Poker Chips Suggestions - cash game (1 Viewer)

[ares_exe]

Hi all

I am fairly new to this forum (though I remember being here over 10 years ago, but couldn't find my login)

I would love to start hosting a cash game every few weeks at 50 cents / $1 blinds. Do own 300 - 400 chips from Apache: "Pharaoh’s Poker Chips"

Unfortunately, they are starting to crumble and fall apart (after over 10 years). Used the first 2 - 3 years every other week with no real issues.

Read a few pages on the thread though I couldn't get a clear idea of poker chip recommendation

Would like to purchase some new chips for the cash game, around 500 chips I assume (now we have 8 - 10 players - but could grow in the future).

I would love to purchase some Paulsons of course but with budget and availability might be difficult.

Are the CPC chips closer to a Paulson? In that budget of approx $1000 - $1500 what is my best option. I think I like clay, weight 10 - 11g. I did like the apache chips but lost confidence in it at this point. Could be just my fault on the way chips were maintained (or not maintained)

I really appreciate any help you can provide.

 

[Minus]

CPC are close to Paulson in level of quality, although they aren't actually like each other at all. Like, you can say that 12 Angry Men and Inception are both perfect movies, but they have nothing at all in common otherwise.

With that budget, if you can wait and want to customize your own thing, CPC is the only choice. Get samples first to see if you like them at all.
If you can wait and don't want to customize your own thing, stake out the classified section to see if anybody puts up a Paulson set with a breakdown that works for your stakes.

If you can't wait, just go to apachepokerchips.com and get the Jumer's primary Paulson set. You can ask to customize the breakdown with more $1's if that'd work better.

Paulson fracs tend to be prohibitively expensive, so just play $1/$1 instead of .50/$1 blinds. The only difference is that you lose an extra fifty cents every 10th hand if and only if you fold pre-flop anyway.

 

[Machine]

Why would you ass u me 500 chips?

Here I wrote this post just for you.

With that budget I would .. (I did) buy the royals off of apachepoker and then commission gear labels for them.

If you go with the least expensive options from CPC, you're looking 1.20 per chip, and @ 800, thats just under 1000, but that is for solids. You can likely get the Rounders stock design, about 600 of them for about 1300.

 

[allforcharity]

Figure out your bank needs - how much on the table on your biggest night?

Most single table cash games can get away with 500-600 chips if the breakdown is efficient. You can probably keep 50c fracs to 40-60 chips of the total.

 

[moose]

The Chinese compression molded chips all started breaking down and flaking after about 4-5 years. It's nothing on Apache. Real clay will last you decades.

 

[ares_exe]

The Chinese compression molded chips all started breaking down and flaking after about 4-5 years. It's nothing on Apache. Real clay will last you decades.

would it help to re-wash and re-oil them?

 

[ares_exe]

Why would you ass u me 500 chips?

Here I wrote this post just for you.

With that budget I would .. (I did) buy the royals off of apachepoker and then commission gear labels for them.

If you go with the least expensive options from CPC, you're looking 1.20 per chip, and @ 800, thats just under 1000, but that is for solids. You can likely get the Rounders stock design, about 600 of them for about 1300.

Great point and considering that I think I have to up my chip count expectation somewhere around 600 - 800. Feels like why not 1000 at that point and fill a 1000 chip case. (I guess the answer is clear - $$$ budgets)

What is the feedback on getting gear labels on them (does it last well over time)? And what is the process? Do I apply the label to the chips or I send it to them?

Funny, asked ChatGPT to give me an appropriate answer to your post:

"Wow, Machine, I have to say—this is the Da Vinci Code of poker chip advice. Here I was, naively thinking I’d just grab 500 chips because, you know, that’s what Amazon recommended, and clearly, they wouldn’t steer me wrong (right?). But now, thanks to you, I realize I’ve been living in the dark ages of chip ignorance, rolling my metaphorical 2d6 and assuming some mystical overseas manufacturer had cracked the algorithm of universal poker chip needs just for me.

Your breakdown is truly the Sistine Chapel of chip advice—blinds plus art plus flavor equals bank plus emotion? That’s not math; that’s poetry. I had no idea I needed to account for things like ‘self-sustainment’ and whether I’m running a .25/.50 game or preparing for a nuclear chip apocalypse with PLO rebuys out the wazoo. I thought 200 fracs sounded like a fun idea, but now I realize I’d be accidentally launching a coin-counting convention instead of a poker game.

And then there’s flavor. FLAVOR! How could I have overlooked the subtle emotional nuances of chip ratios? Clearly, I need to reassess not just my chip set but my entire approach to life. I mean, am I even a good host if I don’t include $20s and $25s just in case someone’s stack suddenly resembles the GDP of a small country?

So here’s my takeaway: 500 chips isn’t just a number—it’s a philosophy, an odyssey, a challenge to find harmony between efficiency, gameplay, and emotional chip satisfaction. I’m not even sure I deserve to host a game until I’ve read every one of your 1.5 million other posts, so I can meditate on the true art of poker chip balance.

+1 for the enlightenment, the existential crisis, and the realization that I may need 600 chips just to emotionally recover from this post. You win, Machine. You win."

 

[Machine]

Funny, asked ChatGPT to give me an appropriate answer to your post:

That made my morning, I don't know if to read that with sacrarium or naiveite?

I'm doing an add on for CPC which is like 700 chips for 3500, if you email Sales@cpc David will get you a quote back quickly. My inserts are quite high (pricing wise)

I think you could up your budget to 2k and get a 600 chip set with reasonable inserts (spots).

 

[allforcharity]

would it help to re-wash and re-oil them?

No. It's a flaw in the material composition. Newer series of chips did improve on the durability factor, apparently.

 

[Phoe9x]

You have plenty of options!

China clays: this is what you have been playing with. From what I’ve heard, the formula has improved, and is more resistant to crumbling.

CPC: these are real clay chips, it might stretch the budget a bit. I just recently purchased a set of 700 for $2.3k after fees and shipping. Pros are you can design them yourself, and they feel amazing! Cons are long lead times and can get a bit expensive if you get a little too crazy with designing. They do have some stock designs as well which may be cheaper to buy.

Paulson: these are usually called the crème de la crème. There are plenty of options that you can search on this website for. Various casinos go out of business (or people buy the chips from the cage) and sell the chips here. Price usually is based on the rarity and how new the chip is. I feel you can easily get a nice set for $1-1.5k if you look around.

If you want to take a Paulson set from here and relabel them with Gear. I’d recommend looking for either THC or RHC mold chips. With relabeling, there are two options: either apply the label on top of the existing one, or remove the existing one and place a new label in that spot. You can either do this yourself or send them to Gear to do them which would add a bit of a cost to the set.

 

[ares_exe]

That made my morning, I don't know if to read that with sacrarium or naiveite?

I'm doing an add on for CPC which is like 700 chips for 3500, if you email Sales@cpc David will get you a quote back quickly. My inserts are quite high (pricing wise)

I think you could up your budget to 2k and get a 600 chip set with reasonable inserts (spots).

It felt wrong taking credit for it, though I really wanted to

I apologize, would you mind to please help me understand this? Doesn't add up to me what do you mean regarding add on 700 chips - $3500 and 600 - $2000.

Also not familiar with inserts (spots)

Appreciate in advance.

 

[Phoe9x]

The stock designs are more simple compared to their custom design, so it is a bit cheaper. Plus they make it quite frequently so it might be discounted a little.

 

[Cratty]

It felt wrong taking credit for it, though I really wanted to

I apologize, would you mind to please help me understand this? Doesn't add up to me what do you mean regarding add on 700 chips - $3500 and 600 - $2000.

Also not familiar with inserts (spots)

Appreciate in advance.

Machine's chips have higher complexity spot patterns and/or shaped inlays, so his chips come at a higher premium (~$5/chip, in which he's adding 700 more to a previous set = $3500).

Base spots/colors/inlays can be had for ~$3 per chip, hence ~$2000 for a 600 piece set.

Only caution I would add is.. CPC is closing doors permanently (IMO unlikely we will see a buyer that serves the custom market like they did). You will be tempted to future proof and to turn 600 chips into 1000.. and then 1000 into 1200.. and before long you'll have 2 full custom sets and over 3000 chips ordered.

 

[ares_exe]

Thank you all for your feedback so far.

I am considering keeping it low for now maybe going with Majestic from Apache - 1000 chips

What is the most popular option on this forum? I have no experience with ceramic chips so now I think I want china clay vs ceramic, but open to suggestions

Thank you

 

[merkong]

Can’t go wrong with Royals from Apache or their sister chip the Majestics.

 

[ares_exe]

Can’t go wrong with Royals from Apache or their sister chip the Majestics.

May I ask what is the chip in your profile photo? Thank you

I like the GodFather theme, was something I considered for a custom chip

Thank you

 

[merkong]

It’s a mock up but it’s a Royal 43mm from Apache. I have a custom labeled Godfather Club set of these on the Royal but my workhorses are another chip in that series.

 

[ares_exe]

So you preferred the royal vs majestic?

 

[Phoe9x]

There are only two real differences between the royals and majestic: design and size (39mm vs 43mm).

They both are made with the same material. So they will feel relatively similar. It just comes down to if you prefer the design of one vs the other, or if you like the bigger chips vs smaller chips. This is why we always suggest getting samples so you can see for yourself which you like better.

 

[lemarc]

Sharing where I’ve landed for a 8-10 player cash game

200x 0.25cent
300x $1
300x $5
Optional 50-100x of $25 and $100

—

The 200x 0.25cent was originally 100x, but I gathered the 200x helps avoid making change and slowing gameplay w rebuys. And w this community, biasing towards moar chips is probably safer. Going for 0.50cent was also a consideration but I preferred keeping 0.25/0.50 blinds for low roller game (read a good point that unless you know your crew wants higher limits, $1+ blinds start going into casino limit territory)

300x $1/$5 become the workhorse chips. Nice for folks to have a healthy stack with these

The $25 and $100 aren’t really neccessary unless you see your game going beyond $1800 bank. But again w this group, getting extra color options and rebuy bank is not a bad thing if you can afford