Why did you start chipping? (1 Viewer)

[Sisu41]

I'm writing about the poker hobby in a series of articles but I want to know what got people into collecting chips.

 

[Sisu41]

Also let me know if I can use your answer in the article and if you want to be credited for it

 

[bigblind]

got involved with poker from my father and opa, playing games after family gatherings.
got involved with poker chips when i wanted to upgrade chips for my sons bachelor party,
I ended up buying a set of paulson classics and paulson wthc

 

[demonnic]

I started to get back into poker last year after several years off and I realized I don't like online poker so much after all. Use it more like a GTO trainer with a database to check my work afterwards, but with real world consequences. But once I decided what I was really craving was live poker, I started pulling out my supplies from when a friend and I ran tournaments back in like 2014.

Old setup of Copags, still in decent condition...
Poker table we built? Decent shape, should get a topper...
Old plastic dice chips my dad got from Walmart in like 2004...

I never really liked those dice chips. Sure, they were serviceable, but so were those old interlocking Bicycle disasters if you just needed markers. So I went to Google to start researching because I already knew "official casino weight" and "clay" were lies but that was about it. And Google, the traitorous enabler that it is, brought me to this rabbit hole of a forum. That was the very end of June of last year and I've since bought about six thousand chips (across several playable sets, a mixed mold and manufacturer ratrod in progress, and a milling+labeling project) and held on to about 4k of them so far. Not counting the 1200 ct CPC order and a set of Tinas from the group buys that haven't arrived yet.

Feel free to use it however you like, happy to be credited but if it's easier to do it anonymously for you that's fine too.

 

[allforcharity]

Started to get into charity fundraising angle for my semi-annual James Bond themed cocktail parties, and wanted a custom and secure option.

 

[EastCoastCali]

My story started around the early 2000’s poker boom. Friends and I went from playing on normal kitchen tables to actually wanting something appealing or at least comfortable to play on and with. The WSOP chips were very attractive and caught our (or just my) attention and I started to check out the options out there. I tend to A-fidget with things and B-get very deep into a hobby until I know entirely too much about it, get bored, and move on. So naturally after learning a few chip tricks, I’d have them constantly in hand at my desk, and that fueled my impulse need for something more unique than what all my friends had. At the time with the online options I was aware of, I went as far as I could ultimately with some unique-ish (at least to us) sluggos and moved onto other hobbies.

Fast forward to late ‘22-early ‘23, the neighborhood dads started having a regular get together and poker became the excuse for it. Finally a reason to bust out the dusty out crap and revisit an ‘old friend’. My fire was relit with a little extra fuel and excitement this time for whatever reason and after searching what’s new on the old World Wide Web for poker equipment (but mostly chips), I quickly found this beautiful bank draining venue. And here we are.

I think there’s a certain unique beauty in collecting when the collection of things can actually still be used and appreciated regularly.

You can use whatever, and credit/non credit, I’m indifferent.

 

[Machine]

I couldn't stand dice chips; I needed something that showed at least a small amount of refinement. I started dealing games around the age of 15 and running games at 18. I wanted something more refined. I found some Nexgen chips and used those for my game roughly around '96.

Living in Indiana, there are a ton of games, but all of them, from small-town hole-in-the-wall games to downtown penthouse games, all take a rake, and they all use dice or slugged plastic chips. I enjoy the game, I like the non casino game atmosphere with a standard rule set and high quality equipment. I wanted to spread a game with the best equipment and no rake. Chips are one of the key factors, and arguably the aspect that sticks out the most as the most significant visible factor.

Add 20+ years and a little more disposable income, I started off wanting something custom and a bit larger, so I commissioned a few sets of ceramics. Then, wanting a bit better quality and bright chips, I moved on to Paulson and then into CPCs

Faux mix set ceramics on a 43mm chip (the 20s are 47mm)

Found casino quality Paulson

I found these Paulson's a bit too expensive, whereas I can fully customize CPCs and not be concerned if a few walk off.

This was my first set, and there are many awesome things about them.

Then, I found my forever set. The fives are so bright that I find myself often taking them out of the cabinet just to have them on my desk to look at.

I still have the Nexgen chips.

 

[4SUMERZ]

When I purchased a poker table, and dice chips, everything seemed perfect. When I google searched how to build a raised rail with difuser, that search took me to this site, and it wasn't long until the dice chips were never going to cut it any longer. I peeked down into the chip rabbit hole, slipped and fell to the bottom...still attempting to climb out, but it's a very slippery slope lol

 

[Okku]

I have a different story to most.

In 2018, as a sophomore in college, I was looking for a job. My family had known the Spinetti family for years, and one day, my mom happened to be with Anne Spinetti and mentioned that I was job hunting. About a week later, I was invited to their house, where they asked if I wanted to join their team and help out. As someone looking for their first job, I couldn’t say no.

That’s how I started my work experience. At first, I wasn’t particularly into casino chips—I was still learning. I kept wondering, Why is this chip worth so much while another is worth so little? I found myself asking these kinds of questions over and over. Thankfully, I had Mike Spinetti as a mentor. For about six months, I worked closely under him, and his knowledge was incredible. You could ask him anything, and he’d have an answer right away.

Eventually, I transitioned to working in the office, handling shipping for Spinettis. I did that for a few years, during which time I saw countless racks of chips—Claim Stake $1s and $5s, Fitzgeralds $25 and $100 TRKs, Nevada Club/Lodge chips, and so much more. I even had a moment of nostalgia when I came across an old picture from my early days at PCF; it was a package I remembered shipping—four racks of Claim Stake $5s. That memory came rushing back to me.

Every year, we also set up a table at the National CCA Convention at the South Point, where Mikko, Anne, and I spend three days surrounded by hundreds of other collectors. Being around all these chips, constantly learning, and shipping them out to collectors inspired me to start making YouTube videos. I became fascinated by casino history, which led to making videos about both the history of casinos and the chips themselves. That’s when I discovered PCF, joined the community, and started collecting seriously.

At the peak of my collection, I had around 7,500 chips. Now, I’ve scaled back to about 2,000–2,500. I still work with Spinettis as their Graphic Designer, and I love every minute of it. There aren’t many jobs like mine—I get to be surrounded by casino history every day, helping collectors around the world find the perfect chips for their collections, sets, or frames. It’s such a unique experience. Through this journey, I’ve learned so much, met incredible people, and become part of a passionate community that shares my love for casino chips and poker.

That’s why I started chipping, and I haven’t stopped since.

 

[BPTDirector]

Wow! @Okku that’s a great story. I wish I could be surrounded by that history all day every day. I got into chipping by never being satisfied with anything less than what casinos were using, then the variety of materials, graphic design, and feel just sucked me in. Before stroke I was very good at chip tricks, a couple I’ve never seen others do, now all I can do is shuffle with my wrong hand which is what remains.

Anyway, about a twenty year ride, and 35 years since I first fell in love with everything casino, especially the chips.

 

[MC_CPA]

You could punt $10k at the WSOP. 1~4 days and it's gone (you could even go all in with aces and lose).

Or you can get some tiger chips.

One is an expense the other one is capital in nature. Seemed like an easy choice for me.

 

[Budha]

Had a casual low stakes regular home game with a group of friends. Went to Vegas for the first time with another friend who was an avid poker player and introduced me to Hold ‘Em (this is like ~3-4 years before Moneymaker).

When I got back and introduced my home game to Hold ‘Em after being in Vegas, my first reaction was “these chips suck!”

Little eBay search turned up these and I was satisfied for probably 20 years.

Around 4 years ago I got the bright idea to see if I could find an add on chip to use as a frac. found this place, took a “hit”:

and the rest as they say is history.

 

[Colquhoun]

I didn’t find chipping….

Chipping found me.

 

[Huskerchipper]

I have a bit of OCD and extremely addictive tendencies. It just seemed like a perfect fit.

 

[MrCrawdad]

I'm a newbie and might be able to add a different perspective. I have played poker occasionally for the last 20 years, always at some home game. I love to host events as I hate to be at something run poorly (a particular work Christmas party comes to mind). I have a bit of a control issue, I guess, so I have decided I'm going to start running the games as soon as I get all the equipment. I found this website only a few days ago because I heard about Super Poker World chips and I'm a bit of a Mario fan (specifically Yoshi). Well, after only a couple of days of reading everything I can, I'm starting to become addicted to the idea of different chips for different things, mostly because they are shiny and cool. As a DnD player, I equate it to the shiny math rocks we use in that game. I feel like there is a direct correlation between dice in table top gaming and poker chips. We all start with the cheap ones, then we want ALL the shiny bits, and then we find the ones that really do become our go to pieces. I'm hoping to avoid the cost of the wanting ALL the chips and go directly to my forever chip, but the longer I'm here the more I think I'm going to have to fight the urges to get them all.

 

[ovo]

I wanted to have some decent chips to play poker with my buddies

 

[tchips]

I wanted to play more poker, but was uncomfortable with the idea of hosting with chips someone could buy online and smuggle in. So, I quickly fell into the rabbit hole of custom chips and eventually ended up here.

 

[horseshoez]

I started because I like pain, mainly financial pain.

 

[chromedigi]

I'm a board gamer, not a poker player/gambler. I came to the world of chips through 18xx, and branched out from there. My requirements are therefore different from card players. For example, I don't want to see any mention of a casino, or card suits anywhere on my chips' artwork unless those chips are actually intended for card play, which at present, none of them are. I prefer denominated chips without currency symbols (tournament sets), since I may be gaming in units of anything from Florins to Obols, Pesetas, Rubles, USD, etc., or plain old "credits." I use a wide range of denominations, and don't care if the colors are standard to casino use, provided that they can be distinguished in less-than-perfect lighting conditions. It is far more important to me for the artwork on the chip to either get out of the way and not cognitively clash with the game I am playing, or (more rarely even possible) to be thematically appropriate to it. I hate chips that look like clown pants, which clay sets typically do. And like most board gamers that have come to chips through train gaming, I prefer the 20 to the 25 denomination - which makes things difficult. All of these things have (a) made me settle exclusively on ceramics, and (b) made it pretty hard to find sets that I find usable, so I've gone deeper into the rabbit hole than I ever expected I would when I first started to seek out chips. I have four sets at this point: one (actually the nicest) obtained via a Kickstarter, one from BR Pro, and a couple that I sourced through AliExpress, as well as an insane number of chip samples from many more sources than those, because I have found that the thing in hand is usually less impressive than the pics you see on the net, or is otherwise problematic. I will likely acquire more sets, probably from BR Pro, MRC, or Sun-Fly, but slowly.