Complete chip sets should be purchased with a few things in mind: How many chips do you need? How much can you afford to pay for your poker chipset and how many players will be using the chips in a game. As with most things, you pay for quality and the best advice is to buy the highest quality you can afford. It is rare to be sorry that you opted for a higher line of goods so buy the best your budget allows.
A Good Rule Of Thumb For Quantity Follows:
- 3-4 Players 300 chipset is usually enough
- 4-6 Players 400-500 chipset will suffice
- 6-8 Players 500-650 chipset is required
- 8-10+ Players 1000+ chips depending on numbers
The above guide is a suggested number only. Remember that you cannot really have too many chips, only too few so buy all you can afford. Many chip sellers maintain an open stock of chips so you can purchase more as you need them.
Buying a quality set of Poker chips isn’t cheap but if you’re buying a full set of chips (300, 500 or 1,000), the price typically includes an aluminum carrying case, one or two decks of cards, five dice, and sometimes a dealer button. At online stores, a set of 300 11.5-gram composite, two-color chips goes for $75 or more, depending on the style. A similar set of 300 real clay chips will cost about $25 to $30 more. Three-color chips are more expensive.
A case to protect and secure your chips, cards and dealer button is imperative to protect your investment and provide the necessary security for your chips. The chips will remain safe under lock and key during play leaving you to concentrate on your play. You can quickly determine if any chips are missing after a playing session when you rack them into the case. Poker chip cases come in a wide variety of styles, materials and price ranges. Most chip sellers offer complete sets with an included case. Inexpensive, readily available plastic chips need not be protected so the case may be as simple as a shoebox but once you move into midrange and better casino style chips you should definitely consider a quality lockable case.
A Brief History of Chips a clay chip, what is commonly referred to as a clay chip, is actually a composite with some clay filler mixed into a durable high impact polymer matrix. Modern, so called clay chips are a regular feature in James Bond-type casinos and casino scenes. They are quite expensive and hard to come by because of their popularity. Their standard diameter is 39mm; weight ranges between 8grams and 11.5grams in most casinos.
Most home game playing cards use composite metal core chips. They are heavy and, most important, very durable, so they can be used or a long time without the need for particularly care and concern to ensure they hold up. These chips are injection molded from a particulate filled thermoset plastic around an internal metal slug. Almost all metal core chips are manufactured in either Taiwan or China, with Taiwan, generally, producing a better quality due to higher control measures.
The highest quality chip is, for obvious reasons, the casino chip, know as the gold standard. When we say they are the highest quality, this means that they are the best when it comes to security – an important issue in poker and particularly in casinos – and general durability and ‘feel’.
A limited number of bonded companies are US-based. When it comes to their chips, most casinos have a unique and quite secret blend composition that they request in the manufacturing process. This is one of the primary defenses against counterfeiting.
Most modern casino chips are a synthetic polymer acrylic composite with a laminated center. The only avenue available to acquire real casino chips is to buy them from the casino at face value or from a reseller that will usually include a hefty mark-up. Casino chips vary slightly in weight, however most weight in around 10g.
The cheapest type of chip is the plastic chip. These can be purchased almost anywhere and range in quality from the extremely cheap to the slightly pricy. They vary in quality too, from supermarket to quite serious gaming variety. Although they are fine for general play, plastic chips do not offer much in the way of security and are easily damaged. A beginner should purchase plastic chips because it’s economically but if once they start to play a lot, it’s quite important to get a good quality chip and one that allows for some degree of security.
When you want to trade up from plastic chips, you should be sure to request samples from manufacturers so you can figure out what sort of chip meets your needs for quality and security. Manufacturers vary one from the other and it pays meet due diligence.
