Got some Pharaoh's (1 Viewer)

[Robert Waite]

Ordered through Apache. Super good dealing with him.

I ordered 1025 chips. 800 are meant to be the core set. The other 225 are spare stacks of 25s to replace lost or damaged chips down the road.

I had had issues with mixed batches for Milanos in an order from a different seller and was getting ready to check all the details. Ended up all stack heights within a denomination matched perfectly to the finger (which is a bare minimum I think) and even the height diffs between multiple denominations was sweet. Put a stack of 20 of each denomination into the standard acrylic racks and all denoms fit. I think this also should be a QA requirement. The racks already have a tolerance built in that I think should be expected. Rant over.

Super happy with the set. Reading through the forums about only 19 fitting in a rack or stacks not matching heights within a denomination for various chips made me worry about the quality of china clays. These things are badass and have a cool history.

I haven't had time to unwrap all the chips and put them in the carrier. The extra mixed stack in the pic with the racks is a mix of the Milano sample set and various $1 casino chips also purchased from Apache. The core 800 part of the set is shown on the tool tray with the 600pc carrier, dealer button and some spares stacked.

 

[72o]

Very nice. Congrats on the purchase.

I have a Paulson cash set, but when I run tourneys I use these. I love my Pharaohs set and have held onto them since the original group buy, and I still believe they are the nicest China Clay set available. That hundo is so awesome and the varying edgespots put this set above all the others IMHO.

 

[Robert Waite]

So a warning... i'm going into denomination talk below... so if you are sick of reading about denom decisions... feel free to skip to the pic

Well... this chip addiction came on fast. Originally ordered a 600pc set of Milanos that could be used for a T1000 tourney for 10 people for a friend's birthday gift. I chose 600 pieces because I thought a 1000 chip set was a bit much to carry and store as a gift. 500pcs seemed like enough to handle a T1000 with 10 people... but with rebuys and colorups... wanted a good buffer. Besides... the 600pc birdcages look pretty sweet.

I made a distro that seems to do the trick ($5-200 $25-200 $100-150 $50-50). Turned out my friend liked cash games. I had only played tourneys before.. so wasn't sure on the distro. I figured we could just change the denoms to be cents instead of dollars. We made stacks and played 5cent/10cent blinds with a $20 dollar buyin with 8 players. Everything worked fine and it was unlikely the bank would be broken... but the game had 200BB stacks so the pace was a little off. Me and friend decide 25cent/50cent blinds would be appropriate for $20 buyin and I start to think about what would happen to the set if the max stack was $40 instead. Suddenly the bank could break with rebuys.

FIxed that by getting $1000-10 and $5000-10. Will take out $100-10 and $500-10 to keep the set at 600 pieces. That should allow for decent stack sizes for 9 people to play using cents instead of dollars on the chips. Also... magically, the total set value hit exactly $100,000 which seemed cool. That translates to $1000 if viewed as cents... so also seemed to cover the average home game.

So while putting this set together... I came to enjoy chips. So decided on the Pharaoh's. The change of edge spot per denomination is what sold me. I also do like the egyptian theme. Now that I knew about cash set / tourney set... I decided I too would start at $5. The set I bought as shown in this thread is 800 chips at $5-200 $25-200 $100-200 $500-100 $1000-50 $5000-50. This fully covers T1000 for 10 people and T10000 for 10 people with at least two rebuys a person and colorups. Also covers over $3700 for a cash game if viewed as cents.

Since now I am committed to a 1000pc carrier... decided to fill up the other two stacks with spare chips for the main set and any extra space with other random chips.

Sadly... realized that I could add 25cent-100 and $1-100 to make a full 1000 set and actually use correct chip denominations for cash games for 6 people with nice stacks and over $1000 total in bank (if I only brought 25cent, $1 and $5 chips to someones house). Pushing to do this for 10 people would go over 1000 and wouldn't fit in a single reasonable birdcage... so I think here is where I put my foot down. Even beyond there... a little voice is saying to get more because... what if people want to play nickel games? I think I will just settle that they will need to play with the $5 as cents Haven't ordered the two extra racks yet... but I figure the buying spree ends at least for the time being after this.

As for the pic... one side is the sample set and the other is a random sample of what I received. I am thrilled with the set I got and the sample set had been handled a bit so the majority of the powder has gone away.

 

[MD Mike]

So a warning... i'm going into denomination talk below... so if you are sick of reading about denom decisions... feel free to skip to the pic

Well... this chip addiction came on fast. Originally ordered a 600pc set of Milanos that could be used for a T1000 tourney for 10 people for a friend's birthday gift. I chose 600 pieces because I thought a 1000 chip set was a bit much to carry and store as a gift. 500pcs seemed like enough to handle a T1000 with 10 people... but with rebuys and colorups... wanted a good buffer. Besides... the 600pc birdcages look pretty sweet.

I made a distro that seems to do the trick ($5-200 $25-200 $100-150 $50-50). Turned out my friend liked cash games. I had only played tourneys before.. so wasn't sure on the distro. I figured we could just change the denoms to be cents instead of dollars. We made stacks and played 5cent/10cent blinds with a $20 dollar buyin with 8 players. Everything worked fine and it was unlikely the bank would be broken... but the game had 200BB stacks so the pace was a little off. Me and friend decide 25cent/50cent blinds would be appropriate for $20 buyin and I start to think about what would happen to the set if the max stack was $40 instead. Suddenly the bank could break with rebuys.

FIxed that by getting $1000-10 and $5000-10. Will take out $100-10 and $500-10 to keep the set at 600 pieces. That should allow for decent stack sizes for 9 people to play using cents instead of dollars on the chips. Also... magically, the total set value hit exactly $100,000 which seemed cool. That translates to $1000 if viewed as cents... so also seemed to cover the average home game.

So while putting this set together... I came to enjoy chips. So decided on the Pharaoh's. The change of edge spot per denomination is what sold me. I also do like the egyptian theme. Now that I knew about cash set / tourney set... I decided I too would start at $5. The set I bought as shown in this thread is 800 chips at $5-200 $25-200 $100-200 $500-100 $1000-50 $5000-50. This fully covers T1000 for 10 people and T10000 for 10 people with at least two rebuys a person and colorups. Also covers over $3700 for a cash game if viewed as cents.

Since now I am committed to a 1000pc carrier... decided to fill up the other two stacks with spare chips for the main set and any extra space with other random chips.

Sadly... realized that I could add 25cent-100 and $1-100 to make a full 1000 set and actually use correct chip denominations for cash games for 6 people with nice stacks and over $1000 total in bank. Pushing to do this for 10 people would go over 1000 and wouldn't fit in a single reasonable birdcage... so I think here is where I put my foot down. Even beyond there... a little voice is saying to get more because... what if people want to play nickel games? I think I will just settle that they will need to play with the $5 as cents Haven't ordered the two extra racks yet... but I figure the buying spree ends at least for the time being after this.

As for the pic... one side is the sample set and the other is a random sample of what I received. I am thrilled with the set I got and the sample set had been handled a bit so the majority of the powder has gone away.

I am going to have to get me a set of these....

I hope Apache doesn't run out before I get some extra cash.

 

[BGinGA]

Super happy with the set. These things are badass and have a cool history. The change of edge spot per denomination is what sold me.

I still believe they are the nicest China Clay set available. That hundo is so awesome and the varying edgespots put this set above all the others IMHO.

Totally agree -- I think the Pharaoh's Club chips are several steps above all other factory-labeled china clay chip sets, and the unique two-sided mold, wide array of denominations all with different themed artwork, and excellent edge spot progressions are all reasons why. I still miss my tourney set with high-denom ceramic plaques; should never have sold them.

Well... this chip addiction came on fast. Originally ordered a 600pc set of Milanos.... So while putting this set together... I came to enjoy chips. So decided on the Pharaoh's. The set I bought as shown in this thread is 800 chips. Since now I am committed to a 1000pc carrier... decided to fill up the other two stacks with spare chips for the main set and any extra space with other random chips.

I ordered 1025 chips. 800 are meant to be the core set. Sadly... realized that I could add 25cent-100 and $1-100 to make a full 1000 set and actually use correct chip denominations for cash games for 6 people... Pushing to do this for 10 people would go over 1000 and wouldn't fit in a single reasonable birdcage... Even beyond there... a little voice is saying to get more .... Haven't ordered the two extra racks yet...

And into the rabbit hole he falls...... obv answer is obv, build the Pharaoh's set up to 1200 chips, stored in two 600-chip carriers. Then you'll have that nice 1000-chip carrier all ready to fill up with your ~next~ set.

Nice purchase. Enjoy!

 

[Robert Waite]

Totally agree -- I think the Pharaoh's Club chips are several steps above all other factory-labeled china clay chip sets, and the unique two-sided mold, wide array of denominations all with different themed artwork, and excellent edge spot progressions are all reasons why. I still miss my tourney set with high-denom ceramic plaques; should never have sold them.





And into the rabbit hole he falls...... obv answer is obv, build the Pharaoh's set up to 1200 chips, stored in two 600-chip carriers. Then you'll have that nice 1000-chip carrier all ready to fill up with your ~next~ set.

Nice purchase. Enjoy!

But this was supposed to be the last poker chip set I would ever need!

 

[BGinGA]

But this was supposed to be the last poker chip set I would ever need!

Yeah, I've said that on like six different occasions (my Pharaoh's set was the second or third time, I think).

I've since learned that 'need' really has nothing to do with it. That rabbit hole is really, really deep......

 

[Strike1st]

I really like the Pharoahs...my Dad has a set...it was a great remake.

 

[Robert Waite]

Well... broke down and ordered another 400 Pharaoh's... half $1 and half 25cent. Brings the set total to 1425 pieces (1200 main set, 225 spares). Sigh.

Well at least I didn't break down and get another 200 of the 5cents. True... 5cents chips work well for a $20 buy-in... but I will just deal with having to use dollars chips as cent chips (use the $5 chips as a 5cent chip). I feel like I somehow saved face by not getting yet another denomination. Those 25cents and $1 do seem like core chips... so fine. But no more chips for the rest of my life or all of my descendants.

Was kinda interesting reading the history thread about the china clay Pharaoh's. The 5cent and $5000 chips were not present in the Paulson version. I'll just rest easy knowing that the Paulson Pharaoh's owners out there also can't use 5cent chips. We in the same boat!

 

[MoscowRadio]

Can I ask why you didn't order nickels if you use them in your game? I know you said that you're alright with using the $5 chips as nickels for right now, but soon you probably won't be.

Also, what's your total breakdown?

 

[CdnBeerLover]

We use $20 buy-ins, and while we used nickels at first, we now play 25c / 25c for cash. The nickels aren't needed.

 

[MD Mike]

I may have already asked this, and if so, forgive my short term memory loss, but are China clay Pharaohs still being actively produced? My inner voice says someone told me they are and shipments come over all the time.

 

[Robert Waite]

Also, what's your total breakdown?

The "final" breakdown was:
25cent - 200
$1 - 200
$5 - 200
$25 - 200
$100 - 200
$500 - 100
$1000 - 50
$5000 - 50

Then an extra roll of each denom to replace lost or damaged chips.

As for the reasoning not to get the 5cents.. CdnBeerLover was correct. Using 50cent big blinds lets you run a $20 buyin cash game pretty nicely. People will start with 40BB... which is a little low... but you can easily extend to $25, $40 or $50 max buyin to get 50BB, 80BB or 100BB. With 5cents as the starting color... you are at 100BB with $10 which seems fine... but getting to $20 would be 200BB and you need 4 colors which seems a little excessive (workable... but 2 or 3 colors for inital buyin seems a bit more normal). You could do 10cent/20cent blinds to get to 100BB with $20.. but then to see the flop everyone needs to put in 4 chips.. just seems to me like nickel poker is for peeps just wanting to play around with $10...

So I decided in the rare event that people really want to play nickel poker... that they can deal with using $5 as 5cents... and non-poker chip people won't think I am a crazy person with a billion poker chips.

 

[Robert Waite]

I may have already asked this, and if so, forgive my short term memory loss, but are China clay Pharaohs still being actively produced? My inner voice says someone told me they are and shipments come over all the time.

I don't have any insider information about the production of the Pharaoh's... but I think its safe to say there is not a scarcity of them right now. I think someone mentioned here or in another thread that there would likely be a heads up on the Pharaoh's stopping production if that was going to happen.

 

[Robert Waite]

Sorry to triple post... but I noticed that all of the denoms I got seem to fit perfectly in a standard acrylic rack. Only 20 fit... not 19 or 21. But... they are slightly loose and I realized that the set I got might fit one of the Paulson sized racks. Has anyone tried this with the china clay Pharaoh's? I measured them and it looks like they will fit. Ordered a single Paulson sized rack to see how it goes... but would be sweet to fit exactly 20 to a row and have a little less wiggle room.

 

[Robert Waite]

Another pic of them together. First tray is the 20 stacks of extras, one stack is random casino $1s. With 25 count barrels... I had 5 extra per color... thats the tray in the foreground. Next is a 600pc carrier for cash games... and last is a 600pc carrier for T10000 games... and the reds can be switched in to make a T1000 set.

 

[Strike1st]

I've always liked those cc pharaohs

 

[Socraticd]

looks great! so you have a dedicated cash and tourney set that use all different denoms, then?

 

[chipjoker]

Awesome, I loved mine and had them for about two years. I ended up selling them and made a little profett, not much (I bought some of mine as slightly used from CT forum connections and some from Apache). Then I added more to my EMPRESS set.

Have fun.

 

[Robert Waite]

looks great! so you have a dedicated cash and tourney set that use all different denoms, then?

I sort of view it as one set that can be mixed and matched. 600 pieces is enough for 10-13 people with good stacks. With a properly chosen subset of 600.. can run cash, T1000 and T10000 with colorups and plenty of rebuys.

Figure running one table is about the max im likely to di at home. Could run simultaneous cash game and T10000 though with the two sets on the carriers in the pic though.

 

[CdnBeerLover]

If you plan on using the set for both cash and tourney, I strongly suggest breaking it into distinct cash and tourney sets with no overlapping/shared denoms. If you don't, someone could sneak a chip from the tournament to the cash game. If there are no shared denoms between the sets, it can't happen.

 

[Robert Waite]

If you plan on using the set for both cash and tourney, I strongly suggest breaking it into distinct cash and tourney sets with no overlapping/shared denoms. If you don't, someone could sneak a chip from the tournament to the cash game. If there are no shared denoms between the sets, it can't happen.

True.. they don't share any denoms with it viewed as cash set and T10000 set.

Most likely though.. I will only be running one table as either cash or tourney

 

[doakwolf]

Regarding thickness and racks, I'm sorry but I'm on the mobile so I can't easily search, but there are a few threads about this and I've posted plenty of input here and CT.

Mine are different thicknesses. I used digital verniers to measure and ended up using 70mm lidded racks for mine. But some are so thin (my recently acquired 5c chips for instance) and would be suited to a 66mm Paulson rack.

Great, budget clays. I have 1800 (1000pc T and 800pc cash) and also have some spares. I thought I was hard core buying 5 of each spare and you bought 25!!! LOL good stuff

Enjoy using them I hope your mates appreciate them.

Jeremy.


P.S. I actually think the cc Pharaohs $1 is one of my all time favorite chips