The Clever Title Home Game Thread (1 Viewer)

[russdawg1]

Hope everyone is having a fantastic day first and foremost.

I honestly just wanted a place I could throw all of my updates and photos into that wasn't a discord channel between my friends. Home Game General seemed like the valid place to do it so here I am! I realize that this thread could possibly get very lengthy so I'll add in a little table of contents right here:

Origin Story (#1-2)
Minor Improvement (#4)
Broken Arrow Deck Review (#9)
China Ceramic Samples (#12)
Apache 4800 Setup (#13-14)

Obviously the first post should have the origin story but I'll also include a (hopefully) up to date status check of our home game.

To start, like most, ended up stealing this open box 500 chip set off eBay for a whopping $24 shipped. Didn't think it got better than that. Everyone knows what it is, the classic dice slugs

And the current status as promised:

Most recently, I received my shipment from @justincarothers and @Potsie1.

20 Sample Ceramic Chips, 15 Chip Racks, 4 Decks, 2 Cut Cards, 1 Dealer Button, and a freshly aquired Apache 4800 to boot

 

[russdawg1]

And here is the set in use on a random wood dining table. Pretty fitting I'd say. Played with every color at first because you gotta use every color right? Making stacks was very difficult and I couldn't find out why. It's a great thing this forum exists....

 

[russdawg1]

Next improvement was cards. Man do those cards that come with the set suck! Paper, ugly, bent after a few hands....

Talked to a friend who hosts a home game for his friends in seattle and recommends me Copag and Kem. Copag is the more reasonably priced option so I ordered two. One black, one purple. Man are they beautiful. I love the artwork on the back. Poker Jumbo makes them nice and easy to read. We actually threw down a sheet over the table this time around to make it a bit easier to slide cards and protect my new precious investment.

Note how the blue chips disappeared and there is only a single black

 

[russdawg1]

We had a special guest one of our poker nights. He was friends with the guy who offered to host that night and he appeared and had his own set for home games which was great to feel a taste of improvement. And boy was it a big improvement.

A nearly table size poker mat, a full size dealer button, cut cards, and a thousand Monte Carlo chips. He also brought a few different decks but we decided to play with the Faded Spades. I had just received my $15 amazon/china shuffler as seen and we put it to work. Much less downtime between hands due to the shuffler and using two decks (we tend to use just one most of the time), cards slid across the table with ease, it was a much more enjoyable time so I knew I would be making those purchases myself in the near future.

 

[russdawg1]

Now don't get me wrong, I am not an amazing poker player. I wouldn't even say a good poker player. But in most of these photos you can see I do tend to have more chips in front of me than my friends. So as such, I come home with winnings pretty much every night. The great part about this is it enables me to invest more on my setup so we can all have a greater time throwing cards around. When I win, we all win. I like to think it's pretty elegant.

I'm sure there are many cases like this here on the forum and everyone is quite proud of where their game has got to. Positive feedback loops like this keep everyone involved smiling.

I have a few more improvements that have happened already that I'll need to catch up on but there will absolutely be more updates to come!

 

[TheJestyr]

yup! Sounds familiar! Soon you start caring about things that you didn’t even know existed!! Molds, weights, variations of chips, types of felts, hot dog rollers…lol it’s a wonderfully addictive hobby (not just chipping, but poker and hosting in general) enjoy the journey! thanks for sharing!

 

[russdawg1]

Soooo a few poker nights later and we’ve gotten to this:

This actually isn’t a poker night, I was playing with my family for fun, but a mat of my own that wasn’t as vibrant as my friends and two aluminum cut cards to match have joined the party.

What isn’t pictured here is I actually swapped the $15 shuffler for a $30 shuffler on Amazon since it started failing (as expected) and the $25 one is actually much nicer and it looks like it’ll last longer. (I write more about it in a later post below)

 

[russdawg1]

And with this picture we’re now current as of today:

I’m going to get a photo with everything sometime today, and hopefully a full on poker night photo this weekend.

The full size dealer button is fun to throw around I gotta admit. I’m also a big fan of the Broken Arrow cards. I don’t have years of experience touching cards but between the Copags, Broken Arrows, and also Fournier/Prestige cards (I ordered a deck to try out a little bit after I got the copags), the Broken Arrows take the cake.

 

[russdawg1]

I like this photo a lot. I haven’t decided my storage plan with the 4800 but it gives me a whole lot of options, that’s for sure. I have another 10 racks not pictured, they’re just being kept in boxes since I only have 500 (I guess 521 technically) chips in my possession.

More about the Broken Arrow cards below:

It’s not super easily seen, but this is the best photo I have. If you look at the left side of the card (The K and also above the face) you can kinda see what I’m rambling on about.

I really like the Broken Arrow cards for multiple reasons. First and foremost, and it was super immediate to my friend who also said he preferred them for this reason, the font size is bold. Makes it super easy to read across the table (and soon I hope to have a foldable one with padding and that will put players farther off the center than our current tables). Second is the color and finish. they are WHITE. I thought the Copags were white until I put two next to each other and the Copags magically became cream? As I mentioned above, if you look at the two in light, the Broken Arrow cards stay just as readable as if light wasn’t reflecting off of them. The Copags seem to have a bit of sheen to them which makes it ever so slightly harder to see the cards. I’m splitting hairs here but I did notice it pretty quick. Third is the texture. They feel a bit more coarse and stiff than the Copags. I like that in cards because it gives me a “new” feeling in my hands. Fourth is the price. These are priced amazingly due to the kindness of Justin. He could easily sell these at a much steeper price and they would definitely still sell, they are that good.

 

[russdawg1]

So I guess its time to talk about whats next. At this point I'm not 100% sure what will get the podium spot on my list.

First I will need to pat down my plan for this Apache 4800. Can't just go plucking foam for the now and ruin my future plans. I stole some photos from some other forum members with their 4800 setups:

I think a combination of the two would do me best. I like that having the racks standing up leaves the perfect amount of space for a tray on top. Looks like you could fit 9(?) racks leaving enough foam for the tray to rest on, if you pluck all the way to the edge it may not leave enough foam for the tray to sit on, leaving you with just the top/bottom foam (if looking at the case) for it to sit on and I'd be worried about the foam sinking over time. The tray appears to be short enough for you to put 2-4 decks and a button up at the front. Gonna order one and test fit. Will update obviously.

I currently also carry a small handbag/duffle which holds cards/cash/decks at the moment. I think the shuffler will have to stay there for now, but I definitely have the option to migrate a few decks out and into the case. Super interested in these card setup storage cases sold by @Machine found here and seen below:

 

[russdawg1]

I wanted to link the $30 shuffler incase anyone was interested. When I was researching there wasn't a whole lot of approval for cheap shufflers, it was hand shuffle or spend hundreds on a shuffle tech. It doesnt shuffle perfectly obviously and its not stupid fast when you have to riffle 3 times but it definitely keeps fatigue away (especially if I'm doing 50-100% of the dealing all night) and gives everyone time to shoot the crap since thats really what we're here for anyways. Its definitely faster than me shuffling lol.

Compared to the $15 shuffler that has been around: its much quieter, battery lasts longer (Takes Cs and also takes usb-c!), has sensors that tell it when its out of cards, one touch button that works 80% of the time (have to hold it the other 20% if the sensors are being tricked), a softer main card gear, a much better designed grab tray, and is magnetic so it stays in place much more consistently. Overall very happy with the improvement!

 

[russdawg1]

I know a lot of information in this thread may never find a home but I'm going to keep it here anyways, even if one person benefits from the photos/videos/etc then my efforts have served its purpose!

20 Sample Ceramic Chips from Justin with some cards for reference:

From top to bottom; Web Mold, Greek Mold, Cards Mold, No Mold.

I also had three clips to compare the sound. Mold, No Mold, Dice (Cards/Greek/Web all seemed to make the same sound to me) but I can't embed them here without uploading externally.... hmm.

 

[russdawg1]

So after much deliberation, a few sandwiches, and a lot of googling, I ended up sticking to the more standard way of packing an Apache 4800:

Justin Racks + Band to keep them together stacked alternating fits super well and flat. It also makes removing deep racks a breeze. This is 3x2x2 for a total of 12 racks - 1200 chips. More than enough storage to start. I will get two of the magnetic storage cases (or just drop them in boxed) to keep 4 decks in the case up front as well.

Should I need to expand, it would just take me replacing the bottom 1” foam with 1/2” and a 3rd rack will fit up top for a total of 1800 chips. I heavily doubt I’ll get to that point so here is where I stop for now.

Time to get the plastidip!

 

[russdawg1]

Yeah I think I’ll be getting those magnetic storage boxes. I don’t really like how the decks fit in the foam.

 

[russdawg1]

And two deck setup storage cases have been ordered. Oh the disease! On a side note I actually had some plastidip left over from previous projects but apparently not enough. Some of you guys sprayed ur apache foam down with 4 cans???

Next in the list of considerations is table.... More about that at another time.

But besides that... Poker Night tomorrow hopefully! I'll get to show off a bit more of the latest arrivals. Couldn't be more exited. Hopefully everyone has a good time.

 

[russdawg1]

Sunday was disappointing. One by one my entire group flaked. Never had that happen before. Time to schedule the next meetup with hopefully better results.

However, I did get my tracking number for those poker card storage setups

The vevor table thread has me super interested. Looks to be a really nice unit a slight step above the barringtons.

I think next I'll order more chip samples, though Justin had me well covered with a tube of his cards/greek/web/no mold chips. I looooove the EPT design ones, v1 and v2 style. The Lodge's poker chips are beautiful as well. I don't have as much love for the casino imitation chips but they are still very beautiful.

Ordering a different budget shuffler as well, since amazon is so kind to offer free returns I might as well sample every single budget one until I've found the definitive best one.

 

[TheYeti]

In case you're wondering, you have at least one person following along, and enjoying it! Keep it up!

 

[upNdown]

I’ve been following but I haven’t responded because I can’t decide if you’re a troll.
I love poker and I love chips, but I don’t get all crazy about all the accessories like a lot of PCFers do. If you’re having fun with it, by all means, have fun. But if you’re looking for any kind of advice, I’d suggest you first focus on the actual poker games and the players, and put all those accessories second.

 

[russdawg1]

I’ve been following but I haven’t responded because I can’t decide if you’re a troll.
I love poker and I love chips, but I don’t get all crazy about all the accessories like a lot of PCFers do. If you’re having fun with it, by all means, have fun. But if you’re looking for any kind of advice, I’d suggest you first focus on the actual poker games and the players, and put all those accessories second.

I appreciate the honesty. This gets thrown in the bucket of hobbies that come and go where most of it is for my personal enjoyment but there are times that it gets shared with friends. Spending a few hundred dollars over the course of a few months for even a few nights of enjoyment is a positive return on investment to me. Would I like to play poker with friends more often than not? Absolutely. Does it pan out like that? Not at the moment. I don't have control of my friends schedules, but I can make sure the next time we meet up, the our game will be better than before

I actually play poker heads up and three handed a majority of the week to kill time with whoever is over but I don't classify it as a poker night until the group is larger. I promise the gear is being used