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First Time Poster/Custom Chips & Table (3 Viewers)

We had our first game on my table with the new chips last night. Everyone really loved playing with the chips. We mostly play $1/$2 NL but it gets way out of hand. At one point we had a $1400 pot.

Does anyone have any recommendations to keep the game a little smaller or do these things just tend to gravitate to whatever the players are comfortable with?
IMG_6469.jpeg
 
Try dropping the blinds to $0.25/$0.50, or $0.50/$1.00 then the pots should be smaller ;)
Lessening the initial buy in, top ups and rebuys will dictate how big the pots can become.
It really depends upon what the majority of your group want to risk losing on a night.

Good Luck on whatever you decide.
 
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BettingNumbers said:
Thank you for sharing how you built the table. Im preparing to build my own in the next couple weeks (no woodworking experience at all).

And love the logo, very sharp. I’ll definitely wanna get in touch with you when I’m ready to order my own chips.

Good day friend!
Click to expand...
Believe me: the woodworking part is easy… the bigger challenge will be the precise padding of the rail… :cool
 
BettingNumbers said:
Thank you for sharing how you built the table. Im preparing to build my own in the next couple weeks (no woodworking experience at all).

And love the logo, very sharp. I’ll definitely wanna get in touch with you when I’m ready to order my own chips.

Good day friend!
Click to expand...
Hello!

I got started on this project by watching some YouTube videos and basing my table on what I liked from a few different builds I found. I’d be happy to answer any questions you have - just ask!
 
I made a few modifications to my little chip bank that I thought you all might like and wanted to share some pictures.

This was kind of a “figure it out as I go” scrap wood project, so it’s not perfect, but I think it turned out pretty awesome.
 

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badbeatmedic said:
We had our first game on my table with the new chips last night. Everyone really loved playing with the chips. We mostly play $1/$2 NL but it gets way out of hand. At one point we had a $1400 pot.

Does anyone have any recommendations to keep the game a little smaller or do these things just tend to gravitate to whatever the players are comfortable with?View attachment 1110688
Click to expand...
Table and chips are outstanding. I love the classy simplicity of the design and the traditional colors. Also love that you are a cash player! Everything looks great!

Keeping the game smaller can be managed by stakes or buyin. I have a $220 max buyin for $1/2 because several of my $1/2 friends are wild and comfortable with risk (and it’s a barrel of whites and reds). Many come with $600-1000+ in their pockets….but some bring only 1.5 buyins. I set that limit when the AC casinos had a $300 max. I’m sure I would get complaints from them now being that’s gone up in recent years. The games have gotten big in the past and it scares some players off. That game basically dissolved because of it. If you have enough $1/2 NL that will play on a regular basis…congrats!

20 years ago before AC had NL we played $2/4 or $3/6 limit almost every week. NL slowly killed our regular game.

My main game now is with a different group (some cross over occasionally) and I do .50/1 NL with $100 buyin. That’s been a much healthier game. May change it to $1/1 for simplicity of cashing in and out. I use .50 cent chips but prefer only two denominations in play…three max.
 
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badbeatmedic said:
As a quick addition before a home game tomorrow night, I built this little dealer cabinet out of some scrap wood because I was struggling to find a place to store them all safely. I only needed to buy the lock and hinges, so it was a sub $60 build. I hope to eventually stain it to match the table.
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You said scrap wood, hehe. Nice!!
 
badbeatmedic said:
I made a few modifications to my little chip bank that I thought you all might like and wanted to share some pictures.

This was kind of a “figure it out as I go” scrap wood project, so it’s not perfect, but I think it turned out pretty awesome.
Click to expand...

These chunky locks look pretty awesome. This cabinet is hot!!!!
 
Old State said:
Table and chips are outstanding. I love the classy simplicity of the design and the traditional colors. Also love that you are a cash player! Everything looks great!

Keeping the game smaller can be managed by stakes or buyin. I have a $220 max buyin for $1/2 because several of my $1/2 friends are wild and comfortable with risk (and it’s a barrel of whites and reds). Many come with $600-1000+ in their pockets….but some bring only 1.5 buyins. I set that limit when the AC casinos had a $300 max. I’m sure I would get complaints from them now being that’s gone up in recent years. The games have gotten big in the past and it scares some players off. That game basically dissolved because of it. If you have enough $1/2 NL that will play on a regular basis…congrats!

20 years ago before AC had NL we played $2/4 or $3/6 limit almost every week. NL slowly killed our regular game.

My main game now is with a different group (some cross over occasionally) and I do .50/1 NL with $100 buyin. That’s been a much healthier game. May change it to $1/1 for simplicity of cashing in and out. I use .50 cent chips but prefer only two denominations in play…three max.
Click to expand...
Thank you! I have one or two of those players at my game. They bring a grand, but the sad thing is, they’re pretty good at the game so it doesn’t always land in other’s pockets.

I do try to keep it manageable, but it is always fun to see the big stack chip up to a bunch of $25’s or a couple $100’s and have a three or four denominations in play.
 
badbeatmedic said:
:LOL: :laugh:Thank you! I have one or two of those players at my game. They bring a grand, but the sad thing is, they’re pretty good at the game so it doesn’t always land in other’s pockets.

I do try to keep it manageable, but it is always fun to see the big stack chip up to a bunch of $25’s or a couple $100’s and have a three or four denominations in play.
Click to expand...
Oh definitely get the bigger chips in play …but they are limited. I like 90% of the chips to be two colors.

…and yes, my deep pocket guys are the best players too
 
allforcharity said:
Perhaps that's one of the reasons why they have deep pockets!
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Haha…well I’ll say they are very comfortable with risk and are confident in their ability. I think they bring that much cash because they want to stay in a game should they get stacked. They feel they will win in the end. The scared money single buyin guys are the long term losers usually
 
Everything about this is very inspiring and I hope to aspire to your level of build quality.
 
Congrats on a great table, awesome chips and playing cash games with your buddies.
I'm sure you will figure out how to keep the pots to a reasonable amount.
 
Awesome table! How did you make the betting line and logo? And how does the suede compare to the ssc?
 
badbeatmedic said:
Hi everyone,

I developed a real love of poker over the last year and found Poker Chip Forum to be my go-to for expert advice on all the fun things. I started a poker club for about 10 friends and colleagues and as our group expanded, I decided to build my own poker table design some custom poker chips. After much internal debate, I settled on some "Tina" custom ceramic poker chips.

As a sort of "thank you" to you all, I wanted to show off my homemade table and custom chips, so here's some pictures and a little background.

Custom table
I have been a hobbyist woodworker for many years, so building my own table was an exciting idea for me. Let's just get to the pictures.
View attachment 1105803

Routering out the perimeter and hand rail pieces.
View attachment 1105804

Raw handrail with 9 player cup holders.
View attachment 1105805

Rough table coming together.
View attachment 1105806

Arm rest padding and vinyl work.
View attachment 1105807

I didn't want collapsible legs, so I went with a traditional table leg construction.
View attachment 1105808

Play area padding and material going on.
View attachment 1105809

Raised armrest ribs and perimeter LED lens channel.
View attachment 1105810

Finished table before the play area graphics showing off the RGB LED perimeter.
View attachment 1105812

Bet line vinyl applied to play area (many thanks to my girlfriend and her Cricut).
View attachment 1105814

Club logo applied to the play area.
View attachment 1105815

The set
Requirements: I wanted either a real clay set from CPC or a custom ceramic set with a similar look and some kind of texturing. I didn't want a completely flat ceramic or anything with a sticker inlay.

The design: I wanted each chip to have vastly different edge spots and to preferably increase in complexity as value increases. It took me a solid two or three weeks to settle on a logo for my club. I knew I wanted something personalized instead of a generic club name as I wanted to use it for a small side business of building poker tables.

Order: I worked directly with Tina on AliBaba and I have to say that she was fantastic. She was very responsive and made sure I got exactly what I wanted. The lead time for the cards mold was only about 10 days and she shipped them the very next day after they were done. I highly recommend using Tina.

The chips: The chip quality actually shocked me as I was worried they'd have a very hard, dense feel, but was happy that they had a feel somewhere between china clays and a more dense ceramic. Their acoustic note is definitely on the higher side - pretty much exactly what you'd get from any other ceramic chip. The mold is amazing. I love the center circle giving the look of a real inlay, and the cards mold gives a little extra texture. They are not glossy at all, which is exactly what I was looking for.
View attachment 1105801
View attachment 1105802

The chips
25 Cents (200pcs)
This chip was designed to be rather subdued. I considered no edge spots at all, but found that to be a little too boring.
View attachment 1105786

1 Dollar (400pcs)
I modeled this chip's edge spots after Harrah's Atlantic City as this was the first home casino where I played live poker. The color is slightly off-white to give the chip a little more of an "inlay" look. I was surprised by how much everyone seems to like the color.
View attachment 1105792

5 Dollar (400pcs)
This chip is modeled after Live! Casino in Philadelphia where I played my very first casino live game.
View attachment 1105794

25 Dollar (150pcs)
This chip is completely designed by me, with a little inspiration from the $25 chip at the Hard Rock Atlantic City. They don't have a poker room, but I do like the look of their $25 chip. It turned out to be my favorite chip of the set.
View attachment 1105796

100 Dollar (50pcs)
For this chip, I knew I wanted something very colorful and unique. I wanted it to have its own nickname, and after going back-and-forth on the design and colors for quite a while, I settled on this rainbow spot pattern, and I really love the way the spots look in a stack.
View attachment 1105800

If anyone has any questions about the current chips, process, or quality, please let me know and I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

I'd love know what you think, and again, thank you for all the wonderful expert advice I found here over the last year. I've learned so much from so many of you!

Mark-
Click to expand...
The King is pleased but the dollar should be black ;)
 

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