Difference between PGI Clay and standard china clay? (1 Viewer)

[Angie99]

Anyone know the difference in terms of feel, stacking, shuffling, durability? I've played at a game where they used the Majestic but I wasn't a fan as it was too slick and plasticky

 

[Quicksilver-75]

It's hard to say specifically other than to say general observations. The composition of paulsons chips are a tightly kept secret. But that said they differ greatly in how they're made. I don't believe that the majestics or any China clay chip for that matter is a true compression manufactured chip. With the exception of a very limited few. I know true compression clay chips use a tremendous amount of pressure in heated dies to create their chips. I'd imagine also increasing its density. This process also affixes the inlay into the chip making removal virtually impossible without damaging the chip.
I'm sure @BGinGA will be able to answer this huge question in greater detail.

 

[Poker Zombie]

PGI (Palm Gaming International), which made the CPC uses the same manufacturer as the Majestics, as far as I can tell. That said, I found the CPC chips to stack easily...

Those are stacked 81 chips high (dirty stack around chip 21 or so). The table was built using legs from Ikea (there is some wobble) and my opponents were playfully bumping the table in an attempt to topple my tower.

 

[Angie99]

Thanks for your answers. I actually own a set of the CPS's but was looking at the "edge spot" ones from them to add another cash set to my collection. Not sure the name of them but they have the same edge spots as the Paulson Classics

 

[BGinGA]

The original PGI china clay chips (produced on the greek key "reverse-L" mold) had 4d14 spots (or solids with no spots), and later, 8V spots. Those chips seem to be a different mix of materials than the more recent PGI CPS chips (Championship Poker Series, on the tower & spear mold), although they were produced by the same manufacturer with raw materials supplied by PGI. The earlier chips seem to contain more 'earth' materials (silica, etc.) and less synthetics (plastics), and as such, have a more chalky appearance, feel, and sound. However, even the tower & spear mold chips (with cross-hatching) seem to be more "earthy" than other recently produced china clay chips commissioned by ApachePokerchips, such as the Majestics and new Dunes -- both of which appear to be have a much higher 'plastic' content than all previous china clays.

The other "big three" china clay chips (Pharaoh's Club, Desert Palms, and the original Dunes Commemorative chips, each with their own distinctive mold) were commissioned by TheChipRoom and also have an 'earthy' feel, although not to the same degree as the early PGI commissioned chips. This is also true of other early china clay chip chips, which were produced on the spirit mold by Eastony Industries (several spotted and no-spot versions of blanks, plus the 8D14-spotted Pyramid Casino and Casino da Vinci lines that were commissioned and sold by Da Vinci and later other online vendors). It is less true of the greek key (reverse-J) mold sold as ProGen 80.

Non-PGI china clay chips use materials at the discretion of the manufacturer (i.e., materials not supplied by PGI). One of the reasons PGI always supplied raw materials is because the factory otherwise typically included recycled materials in the chip formuula, which PGI felt were substandard. There is definitely a difference in the way PGI supplied chips sound, stack, shuffle, and feel compared to all other china clay chips. Durability is another issue altogether.... as the more 'plastic' and less 'earthy' a china clay chip is, the less likely it is to break, chip, or disintegrate. I think it's too early to tell about the long-term durability of the most recent offerings (CPS, Majestic, and new Dunes).

All china clay chips are injection-molded and have adhesive-backed stickers (not inlays), regardless of what you read on CT. Produced using pressure? Yes. With heat? Of course. But there's no compression (beyond the pressures of injecting the molten plastic mix into the mold), at least not in the same sense as the true compression-molded processes used by Paulson, BCC, and ASM/CPC.