When to pull the trigger on a chipset? (1 Viewer)

legonick

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I'm trying to get a stable monthly game going.

We kicked off right before the pandemic and I learned a lot from that night...the biggest lesson being, a nice table is the biggest upgrade you can make! Sorry, but chips are a distant 2nd place. So over the pandemic months I bought a solid table. I've gotten compliments on it, so I think it's working out good.

The chipset is tougher. I'm hesitant to pull the trigger on anything because my monthly game seems unstable. The first game, once the SARS-CoV-2 numbers got low, I had to reschedule due to not being able to get enough people. The rescheduled game was good, got a full table (9 for my table...8 + me). Second game I was looking at 8-handed and had a guy bail in the last hour, looking at 7, but my neighbor ended up being around so he jumped in bringing it back to 8. This third upcoming game I got to 9 but it was a bit depressing. I invited something like 18 people and it took a long time to get 8 others to respond. We'll see how it goes this Friday.

The problem with a chipset is it locks you in! We have been doing freeze-out tournaments which is what I currently prefer to play. We are doing T100s so there isn't as many chip-ups and it seems to be working OK. But will I go over to cash and drop tournies? Will I want to incorporate re-buys? Will I want to go back to the old T25s? Spending big bucks on a nice chipset locks me in, and seeing how the game isn't stable yet, I'm not sure when I should go for that upgrade.

Thoughts?
 
FYI, I'm currently using ass dice chips that a buddy picked up at a yardsale and has loaned me.

I like the look of the Royals, but I'd like to get them semi-custom - pick the chips, but change the denom.s. Not sure if that's possible.

I'd also do the awesome starter sampler test kit on PCF to make sure I do like the Royals and test out others before buying anything.
 
I am in a similar boat. Have started a regular game, but holding off until there is more consistency. The last thing you want is more money in chips and table than you see change hands in regular poker nights.
 
Get a set for tourney and another set for cash. You do not want to use the same set for both, as it is too easy for someone to pocket a tournament chip and introduce it into a later cash game.

While I love my Royals, by the time you spend another .30 /chip to label them, you are now in about the same price range as some available used casino Paulsons (see The Chip Room Jack Cincinnati Summer Sale).

Higher denoms of any used Paulsons get into nosebleed territory pretty quickly, so a tourney set of Paulsons will probably be more than you might want to pay.

The Card Mold ceramic group buy can get you a custom set of chips of any denomination for a reasonable price (less than re-labelled Royals for sure).

So I would consider getting a cash set of used Paulsons (depending on your stake, you will need to find a suitable .25 frac to complete a TCR set), or go the custom ceramic route for your cash set.

Then get another tournament set of either ceramics (but different than the cash set if you go that way) or Royals.

IMO
 
If you are worried about your play preferences changing, why not prepare for all possibilities? Grab your tourney set with T25s. Play your base T100 tourneys now, but you’ll have those T25s waiting for when you are ready to use them.

Grab a cash set anyway, because early tourney busts may want to start up cash game after. And on those nights where only 5 guys show, you can forgo the tourney and just chill and play a small cash game.

Your game will last longer with variety. Staying with one format all the time will only last so long.

Good luck!

Edit: clarity
 
you can pull the trigger after I look over the items and get what I want
 

When to pull the trigger on a chipset?​

My Thoughts:
When you know that you would be happy with your set, even if the games aren't coming-together.
You'll see images around the forum of people displaying their chips in creative ways, for example.
Half the fun of amassing a set of these things is finding personal enjoyment in the hobby of chip collecting itself.
Otherwise, you'll just have a stomachache about the purchase and it won't be any fun having them around.
 
Trust me, most people here have WAY more invested in the chips they play with, than they have actual value on the table.

At the end of the day, it isn't strictly about the value.... it's about what brings you pleasure. I LOVE playing with these Empress chips. It makes me smile. And I love how it elevates the game, making it feel a little more serious and 'official' vs playing with toy chips. Do we NEED them? Nope. But the difference is noticeable.

As for locking you in.... Buy a decent set of chips and not only do they hold their value, they may even increase over time. So if you do wind up changing your mind, cash them out for what you paid and use those funds to upgrade. Or do custom labels on easy to find chips so you can always add to the set as needed. Lots of ways to be flexible if you want.
 
Buy Paulsons.

If your game evolves you'll be able to sell them for what you paid.

Anything else, you'll take a loss if you need to sell. BCCs are probably the only other chips where you can resell for what you paid.

Don't go the custom route if you think your game will change to the point the chips will become useless. Ie. Going from strictly tournaments to strictly cash games.
 
I bought my first custom set before I ever invited hosted a single game. I didn't even have a player pool to draw from.

When I did finally host a game, it was hit-or-miss. 4-6 players, and both Mrs Zombie and I are counted in that 4-6. Today, we average roughly 17 player per game.

Built it, and they will come.
 
I'm trying to get a stable monthly game going.

We kicked off right before the pandemic and I learned a lot from that night...the biggest lesson being, a nice table is the biggest upgrade you can make! Sorry, but chips are a distant 2nd place. So over the pandemic months I bought a solid table. I've gotten compliments on it, so I think it's working out good.

The chipset is tougher. I'm hesitant to pull the trigger on anything because my monthly game seems unstable. The first game, once the SARS-CoV-2 numbers got low, I had to reschedule due to not being able to get enough people. The rescheduled game was good, got a full table (9 for my table...8 + me). Second game I was looking at 8-handed and had a guy bail in the last hour, looking at 7, but my neighbor ended up being around so he jumped in bringing it back to 8. This third upcoming game I got to 9 but it was a bit depressing. I invited something like 18 people and it took a long time to get 8 others to respond. We'll see how it goes this Friday.

The problem with a chipset is it locks you in! We have been doing freeze-out tournaments which is what I currently prefer to play. We are doing T100s so there isn't as many chip-ups and it seems to be working OK. But will I go over to cash and drop tournies? Will I want to incorporate re-buys? Will I want to go back to the old T25s? Spending big bucks on a nice chipset locks me in, and seeing how the game isn't stable yet, I'm not sure when I should go for that upgrade.

Thoughts?



go buy one of the t2000 or t10000 sets on sale now before they run out because nothing is better than paulsons.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/jack-cincinnati-summer-sale.76695/
 
Buy Paulsons.

If your game evolves you'll be able to sell them for what you paid.

Anything else, you'll take a loss if you need to sell. BCCs are probably the only other chips where you can resell for what you paid.

Don't go the custom route if you think your game will change to the point the chips will become useless. Ie. Going from strictly tournaments to strictly cash games.
I had this realization yesterday and just posted in Classifieds to chase after my dream Paulson set!
 
I don’t think anyone has a perfect answer for you, it’s such a struggle. I started where you are at and I got a giant set of elites from Apache a while back, enough for tournies but ended up mostly using for cash. Only after that did I end up at pcf and it’s all been downhill from there. I did upgrade my cash set to a (true) set of Paulson’s and love em and can’t really worry about their mintiness anymore - I love playing with them.

If I was going to do it again i'd probably have done something similar, probably a set of china clays that i could heavily use without any worry about losing value and i'm not gonna freak out when the grubbier/more degenerate members of my poker crew are touching them. the chipset collecting obsession is an entirely different problem.
 
The problem with a chipset is it locks you in! We have been doing freeze-out tournaments which is what I currently prefer to play. We are doing T100s so there isn't as many chip-ups and it seems to be working OK. But will I go over to cash and drop tournies? Will I want to incorporate re-buys? Will I want to go back to the old T25s? Spending big bucks on a nice chipset locks me in, and seeing how the game isn't stable yet, I'm not sure when I should go for that upgrade.

Thoughts?
Are you familiar with ceramics from @BR Pro Poker or @SUN-FLY Poker Chips ? Gives you a SERIOUS improvement over those dice chips, doesn't cost an arm and a leg, and lets you add on to it at any time (they are made to order by the way). If your group takes off, great! If it doesn't, you didn't take out a second mortgage just to get a chip set for a non-existent group. Might be your best bet right now.
 

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