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Best option for NEW poker chips? (1 Viewer)

Best option for a new set...a perspective from a 15-year chipper who's not adverse to cheaper chips...

In the 2020 market, the only two options I consider adequate are:
1) China Clays
2) Real clays, ceramics, or casino grade plastic like Bud Jones
Everything else stacks too poorly to effortlessly push a barrel in the middle, or feels weird because 14g feels way too heavy.

It wasn't always like this. If you're looking for cheap chips, there are some great 15-year old options like 9.5g faux clays, Nexgens, "Sopranos" chips, those 16-stripe chips that look like wannabe Bud Jones chips, etc. If you go back 25 years, some used options include vintage 8.5 diamond chips (waaaayyyyy better than the crappy ones available now). Even better are unicorns and mermaids--both good enough chips that some card rooms and casinos use them for fractionals so they don't have to pay more for the chip than its face value.

You easily can buy a 500 piece set of any of the above for under $100, and often for under $50 with a modest amount of luck and patience.

So I would say, in 2020, buy: real clay, China clay, or if you cannot afford those, vintage plastic.
 
Almost sounds like I may have a new member in the ceramics club! :) Make sure to get some Nevada Jack samples while you are at it. I think they use a different blank than the DDLM chips you have.
 
tabletalker7 said:
Almost sounds like I may have a new member in the ceramics club! :) Make sure to get some Nevada Jack samples while you are at it. I think they use a different blank than the DDLM chips you have.
Click to expand...

To be honest, I most likely won't. I've already spent $200 now on samples alone and Nevada Jack doesn't really suit my estethic preferences. With that said, the sides of those chips are insane. Exactly the kind of side I'm looking for.

I can say with certainty now that it will either be PolyInno 43mm, Majestic/Royal/Bank with custom labels, or if I decide to not customize, a premade set like The Ascona, Ravenor or Tiki Kings.

I've already done some poor sketching and hired some graphical designers to make better sketches out of my idea, and when I've received them all, I will post them on the forum and get feedback and another round of sketching and feedback, before finalizing the designs.

I want my chips NOW, but I have to be patient here and await all samples and make the design a good one that I can live with for many years.
 
Mysticum said:
To be honest, I most likely won't. I've already spent $200 now on samples alone
Click to expand...
CrazyEddie said:
I know the feeling.

I could sit down and figure out how much I've spent on samples, but I don't want to. The very idea frightens me.
Click to expand...
Don't feel bad about the samples and the expense of getting them. A person can EASILY blow through thousands buying chips they don't like because they were too cheap to get samples first
 
Mysticum said:
With that said, the sides of those chips are insane. Exactly the kind of side I'm looking for.
Click to expand...
IMG_20200326_141624.jpg


Do the edges of these look good?
 
I've never bonded well with China chips....I remember my starter was a 300 set of Garden City's......with a little TLC and elbow grease, they came out quite well....and weren't that expensive either...
 
tabletalker7 said:
Do the edges of these look good?
Click to expand...

Frankly, it's impossible to tell from that picture, but yeah, they look okay. I guess it's the Valentino Poker Room?

It's pretty clean on the side, with clear border.

Downside, compared to Nevada Jacks is 1, that they only have two small borders on the whole edge, so a stack could have a lot of blank space without edges, 2, plain color compared to Nevada Jacks, which seems to have a background texture for the color which looks very nice.
 
Not sure if anyone bothers to still read this, but I've got new samples today (still awaiting Apache). Quick first impressions:

The Ascona (PolyInno 39mm)

These chips looks classy as hell on the pictures and was probably one of my candidates if I bought a non-customized set. There's a lot to like about these chips, and the frame in the outer circle is among the best I've seen. The white background works well and the denomination is clear. All-in-all, everything blends together for a nice look.

In reality, they are almost as nice as my impression was forehand.

The look is more or less as expected, except that the resolution of the print is a bit worse than I hoped for. Both the sticker and the decoration on the chip itself feels a bit "low res". It's not the end of the world, but it does take away some from the classy and exclusive look.

The sound is surprisingly good and quite different from both the PolyInno 43mm and other ceramics. It's like a mix between PolyInno 43mm and Paulson, and it's quite pleasant actually. It's not as "sharp" as the ceramics and I like that.

The feeling is really good, and that's important. I ordered 16 chips so I can riffle them and they're very easy to handle.

One thing I don't like, however, is that the edges are very inconsistent between chips. Some of them have nice, well-rounded edges, while some have more sharp edges. Both works, but not together! I don't want such a difference on my chips. It could very well be that they have the "same" sharpness on certain chip values, that's hard to tell from a small sample size (literally!).

The colors are nice and works with the classy look, but I strongly dislike some of the colors. The red 5 and purple 500 are gorgeous, but the 100 is terrible imo.

Valentino Poker Room (PolyChrom 39mm)

After my very positive impression from Dia de los Muertos, I had high expectations now from ceramics. Were these chips gonna live up to that high standard that DdlM set for me? Well...yes and no.

Starting with the equals, they both shuffle nice and sound nice. They sound different, but not that different. For playing around with a stack, I prefer the DdlM sound, but for "bet-splashing", I prefer the Valentinos. The texture is different as well, and I may prefer Valentinos slightly more because it's more "apparent". Not sure how they will hold up in the long run, but for now, they both feel nice.

Moving on with the negatives. The print resolution is disturbing. The denomination looks blurry and unsharp, especially the "2" on the chips. This contributes to a "cheap" feeling in my mind and takes away from any "exclusive" feeling. The edges are also slightly unaligned and if consistency was a problem with The Ascona, it remains the same here. In addition to that, some of the chips have an extra "edge" close to the real edge where it's unleveled with the rest of the chip. Very much like it's a sticker that ends there, but it's not.

I also ordered one chip for Lucky Dragon and the print resolution is as low there, but not as disturbing as with the Valentino. I guess the design affects this.

The Violet Dawning (PolyInno 39mm)

I only orded two pieces of these chips. I really wanted to see how the text in the outer circle felt in reality. It looks really nice and is something I'm thinking about for my own design. It works really well and I like the design overall.

Another reason for ordering it was that the sticker is larger than on The Ascona, and I'm thinking about having larger labels on my custom 43mm chips perhaps. Not sure I will anymore, because there is now an edge between the sticker and the chip that is sharp and visually uneven. Unlike The Ascona, where the sticker label is slightly lowered into the chip, this one is flat overall, except that edge between sticker/chip that you feel with your fingers. It feels like a defect almost.

--

All in all, this didn't make things easier.
 
I feel like I've entered the rabbit hole of poker chips in a way never before. It's really all I can think of, and it has become an obsession that is not healthy.

These samples have made some things clear, while some questions remains. Mainly, I need sample chips from Apache, and the negative impression from Violet Dawning made me afraid of ordering PolyInno 43mm with a larger sticker, and that limits my designs I had in mind.

I will take a day off from work tomorrow and work with my sketches for designs and put up here for feedback. I'm really struggling and it's hard because I don't truly know what I want either.
 
Mysticum said:
Not sure if anyone bothers to still read this, but I've got new samples today (still awaiting Apache). Quick first impressions:

The Ascona (PolyInno 39mm)

These chips looks classy as hell on the pictures and was probably one of my candidates if I bought a non-customized set. There's a lot to like about these chips, and the frame in the outer circle is among the best I've seen. The white background works well and the denomination is clear. All-in-all, everything blends together for a nice look.

In reality, they are almost as nice as my impression was forehand.

The look is more or less as expected, except that the resolution of the print is a bit worse than I hoped for. Both the sticker and the decoration on the chip itself feels a bit "low res". It's not the end of the world, but it does take away some from the classy and exclusive look.

The sound is surprisingly good and quite different from both the PolyInno 43mm and other ceramics. It's like a mix between PolyInno 43mm and Paulson, and it's quite pleasant actually. It's not as "sharp" as the ceramics and I like that.

The feeling is really good, and that's important. I ordered 16 chips so I can riffle them and they're very easy to handle.

One thing I don't like, however, is that the edges are very inconsistent between chips. Some of them have nice, well-rounded edges, while some have more sharp edges. Both works, but not together! I don't want such a difference on my chips. It could very well be that they have the "same" sharpness on certain chip values, that's hard to tell from a small sample size (literally!).

The colors are nice and works with the classy look, but I strongly dislike some of the colors. The red 5 and purple 500 are gorgeous, but the 100 is terrible imo.

Valentino Poker Room (PolyChrom 39mm)

After my very positive impression from Dia de los Muertos, I had high expectations now from ceramics. Were these chips gonna live up to that high standard that DdlM set for me? Well...yes and no.

Starting with the equals, they both shuffle nice and sound nice. They sound different, but not that different. For playing around with a stack, I prefer the DdlM sound, but for "bet-splashing", I prefer the Valentinos. The texture is different as well, and I may prefer Valentinos slightly more because it's more "apparent". Not sure how they will hold up in the long run, but for now, they both feel nice.

Moving on with the negatives. The print resolution is disturbing. The denomination looks blurry and unsharp, especially the "2" on the chips. This contributes to a "cheap" feeling in my mind and takes away from any "exclusive" feeling. The edges are also slightly unaligned and if consistency was a problem with The Ascona, it remains the same here. In addition to that, some of the chips have an extra "edge" close to the real edge where it's unleveled with the rest of the chip. Very much like it's a sticker that ends there, but it's not.

I also ordered one chip for Lucky Dragon and the print resolution is as low there, but not as disturbing as with the Valentino. I guess the design affects this.

The Violet Dawning (PolyInno 39mm)

I only orded two pieces of these chips. I really wanted to see how the text in the outer circle felt in reality. It looks really nice and is something I'm thinking about for my own design. It works really well and I like the design overall.

Another reason for ordering it was that the sticker is larger than on The Ascona, and I'm thinking about having larger labels on my custom 43mm chips perhaps. Not sure I will anymore, because there is now an edge between the sticker and the chip that is sharp and visually uneven. Unlike The Ascona, where the sticker label is slightly lowered into the chip, this one is flat overall, except that edge between sticker/chip that you feel with your fingers. It feels like a defect almost.

--

All in all, this didn't make things easier.
Click to expand...

The more you know the harder it becomes. Probably why most of us have multiple sets. They all have their + and - and the one perfect-for-all-occasions set does not exist.
 
wolfpack said:
You could also look at custom ceramics, that would be on par with the majestics price.
Click to expand...

Think this would be the way to go. Was able to get a set from the Prestige GB here, and they are fantastic. If not, I know in samples I had, much preferred the Monte Carlo chip to any of the China Clays; and they won't get any cheaper.

Also just was able to get Paulsons from the recent Chip Room sale, was able to buy all new, but obviously those aren't always coming around.

If I had to rank, knowing I am not really a patient man ...

Get on the next Sunfly group buy, or outright purchase of blanks from them.

Or, pick up the Monte Carlos with the intent of just holding off until you can get some Paulsons.
 
I was where you were a year ago. I took over running a 3 table monthly league and did not want to "impress" with my large set of dice chips (after the previous host displayed a wide array of chipes and hangs on this forum frequently). So...needed something fast, got samples of all the "cheap" chips readily available from US vendors and went with a 1000 pc. tournament set of Milanos (China Clay) to get started. Nothing wrong with the Milanos at all and were well received by the league! All was well until this place (which I started browsing frequently) hooked me up with a group buy....and I ended up with an 1100 pc. cash set of the Scrub Donkeys (Ceramics)! At that point I was COMPLETE. 1 large tournament set and 1 large cash set were all that is required to host whatever I wanted to host. Then of course got involved and purchased Matsui racks for them when @T_Chan ran a group buy not too long ago.

Enter The Chip Room's Horseshoe Southern Indiana sale, and a chance to actually afford a set of Paulsons. Yes they are RHC but they are NEW Paulson's, an opportunity, after watching this forum, that I could not pass up. I now have an 800 pc. Paulson cash set to go with the other chips. This was roughly 4X the cost of my previous 2 set costs but an opportunity I've noticed that doesn't pop up all that often (second Chip Room sale I've witnessed in the 2+ years I've been hanging around.

This is a long winded way to say....do your due diligence, buy what you want to the budget you set, and then hang out and watch and start saving some $$$$. Something else will catch your eye that is better than what you have, at a cost you can just barely justify, and then you are truly down the rabbit hole! Happy chipping!!
 
Thanks @Indyscammer ! Nice to hear your story. It's really amazing what this forum can do to you :) I was always amazed by chips, but this time around, it has sparked an interest that is very hard to drop at this point.
 
Taghkanic said:
If you’re considering the Majestics, the same company makes the Bank chip set which is meant for use in both Poker and board games:
Click to expand...

Thank you for posting this. I'm seriously considering a set of 500 Bank chips for my board gaming, and this really put my mind at ease.
 
@Mysticum i too have entered the rabbit hole. I found this site in Feb trying to upgrade some “Las Vegas” chips that were a giveaway in packs of Camel cigarettes. I liked “The Mint” CCs for its simplicity and the font used is similar to what is printed on USD. Then COVID struck and I found myself perusing this site daily, to the point I ended up getting into a large ceramic GB (still patiently waiting on those) and used Paulson from Apache and then TCR Horseshoe sale. I ended up selling my CCs and now I (HOPE) am content with 1000ceramic, 1000used Paulson and 700new Paulson cash sets. The only thing left is a tourney set but I don’t play tourneys but I want a set anyways.

I am definitely following this to see how else someone can fall into the group. Cheers
 
You mentioned the printing on the ceramics and I think something I suspect is happening is that the ceramics where the image is printed on the 'ceramic' itself with the sublimation and it is a rough finish will lead to some blurriness of the image. The crispness on the hybrids comes from the fact that the inlay is a glossy material and easier to view as the surface isn't diffusing the image.

I have ceramics that are non hybrids that I'm super happy with, but I think the art has to be aware of the medium to get the best effect.
 
Finally got my samples from Apache Poker Chips, over one month after the order. That is extremely long and almost unacceptable in my book. I order a lot of packages and this is really, really slow. Yes, I know, Covid-19 bla bla bla, but still. This is air mail and it takes over a month. I ordered a mobile phone during Covid-19 from Hong Kong, arrived in 2-3 days. So one month is not acceptable 2020, just saying.

So, the big question, China Clays or not. Well, really not that much of a question since I've already put in my order to Sun-Fly for the PolyInno 43mm because I can't sit around and wait for packages all year. But might as well write a first impression here as well.

Milano/Majestic/The Bank

Honestly, besides the look, I can't tell any difference, and I'm amazed that persons exist that can say one type is their favourite and at the same time diss the other ones. They arrived dirty as hell, and I had to do a simple washing of them and one label already fell off. Not a good sign.

My biggest concern was the smell that people talked about. What smell? Sure, if I put them right under my nose, I can feel a smell that is everything but pleasant. If I smell my Paulsons, however, the smell of china clays is like a flower in comparison. Smell is a non-issue here for me, and if anything, they should smell the strongest now when they are brand new, if anything.

Overall impression? Meh. I was told by many people that this is not an exclusive chip and not comparable to real clay chips. That is very true, and the difference is very real. But then again, you have to consider the price, and what you get for that price is a lot!

Bad things first. The look and feel of the chips is very cheap. Paulson clay chips feels like clay chips. These feel like a cheaper plastic (which it is I guess) that leans more towards a toy product rather than a premium product. There are several "printing errors" where colors have leaked around. Not a huge deal, but it's there. The edges are round and not even close to real clay chips in that regard, and they don't stack very well either. I don't think you can describe some chips as spinners because every single one is a spinner in that case. That seems to be the characteristics of the chip. Once again, it's not a huge deal, and for the price, I can't really complain. But, with that said, the price is not insignificant, and a set will still cost a bit, especially with shipping/taxes/customs/VAT etc for my part. At this price range, there are a lot of other chips I would consider instead with the knowledge I have today.

Not all is bad, though. The labels and design makes up for a great chip that is very attractive to me. There are so many ugly poker chips out there, and this is far from the worst ones. The sound is also really, really good. Not on the same level as Paulsons, but probably the closest, by far, you can get without paying a premium price for it.

All-in-all, I would say that this is a fair "clay" budget option if ceramics is out of the question. As long as one realizes that you get a product far from the "real Paulsons". But when weighting in the options, one must really hate ceramics to not at least consider some of the nice options there.

GPI Elite Poker Chips

I also ordered a barrel of the Elite Poker Chips, listed under Paulson poker chips, but as they describe it, and as I've been warned from others, it's not "real" Paulsons, but manufactured by GPI, the same company that makes Paulsons.

Honestly, had I not known that fact, I would easily pass these on as Paulsons. Yes, they differ slightly from the Paulsons I have, but so does a lot of chips with the same brand. They have a very clayish feeling and razor sharp edges that just feels amazing. And the design. It's like the perfect poker chip design to me. Nice decoration, yet still clear denomination that can't be missed, and the colors it just right. Love it.

If this set could still be ordered, I would have ordered 700 of them right away.

Except. I've had these for 1 hours and I'm already concerned about the quality. I don't think I would be annoyed with labels slighty off-centered, but there is one chip where it's hard to Not notice. And these chips are brand new, but they look like second hand in so many ways. The colors on the chip looks "wear down" on most of them, though some of them are almost perfect. And even these brand new chips already have white marks where the surface have been teared down. This could have been the condition from the start, or it could have been from my 10 minutes of chips shuffling. I don't know, but either way, I would have been very skeptical about the quality before ordering.

In that way, I'm thankful that this options doesn't exist, because I would have had a hard decision to make.

Comparison to Paulsons feels unnecessary because I'm comparing brand new chips to older ones that I've shuffled for an eternity, and the differences are very small.
 
Mysticum said:
Milano/Majestic/The Bank

I don't think you can describe some chips as spinners because every single one is a spinner in that case. That seems to be the characteristics of the chip.
Click to expand...
Maybe I don't understand what a "spinner" is, but none of my Majestics nor Bank samples spun on one of their faces.
 
OneBrow said:
Maybe I don't understand what a "spinner" is, but none of my Majestics nor Bank samples spun on one of their faces.
Click to expand...
So a spinner is when you have a stack of poker chips and can 'spin' the higher ones up to to some pivot point lower down due to a face that isn't completely flat. It happens much more often with cheaper chips.

As always, @Hobbyphilic with a good example:

 
Since shipping was a big part of the cost, I ordered more samples than I probably should have.

If anyone nearby needs a sample set of Majestic, I have one to spare.
 
A perfect set for under $100 is nearly impossible. At 20c a chip, you're looking at dice chips or at best cheap coin inlays, maybe Milanos at that price but you would only get about 300.

One thing to consider is China Clays can break under stress, and so can cheap ceramics like Scroll. I nearly made this mistake when I bought my first ceramic set. I'm not overly crazy about China Clays, some people swear by them, but honest to God, you should never buy lower quality than China Clays unless you have a wobbly table that needs a chip.

There are people here who hunt for Paulson chips and some have gone 2-4 years to create their perfect set and the cost is punishing. I love CPC to death but like you said, a set of that will cost you a King's Ransom, not to mention the turnaround time is insanity. Everyone here kisses the ass of Paulson and it's not hard to see why, but know that with that ass kissing comes some very high price tags.

Dollar for Dollar, in my opinion, the best three would be to get (in no order) ABC/BRPro's chips (DDLM/TK/Wicked Spades), get Sunfly Polyinno chips or get Matsui chips.
 

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