Choosing Poker Chips for Your Home Game

[gamer4life27]

Here is an article that I wrote in my spare time for you all to enjoy:


When it comes to poker home games, hosts sometimes overlook one important aspect that makes the game have a better overall feel. And I mean that in a literal sense. It not only sends out the tone of the host to the players, but also sets the feel for the game. They are a quintessential part of casinos and have been the key to their success for many years. The object I am speaking of would be poker chips.

Yes there are a lot of options out there to choose from, and it is not only tempting, but easy to choose the cheapest ones. An easy route for beginning hosts who just want to get a game together, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, if you want to have a professional atmosphere, have an experience just like at the casinos, its one detail that cannot be overlooked.

History

Before I get into how to choose the right set, let me explain some background behind most of the hype of poker chips.

When poker chips were first being made in mass production by a company we all know and love, Bicycle, they set the standard for how chips outside of the casino should be. Their problem, that standard was set to the lowest of lows. The reason being was that they made pure plastic, bland, nothing like the casino style chips that we all laugh at these days. Sure, they were good for a quick fix, and the best option to be found outside of the casino at the time, but it was obvious the consumer wanted something close to the feeling of sitting down at an actual card table.

After little deliberation, they switched their chips from plastic to clay. This switch was a quick cover up and one step in the right direction from their previous consumer misread. However, instead of true clay chips, they are made out of “clay composite”. Which is just a fancy way of saying like clay material, but not actual clay. As the observant consumer, many fans were pleased, but not satisfied with this change. Even though they did have a better overall “feel”, they still were not the same.

Since the material being used was a clay composite, the weight obviously did not match with the casinos quality. This brought another problem to the money hungry company that they wanted another quick fix for. Their solution: inserting round metal chips within the clay composite chips. Now another, bigger (in the eyes of the company) question arose, how to market them?

Their campaign was to use the consumer’s issue with the weight of the chips to their advantage. By advertising that the chips sold were now to a weight of 11.5 grams, everyone was pleased. The Bicycle was selling its product, the consumer had an almost casino-like quality chip, and the casinos would still have the same amount of poker players looking for that “authentic chip” feel.

As easy of a task this may be, many people failed to realize that even though the new metal assisted weighted chips they bought were closer, it was still not the same as the casinos. In fact, if you were to take a scale that measures in grams and compare the 11.5 gram store bought chip to an actual casino chip, they would be heavier. About 1.5-3.5 grams heavier in fact.

Most casino chips have a weight of 8-10 grams, with 10 grams being the average, and no metal insert. This is because of a pure clay chip instead of a clay composite with a metal insert.

Choosing the Right Chips

With that knowledge in mind, now we have more tools when searching for chips that would be best for your home game. So long as they meet all the qualifications that were stated previously, 10 grams, pure clay, no metal insert, you should be good to go. But make sure to do your research on the chips before you do.

If you wish to be extremely precise with your home game chips, dimensions is another thing to consider. Although most details will not include this, the chip is usually around 40 millimeters (a little over 1.5 inches). Since size usually doesn't vary from casino to casino (to my knowledge), this isn't usually an issue. Plus, most descriptions fail to include this prior to your purchase, so it's not something to bother with.

One of the last things to keep in mind on your poker chip shopping is the print. Some may come with no print at all, and are the same chip color. This is obviously not the case at the casinos, so what should you look for?

Some casino chip manufacturers (for home game chips) will always go the cheap route, and the designs on which the chip amount is displayed is no different. If possible, see if you can find out how the logo is made and put on the chip. If you run into a cheap chip maker, they will either not say how they do it, or tell you it's made with a sticker that is simply glued onto the chip. An easy way to tell if they are made with stickers is to see if they offer custom designs. When this is the case, stickers may seem like a cool option for a home game environment, but the stickers will come off eventually, and cleaning them is virtually impossible.

However, the actual label is made out of paper, but a good design would be made with an inlay that allows for the logo to be sealed to the chip. They will have a certain finish on the chip (usually a very thin plastic) that makes it so that their is no peeling, or staining to the label. It also means you can easily clean the chips with a little bit of soap and water. A big convenience, considering how dirty chips can get after prolonged use.

Now keep in mind, since you are going for quality here, price is something you will have to sacrifice. But it's an investment for the long run, and it will make a great impression on your fellow poker buddies.

A good chip manufacture to look at is Paulson Tophat & Cane. It's a great chip, nice quality, and has a wide range of chips for sale to fit almost any poker players needs. They also have a nice old fashion look to them that I admire from the days of the in which I watched poker on T.V. with no hole cams.

Here is a video in which you can hear the sound of chips, have somewhat of a close look at a chip, and see the inside of one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DpRwUz8gU4

Now remember, this is just one of many casino quality chips that you can find on the market. It's just a matter of looking and finding them.

[frob23]

I've considered upgrading my chips (have the cheap dice kind right now) but I can't justify it at the moment. We play about once a month and it's like 10nl... lol... no one is expecting high quality chips. It's more about fun.

If I was playing bigger games and had people outside family and friends, I probably would have to invest in other chips--for nothing else, to avoid people bringing in outside chips to the games.

[phaul]

I have a Full Tilt set, and it's pretty damn good. Everyone should get one of those.

[travz21]

Lol. I think it's a little late for that.

[FlipCoach]

Hey Gamer,

Thanks a lot for posting this. Good read.

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