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Building Mixed Set? (1 Viewer)

churlbut18

churlbut18

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I'm fairly new to the chip world. As of 3 months ago, I thought my dice chips were fine. Then I came across PCF and things are changing quickly. I started looking at the china clays (Pharaoh's, Majestics, Milanos, CPS). Then I moved to ceramics (Scrolls, Niles, Tikis, Veneratis, NJ Skulls/Saloons/Desert Sands, etc...). I will still likely purchase a set of china clays and/or ceramics, however, I'm seeing all of the advice to go after what you really want. So my question is this.

Short of designing and purchasing my own set of custom ceramics, and short of purchasing a full set of vintage casino or casino quality clays, which maybe I'll do some day, it seems as if a lot of members are building mixed sets.

What is the main reason for this? Is it because the vintage casino chips and casino quality clays (TRK, Paulson, etc...) are either hard to come by in full sets or very expensive to purchase in full sets? Or something else altogether when it comes to mixed sets?

When building a mixed set, do you typically do this for tourney sets, cash sets, or both?

When obtaining the chips, do you typically buy in full stacks (20) or full racks (100) at a time?

Would you mix vintage casino chips (i.e. MGM Grand) with the Paulson WTH&C made available to the consumer market?

Are there any considerations when matching a $5 denom in one chip to a $25 denom in another chip, and so on?

What else should I know of or be aware of if I'm about to dive into this head first (besides being prepared to open my wallet)?

Thank you in advance!!
 
That's the beauty of a mixed set. Do whatever makes you happy. You make the rules!

Some don't mix Casino and Home market sets. Some don't mix molds. Some won't mix different size inlays.

I have a set that has been tweaked over the past 10 years or so that I am completely happy with. And by that I mean I think it is the best mixed set out there. Others won't agree, but the beauty of that is, I don't care. To me it is the best, and I'm the one that gets to play with it, and that's what I got into chipping for to start with... To find the perfect set.

Here are my babies. They have different molds, different inlay sizes, but they are in the breakdown that I wanted (the dimes and quarters took years to find) and each one was hand picked for this particular set... MY set. :)

3beedddf7ed9298f2cd8a3fdb7d9b984_zpsjqxrpegf.jpg


Enjoy the ride, and get what makes you happy!
 
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Yeah as mentioned in the previous post, the beauty of mixed sets is you get to put together the best of each denom that you can find regardless of casino. You research and then go after any particular chip you want. When I built my mixed set, I was really only concerned with sticking with similar molds and overall inlay look (not necessarily inlay size). I am drawn to simple inlays with easily recognizable denoms so I tried to find chips with that look. Also, what appealed to me about building a mixed set, is you can add to it or exchange chips a lot easier IMHO. For me, at the time, I didn't have $1,000+ to drop all at once on a matching casino set. So instead, I would save up and go after a certain denom. Then rinse and repeat until I had the set I wanted. This took a few years, but was a lot easier on the wallet to do it this way. And it was a shit ton of fun hunting chips down. :D
 
churlbut18 said:
I'm fairly new to the chip world. As of 3 months ago, I thought my dice chips were fine. Then I came across PCF and things are changing quickly. I started looking at the china clays (Pharaoh's, Majestics, Milanos, CPS). Then I moved to ceramics (Scrolls, Niles, Tikis, Veneratis, NJ Skulls/Saloons/Desert Sands, etc...). I will still likely purchase a set of china clays and/or ceramics, however, I'm seeing all of the advice to go after what you really want. So my question is this.

Short of designing and purchasing my own set of custom ceramics, and short of purchasing a full set of vintage casino or casino quality clays, which maybe I'll do some day, it seems as if a lot of members are building mixed sets.

What is the main reason for this? Is it because the vintage casino chips and casino quality clays (TRK, Paulson, etc...) are either hard to come by in full sets or very expensive to purchase in full sets? Or something else altogether when it comes to mixed sets?

When building a mixed set, do you typically do this for tourney sets, cash sets, or both?

When obtaining the chips, do you typically buy in full stacks (20) or full racks (100) at a time?

Would you mix vintage casino chips (i.e. MGM Grand) with the Paulson WTH&C made available to the consumer market?

Are there any considerations when matching a $5 denom in one chip to a $25 denom in another chip, and so on?

What else should I know of or be aware of if I'm about to dive into this head first (besides being prepared to open my wallet)?

Thank you in advance!!
Click to expand...

There's definitely no rules on mixed sets. I have both a cash and tourney set. In my case, the first set was a case of trying to get a Paulson set as cheap as possible (I think it was something vaguely "playable" for under $100). It was originally just GV Primary 5s and 25s and some mint snappers I was going to play at T250. Eventually I figured out that was really dumb, but Jim's GV 100s were gone (and never got under $1/chip, which was "way too much" at the time). I loved the Aztar primary $100s, so I added on some of those (and eventually the Aztar $500s). I wanted a more "mixed" feeling, so eventually I swapped the GV $25s for Par-a-Dice.

Of the three sets that make up my mixed sets, there's some denoms from every casino that I don't love (the P-A-D $5, the GV $1s, the Aztar $25s, most of the Garden City chips except the $10). With a mixed set, I'm happy with each chip on the table.


Most of my purchases were based on keeping the total order cost reasonable and fitting in a small flat rate box from Jim, rather than stack or rack size. I ate a lot of shipping cost buying chips in small quantities, but it was a bigger percentage of the price at the time. My usual preference is to buy 102-105 chips at a time, or 21 for pricey high denoms (not that you have much of a choice any more).

Here are my personal preferences:
  • Don't mix molds, but inlay sizes can be ok (I use a Garden City $10 as a bank chip in my 5c/10c set, the same way you might use an oversize chip).
  • Maintain a decent amount of spot progression through the set.
  • Make it truly mixed, either with two casinos with roughly equal numbers of denoms, or with a different casino for each denom (as much as possible). A set with 3-4 denoms from one casino and one from another feels wrong to me.
  • Don't mix mint and worn chips.
  • Have a matching dealer button for each casino that makes up the set.
Travelling Tournament Set

Travelling Tournament Set

Mixed Cash Set

Mixed Cash Set


EDIT: I almost forgot, some of my favorite mixed sets lately are the single spot patter sets. @RussB42 did an 8V set and the Condado Beach relabel project on 818 chips is really nice.
 
For me, it's the fact that there just aren't many sets of casino chips that I like from top to bottom. I can count them on one hand: Vineyards, Treasures, GVs, PCA secondaries -- that's it. And even those last two, the $1s are a bit weak.

For example, Aztar Missouri $5s and Bahamia $25s are both weak chips, so those sets are out for play (even though I own them).

And in general, I find $25s to be by far the weakest denomination. Apart from the large star Mesquites, the GV secondaries, and maybe the PNY secondaries, there aren't many I like.

So mixed sets it is! I'll take a bold cash set, like peach and blue Greektown quarters, deep blue Mirage $1s, full red Chip's Tukwila $5s, and large star Mesquite $25s any day...
 
It's a LOT tougher than it used to be to find Paulson chips and a LOT more costly. Forget any rules, it's what you want and from my experience, what you can afford to spend.

This is what I did: Put together a mixed casino set and then label them.

http://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/introducing-paisanos-ea-y-money-poker-club-teaser.5619/

If you do it this way, you don't have to worry so much about finding the correct denoms that you want. You can buy chips by the color (and availability) and just label them with your own design/denoms.

My set doubles as cash and tourney. A mixed set is just that, mixed. You can combine different molds, including home paulsons, if you wish. Personally, I don't like mixing molds so mine are all TH&C. But that's me. You'll find almost every combination of mixed sets out there.

Good Luck
 
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Thanks for the feedback all. This is fantastic stuff and now I'm that much more excited to get started.

So the follow up question is...

Where do you search? Are the PCF classifieds the best place to start?

And before going out to eBay, etc... are there recommended sites/suppliers, even sponsors here, to pick up 1 denomination/1 rack at a time?
 
Mixed Set #1

- because Olivia's are bad ass
- all molds RHC, all smooth inlay
- all inlays are fairly dark
- the denoms all have white or are lighter than the inlay
- nice spot progression
- each denom is from a different casino
- all mint or close to it

IMG_5506.JPG


Mixed Set #2

- because shaped inlays FTW!
- all molds THC, textured inlays
- denoms all have red (except the 20s)
- nice spot progression
- all mint

IMG_5496.JPG
 
I once considered making a mixed set for limit poker by collecting 100 $1 chips from 10 different Atlantic city casinos and mixing them.

(I was going to skip the Borgatas for that idea, because all the others are Paulson. Ironically, the Borgatas are my favorite AC chip.)
 
mixed sets are fun, no rules, keep changing, always looking for a better option. I think Matthew at CT came up with one of the earlier mixed sets that looked incredible and spurred on chip buyers. I have several, but no good pics :( But I like to make multiple sets, with different themes. Still have a lot to fill. All hotstamped sets are pretty nice and one of my favorites. And shaped inlay sets are beautiful. Still need to work on a TRK set .
 
churlbut18 said:
Thanks for the feedback all. This is fantastic stuff and now I'm that much more excited to get started.

So the follow up question is...

Where do you search? Are the PCF classifieds the best place to start?

And before going out to eBay, etc... are there recommended sites/suppliers, even sponsors here, to pick up 1 denomination/1 rack at a time?
Click to expand...

Search the classifieds here at PCF and at chiptalk, maybe even the chip board. eBay is a major resource, you may get lucky with craigslist. In any case be ready to cough up big bucks.

The Chip Room has been a major source for casino chips, but he hasn't shown any action for quite a while. Apache has some casino sets (as far as I remember) and they were costly. Spinetti's is also a place where you may find something.

Maybe someone else here can site another vendor who sells casino chips in quantity, I can't think of any more.

The more I think about the rising cost of Paulson chips, you may want to look at Classic Poker Chips (CPC) customs. The price point may end up being the same as Paulsons unless you get some really good pickups via the above sources. Check out CPC's pricelist and do some comparison. I didn't go CPC because I was able to assemble my set at much less cost.... that was THEN.

And if you're going to look at CPC's then you should also check out holdempokerchips.com for completely playable sets made by the Blue Chip Co. Mardi Gras and Samurai chips seem VERY affordable for real clay chips, given current price levels for Paulson and CPC. Of course those won't be "mixed".

Good Luck
 
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churlbut18 said:
When building a mixed set, do you typically do this for tourney sets, cash sets, or both?

When obtaining the chips, do you typically buy in full stacks (20) or full racks (100) at a time?

Would you mix vintage casino chips (i.e. MGM Grand) with the Paulson WTH&C made available to the consumer market?

Are there any considerations when matching a $5 denom in one chip to a $25 denom in another chip, and so on?
Click to expand...

I buy as many as I can get my hands on at a time, then if I have to, buy in smaller quantity to fill in any small gaps in the set. I don't think buying one chip at a time is ... "ideal".

I would mix casino chips with WTH&C if they were in close to the same condition. I prefer stack heights to be very close to the same. For that matter, all chips I try to put together have to be in similar condition. I can't stand two stacks of 20 chips to be one chip height in difference.

Matching a $5 denom to a $25 denom, etc,? Follow the "no rules" comments above! It's pretty much what you can live with. I'd avoid chips that look too much like another chip in the set, just to make things more simple.
 
Thanks for all the advice!! Extremely helpful and love some of the sets shown above. That bright yellow frac next to the spotted bird is crazy good. (and what is that red $5 on @moose set #2?)

I've been watching the PCF classifieds very closely over the past couple of weeks. I've learned that the good stuff sells extremely fast (often in minutes) so you certainly have to be quick at the draw, which I haven't been yet. I let 2 racks of $1 PCA Secondaries and 1 rack of mint $5 Empress slip away and kicking myself. But I'm ready to make the plunge.

With that said...

Are the $0.25 fracs generally difficult to come by? i notice a lot of hot stamps for the fracs... the motor city fracs seems to be more of an exception...

And if I know I need 2 full racks of quarters and 2 full racks of $1s, do I tempt fate and grab a single rack of something that I like if that is all that is available and run the risk of never finding that 2nd matching rack down the road? Or is it recommended to wait and buy both racks of the same chip at the same time to avoid that risk?
 
72o said:
I just wanted one more opportunity to post a shot of this set before I break it up soon to fund some customs.

72o_Family_01

72o_Family_01

  • Media owner 72o
  • Date added
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72o_Splash_2

72o_Splash_2

  • Media owner 72o
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Click to expand...
Epic mixed set sir. Love them all (except the frac needs to be SCV);)

Here's mine minus the $25s and $100s I had. Took a couple of years but was fun to do.

But I sold them :(

image.jpg
 
72o said:
It would be tough to give those up. The plan right now is to keep the lower end of this set but your interest is certainly noted. :)
Click to expand...

ok not a problem. I would have a hard time selling mine as well. I only have one rack but two is much better!!!
 
72o said:
I just wanted one more opportunity to post a shot of this set before I break it up soon to fund some customs.

72o_Family_01

72o_Family_01

  • Media owner 72o
  • Date added
  • Comments 5
72o_Splash_2

72o_Splash_2

  • Media owner 72o
  • Date added
Click to expand...

This is pretty close to a perfect mixed set IMO. In a perfect world I'd have Artichoke Joe THC fracs, use PCA 5s and then the lower denoms are perfect. I'm still chasing after Flamingos and those PA are just too much for me right now.
 
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I agree, it is indeed one of the best I've seen assembled..... although I think that the Bourbon Street $5 (with the yellow spot) is a far superior choice for this particular yellow-themed set. Only change I'd make is to use a real NV casino yellow THC hot-stamped quarter.
 
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BGinGA said:
I agree, it is indeed one of the best I've seen assembled..... although I think that the Bourbon Street $5 (with the yellow spot) is a far superior choice for this particular yellow-themed set. Only change I'd make is to use a real NV casino yellow THC hot-stamped quarter.
Click to expand...

Yes, this. And sell the PCA quarters to me, as suggested in my sig... :cool:

The yellow running through this mixed set is what makes it, for me. Nicely done.
 
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I agree that the best mixed set includes a fantastic collection of chips from different casinos, but there are a few exceptions. Motor City Quarters are great with a Crystal Park set. I don't really see it as "mixed" but rather a solution to a denom that isn't readily available. I was considering a label for some RHC quarters but my MC quarters go so well. Others do the same like @NiceShot :)
 
moose said:
Set #2 is Silver Palace $5

You don't need two racks of quarters.
Click to expand...
I think the Silver Palace $5 next to the Spotted Bird would look fantastic! From what I can tell, the blue edge spot on the Silver Palace $5 looks like it would complement the Flamingo $1 very nicely. Anyone ever seen these two together?

And I think this earlier question may have gotten lost in the shuffle so I'm going to bump it one more time.

If I know I need 2 full racks of a denomination, do I tempt fate and grab a single rack if that is all that is available and run the risk of never finding that 2nd matching rack down the road? Or is it recommended to wait and buy both racks of the same chip at the same time to avoid that risk? I think this uncertainty is what is preventing me from pulling the trigger on some nice single racks that have been on the market recently.
 

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