What have I gotten myself into? (1 Viewer)

[buffalojim]

New guy here. Been playing cards my whole life, poker on and off for the last 20 years. Browsing this site for about a year and took the plunge and made an account. Avid pool player for 26 years. I collect and restore live recordings of Pink Floyd, talk about another niche hobby, geez. I like to play poker when I can. Picked up a couple 500 piece sets of Pharaoah chips from Apache and they're great. Decided I'd like to maybe invest in a nice 500 piece tourny set of Paulson's and had no idea what I was asking. Been looking at a lot of stuff here, and all the shorthand people use to describe chips. Very confusing for a newb. Went to the classifieds to browse around and my brain exploded, the end.

 

[DZPoker]

Take your time, read everything you can here, ask questions when you’re not sure...but above all remember to have fun with it! This is a hobby...a hobby should be fun!!!....and this one can be a ton of fun!!

Welcome!

 

[JMC9389]

What did you get into here?

Pain.

 

[buffalojim]

Thank you! This was not a hobby I was looking to get into, as I have too many already. I do find all of it fascinating though. I just wanted some chips lol. Can't a guy just get some chips? Joking aside, this hobby reminds me almost exactly of pool cue collecting, which I did for some years. That hobby can be extremely expensive and there's lots of shady people, flippers, and pitfalls to run into. The only major difference is that pool cues that are worth money are almost all one of a kinds and handmade, which make them unique.

I'll continue to do some learning, but damn, I never thought these chips would be so hard to come by, especially in denoms you'd want. I do find it interesting how this entire hobby, and casino poker chips in general, are solely reliant on one manufacturer... Paulson.

 

[Josh Kifer]

What did you get into here?

Pain.

 

[buffalojim]

Lol, yup. All work and no play...

 

[allforcharity]

Hello and welcome (to posting)!

 

[FDLmold]

Thank you! This was not a hobby I was looking to get into, as I have too many already. I do find all of it fascinating though. I just wanted some chips lol. Can't a guy just get some chips? Joking aside, this hobby reminds me almost exactly of pool cue collecting, which I did for some years. That hobby can be extremely expensive and there's lots of shady people, flippers, and pitfalls to run into. The only major difference is that pool cues that are worth money are almost all one of a kinds and handmade, which make them unique.

I'll continue to do some learning, but damn, I never thought these chips would be so hard to come by, especially in denoms you'd want. I do find it interesting how this entire hobby, and casino poker chips in general, are solely reliant on one manufacturer... Paulson.

Because this really is a niche hobby, it's understandable that there is one dominant manufacturer at the top luxury end, because the market is not big enough for somebody to risk also stepping in. I'd like to think TRKing could have made it too, but they got kicked out of Nevada casinos, then needed to get the lead (Pb) out, and it was just easier to retire.

Pool cues - lots more fakes there that are more difficult to spot. This hobby has almost none. We have lots of *fantasy* chips, but I would not call them fake. They always have a difference from the originals, though sometimes it is subtle.

You can get some chips VERY easily. Tell us the game you play, the stakes, how many players, and your budget. You'll have ten good suggestions within a day, provided that many exist. Welcome!

 

[legend672]

New guy here. Been playing cards my whole life, poker on and off for the last 20 years. Browsing this site for about a year and took the plunge and made an account. Avid pool player for 26 years. I collect and restore live recordings of Pink Floyd, talk about another niche hobby, geez. I like to play poker when I can. Picked up a couple 500 piece sets of Pharaoah chips from Apache and they're great. Decided I'd like to maybe invest in a nice 500 piece tourny set of Paulson's and had no idea what I was asking. Been looking at a lot of stuff here, and all the shorthand people use to describe chips. Very confusing for a newb. Went to the classifieds to browse around and my brain exploded, the end.

the Wall at Brendon Byrne Arena ?

 

[Phish1321]

Hello and welcome.

 

[buffalojim]

the Wall at Brendon Byrne Arena ?

Not sure which show you're referring to. The original band through 1980-81 only performed The Wall in 4 cities and that wasn't one of them. The first time they played that arena was in '87 during the A Momentary Lapse of Reason tour.

 

[buffalojim]

Because this really is a niche hobby, it's understandable that there is one dominant manufacturer at the top luxury end, because the market is not big enough for somebody to risk also stepping in. I'd like to think TRKing could have made it too, but they got kicked out of Nevada casinos, then needed to get the lead (Pb) out, and it was just easier to retire.

Pool cues - lots more fakes there that are more difficult to spot. This hobby has almost none. We have lots of *fantasy* chips, but I would not call them fake. They always have a difference from the originals, though sometimes it is subtle.

You can get some chips VERY easily. Tell us the game you play, the stakes, how many players, and your budget. You'll have ten good suggestions within a day, provided that many exist. Welcome!

There are definitely some fakes out there, but not nearly as bad or as much as you might think.

I don't play high stakes and usually tourny style with friends and family. I currently use 25, 100, 500, 1000, & 5000 denoms with a starting stack of 10k, 12-12-5-6 respectively, sometimes the 5('s get used if the tourny goes longer. Usually unlimited re-buys for the first couple hours. My 500 Pharoah set has been very nice for this and a huge upgrade from the cheap plastic dice chips I've used for years. I wanted to start with Paulson's right away but it was too much of a challenge and expense finding a set in those denoms on the likes of eBay, and way too expensive. Of course, now I want a nicer set. I've found out it's quite hard and expensive to get higher denom chips. I don't really have a set budget and I'm not wealthy, so it looks as though this might be something I have to do over time. I just know I don't want to mix different casino branded chips for the same denomination. It's fine for different denominations.

I missed out on the reasonable price of two racks of the Lucky 818's $100 chips that were just for sale because I'm a newb. I couldn't post in the classifieds. It would have been a good start. Not a fan of the oversized chips mixed with standard size either. I have an oversized $1000 single chip and $100 chip from Crystal Park casino that I use for a card protector. They have the prism on them that reminds me of The Dark Side of the Moon album cover. That would be my dream set I suppose, next would be the Paulson's Pharaoh set.

 

[legend672]

Not sure which show you're referring to. The original band through 1980-81 only performed The Wall in 4 cities and that wasn't one of them. The first time they played that arena was in '87 during the A Momentary Lapse of Reason tour.

Nassau county Veteran's Memorial Coliseum. My bad, had a Grateful Dead show from brendon Byrne playing when I made that post

 

[charitycase]

Welcome to the forum.
Keep us updated on any interesting acquisitions.

 

[buffalojim]

Nassau county Veteran's Memorial Coliseum. My bad, had a Grateful Dead show from brendon Byrne playing when I made that post

Get me the exact date and I'll have it, unless there's no circulating recording for that night, which would be extremely rare for that tour.

 

[FordPickup92]

Welcome! We have some resources available to help guide you through the lingo. If you have any questions please feel free to ask! The classifieds are beautiful, but can be a bit overwhelming!!!

 

[buffalojim]

Welcome! We have some resources available to help guide you through the lingo. If you have any questions please feel free to ask! The classifieds are beautiful, but can be a bit overwhelming!!!

Thank you for the advice.