Is there a list of current in-production poker chips. I have been trying to evaluate ceramics and clay chips but most vendors do not provide a detailed explanation of the chips on their websites. I worried about ordering the wrong thing.
-
This site contains affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase after clicking a link, Poker Chip Forum may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!
Chip confusion (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Turk187
- Start date
On the "real" clay side, for new, in-stock chips, it easy, you have just Classic Poker Chips, , & Key West chips, also made by CPC.
Other than perhaps a couple of retailers with new old stock of discontinued BCC or Paulson brand clay chips, that's it.
Virtually everything else is probably called clay on various websites, even slippery and clanky cheap plastic chips are seen advertised as clay. "China Clay" chips are a low cost, injection molded alternative, that approximates the feel of real compression clays at a much lower cost.
Ceramic chips have more choices, and are all a hard Polyester type or similar plastic material that approximates the feeling of "ceramic", & different brands vary in finish and edge styles..
Get samples .
The many vendors listed here can help.
WedgeRock
Royal Flush
If it says "casino weight" its probably not.
On the "real" clay side, for new, in-stock chips, it easy, you have just Classic Poker Chips, , & Key West chips, also made by CPC.
Other than perhaps a couple of retailers with new old stock of discontinued BCC or Paulson brand clay chips, that's it.
Virtually everything else is probably called clay on various websites, even slippery and clanky cheap plastic chips are seen advertised as clay. "China Clay" chips are a low cost, injection molded alternative, that approximates the feel of real compression clays at a much lower cost.
Ceramic chips have more choices, and are all a hard Polyester type or similar plastic material that approximates the feeling of "ceramic", & different brands vary in finish and edge styles..
Get samples .
The many vendors listed here can help.
Thanks! I have ordered sample sets of the Pharaoh, Dunes, and Majestic. Are these considered China Clay?
yeah, I noticed a lot of places advertise the casino effect at 13.5 grams
Based on your second sentence, I assume your first sentence is asking about the current ceramic and (real) clay chips being produced... and I'll also assume you mean stock designs, and not customs. Or maybe not.....
Because the Pharaoh's Club, Dunes, and Majestics are not real (compression-molded) clay chips. They are injection-molded plastic with additives that gives them clay-like properties..... sorta.
Yes.
Yeah, it looks like real clay chips are at least double the price of the china clay. I have also seen places selling the ceramics for the same price as the china clay or some places selling ceramics for half the price of china clay. So, is there a noticeable difference from ceramic to china clay and is there a quality difference between ceramics. I am looking for stock and not custom at this time.
China clays and ceramics are completely different. Apples and oranges. You need to get samples and decide which you prefer.
There are definitely noticible differences in quality among the various ceramics. You need to get samples.
There are definitely noticible differences in quality among the various ceramics. You need to get samples.
Poker Zombie
Royal Flush
1. Order samples.
2. Buy from the vendor that sells you your favorite samples.
It costs a little more, but it is always worth it.
2. Buy from the vendor that sells you your favorite samples.
It costs a little more, but it is always worth it.
I have ordered the three china clay sample sets from Apache and i have a lot of the older nevada jacks which i still use for tournaments. I am looking for something more casino like for the cash game. I might order a sample set of the Nile and Scroll ceramics.
For ceramics, you will definitely find differences from the vendors. I would consider Nile Club and Scroll to be on the lower end, to be honest (sorry).
Sunfly (BRProPoker / OWPS) / Chipco / ABC Gifts and Awards / GOCC are on the higher end. Between these, there are definite differences between the chips with respect to feel and print quality, but they are all pretty darn good. GOCC and Chipco are really close in feel. Unfortunately, Chipco no longer exist, and GOCC doesn't have a retail operation. However, they do have some in-house designs that they have listed in the vendor forum here. I don't know if they have samples available for them, though.
Sunfly (BRProPoker / OWPS) / Chipco / ABC Gifts and Awards / GOCC are on the higher end. Between these, there are definite differences between the chips with respect to feel and print quality, but they are all pretty darn good. GOCC and Chipco are really close in feel. Unfortunately, Chipco no longer exist, and GOCC doesn't have a retail operation. However, they do have some in-house designs that they have listed in the vendor forum here. I don't know if they have samples available for them, though.
Ha, just when i thought i was getting a grip on everything. Thanks for the additional information. I had not even looked into those yet. They might be a little expensive as i wanting to stay at .50 cents per chip
moose
4 of a Kind
For stock real clay look at Key West chips available from one of our sponsors.
A price point of 50c really limits your choices, as there are few (if any) chips at that level.... most chips listed at 50c are merely over-priced 40c chips. Less expensive chips (primarily china clays, some cheaper ceramics) all sell for between 30c and 40c. Higher-end ceramics sell for between 60c and 80c..... so there is not much middle ground at your price point. True compression-molded clay stock chips will be priced at well over $1 each, sometimes twice that.
Before developing a hard per-chip budget, I'd recommend that you determine exactly how many chips you actually need, and then look at the total cost as your budget concern. In general, you are better off getting fewer high-quality chips than large amounts of lesser-quality chips.... particularly if you don't really need them or they will rarely (if ever) see play.
Before developing a hard per-chip budget, I'd recommend that you determine exactly how many chips you actually need, and then look at the total cost as your budget concern. In general, you are better off getting fewer high-quality chips than large amounts of lesser-quality chips.... particularly if you don't really need them or they will rarely (if ever) see play.
Psypher1000
Straight Flush
Don't bother with the Niles - they're pretty terrible. You can order Scrolls if you like...
EDIT: Everythingn after that was me mistaking the Scrolls for Laurel Crowns. My bad!
Last edited:
Hmmm...for .53 per chip, I would consider the Bwalk GB
Meddler2
Full House
Funny. I have a sample of the Scrolls and actually like them quite a bit. Nice linen/texture finish, but you're right about the denoms. Very hard to read.
Psypher1000
Straight Flush
Oops! My fault....was thinking of the Laurel Crowns! I'll update my earlier post.
FWIW, I do like the design of the Scrolls. I stayed away from them because the sample set I got had two spinners.
New resource just created.
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/resources/poker-chips-available-stock-designs-by-chip-type.49/
wow, that is a lot of information. Thank you so much. I like the look and price point of the china clays from Apache such as the edge spots and coloring for the pharaoh and dunes.
That is one of the samplers i ordered which should be here this week. I will let you know how they look
i received my samples of Majestic, Dunes, Pharaohs. Three out of ten Dunes were 10 gram. Two out of ten of the Majestic were 10 gram with one looking terrible like a flat tire bulging out the middle. I also find that these will fit 21 to a row instead of the standard 20.
Actually, I think they fit 20 per barrel in 'good' racks (Paulson, Chipco, PGI, etc.), same as most high-end chips. They only fit 21 per barrel in cheaper racks, which are typically over-sized to fit low-end injection-molded slugged chips.
Poker Zombie
Royal Flush
Chipco racks fit my CPS china clays (virtually identical to Majestics) a little snug. To get the perfect rack I brought a barrel with me to Vegas. Then I visited Spinetti's and dropped them into every rack until I found the perfect ones.
Long story short - racks manufactured by different manufacturers are going to be slightly different sizes.
Long story short - racks manufactured by different manufacturers are going to be slightly different sizes.
Mockk
Pair
I am fairly new to all of this so my advice may not be the greatest, but I had similar problems when first looking into purchasing a decent set of chips. It can be very confusing if uneducated about different chips and manufacturers. If you search online, most of the chips that say "Casino Weight" or "Clay" are typically not, especially if it says anything more than 10 grams ( I.E. 13.5 gram casino weight chip). You can be certain that those will most likely be slugged plastic chips. From my understanding, true casino chips weigh about 9 grams. I have found that most people that don't know much about chips, assume that heavier is better and that just simply isn't the case. I think the average person wouldn't even really notice a difference between playing with some Paulsons or cheap dice chips.
My best advice, and most of the members here can probably offer much better tips, but I would personally order sample sets of the chips that you are interested in before purchasing an entire set. After lurking on the forums for awhile, I learned a lot and ended up ordering some samples for some China Clays that I liked as Paulsons or other high end chips were out of my budget for the time being. After ordering sample sets, I was able to narrow down my decision to the Majestics or Milanos. I ended up with a set of Milanos, but I think I would have been just as pleased with a set of Majestics. The Dunes and Pharoahs were on my list as well, but I just really liked the simpler design of the Milanos/Majestics.
One other example that had me quite confused was the Dunes chips. If I am not mistaken there are 3 or 4 different versions of the chip ( Possibly more?), and I nearly purchased a set that was the "Commemorative" plastic/composite version, thinking that it was the CC chips. IMO they are still decent chips, especially for 19 cents per chip but if you are expecting them to compare to the authentic or even CC Dunes, then you will be disappointed. I have a sample set of the commemorative chips, and although they are decent I wouldn't recommend them. For a bit more money you can get the CC version that will feel closer to a real casino chip. Of course, they also have the authentic Dunes chips, but those are going to come at a much higher price.
I am still learning, and expect that I will be learning more every day for a long time to come. There are just so many choices that it makes it somewhat difficult to decide on what to purchase, but as many others have suggested order samples and decide for yourself what you prefer.
My best advice, and most of the members here can probably offer much better tips, but I would personally order sample sets of the chips that you are interested in before purchasing an entire set. After lurking on the forums for awhile, I learned a lot and ended up ordering some samples for some China Clays that I liked as Paulsons or other high end chips were out of my budget for the time being. After ordering sample sets, I was able to narrow down my decision to the Majestics or Milanos. I ended up with a set of Milanos, but I think I would have been just as pleased with a set of Majestics. The Dunes and Pharoahs were on my list as well, but I just really liked the simpler design of the Milanos/Majestics.
One other example that had me quite confused was the Dunes chips. If I am not mistaken there are 3 or 4 different versions of the chip ( Possibly more?), and I nearly purchased a set that was the "Commemorative" plastic/composite version, thinking that it was the CC chips. IMO they are still decent chips, especially for 19 cents per chip but if you are expecting them to compare to the authentic or even CC Dunes, then you will be disappointed. I have a sample set of the commemorative chips, and although they are decent I wouldn't recommend them. For a bit more money you can get the CC version that will feel closer to a real casino chip. Of course, they also have the authentic Dunes chips, but those are going to come at a much higher price.
I am still learning, and expect that I will be learning more every day for a long time to come. There are just so many choices that it makes it somewhat difficult to decide on what to purchase, but as many others have suggested order samples and decide for yourself what you prefer.
WedgeRock
Royal Flush
Once you decide what your favorite is, you can narrow down your options considerably and filter out alot of the noise.
First, start with a budget. Then get samples within that budget and decide if you prefer clay, ceramic, hybrid or some cheaper alternative (based on budget). Not everyone has a preference. Their only goal is to own all the chips.
When you get samples, I think 20 chips > 5 chips. You want to know if they spin, how they stack, etc. If you have alot of choices, maybe get 5 chip samplers to get a look at them. If you narrow it down to a couple options, add on 20-chip samplers.
First, start with a budget. Then get samples within that budget and decide if you prefer clay, ceramic, hybrid or some cheaper alternative (based on budget). Not everyone has a preference. Their only goal is to own all the chips.
When you get samples, I think 20 chips > 5 chips. You want to know if they spin, how they stack, etc. If you have alot of choices, maybe get 5 chip samplers to get a look at them. If you narrow it down to a couple options, add on 20-chip samplers.
Last edited:
You're well on your way to a nice, playable set with most of the China Clays. They will give you the closest feel to a real clay in an inexpensive chip, & prime you to be ready when you will (of course), ultimately get real custom or stock CPC's, or any of the obsolete casino or fantasy Paulsons, BCC's or TRK's.... Jump in, no more Confusion needed!
Create an account or login to comment
You must be a member in order to leave a comment
Create account
Create an account and join our community. It's easy!
Log in
Already have an account? Log in here.
Similar threads
