But if you can see fb marketplace on someone else's account, or just made one for it, it's worth it to check depending on where you are. I know around here there is a set of tiki kings for less than 50 cents a chip, and it came with a case and racks iirc. Also saw some CPC and Paulson for varying prices
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Beginner question about the sets on Amazon v other sellers (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter icypanda44
- Start date
Chanceman
Two Pair
I just joined here in August and went through the same inner dialogue as you. I found that the samples were worth the money. I came this close to buying Poker Knights for $.22 until I compared them to Slow Play Ceramics and the Majestics China Clays that cost in the $.40 - $.50 range.
OfficerLovejoy
Full House
If you're already planning to start out slow and upgrade later, safe up for another month or two and buy the real deal.
You'll just be stuck with those cheap chips and won't get the money back you put into them. So "starting out slow" will be way more costly than just saving up to get something decent (clay) that holds its value.
This way you can actually explore this hobby, see how your taste changes and just resell your set and get something new.
You'll just be stuck with those cheap chips and won't get the money back you put into them. So "starting out slow" will be way more costly than just saving up to get something decent (clay) that holds its value.
This way you can actually explore this hobby, see how your taste changes and just resell your set and get something new.
OP
OP
icypanda44
High Hand
I actually ordered some samples last week from BR Pro Poker - not for me to evaluate for purchase but as stocking stuffers for some of the guys I play with. They can use them as decoration in their den, for ASMR, to use as cap chips, or to practice chip riffles etc. Of course I am mildly concerned that I will like them and not want to give them away.
They arrive today
and what did you end up purchasing Chanceman ?
Just curious
ngmcs8203
Flush
wickedwonka121
Flush
The Tina group buy might be what you need if you want to get a bargain set worth buying (the no mold, cards mold, and new greek mold group buy which happens about every month). Br Pro is super solid. You won't be disappointed. The black Friday sale coming up doesn't seem like a steal because you are starting out, but you will learn that a similar paulson set won't come along with the same quality and price for a while. Any paulson you can get your hands on for about a dollar a piece is like paying prices from almost 20 years ago. Good luck, happy hunting.
philhut
Flush
The chips are a mix of Nexgen 8002 Lucky bees and another claysmith plastic injection.
The main concern you may wish to consider with home gaming is chip security. If you buy common online chips it won't belong until someone thinks.........I have some of those.......caring less because the chips are cheap you may not count pre/post game all of your racks and.......shocker smuggles chips in/out and you lose $ from the bank. it's tough to even figure out who did it, especially if they cashed out a bit earlier than the end of the game.
This is why many of us have custom or more exclusive Paulson sets where there are simply less chips in circulation and therefore lower odds of the same scam above happening.
Finding someonescaming you or figuring out that it happened is very frustrating and it may end friendships which is definitely not the goal of most home poker games.
OP
OP
icypanda44
High Hand
I am sure its the goal of all home poker games, not just some
Did you apply custom labels to your Nexgens and the other Claysmith plastic injection chips to further differentiate them from others that players may have easy access to ?
quintooo
Flush
agree with this. You can buy some pretty nice poker paraphernalia. KEMs, Copags, a hot dog roller, etc.
if you can save for a month or two, I also recommend the tina GB. You can have a playable set for about $250. the greek mold hybrids look and feel really good for the price.
Big
vote for the New Greek mold from Broken Arrow, @justincarothers. Just got mine yesterday and totally pleased.
Hearing good things about the new Greek mold hybrid.
OP
OP
icypanda44
High Hand
Colquhoun
4 of a Kind
Chanceman
Two Pair
I found that I preferred the look and feel of the china clays from Apache. I put together a tournament set of the bigger 43mm Royals although my samples were the 39mm Majestics. The guys loved the chips in our game last week.
I also bought a cash set of Tina's (due to arrive in the near future) from Justin using the Grand Casino design on the card mold that I plan to give as a Christmas gift.
I appreciate the Paulson's, but as another member said here recently, we have the last clay chip company in America (Classic Poker Chips) that is still making and selling chips to us and if we won't support that business then it's just not going to exist. I'm trying to figure out a custom design for a set that could be a family heirloom if I can make my kids poker obsessives like me.
philhut
Flush
I thought for sure a label would be the answer, in the end.I am sure its the goal of all home poker games, not just some
Did you apply custom labels to your Nexgens and the other Claysmith plastic injection chips to further differentiate them from others that players may have easy access to ?
I did not apply labels as it never seemed to make sense for the cost of labels vs the chip cost back when I got them. I bought my nexgens in 2004/05 and the label options were more limited then, I didnt know of any vendors making custom labels at the time. My nexgen set was used several times before i acquired a nicer Paulson set of Pharaohs. it didn't make sense to label the nexgens after I had a better option. the Pharaohs were sold due to my security paranoia....I'd thought that $1+ cost chips would make the game more secure, I cant prove who did it but I came home with 5 more 1k value chips after a tourney one day. I shelved and sold that sweet set afterwards.
I still own the nexgens though, they are too nice to sell for what they are really worth and too heavy to ship to make it worthwhile for anyone to actually buy. The result is a nearly worthless set that is better off kept than sold.......
Had I have been able to order custom cards mold chips way back I'd have likely stopped ordering just one custom set. The .35-.40 cent price range, especially if you shop round. Mine were what are known as Anita's (different company than Tina's) and were under 30cents Canadian in 2020. I suggest looking this route for a sweet budget set.
OP
OP
icypanda44
High Hand
I hear people saying to protect yourself against this (and I get it), but that's pretty lousy. I know you said elsewhere in your message that the cost of relabeling was prohibitive but I assume doing that could have partially mitigated your issue (not that Someone couldn't have acquired both the same chips and printed some similar labels but now we are getting into the whole area of there are easier ways to make money). There is more complexity and depth here than I assumed and this is the cash game that I thought would be simpler (one equals one).
Heck, $105 for this vintage clay diamond mold set should hold anyone over for years. Or upgrade to this casino Ewing mold set and use quarters or metal token to fill in the set. I played for ages on my plastic super diamonds and either of these is a monster upgrade at a great price - and you can likely sell them when you’re ready for your forever set.
@icypanda44 There are definitely easier ways to make money, but, sometimes that's not the issue. Sometimes it's more about opportunities and the weird part of the human condition that causes certain people to do things others wouldn't think of doing. There are multiple stories you can find on this forum of people caught cheating/stealing that caught the victims by compete surprise. You can mitigate this by knowing your guests, but, chips that are unique help as a layer of protection. Having multiple sets creates another layer.
Typically when you're just starting out you've been playing with the same few people and are looking to upgrade your hardware. A less secure set is probably ok for a while. Word gets around if you have a good game, and, little by little it grows. By nature it's a little less secure at that point. Sometimes it grows to two, even three, tables. Perhaps you rent a business condo to have a game, and you have tables in two different rooms. You're offering refreshments and dealers and taking a rake to offset costs. People coming and going till the wee hours of the morning. So much going on that you can't keep an eye on everything. Then your wife and your partners wife get upset and you fear the law may get called....let me stop this made up story here and just say you get the idea about security and human nature.
Typically when you're just starting out you've been playing with the same few people and are looking to upgrade your hardware. A less secure set is probably ok for a while. Word gets around if you have a good game, and, little by little it grows. By nature it's a little less secure at that point. Sometimes it grows to two, even three, tables. Perhaps you rent a business condo to have a game, and you have tables in two different rooms. You're offering refreshments and dealers and taking a rake to offset costs. People coming and going till the wee hours of the morning. So much going on that you can't keep an eye on everything. Then your wife and your partners wife get upset and you fear the law may get called....let me stop this made up story here and just say you get the idea about security and human nature.
Chanceman
Two Pair
This is good mid-level set of chips at a good price.
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/apache-majestics-900-pcs.112563/
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/apache-majestics-900-pcs.112563/
Same process when I joined in July. Came here mostly for research on chips. Joined so I could buy custom dealer and accessory buttons... and 18 decks of BrokenArrow cards.
I have dice chips from a very long time ago, needed an upgrade. Bought an Amazon set thinking I could just upgrade to something better later and figured if I really disliked it I could return it. It became a sample set and a lesson that cheap sets suck and are a waste of money, I returned it.
Then I ordered the Stealth clay sample set and Turbo ceramic sample from ThePokerStore. While waiting for those to arrive I researched the tina group buys. Figured out I don't want those since my chips will take a beating from heavy weekly usage and people here reported imperfections that didn't work for me.
The Stealth clay set has imperfections as well, gaps between the colors, and at 14g it was too heavy (felt really strange after coming back from Vegas). I went with the Turbo ceramic set. I like everything about ceramics, look, feel, colors, edge printing, weight, and toughness. The best part about ordering from ThePokerStore and other sites like it is being able to choose the denominations.
My next set will either be Super Poker World or a custom ceramic set.
BottomPair7
Flush
Welcome good sir. There is nothing wrong with upgrading to a slugged chip or some variation of that. My first upgraded set was a set of Claysmith Mints that I really enjoyed. One thing about PCF is that it will leave you wanting more. I think that is why people are advocating for buying once and crying once. Those sets also don't sell well because of their initial cost and availability. I still have my Mints, but not sure what I will do with them. Shortly after getting them is when I got customs ceramic chips from BrPro.
BigJackJones
Straight
If somebody doesn't end up running a prison gang in this story, I will be disappointed.Please continue this story
OP
OP
icypanda44
High Hand
Chanceman - I saw those and have them on my watch list but as a new member I can't reply to the post or PM the seller. Might be a good thing.
Less than a week ago I thought I was ready to buy a set of chips off of Amazon. Here's what I have learned since
- Need separate sets for Tournament and Cash games
- Denominations to suit, focus on a 4:1 or 5:1 denomination jump (eg: .25/1/5/20/100/500....)
- Cheap Amazon sets have no residual value, basically give them away to your kids etc
- A decent set of chips have a chance to be resold here
- Be cautious about using a commonly available set of chips for a cash game so that someone doesn't drop an outside chip into your game
- get samples
BTW I received my first set of samples. I ordered some ceramics from BR Pro as stocking stuffer gifts for my buddies, they arrived Wednesday. Of the 4 sets I ordered I want to keep three of them they are just so darned cool. So now I need to get more samples of other types.
And - I have been reading up on the Tina chips and I spent 90 minutes reading up on relabeling and traded emails with Wifey from Gear about label shapes the other day.
This is a veritable rabbit hole isn't it. What am I being dragged into ?
Oh and forgot; of the usual crew we sit down with 4 of the 7 went down with COVID last weekend so there's be no getting together anytime soon anyway
Excellent! Please take your time in buying, tons of good options and it sounds like you're doing it right and getting samples.
chopper
High Hand
I’m not sure how I came across this old Thread but it was a great read! Really, really good advice and feedback from PCF members. However the ending sucks.
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