The art of building a set (2 Viewers)

[Mtvernonbryan]

To those of you that have built a rack or set one chip at a time, is there a strategy or rule of thumb when doing so? Do you have a $ limit per chip that you set for yourself or do you buy it whenever you see it? What if the chips you choose dry up and you were stranded at 17 chips out of a rack? Thoughts?

 

[detroitdad]

Patience.....Honestly, I'm the wrong person to reply to this thread.

 

[Milo013]

For me, I fell in love with the PCA $1.00 secondary chip. Loved the look of it. Then the Gold Fitzies came out, so it was natural to look for gold spots to fill out a set. Mint Empress $5.00 chips were next. Wish I could have gotten mint Grand Vic $25.00 chips, but oh well.

 

[Mtvernonbryan]

My first thought was $1's but im thinking higher denoms ($20, $25, $100) may be the direction to go.

 

[JFCJ]

If you're going after chips from an obsolete casino, make sure you can get the $1s, otherwise its another mixed casino set. NOT that there's anything wrong with that...

 

[churlbut18]

To those of you that have built a rack or set one chip at a time, is there a strategy or rule of thumb when doing so? Do you have a $ limit per chip that you set for yourself or do you buy it whenever you see it? What if the chips you choose dry up and you were stranded at 17 chips out of a rack? Thoughts?

I've read your question several times, but before trying to answer, are you literally going to build your set a single chip at a time? If so, this could take a long time and could be very costly (i.e. single chip prices on eBay are generally high). I would have to guess that the majority of sets that are built short of buying the entire set at once, are built rack by rack, barrel by barrel, only buying singles to fill out partial barrels or racks.

 

[Mtvernonbryan]

I've read your question several times, but before trying to answer, are you literally going to build your set a single chip at a time? If so, this could take a long time and could be very costly (i.e. single chip prices on eBay are generally high). I would have to guess that the majority of sets that are built short of buying the entire set at once, are built rack by rack, barrel by barrel, only buying singles to fill out partial barrels or racks.

And that's the kind of tips that I'm looking for

 

[BGinGA]

I typically buy chips for sets I'm building by either the rack (100) or barrel (20), although I've bought complete sets before. Some desired hard-to-find chips are pieced together however I can find them, even as high-priced singles.

 

[churlbut18]

My first thought was $1's but im thinking higher denoms ($20, $25, $100) may be the direction to go.

Speaking from my own experience, the higher denoms ($25 and $100) have been easier to obtain mostly because I needed them in smaller quantities. The $1's and $5's were harder to obtain because I needed several racks of each. For these, I went after chips that I liked, but also those that I thought I had the best chance to obtain in the quantities I ultimately wanted so I wouldn't be stuck with 1 rack when I needed 3. Sometimes you get lucky and can find all 3 racks of a denomination at once, and there are other times when the supply isn't there or the funds.

 

[bivey]

Rob the casino.

 

[Psypher1000]

To those of you that have built a rack or set one chip at a time, is there a strategy or rule of thumb when doing so? Do you have a $ limit per chip that you set for yourself or do you buy it whenever you see it? What if the chips you choose dry up and you were stranded at 17 chips out of a rack? Thoughts?

I built two racks of Empress primary $1's one single at a time. eBay and the chip convention were my friends, as was joining the CCA and buying singles from members there.

Take note: this was expensive sometimes. Occasionally I was able to get some lots at less than $1.25/chip shipped, but most of the time the singles couldn't be obtained for cheaper than $3/chip. Most I paid for one was $6.

I also put together a rack of secondary $1k's via small lots and singles.

The process for each took about 15-18 months, eBay monitors, email alerts, quick response times, and a willingness to pay thousands just to get 10-20 chips and sell off the unwanteds, sometimes at a loss. Sometimes you just do what you have to do.

 

[ovo]

you need patience , and the ideas on the set keep changing. If you are following eBay , then you know the price and you know how to bid. I set a price I don't go over, as there is always the lone wolf that bids crazy, let them have it and wait it out. I bought about 70 Dunes dollars this way.

 

[bivey]

I've put these together chip by chip. Like Psypher, sometimes I find them in small lots. I think I found 6 $5 Bellagio chips at once and thought I'd dies and gone to heaven. If you are in a hurry, don't do this. The cost is crazy and the dry spells can go one for months. I don't go after the $25 and up chips because of the expenses. These Mirage and Bellagio chips were my first Vegas sets that I ever played with live. I will be building this set probably for the rest of my life. It's only recently playable. If you love it, you won't care, but there are far easier ways of building sets.

Bellagio ones

• bivey
• Jun 17, 2016

Bellagio/Mirage

• bivey
• Jun 17, 2016
• 1

 

[dennis63]

Like many here, I tended to obsess a bit when looking for chips. After 10 years, here's my list:

Buy racks when you can, small numbers when you have to. As noted above, your price per chip will be lower.

Don't be a afraid to buy used chips, especially here. PFC members know how to treat their chips. If you don't see the chips you're looking for, post an ad asking. Someone might be ready to sell.

Don't jump at every sale, particularly if its over your budget. Even though you fear it will never happen, someone will eventually be selling exactly what you need.

Seek advice here on what you really need -- starting stacks, buy-ins, re-buys. There are real experts here to help, (@BGinGA and others) and you can avoid the giant mistake of spending lots of cash on chips you later find you're not using.

Big sets sound good, but you might not need it. If you don't host large games and think you need 1,000 chips, see above first.

Buying from strangers. Very risky on e-bay, and maybe crazy on Craigslist. You can ask here if anyone here has past transactions with a seller you don't know.

After that, enjoy your chips, plan your build to have a few small games as you go along, and post lots of pics. The chips are out there. You just have to catch them on sale.

 

[Mtvernonbryan]

Like many here, I tended to obsess a bit when looking for chips. After 10 years, here's my list:

Buy racks when you can, small numbers when you have to. As noted above, your price per chip will be lower.

Don't be a afraid to buy used chips, especially here. PFC members know how to treat their chips. If you don't see the chips you're looking for, post an ad asking. Someone might be ready to sell.

Don't jump at every sale, particularly if its over your budget. Even though you fear it will never happen, someone will eventually be selling exactly what you need.

Seek advice here on what you really need -- starting stacks, buy-ins, re-buys. There are real experts here to help, (@BGinGA and others) and you can avoid the giant mistake of spending lots of cash on chips you later find you're not using.

Big sets sound good, but you might not need it. If you don't host large games and think you need 1,000 chips, see above first.

Buying from strangers. Very risky on e-bay, and maybe crazy on Craigslist. You can ask here if anyone here has past transactions with a seller you don't know.

After that, enjoy your chips, plan your build to have a few small games as you go along, and post lots of pics. The chips are out there. You just have to catch them on sale.

Thanks for the advice!!

 

[Mtvernonbryan]

I've put these together chip by chip. Like Psypher, sometimes I find them in small lots. I think I found 6 $5 Bellagio chips at once and thought I'd dies and gone to heaven. If you are in a hurry, don't do this. The cost is crazy and the dry spells can go one for months. I don't go after the $25 and up chips because of the expenses. These Mirage and Bellagio chips were my first Vegas sets that I ever played with live. I will be building this set probably for the rest of my life. It's only recently playable. If you love it, you won't care, but there are far easier ways of building sets.

Bellagio ones

• bivey
• Jun 17, 2016

Bellagio/Mirage

• bivey
• Jun 17, 2016
• 1

Wow. Very nice. I'm ok with being patient I think. For now. I like the idea of picking up a few here and there. Thrill of the hunt...

 

[elitedriftco]

I built two racks of Empress primary $1's one single at a time. eBay and the chip convention were my friends, as was joining the CCA and buying singles from members there.

Take note: this was expensive sometimes. Occasionally I was able to get some lots at less than $1.25/chip shipped, but most of the time the singles couldn't be obtained for cheaper than $3/chip. Most I paid for one was $6.

I also put together a rack of secondary $1k's via small lots and singles.

The process for each took about 15-18 months, eBay monitors, email alerts, quick response times, and a willingness to pay thousands just to get 10-20 chips and sell off the unwanteds, sometimes at a loss. Sometimes you just do what you have to do.

New to poker and the forum. What is the chip convention? Where is it held? And what's CCA?

 

[Psypher1000]

New to poker and the forum. What is the chip convention? Where is it held? And what's CCA?

This thread will answer many of your questions.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/pcf-goes-to-vegas-june-22-24-2017.13516/

 

[Mental Nomad]

I'm also an advocate of getting an inexpensive set and hosting on a regular basis while hunting to build your "permanent" or dream sets.

A lot of questions along the lines of "how many of these do I need?" are specific to the games you host and how people play... So, to know that, you need to host and play.

My main playing set was 16c Monaco Clubs (Spaydz Gaming, avail from Apache) for a good while, because I didn't want to run my only set of Paulsons all the time (and I didn't have fracs for micro games.)

I was biding my time, figuring out what kind of set to try to acquire, planning some potential CPC customs, watching for a Group Buy that rang my bell...

Since getting my Boardwalks last year, the Monacos haven't seen the felt. I will probably sell them shortly. I won't have lost much on the set; it wasn't expensive to begin with, and my crews got a lot of value out of them. I also confirmed that my crew aren't very drawn to Tournaments... a few would like to play a Tourney now and then, but most prefer cash games and prefer being able to show up and leave flexibly. That fits my preference just fine, though I'd be happy to host if someone else wants to recruit and promote a small tourney. In the end, my Monaco Tourney set is virtually unused.

I'd not have known that if I weren't actively hosting; I might have started spending a lot of money on Tourney sets that I didn't really need. (I did end up selling my like-new Nine Dragons tourney set.)

In a short while, I'll be set with two large cash sets (Boardwalks and Iron Banks) and one small tourney set (Iron Banks.) Neither is on the "expensive" side for chippers.

I'll still be looking and dreaming about the next set, but that will wait for future finances. And a table upgrade will happen first. But eventually, I'd like to build a set of PNY or Empress, and I'd like to get a set of customs. Any of those would be a big investment and take some time, but I have a good idea what I'll really need to have good, playable sets.

 

[detroitdad]

Since getting my Boardwalks last year, the Monacos haven't seen the felt. I will probably sell them shortly. I won't have lost much on the set; it wasn't expensive to begin with, and my crews got a lot of value out of them. I also confirmed that my crew aren't very drawn to Tournaments... a few would like to play a Tourney now and then, but most prefer cash games and prefer being able to show up and leave flexibly. That fits my preference just fine, though I'd be happy to host if someone else wants to recruit and promote a small tourney. In the end, my Monaco Tourney set is virtually unused.

I'd not have known that if I weren't actively hosting; I might have started spending a lot of money on Tourney sets that I didn't really need. (I did end up selling my like-new Nine Dragons tourney set.)

In a short while, I'll be set with two large cash sets (Boardwalks and Iron Banks) and one small tourney set (Iron Banks.) Neither is on the "expensive" side for chippers.

Words of wisdom right here. I have one tourney set, but it will probably only get used once a year and I'm fine with that. When I get the TRK's I'll have four high end sets with my custom Sunsets being the cheapest of the bunch.

 

[kk405]

I'm also an advocate of getting an inexpensive set and hosting on a regular basis while hunting to build your "permanent" or dream sets.

I totally agree with this. Given my OCD, I always thought that every set I buy needs to be exactly 1000 chips and fit in a birdcage. But then after a few months of our game, I realized we never used $500 chips and use plaques for higher denoms, and only need 700 chips for a single table game. This has saved me a lot of grief and headache (not to mention money) of trying to look for high denom chips in PNY and PCA sets that are exorbitantly expensive!

 

[upNdown]

I've been doing a set one chip at a time and unlike the Johnny Cash song, I can't say it didn't cost me a dime. It's very expensive. And I think it's important to be honest with yourself. Unlike a lot of chip purchases, you'll NEVER recover the money you're putting into it. Even if you're getting them for a good price, you can kiss goodbye the $2-$4 shipping charges you're paying per chip.
It's a completely unreasonable thing to do, so you just have to look at it like a hobby. You're overpaying for the chips because you enjoy collecting them.

 

[WedgeRock]

That is such a sad picture...

I had a rack of Grand Casino Gulfports at one time... Never had the patience to find the right fivers and quarters to go with it. Ended up selling it a few months later.

 

[upNdown]

That is such a sad picture...

I had a rack of Grand Casino Gulfports at one time... Never had the patience to find the right fivers and quarters to go with it. Ended up selling it a few months later.

The rack's more than half-full now, so it's looking better.

 

[Mental Nomad]

Imaging how sad it would have looked without the rack?

Just reinforces the value of getting good racks.

 

[upNdown]

And setting budget limits? Ha! Good luck with that. I won an eBay auction for a grand casino Gulfport $500 chip this week for $51. Was it worth it? I have no idea what the book value is on that chip. But it's the first one I've seen for sale in 9 months of diligent eBay watching. (And honestly, I don't think I've ever seen a picture of one on this site.) So it seemed like a no-brainer to me, despite the fact that I said I wouldn't pay more than $20 for any single chip.
So maybe I'm saying be careful. I think my search has become an obsession.

 

[Psypher1000]

I think my search has become an obsession.

#WorkingAsDesigned

 

[anstossfreak]

I won an eBay auction for a grand casino Gulfport $500 chip this week for $51. Was it worth it? I have no idea what the book value is on that chip. But it's the first one I've seen for sale in 9 months of diligent eBay watching.

Let me see some pictures! Please!

 

[Jeff]

A few thoughts:

I have a set that I have been accumulating for 10 years. The quantity is almost enough, but the distribution of denominations is not perfect. Patience is required because you never know when some will pop up for sale. That is part of the fun!

I have never regretted buying chips. I have regretted not buying chips.

Beware building a tournament set. If you build a set that doesn't have high denominations (or has high denominations that are stupid expensive), you will eventually deal with cost and quantity problems or the need to label. Think about that up front. I no longer have a beautiful PNY set because of that problem.

 

[k9dr]

And setting budget limits? Ha! Good luck with that ...... despite the fact that I said I wouldn't pay more than $20 for any single chip.

You could probably talk me into parting with mine for $19.99 per chip as long as you bought the rest of the set too