I will give a little personal review on storage. First, lets see what I have...
- 2 sets in bird cages in acrylic racks
- 1 set in an Apache (knockoff) case
- Wood Display case
- a 2200 piece limit set divided over two 1000-piece aluminum cases with the card storage removed to make room for 100 more chips.
- Paulson chips stacked 7, 8 and even 9 racks high
- Paulson chips in Warneke boxes, stacked 9 high
- 1 set in Bud Jones racks/boxes (with oversized chips in a prescription bottle)
- 3 sets in smaller aluminum boxes
- China Clay 43mm in racks, stacked 6 high
The above isn't a humble-brag. It's to let you know I'm not coming at this from a perspective of "I heard" or "I bought one thing and I love it". I've used multiple methods over the years, so this is an honest review.
Bird Cages
View attachment 1359949
Rating: 10/10
Pros:
Shows off the chips.
You can get them laser etched.
Easy to pull off the shelf and carry to the poker room.
Holds 1000 chips, which probably is the most I will want to carry when I'm 80.
All the pros of rack storage (except price) listed below without any of the cons.
Cons:
They
feel unstable, but have never had a failure.
They take up more vertical shelf space because of the handle.
Apache (knockoff) case (on the left)
View attachment 1359951
Rating 7/10
Pros:
Super secure. I have travelled with these to Las Vegas (carry-on, not checked), and did not sweat when a baboon kept hammering his bag to try to get it to fit on the overhead compartment.
Pick-and play foam storage. This allows you to customize how many racks it holds, plus buttons, cards, and/or plaques.
Designed to use a lock if you deem it necessary.
Comfortable handle, which is nice when walking to/from the airplane gate - which somehow is always the last gate in the terminal.
Cons:
Heavy for just the case.
Bulky, taking up extra shelf space
Wood Display Case
View attachment 1359972
Rating 7/10
Pros:
Nice piece of furniture. Can live in the living room even when non-poker players visit.
Room for cards, buttons, etc.
Tray lifts out, making color-ups easier.
Built-in lock, if you deem it necessary.
Cons:
I don't really trust the handles on the side. I'll carry it a few feet, very gently, but would hold it from the bottom if carrying it any further.
Scratches. I don't think I've added any scratches to it, and I bought it at a discount because of the wear, but it can be a concern if "weathered" tilts you.
Aluminum Cases
View attachment 1359953
Rating 4/10
Pros:
Inexpensive. A real plus when you are strapped for cash (as I was early in my chipping career)
Minimal storage space requirements.
Cons:
Easily scratched/dented.
Deemed untrustworthy. Although I have never had a failure in 18 years, there is nothing in the design that indicates quality. The 1000 cases (modified to 1100) are crazy with all that weight (Nexgen chips) supported by 2 tiny pins in the handle. The 300 and 500 chip cases feel much better, but hold a fraction of the chips.
Latches must be checked as they don't always fully close.
Standard Acrylic Racks
View attachment 1359950
Rating 6/10
Pros:
Inexpensive.
Nice for display.
Racks are used for storage, color-ups, and moving tables. The right racks for the chip also help with chip counts.
Modular. My cash chips run from 5¢ to $500 chips. I'll never need then all for any one game, so I only bring out what I need for the night. Tournament chips are left on the shelf depending on the blind structure and number of players.
Despite claims of damage from the weight, I have not had an issue, and I have checked the chips under a jeweler's loop.
Minimal shelf footprint.
Cons:
Not easy to pull off the shelf when stacked to the "ceiling".
Risky to carry 9 racks. I keep an extra birdcage and use that when carrying the racks to the poker room. You'd be a fool to travel in the car with racks only, but would be ok with a cardboard box or some other container.
Bud Jones Racks
(Row 6 above)
Rating 5.5/10
Pros:
If you are afraid of the boogie man smooshing your chips, this keeps the weight off of them like a Justin rack.
Racks are used for storage, color-ups, and moving tables. The right racks for the chip also help with chip counts.
Keeps the dust off of them - but if your chips are gathering dust, you should click
here.
Cons:
Not as pretty as an acrylic rack
Although they have tabs to prevent slippage, they do not stack as securely as regular racks.
Warneke Boxes, CPC Boxes, and Paulson Boxes
(Rows 5 & part of 7 above)
Rating: 5/10
Pros:
Inexpensive. You might have even gotten them for free when you bought your chips.
Minimal shelf footprint. In fact, the smallest footprint of any storage method I've used
Cons:
You can't see the chips, so I needed labels.
Not secure when carrying more than a couple racks at a time.
Not durable. Cardboard wears out with usage.
Although they
look like a rack, they aren't racks. They aren't very trustworthy for chip counts, and although cardboard boxes could be used for color-ups or moving between tables, that will result in even more wear.
This Thing
View attachment 1359952
Rating 3/10
Pros
Easy to carry
Tray for one set-up of cards
Cons
Big footprint, and cannot stack
Not super easy to remove chips
Probably not a good idea for car trips. I only say that because I bought this off of FB marketplace, with a set of metal-slugged chips. It wasn't near me, so I had a friend pick it up for me as he was a porter driving through that town. Somehow the chips spilled and some got lost under the seats. Not a big deal, as I bought it for the rack, which was once used to set up the 3rd table during 3 table tournaments (the 3rd table starts as a dinner table, and when people finish eating, we convert it to a poker table. I also use it for running a cash game as I can get buy-ins set up ahead of time for up to 14 players with rebuys on the ends, However, it's 3/10 rating means that chips don't live there anymore, and the rack itself sits with the PowerTechnics board game (which may tell you something).
Hope this was useful!
