (1 Viewer)

Expect that your tastes will change over time. What appears to be the ultimate set now is unlikely to have the same appeal later.
Yup. My cash set now has 43mm housemold chips from dunes $5s, $20s, $100s with 39mm housemold $1s from a different casino and 39mm housemold quarters from a 3rd casino.
2017 me would have shouted loud and proud that housemolds are dumb, mixing different housemolds is dumber and having 5 denoms from 3 different casinos is the dumbest of all! Don’t you know mixed sets should have each denom from a different casino, dummy!?!?
But over the years I’ve come to learn what I like. And I wouldnt try to defend this blended set to anybody, because I don’t disagree with the above criticisms. But I love this set. Shrug.
 
Yup. My cash set now has 43mm housemold chips from dunes $5s, $20s, $100s with 39mm housemold $1s from a different casino and 39mm housemold quarters from a 3rd casino.
2017 me would have shouted loud and proud that housemolds are dumb, mixing different housemolds is dumber and having 5 denoms from 3 different casinos is the dumbest of all! Don’t you know mixed sets should have each denom from a different casino, dummy!?!?
But over the years I’ve come to learn what I like. And I wouldnt try to defend this blended set to anybody, because I don’t disagree with the above criticisms. But I love this set. Shrug.
feels like needs a pr0n post
 
feels like needs a pr0n post
I love the feel of a Paulson textured inlay. It’s probably my favorite thing in chipping.
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I love the feel of a Paulson textured inlay. It’s probably my favorite thing in chipping.
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^^ ...he says, while posting pics of his hot-stamped chips....

:D

Btw, those Plaza hot-stamped quarters are the nicest house mold chips you own. Why? Because they are one of the very rare THC-style house molds ever created.

Worthy of a tribute set.
 
^^ ...he says, while posting pics of his hot-stamped chips....

:D

Btw, those Plaza hot-stamped quarters are the nicest house mold chips you own. Why? Because they are one of the very rare THC-style house molds ever created.

Worthy of a tribute set.
Yeah the house molds with the outer protective ring are something special and there aren't very many of them. If I were to start chasing down some different chips, I'd find more like that.
But again, when I started collecting, I ignored all of those. Mostly because most other people on PCF ignored them too. Silly us.
 
I wish I had waited 2 years before ordering as my tastes have changed and my home game has changed.

Buy someone’s CPC set sold at a loss. Or buy some cheap Chinese chips to hold you over. Even better, buy your design on cheap Chinese chips to see if you like it. See how many chips you need, refine your design, let your tastes mature then pull the trigger on that custom set.

Plenty of folks around there that have thrown money at sets they didn’t like.

But if $4000 isn’t an issue, then go straight to David and then buy the set you really want in 2 years.
 
Wish I knew to buy literally every single THC chip for sale before WW started his pursuit of the Infinity Stones.

Actual advice is that if there is something you truly want but are on the fence about, go for it. Never regretted pulling the trigger on such chips; definitely have regretted passing on them.
 
Get samples of everything and find out what you like.

Focus on one mold or style of chip if you want. I’ve done this with a majority of my quantity stuff.

Never second guess on the opportunity to own some amazing chips. If you have the opportunity to buy something do it then and there. It might hurt, but you’ll thank yourself later.

If you like history, focus on that. If you like bright colors and crazy designs, focus on that. Who knows, you might like both like me, so go all in when you can.

That’s the amazing thing about this hobby. You can literally do whatever you want. I’ve decided to focus on collecting TRKs. Originally I bought singles of everything I liked or casinos I had visited. Now a days, I collect or try to complete sample sets of nicer chips and casinos that I’ve done videos about or similar. Some chips might be more expensive than others but each chip adds more value and happiness to my collection. Completing a sample set is an amazing feeling, finding a chip you’ve been looking for for a while is an even better feeling! Search far and wide for these things. The hunt is the fun! Make connections along the way too. They will be an immense help to getting the things you want.

So much to this hobby and things we could talk about but that’s just a few things I’ve learned and experienced myself. Hopefully this can help someone.
 
I wish I had waited 2 years before ordering as my tastes have changed and my home game has changed.

Buy someone’s CPC set sold at a loss. Or buy some cheap Chinese chips to hold you over. Even better, buy your design on cheap Chinese chips to see if you like it. See how many chips you need, refine your design, let your tastes mature then pull the trigger on that custom set.

Plenty of folks around there that have thrown money at sets they didn’t like.

But if $4000 isn’t an issue, then go straight to David and then buy the set you really want in 2 years.
This is such great motivation for not impulse-buying all the chips. My only fear is that I’d buy the set I really want in 2 years, and then end up wanting a different set in another 2!
 
This is such great motivation for not impulse-buying all the chips. My only fear is that I’d buy the set I really want in 2 years, and then end up wanting a different set in another 2!
Lesson 2 - never sell

What I thought I wouldn’t need or want or use I want today again 12 years later and it doesn’t exist
 
There were two group buys that I wanted to participate in but wasn't ready to spend the money. Ultimately, I was able to participate in a group buy and these are still my favorite chips that I own. If I started over, I would set aside the money I felt like spending on an impulse and wait until there was a group buy that I loved, or eventually get custom chips.
 
As an Australian to other international chippers. My advice is be patient till you see something thats exactly what you want and can use. Multiple rounds of buying and selling will kill your bankroll in a hurry. Money is much better spent on chips then postage and currency fees. That 1 bargain rack may not actually be a bargain if ya gotta make 3 different purchases later to make a set. Payin a bit more per chip to buy 600 or more in one hit in the right breakdown can end up cheaper.

Search chip breakdowns.

Like others have said 15-20 of the same chip type is a sample, not 1. Ya gotta be able to give em a shuffle n stack n slide n splash.

after some bad purchases (15 yrs ago) i bought a racks worth of various samples from a vendor. Chipco, bcc, paulson, matsui, bud jones. Enough of each to get a good feel. That was an expensive way in but i could sell it again once i was done and it became useful to another aussie.
 
You will want to buy a ton of chips and a ton of sets (if you're much like us)
I wish I would have invested more in meet ups and less in chips earlier on.
Granted I love my chips, but I get much more enjoyment from others enjoying my chips than I do myself. Plus, meet ups are a great way to experience tons of different chips in play to know what you like!
 
As @merkong stated above, Patience , try not to be in a rush. An example, you want a rack of a fracs that never come up for sale. You sometimes see a group of 10 or 20 of the chip, or even singles on eBay, come up, but you pass on them because you want a full rack. My advice, don't pass, buy, after a few years, maybe 10 depending on what they are, you might find yourself with a full rack of what you want, but if you never started, you'd never get there.
 
What advice do you recommend to a new poker chip enthusiast getting into purchasing or creating/customizing their first cash set.

I think one of the most valuable is purchasing samples.

Sincerely,
Jack
The best advice I can give is to find the chips you love (your DREAM SET), save up if you have to, and just buy them!! Chips are like heroin; smoking a joint ain't gonna satisfy you when you're chasing the dragon.

Seriously though, you will get advice about figuring out what your budget is before buying chips, but what I found is that I just wasted a shit ton of money on lower budget chips that I thought would satisy my addiction; only to find out that they were a waste of money.

So get out there, put on your big boy panties, and buy your dream set!!

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Get a table and good chairs first.

Your normal friends and players don’t give two shits about what chips you have and will think you’re insane for spending what you spend, so buy chips for yourself, not to impress them.
In addition, people won’t respect your chips the same way you do. Be prepared for that when you pull out your nicest set to play with.
 

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