Bluegate Poker Supplies
Based in Singapore
Help Me Choose! Buyer's Guide
Welcome to the Bluegate Poker Supplies Help Me Choose! buyer's guide. Here, you can learn about all our products and how we put together our Complete Sets, as well as give you enough information to build your own set. Enjoy!
Help me choose a brand of chips
Now the fun begins. In this section, I will discuss the types of Poker Chips we carry and tell you a little about each one. Please check out our Help Videos section to see the poker chips in action and listen to them thunk about. You can also buy Chip Sample Packs to touch and feel the various poker chips before you make a larger purchase.
First a little background on how chips are marketed. There is only one "true clay chip like they use in the Las Vegas casinos" and that would be Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips, which are used in about 80% of Vegas casinos and many others around the world. Paulson only recently began to offer chips to the home consumer market. The Paulson consumer chips lack some of the sophisticated anti-counterfeit features of their casino cousins, but are otherwise made in the exact same way, with the same material, and on the same equipment. Paulson chips weigh about 9.7g per chip and are made from clay and about a dozen other ingredients. They are called "true clay casino chips" for lack of a better way to describe them. Although technology has improved chip manufacturing over the years, making authentic gaming chips still requires an artisan's touch. In my opinion, no one comes close to the look, feel, and sound of Paulson chips. Paulson chips are truly in a class by themselves and all others are compared up to them. I must admit, however, that I really like the design of the Nevada Jacks so we chose them as our second true clay casino chip line. Interestingly, the Nevada Jacks manufacturer shares a common family heritage with Paulson.
The home poker boom brought a flood of extremely cheap ABS plastic chips from China. Weighing 11.5g, these are the ubiquitous Striped Dice chips that you will most often see in general retail store poker sets (e.g. like our Striped Dice 500 Chip Set). We order these chips by the millions. They don't look or feel anything like true clay casino chips, but they work just fine for casual players and those on a budget.
As poker became more popular, several mid-range "value" chips started to hit the market. These chips claimed to have the "casino weight and feel" and many are even made out of some clay. They don't stack up to Paulson's, of course, but they are much better than the cheap plastic chips. My favorite in this category is the Pro Clay Casino chips, which weigh a hefty 13g and have a remarkable clay-like feel to them. The Bluegate Lucky Bee chips weigh about 12g and cost the same. The Lucky Bee's have brilliant colors. This is actually our most popular chip since it can also take a Custom Label. We chose it for our own Bluegate Lucky Bee labeled chip. The mid-range Lucky Bee and Pro Clay Casino poker chips cost about twice as much as the Striped Dice chips. Are they worth it? Besides looking, feeling, and sounding more like real clay poker chips, they also stack much better. Even a stack of 20 Striped Dice chips are a bit difficult to keep standing. The Lucky Bee, and especially the Pro Clay Casino, poker chips can be stacked and stacked.
With that said, let me tell you about the Poker Chip lines we carry. These descriptions are copied from our product pages but are presented here for easier comparison.
About Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips. For the connoisseur or poker fanatic, Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips are the very best true clay casino chips on the market. Nearly all Las Vegas casinos, and many around the world, use Paulson chips. Paulson used to deal only with licensed casinos, but they recently started to release a few chip lines for the home market. It has long been my personal favorite. If you want the best of the best, get Paulson's!
Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips come in 6 standard colors with $-sign denominations (White $1, Red $5, Green $25, $100 Black, Purple $500, and Yellow $1,000). We also offer a 7th and 8th color: the 25c Blue chip from Paulson's "Pharaoh" line to accommodate smaller cash games and the 5,000 Silver chip from Paulson's "World" line to accommodate larger tournament play. The Pharaoh chip is made from the identical mold as the $-sign Paulson's and the World chip is quite complementary as well. The inlays are labeled differently, as you can see in the photos, but the outside ring and edgespots look very similar. Our most popular Paulson chip set is the Paulson 1,000 Chip Set in Clear Carrier. You can check out how it is used for most every poker game imaginable in the Owner's Setup section.
Our Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips are manufactured at the same facility, using the same materials, molds, and methods as those made for casinos. They average 9.7g each, the casino standard. True Paulson casino chips merely add some additional (and expensive) UV and laser security features to cut down on counterfeiting. Counterfeiters aside, every real chip company in the world is trying to make their chips look, feel and sound like Paulson's and none even comes close! These are absolutely beautiful chips, have a simple yet elegant design, shuffle easily, and make that great Paulson thunking sound when you toss them in the pot. Learn more and compare all our chips in the Help Me Choose! Chip Section.
About Bluegate Lucky Bee chips. The 12g Bluegate Lucky Bee is our most popular chip. It is a nice balance between casino authenticity and value for the home market. Lucky Bee chips have fantastic colors, nice edge spots, and the 8 lucky bee's circling the perimeter are similar to the mold designs you'll see on real casino chips. In fact, I think for a composite chip, the look of the Lucky Bee is the nearest to the real thing.
The Bluegate Lucky Bee chips have a custom enlay label and come in 7 brilliant colors and denominations (Blue ND, White 1, Red 5, Green 25, Black 100, Purple 500, and Yellow 1,000). The non-denominated Blue chip can be used, say, as a 0.25 or 0.50 chip in smaller cash games or as a 5,000 chip for larger tournaments. We can also re-denominate these chips for use in high-exchange rate currencies (Email Us). Learn more and compare all our chips in the Help Me Choose! Chip Section.
About Custom Labeled Chips. Our Custom Labeled Chips are made using laminated vinyl labels printed with high-quality solvent inks on a full-color commercial press in America. The textured laminate is designed specifically for poker chips. The labels fit flush within the recessed center of the chips. They look remarkably like real casino chips, at half the cost.
About Lucky Dragon Ceramic Chips. The Lucky Dragon Ceramic Poker Chips are our stock ceramic poker chip. These ceramic poker chips weigh 10g and are casino-grade, manufactured by one of the largest chip suppliers to the US casino industry. Ceramic chips have fantastic graphics that can cover the entire face of the chip. See also our Custom Ceramic Chips.
About Custom Ceramic Chips. Our Custom Ceramic Chips are 10g casino-grade poker chips manufactured by one of the largest chip suppliers to the US casino industry. Ceramic chips have fantastic graphics that can cover the entire face of the chip. This is a very popular chip for corporate events as well. Minimum order is 1,000 chips.
About Pro Clay Casino Chips. The Pro Clay Casino chips have a remarkable clay-like feel and are made from some sort of miracle clay composite. Okay, it sounds like I believe the hype, but I don't know how they do it! We are the exclusive distributor of this poker chip in Asia as well. It is our heaviest at 13 grams. The colors are straight-forward and the single-colored edge spots are nice and simple. Overall, the chips are elegant and understated, and they feel slightly chalkier and softer than the Lucky Bee's. I played with this poker chip in one of my home games for over a year and really enjoyed them. Nearly everyone at the table bought a set for themselves.
The Pro Clay Casino chips come in 8 colors (White, Red, Green, Black, Blue, Yellow, Gray, and Pink) without any label or denomination markings. They don't have a Purple chip, commonly used as a 500 denomination, but you can use the Blue in its place. Learn more and compare all our chips in the Help Me Choose! Chip Section.
About Striped Dice chips. For a starter set or big tournaments, the ever-popular 11.5g composite Striped Dice chips can't be beat. Billions of these chips are made in China every year and we order millions at a time. They are sold everywhere.
The Striped Dice chips come in 10 colors (Blue, White, Red, Green, Black, Purple, Orange, Yellow, Pink, and Gray) and are perfect for big "fantasy stakes" tournaments that require lots of denominations. The reasonable price lets you buy thousands at a time just for that purpose. See our Help Me Choose! section for more discussion about selecting the correct chip colors and quantities for various types of cash and tournament games.
Learn more and compare all our chips in the Help Me Choose! Chip Section.
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Help me choose a chip case
Before you determine exactly how many chips you need, it is good to know a little something about Chip Cases. Cases come in standard 500, 750, or 1,000-chip capacities, but unfortunately, not every style comes in every size. Different cases also accommodate a different number of chips per row. I get a little obsessive here since I don't like to mix different colors in the same row if I can help it. It looks messy and it makes it harder to count your chips. Our Complete Sets take all this into account.
About the Aluminum Briefcase 500 Chip Case. If you want a simple, yet highly functional aluminum briefcase-style carrying case, the Aluminum Briefcase 500 Chip Case gets the job done. The case can also hold 2 decks of cards. Each row in the 500 chip case holds 50 chips so you might think about purchasing your chips in multiples of 50. Our Complete Sets take this into account.
About the Wooden Oak Briefcase 500 Chip Case. The Wooden Oak Briefcase 500 Chip Case comes in a 500-chip capacity. It fits only the chips; there is no room for cards or accessories. This is a very sharp case if you need something a little nicer than the standard aluminum case, yet still need the mobility of a briefcase-style case. The five 100-chip oak tray inserts hold chips in rows of 25 so think about ordering your chip colors in multiples of 25. Our Complete Sets take this into account.
About the Mahogany Table-top Case. The Mahogany Table-top 750 Chip Case is stunning. If you need to store and display your chips in a nice room, this is the case for you. The top tray holds 450 chips in 6 rows of 75 chips and the bottom tray holds 300 chips in 4 rows of 75 chips, as well as a few decks of cards and buttons. You might think about ordering your chips in multiples of 75 as well so each row is filled with only one color. Our Complete Chip Sets take this into account.
About the Aluminum Briefcase 1,000 Chip Case. If you want a simple, yet highly functional aluminum briefcase-style carrying case, the Aluminum Briefcase 1,000 Chip Case gets the job done. The case can only hold chips, no playing cards. Each row in the 1,000 chip case holds 100 chips so you might think about purchasing your chips in multiples of 100 for most of the colors. Our Complete Sets take this into account.
About the Rolling Chest 1,000 Chip Case. Carrying around 1,000 chips in a briefcase can get pretty heavy. A 1,000-chip set with a carrying case, cards, and a few accessories can weigh over 40lbs (18kg)! Do your back a favor and buy this rolling poker chest. The ingenious Rolling Chest 1,000-Chip Case fits 1,000 chips, several decks of cards, a shuffler, and other accessories. Please note that you will also need to buy 10 Acrylic 100 Chip Trays to use with this case. These 100-chip trays hold the chips in 5 rows of 20, so think about purchasing your chip colors in multiples of 20 or 100 as well. The Rolling Chest makes for a good companion to the Clear Carrier 1,000 Chip Case since both cases require you to store your chips in Acrylic 100 Chip Trays. In the Owner's Setup, I use the Clear Carrier while at home and the Rolling Chest when I travel.
Please note that the Rolling Chest can really only be delivered in Singapore. It is too large to fit in the the UPS 25kg flat rate box used for shipping internationally. Please Email Us for a separate shipping quote to your country. More Shipping Info.
About the Clear Carrier 1,000 Chip Case. The Clear Carrier 1,000 Chip Case is used the world over to move chips around casinos efficiently. I use one in my home for the same purpose. The Clear Carrier also fits vertically in a small wheelie-style suitcase so you can discretely transport your chips to your friends house; just don't set it down horizontally or the chips will fall out. You will need to purchase 10 Acrylic 100-Chip Trays to use this case. These 100-chip trays hold the chips in 5 rows of 20, so think about purchasing your chip colors in multiples of 20 or 100 as well. Our Complete Sets take this into account.
About Acrylic 100-Chip Trays. The Acrylic 100-Chip Trays are the standard casino chip trays that hold 100 chips, in 5 rows of 20 chips. One nice thing about storing your chips in trays is that it makes counting, stacking, and moving chips around must faster. It's useful to have a couple of these lying around during a game just for that purpose. If you use the Rolling Chest 1,000-Chip Case or Clear Carrier 1,000 Chip Case, then you must use these trays.
Please also note that these trays come in two sizes. The Bluegate Lucky Bee, Pro Clay Casino, and Striped Dice chips are slightly thicker than the standard Paulson and Nevada Jacks casino chips. We sell 2 sizes of the acrylic chip trays to accommodate the different chip thicknesses (e.g. use the 66.7mm tray for the Paulson's). The external dimensions of both trays are essentially the same so they will both fit perfectly in the Rolling Chest 1,000-Chip Case and Clear Carrier 1,000 Chip Case. The two different size trays do not stack well if they are mixed, however, so keep that in mind if you need to stack multiple types of chips.
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Help me choose playing cards
We sell 3 brands of poker Playing Cards, in both narrow and wide sizes. Although the wider variety is commonly referred to as "poker-size," most professional poker rooms actually use the narrower "bridge-size" cards. Bridge-size cards are 1/4" (6mm) narrower than poker-size cards and are easier to shuffle and hold while you are dealing. Playing cards used for poker are usually made out of plastic, not paper. They can be cleaned and re-used over and over and although they are more expensive initially than paper cards, they are a much better value on a per-game basis. By the way, you can check out the Help Videos section to learn how to shuffle properly and deal a Texas hold 'em game.
The faces of poker playing cards come in various "indexes" (the size of the numbers) and pips (the suit symbols). Making a choice here is simply a matter of taste. The regular index and pips are easier to read when you are looking discretely at your hole cards, whereas the jumbo index and pips are easier to read when you deal the cards on the flop, especially for people who are sitting far away. Lastly, the backs of playing cards come in numerous patterns, which are usually quite busy to hide any markings that might accumulate on the cards. We have chosen a few of our favorites.
About KEM Playing Cards. KEM playing cards (KEM Narrow, KEM Wide) are made in the USA and are largely considered the best playing cards in the world. They are made from 100% cellulose acetate and are scuff resistant and completely washable. They do not mark easily and are very secure. The company is now owned by The United States Playing Card Company, the largest casino-card supplier in the world. The USPC also makes Bicycle and Bee branded cards. They now have the contract with the World Series of Poker. KEM cards are not holding up in humid climates, however. I keep my KEMs in a photography dehumidifier cabinet inside a card press. This keeps them slippery and perfectly flat. For those less fanatic, I recommend Copag Playing Cards, which are quickly becoming my favorite.
About Copag Playing Cards. Copag Playing Cards are made in Brazil from a proprietary PVC plastic. The company has been around since 1908. Copaq made a push into the poker market when KEM faultered in the early 2000's and had secured the World Series of Poker contract up until 2007 (KEM now has it, due to Harrah's tie up with KEM's new parent company USPC). Copag's hold up much better than KEM's in hot humid climates. Copaq is our most popular seller and we sell an equal amount in the narrow or wide sizes and regular or jumbo pips.
About Bee Playing Cards. Bee branded "No. 92" cards (Bee Red, Bee Blue) are the most popular "replaceable" card used in American casinos for black jack and other table games. They are made from coated paper and come only in the wide size, regular index. These cards are not as secure as the traditional plastic poker cards (Copag Playing Cards) because they can be bent or marked quite easily (unintentionally of course!). They need to be replaced regularly (casinos replace them a couple times per day), but they are only a few dollars per pack. Some players like to buy cases at a time and open a new deck for every poker session. Bee cards, and their ubiquitous, slightly cheaper, Bicycle brand cousin are made by The United States Playing Card Company, the largest casino-card supplier in the world.
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Help me choose a table or table top
One of the best improvements to a home poker game is to play on one of our proper Poker Tables. The large oval shape allows up to ten players to sit comfortably around the gaming action, and the padded rail keeps all the chips and cards on the table. The surface has just enough friction to slide cards into place and cuts down on the sound of chips hitting a hard table. The cushioned surface also makes it easier to lift and peek at your hole cards and shuffle the cards and chips.
The problem, of course, is that proper poker tables are very long, so not everyone has room in their house or apartment to set one up permanently. The Portable Full-size Table has folding legs so can be stored length-wise along a wall. The Folding Table Top folds in thirds and can be tucked away in a closet. The Roll-up Poker Cloth Table Cover literally rolls up into a tube and can be stored pretty much anywhere. The 8-Player Octagon Poker Tables is perfect for smaller games in intimate settings.
Tables can be delivered throughout Singapore but cannot fit in our international flat-rate shipping boxes. Please Email Us for a separate shipping quote to your country.
About the Roll-up Poker Cloth Table Cover. The Roll-up Poker Cloth Table Cover turns your dining room table into a temporary poker table. We will cut the foam to the exact dimensions of your table, adhere the Poker Cloth to the foam with spray adhesive, and then finish the cloth's edge so that it will hang about 3-4 inches (10cm) on each side of the table. We cut the corners for square and rectangular tables so that it falls correctly. On oval or round tables, we add a complete drop rim the so that the Poker Cloth hugs the table.
Please Email Us or put a note in the comment section during checkout. We need to know the exact width and length dimensions of your table, the approximate thickness of your table, and the amount of overhang, if any. Rectangular, square, or circular tables are easy; if your table is oval, make sure you email us first! We can also send you the padding and cloth uncut and you can do it yourself.
The Suited Poker Speed Cloth is made from Polyester/Olefin and is protected with Scotch Guard, a Teflon fabric protector. Cards slide effortlessly across this surface and many casinos are switching away from felt to use this superior, longer-lasting material. Volara is the best closed cell gaming table foam. It is a little on the stiff side, but will also hold up to repeated use. The cloth is bonded to the volara pad with 3M™ Super 77 Spray Adhesive. That's the trick part since a lot of adhesive needs to be used to avoid wrinkles and bubbles.
The Poker Cloth Table Cover can be delivered throughout Singapore but cannot fit in our international flat-rate shipping boxes. Please Email Us for a separate shipping quote to your country. Shipping Info: 10lbs/5kg (dimensional weight used for local delivery).
About the Folding Table Top. The Folding Table Top is one of our most popular tables and you can place it right on top of your existing dining table or similar base. It also allows you to play on a longer surface than the underlying table on which you place it. Although it is not quite full size, it is adequate to fit 8 players comfortably and 10 players in a pinch. It measures 36 x 79 inches (90cm x 200cm) and folds in thirds to about 26 x 36 inches (66cm x 90cm). It even comes with its own travel bag with carrying straps. It weighs about 47lbs (21kg).
I'm not so thrilled with the graphics (it's obvious the manufacturer didn't know a thing about poker!), and the green felt is not as good as our Full-size Portable Poker Table or casino-grade Roll-up Poker Cloth Table Cover, but the materials are decent and will stand up to repeated use. For what you get, the price is very reasonable.
Tables can be delivered throughout Singapore but cannot fit in our international flat-rate shipping boxes. Please Email Us for a separate shipping quote to your country.
Shipping Info: 44lbs/20kg 107x74x10cm.
About the Full-size Portable Poker Table. The Full-size Portable Poker Table measures 48 x 96 inches (122cm x 244cm) and can accommodate 9-10 players. This no-frills table is still made with casino-quality materials. The high-density rail foam, Whisper vinyl, Volara closed-cell padding, and Suited Speed Cloth all come from the States and are the same as we use on our high-end Custom-made Poker Tables.
Height-adjustable Ikea "A" legs and a running support frame underneath the table make for a very sturdy playing surface. You can put elbows all around and it won't tip or sag. I made several tables myself, but have found my own master craftsman in Singapore who now upholsters the rails. His rails have no seams, no wrinkles, and perfect tension. The rail really makes the table a poker table.
You can choose from a few different options. The playing surface and rail can either be a complete oval or have a dealer position cutout with a chip tray. The table can be supported by Ikea A-legs and frame or simply be used as a table top on your existing dining table. And finally, you can buy just buy the padded cloth top by itself (no legs, no rail). The last option is called the "Flatwood" and can be found on the Roll-up Poker Cloth Table Cover page.
Tables can be delivered throughout Singapore. Please Email Us for a separate shipping quote to your country.
Shipping Info: 120lbs/54kg 250x122x15cm.
About the 8-Player Octagon Poker Table. Our 8-Player Octagon Poker Tables are casino-quality and make for an intimate setting in a home game. We use our best vinyl fabric on the high-density padded rail and our best Suited Speed Cloth for the playing surface, just like our custom tables. The build quality is not quite as beautiful, obviously, but the tables are durable and economically priced. The stainless steel cup holders are deep and the folding legs allow for quick storage. Dimensions are 48 x 48 x 30 inches (122 x 122 x 76cm) and the weight is about 50lbs/23kg.
Tables can be delivered easily throughout Singapore. Please Email Us for a separate shipping quote to your country.
Help me choose accessories
We carry the essential Accessories for your home poker game. Every item serves its purpose, as you will see.
About the Dealer Button. The Dealer Button, about 2 inches (5cm) in diameter, is used to designate the dealer for each hand. Some home games pass the deck of cards around the table as each player becomes the new dealer for the next hand. In a casino, the cards stay put with the professional house dealer, who deals every hand. A dealer button is then passed around the table to designate the player who is merely acting as the dealer (i.e. the last to act on the hand). In your home game, if you pass the deck, then you don't really need a dealer button, since it is pretty difficult to forget who the dealer is when he is holding a deck of cards in his hand!
I would suggest, however, that you use a dealer button and have only a couple players do all the dealing. In my home games, I sit in the middle table position and deal every hand. When I need a break, the person sitting opposite me takes over. Dealing is an art and takes some practice. Using a few well-positioned dealers, rather than 10 different ones, makes the game go much faster and cuts down on the mistakes. Good dealers, who control the pace of the game, will deal about 30-40 hands per hour. Home games, where everyone takes a turn dealing, average about 20 hands per hour. Over the course of the night, the difference really adds up. Shuffle up and deal!
About the Missed Blind Buttons. The 3 Missed Blind Buttons (missed, little, big) are rarely used in home games, but employing them is a fairer way to play. They are used in cash games to keep tabs on who has not paid their blinds for the current round. They are never used in tournaments since players must post their blinds even if they are not seated to play the hand.
As a game of hold 'em is dealt, the players posting their blinds are "paying the rent" for the next orbit of play just like you pay your apartment rent at the beginning of the month. (If there are 10 players at the table, then an "orbit" would be 10 hands of play.) After you post the blinds, you then get to play the next 8 or so hands for "free," so to speak. If you were to get up from the table to take a break, as the blinds come back around to your empty seat, the dealer would issue you a "missed blind" button (and specifically the "little" and "big" buttons as well). When you return to the table, you can either "post" (i.e. pay) your missed blinds immediately and play the next hand, or you can wait until the blinds naturally come back around to you and post them at the correct time for the next orbit.
About the Tournament Dealer Button. The Tournament Dealer Button is a convenient dealer button that doubles as a tournament clock. In tournaments, blinds are increased every level, which usually last 20-90 minutes each. You can set the timer in 5-minute increments up to 95 minutes. An alert sounds with 1 minute to go and when the level is completed. The timer automatically resets itself for the next level or can be paused during breaks.
The button also has a 30-second "bet timer." If a player is taking too long to act, any player at the table can "call time," and press the bet button. The slow player then has 30 seconds to act on his hand. This speeds up play considerably and its mere existence is usually enough to deter slow play. Many players in cash games use this button just for the bet button feature.
The Tournament Dealer Button is similar in size to a regular dealer button and comes packaged in a small box the size of a deck of cards so it can easily fit in cases.
About the Spinner Card Cover. Place the Spinner Card Cover on top of your hole cards while playing Texas hold 'em to "protect your hand." Players seated in the two spots next to the dealer are particularly susceptible to having their cards inadvertently mucked. This card cover protects your hand.
Some players just use a chip to protect their hand, but a proper card cover will cut down on the confusion as to which chips are in play and which are in your stack. Spinner card covers are also fun to play with since you can spin them around on your cards.
About Cut Cards. Cut Cards are not really used to cut the cards, as you would be asked to do by the dealer while playing black jack in a casino. Rather, poker cut cards are placed on the bottom of the deck while you are dealing the poker hand. This covers the bottom card on the deck so it will not be revealed inadvertently. See our Help Videos section to learn how to shuffle and deal a game of Texas hold 'em.
If you order a set of (Copag Playing Cards), we will throw in a couple free cut cards. Otherwise, make sure you choose the correct size for your cards.
About the Automatic Card Shuffler. The Automatic Card Shuffler can shuffle up to 4 decks of cards (although you only need to shuffle one deck for poker), either narrow "bridge" size or standard "wide" size. It operates on 4 size C batteries (not included). I'm not enamored with any of the shufflers in the market, but this one sure flies off the shelf. I prefer to do my own shuffling, which, for me is faster than fiddling with a shuffler. You can learn a proper shuffle in our Help Videos section. Sometimes, however, we will play with 2 alternating decks of cards and other players will do the shuffling to keep the game moving faster. In that case, the automatic shuffler comes in handy.
About the Clear Spacers. The Clear Spacers can be used to take up slack in chip cases or be used to separate chips in a chip rack, just as they do in casinos (e.g. a spacer is inserted after every 20, 25, or 100 chips). This makes visually counting the chips easier. It is worth having a few lying around in case you need them.
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How many chips do I need and in what colors?
This is the nuts and bolts of designing your chip set. We have taken most of this section into account when designing our Complete Sets, but those are primarily for typical low stakes cash games and the occasional tournament. Your needs may differ. In designing your chip set, there are 4 basic questions you need to answer:
Summary. Generally speaking, you need about 75-100 chips per player for a typical cash game. Since most Texas hold 'em games are now played with 8-10 people, our most popular chip sets contain 750 and 1,000 chips. Most chip sets come in 5-8 colors/denominations. Cash games require 4-5 colors and tournaments require 4-5 colors, with overlap in the middle denominations. For cash games, about 50% of your chips should be in your primary two playing colors/denominations. Following the casino standard colors/denominations, a mini stakes game would go heavy on Blue $0.25 and White $1 chips, low stakes games would use primarily White $1 and Red $5 chips, medium stakes Red $5 and Green $25, and high stakes game would use Green $25 and Black $100. If you play higher than that, you probably don't need my advice, but $500 chips are usually Purple and $1,000 chips are usually Yellow. For micro stakes games, you can stick with the standard colors and merely divide all those numbers by 10 or 100. Note how standard denominations increase by a factor of 4 or 5 (e.g. $1 x 5 = $5 and $25 x 4 = $100). This spacing is very efficient since it keeps your total chip count down to a manageable, and affordable, level.
Fixed limit games are usually played with only 2-3 colors at a time. The 3rd color is used to store value in the winners' stacks as they make change for losers when they make re-buys. No limit games are usually played with 3-4 colors at a time. If you play the occasional tournament as well, you will leave your lower denoms in the case because tournaments are almost always played for 'fantasy' stakes, regardless of the actual buy-in amount. You will use your Green $25 and Black $100 chips early in the tournament and your Purple $500 and Yellow $1,000 chips later in the tournament.
If you play both cash and tournament games with 8-10 people, you really need 1,000 chips. Our most popular sellers are the 750 and 1,000 Complete Sets, but we often have repeat customers who buy a second set of 500 chips when they realize they didn't buy enough chips the first time around! We aren't really trying to sell you more chips, well, maybe a little, but sooner or later most avid poker players will have a set of 1,000 chips, with the ultimate goal of ending up with The Paulson 1,000! For a detailed discussion of how such a set is used for several types of cash games and tournaments, see our Owner's Setup page.
The underlying theme in the above summary works fine for players in dollar-denominated countries with exchange rates hovering around the US Dollar (e.g. Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, etc.). It also works well for players who would rather play with blank, color-only, chips without printed denominations. Printed denominations are classy and they make it easier to remember the value of each chip, whereas blank chips are more flexible since you can easily change their value from game to game. The standard denominations of 1, 5, 25, 100, 500, and 1,000 might not make much sense in your own currency. For instance, there are about 35 Thai Baht to the US dollar, so if you wanted to play in Baht, then the pre-printed "1" denominated chip would be pretty much useless (although you could start your chip set with the 5 or 25 denominated chip). Indonesian Rupiah start at over 9,000 to the dollar! To work around this issue, I'll give you some ideas below, or you can also just get a set of Custom Labels.
Introduction. Now, let's get into the detail. First, a note about "casino" colors, denominations, and spacing. In America, there are some pretty standard colors for the denominations:
Our three higher-end chip lines generally come in these standard colors and also have denominations printed on them: Paulson Top Hat & Cane, Nevada Jacks, and Bluegate Lucky Bee. Our "color only" blank chips (Pro Clay Casino and Striped Dice) mostly come in these same standard colors as well. I am a big proponent of using standard colors. Players move around the world playing poker. We should all be playing the same game with the same equipment.
Even more important in my mind, most casinos use a progression of chip denominations that increase by a factor of 4 or 5 (e.g. $1 x 5 = $5, $5 x 5 = $25, $25 x 4 = $100, etc.). If 4-5x spacing works well in a casino, it really shines at home since you don't have a vault of chips you can tap when you run out of your lower denoms. Each player will have a nice stack of chips and you won't ever run out of chips because the higher denominations can "store" the value of stacks and stacks of the lower denoms, thereby freeing up your lower denoms for more rebuys or more players. Please keep this 4-5x issue in mind if you create Custom Labels with your own denominations or currencies. It is hard enough to get what was once thought of as a huge 1,000 chip set to work with all the games people play nowadays: cash and tournaments, no-limit and limit, 10 player cash games and 20 player tournaments. (See our Owner's Setup to see how a 1,000 - 1,500 chip set gets worked out in various types of games.) If your chip denominations are spaced only 2x apart (e.g. $1 and $2, $5 and $10), then you would need triple the amount of chips. Shorter 2x spacing also puts too many colors on the table. You should play poker with only 3-4 colors of chips at a time. Any more and it causes the game to slow down considerably.
Another way to look at it is to make sure you have enough chips in the proper denominations to cover the value of all the buy-in's over the course of the night. If you play $1/$2 $200 no limit Texas hold 'em with ten players, for instance, then the total initial buy-in amount is $2,000. If, on average, everyone makes 4 re-ruys, that's another $8,000. The total is $10,000, so you need at least that amount of value in your chip set, preferably in the first 3-4 colors. In our typical Paulson 1,000 Chip Set, we include 200 $1 White chips (worth $200), 300 $5 Red chips (worth $1,500), and 200 $25 Green chips (worth $5,000). That's only $6,700, which is not quite enough. You'll need to break out the 4th color, the 100 $100 Black chips (worth $10,000), at some point during the game. It's obvious to see now that the 1-5-25-100-500-1000 spacing is far superior to a 1-2-5-10-25-50-100 progression.
Buying a set of poker chips is not an obvious, straight-forward endeavor. There are a couple ways to go about it. You can first determine how many chips you need in total, and then how many in each of the different denominations or colors and then look for a brand of chips that accommodates those requirements. Or, you can first choose your brand of chip, which is what most people do, and then select the best overall quantity for each color, making mental notes how you will need to modify your games to work around the set's short comings. For instance, if your desired set only has 5 colors and you want to play both cash and tournaments, then you will need to designate your White chip (usually worth $1 in cash games) as a 1,000 value when you play a tournament. A 5-color set is usually going to come in White, Red, Green, Black, and Purple/Blue, so there won't be a color that usually designates 1,000 (Yellow).
Let's now address the 4 questions directly.
1. How many chips? When ordering your chips, consider the number of people in your typical game, the stakes, and the type of game you usually play. You should order enough chips for about 75-100 chips per person. That will give everyone a "stack" with which to play. Poker is more fun when you can shuffle and stack your chips and not have to be constantly making change for other players. If you play both cash and tournament games, or different stakes of cash games, then you essentially need 2 chip sets: heavy on the lower denoms for your first cash game and heavy on the middle denoms for tournaments and higher stakes. If that wasn't enough to think about, you should probably also buy your chips to fit neatly into your case, so that would be 500, 750, or 1,000 chips. These cases hold the chips in rows of various quantities. I like to match the rows with the colors so that only one color sits in a row. Ok, I'm a little obsessive, but it makes counting your chips much easier. If you can afford it, I recommend going right to the 1,000 chip sets. Most Texas hold 'em poker games nowadays have 8-10 players and 1,000 chips will give you all the flexibility you need to play different stakes for cash games and tournaments. Check out how I use my Owner's Setup in several types of games. I really do use all 1,000 chips, and in fact use an extra 500 chips to accommodate some of the games.
2. How many different colors? Once you determine how many chips you need in total, you need to choose how many color denominations you will need. I suggest choosing at least 4 colors for cash games and a small amount of a 5th color for added flexibility. For tournaments, chips of a 6th and 7th denomination are often needed, especially if you want to play "fantasy" stakes (as in "I re-raise you $10,000!"). Most tournaments are usually played with higher denoms, regardless of the actual cash buy-in amount. You will generally only play with 3-4 colors at a time, but as the stakes go up, or as the tournament blinds increase, you will need to "color up" to the higher denominations. Obviously, if you get a 500 chip set, you won't be able to get as many colors as you would in a 1,000 chip set because a game requires more or less a fixed amount of the first 2 colors to get the game started (see below).
3. How many of each color? This decision is largely dependent upon the stakes you play and the types of game you play. Generally speaking, for cash games, approximately 40-50% of your chips should be in the first 2 colors. Those are the chips you will play with the most because the blinds and the initial bets will be in that range. Your middle 2 colors would be about 30% of the total, and your 4th and 5th colors would be about 20% of the total. You can squeeze in a 6th color (10% of total) if you get a 1,000 chip set. To move up to a 7 or 8 color set, you probably need to go over 1,000 chips. Again, our Complete Sets take this into account.
If you play mostly limit games instead of no-limit, then you might even need more of your chips in the first 2 colors. For instance, if you play a $1/$2 or even a $3/$6 limit hold 'em game, it is highly unlikely a player would ever be able to bet a $25 Green chip (there would need to be a lot of raises around the table before this could happen). The 3rd color $25 Green chip would probably only be used to store value when making change for other players at the table (i.e. when you run out of $1 White and $5 Red chips and a losing player needs to make a rebuy). Generally speaking, limit games only require 2 colors of chips. If you play $1/$2, go heavy on the $1 White and $5 Red chips. If you play $5/$10, get ton of $5 Red chips and then some $25 Greens. If you play $25/$50, then go heavy on the $25 Green and $100 Black chips. Well, if you play those limits, you probably don't need my advice! It's hard to use the same set of chips for a $1/$2 game as well as a $25/$50 game if you buy a small set. You need to pick your poison, so to speak, or get a 1,000 chip set.
If you play no-limit games, on the other hand, your 3rd and 4th colors usually come into play more often. It gets a little tiring making a $100 bet by counting out stacks of $1 chips! As the night wears on and most of the first 2 colors are out on the table, rebuys can be made with the larger denom chips and one of the winning players at the table can simply make change for the person. This is precisely why chips should be denominated in multiples of 4 or 5 (i.e. $1, $5, $25, $100) and not 2-3x ($1, $2, $5, $10). A 2-3x system will put too many chips on the table and not enough left in your case to be used for rebuys. Casinos have already figured this all out, so it is helpful to use them as a guide.
If you play tournaments, then you will use the middle ($25 Green and $100 Black) and higher ($500 Purple and $1,000 Yellow) color spectrum of your chip set. As the blinds escalate, and players drop out, you will "color up" the stacks of small denom chips and put the bigger chips into play. In fact, even if the actual cash buy-in for the tournament is only a few dollars, most tournament structures start with $10/$20 or $25/$50 blinds and at least $1,000 or $1,500 in starting chips (technically they would call them T1,000 or T1,500 tournaments). Such "fantasy stakes" tournaments even start with $10,000 or more in chips. From the outset, your $1 White and $5 Red chips would not even be used. It is nice to have enough $25 and $100 chips to start off a tournament. The 750 and 1,000 chip sets should suffice. Then, when a tournament gets down to heads up play, you don't want mountains of chips in front of the players, but rather a smallish stack of $1,000 and $5,000 chips. The game will go much faster. It is also usually late at night by that point and everyone is tired.
Most of the high-end American-made clay chips come pre-printed with $ signs and start their set at $1. Typical American chip sets go heavy on the $1 White and $5 Red denominations and go lighter as you move up the scale. This is fine if you want to play a White or Red chip game. If you want to play a lower limit game, you need to tweak the set by, say, designating the $25 chip as 25 cents or the $500 chip as 50 cents. I tweak my Owner's Setup in this way.
To conclude, it is very difficult to create a set that can be used in every situation. You would need several thousand chips. The 4-5x rule for the spacing between the denominations (e.g. $1, $5, $25, $100) provides a lot of flexibility, but the 40-50% requirement for your first 2 colors takes it away, especially if you really need to have 2 sets of "first colors" (i.e. one for cash games and another for tournaments). The determining factors are therefore: limit vs. no limit, low vs. high blind structure, and cash vs. tournament. If the answer is "all of the above," get a 1,000-chip set with 6 or 7 colors. Alternatively, some people will get a nice, true clay, smaller set for cash games and then a less-expensive huge set for tournaments. Perhaps you can start with our Complete Sets, which were designed for cash games and the occasional tournament, and then tweak from there in our Loose Poker Chips section.
4. Which denomination or color should start the set? The "starting chip" decision primarily has to do with the stakes you play. For instance, if you never play small stakes, you can start your chip set with the $5 Red, $25 Green chip, or whatever, instead of the $1 White chip. The starting chip decision might also involve the currency in which you play and its exchange rate to the US dollar.
For this discussion, please note that the Paulson Top Hat & Cane and Nevada Jacks chips are printed with $ denominations in the standard American progression of $1, $5, $25, $100, $500, and $1,000. The Bluegate Lucky Bee chips have the standard numbers printed on the label, but no $ signs. Lastly, the Pro Clay Casino and Striped Dice chips are both blank. The Lucky Bee can also take a Custom Label.
The usual $1 White chip makes a nice starting chip in Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand, which all have currencies denominated with $ signs and have exchange rates pretty near the US dollar (e.g. US$1 = S$1.52). Hence, Singapore players can merely buy a set of chips in pretty much the same combinations as a US player would. They would merely be playing at effective stakes about 35% lower, that's all. The Hong Kong dollar is about 8:1 to the US dollar, however. The $1 White chip would be worth about 12 American cents when used in Hong Kong. Those are some pretty low stakes for people who can afford Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips! I would suggest the Hong Kongers merely start their chip sets with the $5 Red chip and avoid the $1 White chip altogether unless they really want to play lower stakes. Of course, you can avoid this issue altogether if you just play in US dollars, regardless of your location. Most poker tournaments around the world are denominated that way. This has helped standardize the values, colors, and even chip manufacturing.
In non-dollar-denominated currencies, you have the option of following the colors or following the numbers. In Thailand, for instance, where US$1 = 35 Baht, I would suggest either playing the $1 White chip as 25 or 50 Baht ("follow the color," rounding off a little), or starting the chip set with the $25 Green chip and play it as 25 Baht ("follow the number"). That is, in the second example the $25 chip would be played as 25 Baht, even though 25 Baht is really only worth about US$0.70 in actuality. I think I prefer to "follow the numbers" since it is less confusing.
The problem is that you begin losing colors as you start your chip set with the higher denoms. I think you get the picture, but here are some other work arounds if you stick with the $-denominated Paulson chips:
We make Custom Labels for our Lucky Bee chips specifically for most of these currencies.
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Show me examples of typical chip sets
In this section, I will discuss 3 typical player profiles and match them to one of our Complete Chip Sets. For a very thorough discussion of how chips are used in various games, you can also check out the Show me the Owner's Setup and how it is used in all games section below.
Profile 1: I play every type of game. Most poker fanatics play every type of game: small, medium, and high stakes cash games; fantasy stakes tournaments; fixed limit and no limit; sometimes with 5 players, sometimes with 10, and sometimes with 10-20 players in a tournament. If you play this much poker, you probably know what you need: 1,000 chips in at least 6-7 colors.
Here is our typical Paulson 1,000 Chip Set that can be used for most all games:
The important thing to keep in mind is the relative number of chips in each color. The above set works perfectly for cash games with typical bets primarily in the $1-$5 range (note 50% of chips are White and Red) and almost as well in the $25-$50 range. It works for tournaments that start off with blinds in the $25-$50 range, and can accommodate tournament blinds all the way up to $1,000. In my own Owner's Setup, I've added a couple tweaks: 100 extra $0.25 Blue chips for smaller cash games and 100 extra 5,000 chips for 10+ player and larger tournaments. I also have an extra 100 $25 Green chips and an extra 200 $100 Black chips to accommodate larger cash games and 10-20 player tournaments.
Profile 2: I play primarily cash games and only a few tournaments. You don't need as many colors if you play primarily cash games, especially if you play mostly fixed-limit and not no-limit. You still need 75-100 chips per player, but now a 750 chip set will usually work for these cash ring game up to 8-10 players (e.g. Paulson 750 Chip Set). Your main decision here is to determine your "starting" chip. About 40-50% of your chips should be in your first 2 colors. If you play $1/$2 blinds, your starting colors would be White and Red. If you play $5/$10, then your starting colors would be Red and Green. In those two situations, you would only use the Green and Black chips to "store value" on the table so the big stacks can make change for the players who need to rebuy. If you need a 25-cent or 50-cent chip, then you can use the Blue chip to start your set or designate the $500 Purple chip as that value. If you play micro-limits, stick with the usual White-Red-Green-Black progression and merely divide their values by, say, 10. The White chip would then be worth 10 cents, the Red chip 50 cents, and so on. If you use blank chips or Custom Labels, it is important to keep the chip values separated by a factor of 4-5 (i.e. $1 x 5 = $5, $5 x 5 = $25, $25 x 4 = $100, etc.). This will keep you from running out of chips and it will be easier to make change.
Here is our Paulson 750 Chip Set set up primarily for cash games:
Profile 3: I play mostly tournaments. For tournaments, you won't need White chips at all, and you might not even need Red chips, depending upon where you start your blinds. Nonetheless, you probably still need 750 to 1,000 chips and 5-6 colors for tournaments because they are almost always played for "fantasy" stakes. That is, the cash buy-in for the tournament might only be $20 or so, but each player would start with 1,000 or even 10,000 in starting chips. Most chips used for tournaments are denominated (25, 100, 500, etc.), but do not have a currency printed on them, similar to our Bluegate Lucky Bee chips. The blinds usually start at 25-50 and increase steadily as the tournament progresses.
Our Bluegate Lucky Bee 1,000 Chip Set in Clear Carrier re-configured to be used primarily for tournaments accommodating up to 18 players with T10,000 starting chip stacks would look like this:
The total value of chips required for an 18-player, T10,000 tournament is 180,000. You will need to color up the lower denoms as the tournament progresses. Hence, this 180k requirement must "roll" through your chip set so you actually need a much higher total value. The above set has 187,500 of value in its first 4 colors. The non-denominated Blue chip (played as 5,000) then adds all the cushion you would need. In a pinch, you can even use this Blue chip as a 1 or 5 denomination in cash games. We left it non-denominated to add flexibility to the set.
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Show me the Owner's Setup and how it is used in all games
Although I have a warehouse full of chips, I primarily use a standard Paulson 1,000 Chip Set in Clear Carrier for my own home games. In my actual Owner's Setup, I have an additional 500 chips, which give me more flexibility in running all the games I play. My set looks like this (the "+" quantities are in the additional chips added to the standard 1,000 chip set):
When discussing my chip set, I will assume it is only 1,000 chips and then will make comments when I use the extra 500 chips. I usually travel with the chips in my Rolling Chest 1,000 Chip Case and keep the extras in my Clear Carrier 1,000 Chip Case. That way, the chips are always stored in their Acrylic 100 Chip Trays, and each tray is neatly comprised of only one color. I can move the trays in and out of each carrying case quite easily. The trays facilitate counting, coloring up, and moving the chips around games as well. The Paulson's have $-sign denominations printed on them. I'm an American living in Singapore, which also uses a $-sign in its currency (at about 35-40% of the value, i.e. S$1.00 = US$0.60). This makes it very convenient.
I will discuss below how I use my set for 4 different cash games and 2 types of tournaments, and in almost every case, except my main Saturday night game, using my original 1,000 chip set requires me to make a tweak or two (so that's why I added the extra 500 chips). You really need at least 1,000 chips to play everything from cash games to tournaments. You will use only 3-4 colors at any given time, but you will need the whole range of 6-8 colors for playing different cash limits or as tournaments progress through the higher blind levels. Generally speaking, cash games work out your lower and middle denominations while tournaments work out your middle and higher denominations. Even with 1,500 chips, I still need to make some tweaks here and there.
Micro stakes game: divide the chip denominations by 10. During the week, I play a micro stakes game with family members for lunch money and bragging rights. We divide all the chip denoms by 10, so play the $1 White as 10 cents, the $5 Red as 50 cents and so on. There are only 5 of us so we usually have enough of the White chips to go around and around. We use quite a few of the Reds, but rarely break out the other colors. When we bet, we call out "$1" and "$5," not "10 cents" and "50 cents." It makes it easier if you are always calling out what it says on the chip and it makes my 4-year old dream about the World Series of Poker. The difference is that the buy in amounts are merely a tenth of the value of what you get in chips. Using chips in this way is similar to tournaments (see below), where the actual cash buy-in amounts are significantly lower than the nominal value of the chips you receive. Many people buy standard denominated chips and routinely make a similar tweak for all their games. Micro stakes games work out my White, Red, and Green chips; the rest usually stay in the case. I don't use the $0.25 Blue Pharaoh chip since it would just confuse the issue.
Low-stakes no-limit game: use the $500 chip as 50 cents. During the week, I sometimes play in a "student of the game" no-limit hold 'em game with a $100 buy-in and 50c/$1 blinds. We usually use the $500 chips as 50 cent pieces. This gets them out of the case and into play so they will wear in and look like the rest of the chips over time. We call them out as "50 cents," which isn't quite consistent with my point above, but it makes sense in this game because the rest of the chips are called out exactly as their printed denoms. There are 10 players in this game, sometimes up to 12, so each player starts with 10 $500 Purple small blind chips (played as 50 cents) and 20 $1 White big blind chips. That wipes out all of my 100 Purple and 200 White chips at the start of the game, and we usually have to facilitate moving the Purple chips from person to person every once in a while to help them make their small blind when it is their turn. It is not a huge inconvenience, but it shows the limitation of the set. I suppose I could get more $500 Purple chips, but I already have 1,500 chips! If we play only 5-6 handed, then we will use the $0.25 Blue Pharoah chips and not have to rely on the $500 Purple tweak. The $25 Green chips will trickle out as players make rebuys, but all the Black and Yellow chips stay in the case.
Fixed limit games: need lots of chips in just 2 colors. It's rare, but when we play $3/$6 fixed limit hold 'em, all of my 200 $1 White chips get distributed immediately, with the rest of the initial buy-in made up in $5 Red chips. Most casinos will play this game strictly as a White-chip affair and issue racks of 100 chips at a time to each player making a $100 buy in. I don't have enough White chips to do that, so have to use the $5 Reds as well. Personally, I don't like mountains of chips on the table anyway because it slows down the game. The $5 Red chips speed up a $3/$6 limit hold em game considerably. As with most limit games, we only need 2 colors to play an entire $3/$6 game. My 300 $5 Red chips are usually enough for all the rebuys. I only break out the 3rd color, $25 Green in this case, to store value on the table within the big stacks while they make change for players who need to rebuy. When we play $5/$10 limit hold 'em, the game is obviously played primarily with $5 Red chips, as it is in a casino. My 300 $5 Red chips are enough to play $1,500 in total stakes. Divide $1,500 by 9 or 10 people, and I have enough $5 Red chips for about a $150 of buy-in power per player. Again, that is not quite enough, so I first distribute all my $5 Red chips during the initial buy-in and then make up the difference with the $25 Green chips. As players bust out and make rebuys, I give them $25 Green chips and the big stacks help make the change. Very rarely does the 3rd color, $100 Black in this case, come into play. The $500 Purple and $1,000 Yellow chips stay in the case as well.
Medium-to-high stakes no-limit game: use 4-5 denominations and a 6th color as a "marker" chip. On Saturday nights, I usually play in either a $200 buy-in $1/$2 blind no-limit game that has a zillion rebuys, or we just cut to the chase with a $2,000 $5/$10 no-limit game. In the former, it's a rather loose game and it is not uncommon for people to make 7, 8, or even a record 25 buy-ins over the course of the evening. In the $200 $1/$2 game, the initial $200 starting stack of 20 $1 Whites, 21 $5 Reds, and 3 $25 Greens wipes out all my $1 White chips immediately (I designed my set that way). The first few rebuyers are given $5 Red and $25 Green chips to get a few more of the Red chips out on the table. As the banker, it is important that I regulate the amount of chips of each color during the course of the night. A big stack player will usually change a couple of the $25 Green chips for some of his $1 White and $5 Red chips so that the rebuyer can make up his blinds. At some point, subsequent rebuyers are given only $100 Black chips, and again, someone at the table will help make change. The first four colors of the standard set have a total value of $16,700 (200x$1 White, 300x$5 Red, 200x$25 Green, 100x$100 Black). That means you can comfortably play a game with that amount of total buy-ins and rebuys. You'll need to break out the $500 Purple chips if you go over.
As you can see, such a $200 $1/$2 no-limit game is played with 4 colors eventually. Some people prefer to play with only 3 colors, but as I pointed out, I don't like mountains of lower denoms on the table since it slows down the game and you'll run out of chips. Save the scooping of monster pots and building a fortress stack for the casino! As I point out in several places in the Help Me Choose! buyer's guide, I can't emphasize enough that chip spacing should be in increments of 4-5x, not 2x. That is, $1, $5, $25, $100, $500, and so on. A 2x spacing ($1, $2, $5, $10, etc.) is very inefficient and you will end up with piles of chips on the table and then run out of chips very quickly, even if you have a 1,000 chip set. At any rate, when these $200 $1/$2 games get out of hand, a bunch of my $100 Black chips find their way to the table by the end of the night. I usually have some left over $5 Red and $25 Green in the case. The $500 Purple chips are never used, but we use the $1,000 Yellow chips as "markers" to keep track of the numerous rebuys. These chips don't play in the game; they just help keep the accounting straight. For every $200 rebuy, or multiple there of, the player gets a Yellow marker chip and the rebuy is written down on a piece of paper (which is shredded at the end of the night!). Every once and while we do a buy-in check so there won't be any disagreements later. At the end of the night, the players pay back each Yellow marker with $200 worth of playable chips and what ever is left over, if anything, are their winnings for the night (or morning by that point). Alternatively, you can just do the rebuys with cold hard cash and then the marker chip is not as important. I just like to use all my chips! And this crazy game does just that.
When we play a $2,000 buy-in with $5/$10 blinds game, I need my extra 100 $25 Green and 200 $100 Black chips. I'll usually distribute all of my 300 $5 Red chips at the beginning of the game so that each player starts with a stack of 30 Reds ($150). Then, each player gets a stack of 30 $25 Green chips ($750) and 11 $100 Black chips ($1,100), for a total of $2,000 worth of chips. This way, everyone starts with a nice stack of 71 chips. That setup wipes out my 300 Red and 300 Green chips in my extended 1,500 chip set. Re-buys are made with $100 Black chips until they are exhausted as well, and then we move onto the $500 Purple chips. We have yet to require the $1,000 Yellow chips, and for now, we use them as buy-in marker chips. If you buy only the standard set, you can still play this $2,000 $5/$10 game, but you would start with fewer Green chips and have to rely more on the $500 Purple chips. That inconveniences the players a little. Heck, if you are playing this level, then you should pony up for the extra chips! Alternatively, if you never need the 200 $1 White chips in the standard set, then you can replace them with more $25 Green and $100 Black chips. The extended 1,500 Owner's Setup has about $39k in value from the $5 Red, $25 Green, and $100 Black chips, $89k in value if you include the $500 Purple chips, and $189k in value if you include $1,000 Yellow chips. Although the standard set has a total value of $166k, it is misleading because over half of that value is stored in the 100 $1,000 Yellow chips, which rarely come into play at these levels. They would only be used to store value in the big stacks when you run out of the lower-denom chips (and of course they would be used in tournaments).
Medium-level tournaments: start with middle denominations. Once a month, I put on a 4-5 hour tournament for 10-20 players with a small buy-in but a $3,000 starting stack and $25/$50 starting blinds. This is typically how a casino does it as well (although they sometimes describe it as "T3,000 with 25/50 starting blinds" so as not to confuse anyone with $ signs). You aren't really playing $3,000, just whatever the actual buy-in amount is, whether it be $10 or $300. The White and Red chips, therefore, stay in the case the whole time. The starting stack of 20 $25 Green, 20 $100 Black, and 1 $500 Purple blows out 200 Green and 200 Black chips (I need to use some of my extra $100 Black chips). If you get only the standard 1,000-chip set, you would start each person with fewer $100 Black chips and add another $500 Purple or two, but my players like to have a nice size stack when they start the tournament. It's no fun having $3,000 in front of you but only a few measly chips. It's great to have a big enough chip set to give me this option. If I am running a two table tournament, however, I am forced to distribute fewer $100 Black chips to each person and more $500 Purple chips (or, again, use my "extra" chips that I bought just for this occasion). I can easily accommodate rebuys with $500 Purple or $1,000 Yellow chips, if I am running a rebuy tournament. Other players help make the change. At some point in the tournament, as the blinds increase to multiples of 100, I color up all the Greens and remove them from play (assuming they are not being used for antes). You don't have to do this in cash games, but it is customary in tournaments to color up the chips as the game progresses (again, you want only 3-4 colors on the table at any one point). By the end of the tournament, only $500 Purple chips are on the table, and I am just breaking out the $1,000 Yellow chips. This tournament puts all my middle and higher denom chips to pretty good use. There are no glaring drawbacks to the chip combination of my chip set in this case.
Fantasy stakes tournaments: need to add the extra 5,000 denominated chips. Once a quarter, we play an 8-hour mock World Series of Poker-style tournament for a bigger buy-in, $10,000 in starting chips, and a slower blind structure. This tournament works out the chip set similarly to the $3,000 tournament, but if the tournament has more than 15 entrants, all of my 100 $500 Purple and all my 100 $1,000 Yellow chips get on the table sooner or later by necessity. In fact, if you do the math, my original 1,000-chip set has a total chip value of $166,700. That's enough chips for only 15-16 players in a $10,000 buy-in tournament (15 players x 10,000 initial stack = 150,000 total value). In such a big tournament, I really need a 5th color. Although my $ denominated Paulson chip set comes in 6 colors, I start this tournament with the 3rd color in the progression, the $25 Green chip (and do not use the $1 White or $5 Red chips at all). So, if I am running more than 15 players, I will need a different solution to provide a higher denomination than the $1,000 Yellow. If Paulson made a $5,000 chip in the regular Top Hat & Cane line, then I wouldn't have a problem. Unfortunately, they chose to make a silly $10 Blue chip instead. I don't use that chip at all (it's morally reprehensible!). Paulson just released a "World" chip line, however, that has a chip printed with a 5,000 denomination on the inlay but no currency symbol. It's a good enough match, so I carry a tray of 100 of these 5,000 Silver chips just for big tournaments. I break out this chip when I color up the $500 Purple chips from the table. With this additional tweak to my set, I can run a 2 or even a 3-table, $10,000 fantasy-stakes tournament quite easily. If I have 2-3 tables, then I need to use my 100 extra $25 Green and 200 extra $100 Black chips so that everyone starts out with a decent stack of chips in the beginning.
Conclusion: I love my chip set! As you can see, a 6 or 7 color, 1,000 + 500 chip set is very flexible, but still has its limitations. If you get a 500 chip set, your options are cut in half, but that merely means you have to be twice as creative if you want to play all these games! If cost is a big issue, then perhaps you can choose a nicer Paulson Top Hat & Cane or Nevada Jacks 500 or 750 chip set for your cash games and buy a separate 1,000 chip, entry-level Striped Dice set for tournament play.
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Help me choose a Gift Set
Our Gift Ideas section was designed for a poker neophyte who would like to buy a set of poker chips for his or her friend with a single click. Gift Sets are very similar to our Complete Chip Sets, but also include proper poker Playing Cards and a few Accessories.
How many chips? Most of the Gifts Sets include 750 poker chips for a couple reasons. Our nicest, most gift-worthy, chip case is the Mahogany Table-top 750 Chip Case, which holds 750 chips. That number also makes for a very flexible set, allowing both cash game and tournament play. Most Texas hold 'em games are played with 8-10 players and you generally need about 75-100 chips per player. Some straight cash games could probably get by on only 500 chips, but the players would constantly be making change for each other. If your friend wants to play tournaments, then more of the higher denomination chips are required, which are included in the 750 chip sets. Regardless of the buy-in amount, even if only a few dollars, tournaments are usually played for "fantasy" stakes.
Which chips? The primary difference between the Gifts Sets is the quality of the actual chips. Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips are absolutely the finest poker chips you can buy. They cost US$1.34 per chip and are true clay casino chips. Paulson chips are used in the vast majority of Las Vegas Casinos and many others around the world. If you can afford them, Paulson chips make an amazing gift. Our best seller, which is more affordable, is our mid-range chip called the Bluegate Lucky Bee. They are labeled with denominations (1, 5, 25, 100, etc.) and cost about US$0.62 per chip. Our blank mid-range chip is the Pro Clay Casino, which feels slightly better (more clay-like) than the Lucky Bee chip, but the colors are not quite as vibrant. You can't go wrong with either chip. Our entry-level chip is the Striped Dice, which costs only US$0.15 per chip and does not even pretend to mimic a casino chip. You'll see this ABS hard plastic chip everywhere, given its affordability and popularity.
A note about chip colors. In our ready-made sets, we have already decided the quantity of each color/denomination that comprise the chip set, based upon the needs of typical home players. Our 750 and 1,000 chip sets are designed primarily for cash games in the $1-25 bet range and up to a total buy-in range of $50,000 or so (those are the sweet spots, the set is actually more flexible than that). If your friend plays smaller or bigger stakes, just let us know and we can reconfigure the set if necessary (please add a comment during checkout or Email Us). An example will highlight the issue. We start our Gift Sets with the White chip, which is almost universally valued at $1. The Paulson Top Hat & Cane and Bluegate Lucky Bee chips have the value "$1" and "1" respectively printed on the White chips, whereas the other brands of chips are blank. You can play a blank White chip at any value, of course, or even disregard the numbers on the numbered chips, but chip colors are pretty standardized (White $1, red $5, Green $25, Black $100, Purple $500, Yellow $1,000). If your friend always plays a game with a minimum bet of $5 or more, then there would be no need for the White $1 chip. In such a case, we can reconfigure the set to include more Red $5 and Green $25 chips and remove the White $1 chips. That is probably the only change for most people since if your friend plays smaller stakes (bets usually below $1), then it is customary to go with the standard set and merely mentally divide all the denominations by, say 10. That would make the White $1 chip play as 10 cents, the Red $5 chip as 50 cents, etc. Finally, if your friend plays in a currency where $ signs or the 1, 5, 25, etc. numbers don't make any sense, then stick with blank chips or look at our Custom Label section.
In general, you get what you pay for. All of our chips are high enough quality that you wouldn't embarrass yourself by giving them as a gift to anyone.
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Help me take care of my chips
If you treasure your Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips as much I do, I would like to tell you how I take care of them. First of all, if they get wet, dry them immediately with a cotton towel or paper towel and then air dry them over night before placing them in their case. And don't forget to store them in a "cool, dry place."
Brand new clay chips usually have a chalky or dusty residue on them when they come from the manufacturer. It is important to wipe this off before you start intermingling the chips because the dark colors will rub off and contaminate the brighter colored chips and edge spots. Over time, the chips will clean themselves again, but in the beginning the residue creates quite a mess.
You might have heard about crazy people oiling their clay chips. Real casino chips pass through thousands of oily and sweaty palms every day, and this body oil is soaked up by the chip and helps set the colors. You can simulate this process at home by oiling your chips with mineral oil. Be warned, however, oiling your chips takes forever. Use only Mineral Oil for this task, never vegetable oil! Look for Mineral Oil wherever they sell wooden chopping blocks for the kitchen, or, for twice the price, look in the laxative section at your local drug store. I have also used Johnson's Baby Oil, which lists its ingredients as mineral oil and fragrance. It seems that Baby oil is slightly lighter than chopping block mineral oil and the fragrance wears off quickly. I used baby oil on my last set of Paulson's. Before you start, keep in mind that when all is done, it takes about one minute per chip to oil them properly. You won't actually be oiling them for a minute, but all the wiping, drying, turning over, etc. takes a lot of time. A 1,000 chip set will take about 15 hours of finger and elbow work. You will also need to dry them twice for 24 hours at a time. It takes about a week to complete the whole task, assuming you only have a few hours every night to work on them. Do it while you are watching TV or something, or, better yet, get 10 poker buddies to help!
I prefer to oil and break-in my chips before I begin playing with them, but you can do it at any time. If your brand new chips have a chalkiness to them, or your old chips are a little dirty, first wipe them down with a damp cloth and air dry them on a big towel over night before oiling them. The colors on the Paulson chips, in particular, have a tendency to rub off on each other when they are brand new. Wiping them down first and then oiling cuts down on this effect. If you decide not to oil your Paulson's, you should still wipe them down with a damp cloth, and then a dry cloth, and let them air dry at least overnight before you begin playing with them. In addition to the instructions below, you can also watch a quick Help Video to see the techniques in action.
How to process your Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips right out of the box.
Break in your chips and round off the edges. This is a very dangerous step so try it first with a small sample of white or yellow chips. You might want to skip this step altogether and just start playing with your chips in real games. The problem is that the colors of the chips, even after oiling them, will still rub off onto the edge spots and other chips. The technique below works well for the White chips, but poorly for the Blue and Black chips. Proceed cautiously with small batches to see how it is going. I actually no longer do this with my chips, but I'm the type of guy that doesn't mind wearing bright white tennis shoes either.
Start breaking in your chips by taking each color separately and mixing them around with each other. I find it easier to put them in a ziplock bag or a tied pillow case and fumble the bag around in my hands. Ziplock bags have the added advantage of keeping your chips from accidentally escaping onto the floor. You can also do a couple bags at the same time. Your goal is to round off the sharp edges through simulating natural motions, but not scratch the inlays in the process. It is actually pretty difficult to scratch the inlays, but I just want to warn you not to toss the bag around or put it in an automatic tumbler. As a good start, put a single color in a zip lock and work them for about an hour per batch. Look at them often and stop if the colored clay residue makes your chips look too dirty.
It is particularly important to separate the colors when doing this mixing with brand new Paulson chips, since, as I point out above, the main chip color tends to rub off and bleed for a little while. If the color rubs off onto a chip of the same base color, then there is no problem, but if you mix all your different colored chips together, then it will be a bloody mess. Regardless, the multicolored edgespots will become contaminated with the main chip color as you run them across each other anyway. Oiling the chips beforehand minimizes this to a degree. Don't fret about this too much since the markings will fade over time and I think the markings add character to the chips anyway. The problem with the Blue and Black chips is that the dust smears all over the brightly colored edgespots rather than leaving distinct markings. This does not look good. At some point, regardless what you do, the chips will look like normal casino chips, nice and worn in. The contrast is just a little drastic in the beginning.
You can do this sliding and mixing for hours on end and it might not look like you are getting anywhere, but it really is helping softening up the edges. Keep in mind, chips used in a casino are handled 24/7 for weeks and weeks, jammed in and out of racks, scooped up in pots, stacked and restacked millions of times, and shuffled by players constantly.
Wash or Clean your chips. If you ever need to wash your clay chips, you can use a very mild, diluted detergent (diluted Dreft baby laundry detergent is good), a soft tooth brush, and a damp cloth. Don't ever submerge your clay chips in water. Dip the toothbrush in the diluted detergent and gently clean the chip. Wipe them down thoroughly with a damp-to-wet cloth to remove the detergent residue, and then immediately wipe them with a dry cloth. After you clean and wipe them down, air dry the chips on a big towel for 24 hours, turning them once at the half-way point. You should probably then re-oil them.
Keep in mind, however, that casinos rarely, if ever, clean or oil their clay chips, and they last for 5-7 years with daily use. I don't want to scare you aware from owning them! They will age with beauty and last you a life time.
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That's the end of the "Help Me Choose!" section. Now, go play poker!
- Chips, Cases, Cards, Tables, Accessories
- How many chips do I need and in what colors?
- Show me examples of typical chip sets
- Show me the Owner's Setup and how it is used in all games
- Help me choose a Gift Set
- Help me take care of my chips
Help me choose a brand of chips
Now the fun begins. In this section, I will discuss the types of Poker Chips we carry and tell you a little about each one. Please check out our Help Videos section to see the poker chips in action and listen to them thunk about. You can also buy Chip Sample Packs to touch and feel the various poker chips before you make a larger purchase.
First a little background on how chips are marketed. There is only one "true clay chip like they use in the Las Vegas casinos" and that would be Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips, which are used in about 80% of Vegas casinos and many others around the world. Paulson only recently began to offer chips to the home consumer market. The Paulson consumer chips lack some of the sophisticated anti-counterfeit features of their casino cousins, but are otherwise made in the exact same way, with the same material, and on the same equipment. Paulson chips weigh about 9.7g per chip and are made from clay and about a dozen other ingredients. They are called "true clay casino chips" for lack of a better way to describe them. Although technology has improved chip manufacturing over the years, making authentic gaming chips still requires an artisan's touch. In my opinion, no one comes close to the look, feel, and sound of Paulson chips. Paulson chips are truly in a class by themselves and all others are compared up to them. I must admit, however, that I really like the design of the Nevada Jacks so we chose them as our second true clay casino chip line. Interestingly, the Nevada Jacks manufacturer shares a common family heritage with Paulson.
The home poker boom brought a flood of extremely cheap ABS plastic chips from China. Weighing 11.5g, these are the ubiquitous Striped Dice chips that you will most often see in general retail store poker sets (e.g. like our Striped Dice 500 Chip Set). We order these chips by the millions. They don't look or feel anything like true clay casino chips, but they work just fine for casual players and those on a budget.
As poker became more popular, several mid-range "value" chips started to hit the market. These chips claimed to have the "casino weight and feel" and many are even made out of some clay. They don't stack up to Paulson's, of course, but they are much better than the cheap plastic chips. My favorite in this category is the Pro Clay Casino chips, which weigh a hefty 13g and have a remarkable clay-like feel to them. The Bluegate Lucky Bee chips weigh about 12g and cost the same. The Lucky Bee's have brilliant colors. This is actually our most popular chip since it can also take a Custom Label. We chose it for our own Bluegate Lucky Bee labeled chip. The mid-range Lucky Bee and Pro Clay Casino poker chips cost about twice as much as the Striped Dice chips. Are they worth it? Besides looking, feeling, and sounding more like real clay poker chips, they also stack much better. Even a stack of 20 Striped Dice chips are a bit difficult to keep standing. The Lucky Bee, and especially the Pro Clay Casino, poker chips can be stacked and stacked.
With that said, let me tell you about the Poker Chip lines we carry. These descriptions are copied from our product pages but are presented here for easier comparison.
About Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips. For the connoisseur or poker fanatic, Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips are the very best true clay casino chips on the market. Nearly all Las Vegas casinos, and many around the world, use Paulson chips. Paulson used to deal only with licensed casinos, but they recently started to release a few chip lines for the home market. It has long been my personal favorite. If you want the best of the best, get Paulson's!
Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips come in 6 standard colors with $-sign denominations (White $1, Red $5, Green $25, $100 Black, Purple $500, and Yellow $1,000). We also offer a 7th and 8th color: the 25c Blue chip from Paulson's "Pharaoh" line to accommodate smaller cash games and the 5,000 Silver chip from Paulson's "World" line to accommodate larger tournament play. The Pharaoh chip is made from the identical mold as the $-sign Paulson's and the World chip is quite complementary as well. The inlays are labeled differently, as you can see in the photos, but the outside ring and edgespots look very similar. Our most popular Paulson chip set is the Paulson 1,000 Chip Set in Clear Carrier. You can check out how it is used for most every poker game imaginable in the Owner's Setup section.
Our Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips are manufactured at the same facility, using the same materials, molds, and methods as those made for casinos. They average 9.7g each, the casino standard. True Paulson casino chips merely add some additional (and expensive) UV and laser security features to cut down on counterfeiting. Counterfeiters aside, every real chip company in the world is trying to make their chips look, feel and sound like Paulson's and none even comes close! These are absolutely beautiful chips, have a simple yet elegant design, shuffle easily, and make that great Paulson thunking sound when you toss them in the pot. Learn more and compare all our chips in the Help Me Choose! Chip Section.
About Bluegate Lucky Bee chips. The 12g Bluegate Lucky Bee is our most popular chip. It is a nice balance between casino authenticity and value for the home market. Lucky Bee chips have fantastic colors, nice edge spots, and the 8 lucky bee's circling the perimeter are similar to the mold designs you'll see on real casino chips. In fact, I think for a composite chip, the look of the Lucky Bee is the nearest to the real thing.
The Bluegate Lucky Bee chips have a custom enlay label and come in 7 brilliant colors and denominations (Blue ND, White 1, Red 5, Green 25, Black 100, Purple 500, and Yellow 1,000). The non-denominated Blue chip can be used, say, as a 0.25 or 0.50 chip in smaller cash games or as a 5,000 chip for larger tournaments. We can also re-denominate these chips for use in high-exchange rate currencies (Email Us). Learn more and compare all our chips in the Help Me Choose! Chip Section.
About Custom Labeled Chips. Our Custom Labeled Chips are made using laminated vinyl labels printed with high-quality solvent inks on a full-color commercial press in America. The textured laminate is designed specifically for poker chips. The labels fit flush within the recessed center of the chips. They look remarkably like real casino chips, at half the cost.
About Lucky Dragon Ceramic Chips. The Lucky Dragon Ceramic Poker Chips are our stock ceramic poker chip. These ceramic poker chips weigh 10g and are casino-grade, manufactured by one of the largest chip suppliers to the US casino industry. Ceramic chips have fantastic graphics that can cover the entire face of the chip. See also our Custom Ceramic Chips.
About Custom Ceramic Chips. Our Custom Ceramic Chips are 10g casino-grade poker chips manufactured by one of the largest chip suppliers to the US casino industry. Ceramic chips have fantastic graphics that can cover the entire face of the chip. This is a very popular chip for corporate events as well. Minimum order is 1,000 chips.
About Pro Clay Casino Chips. The Pro Clay Casino chips have a remarkable clay-like feel and are made from some sort of miracle clay composite. Okay, it sounds like I believe the hype, but I don't know how they do it! We are the exclusive distributor of this poker chip in Asia as well. It is our heaviest at 13 grams. The colors are straight-forward and the single-colored edge spots are nice and simple. Overall, the chips are elegant and understated, and they feel slightly chalkier and softer than the Lucky Bee's. I played with this poker chip in one of my home games for over a year and really enjoyed them. Nearly everyone at the table bought a set for themselves.
The Pro Clay Casino chips come in 8 colors (White, Red, Green, Black, Blue, Yellow, Gray, and Pink) without any label or denomination markings. They don't have a Purple chip, commonly used as a 500 denomination, but you can use the Blue in its place. Learn more and compare all our chips in the Help Me Choose! Chip Section.
About Striped Dice chips. For a starter set or big tournaments, the ever-popular 11.5g composite Striped Dice chips can't be beat. Billions of these chips are made in China every year and we order millions at a time. They are sold everywhere.
The Striped Dice chips come in 10 colors (Blue, White, Red, Green, Black, Purple, Orange, Yellow, Pink, and Gray) and are perfect for big "fantasy stakes" tournaments that require lots of denominations. The reasonable price lets you buy thousands at a time just for that purpose. See our Help Me Choose! section for more discussion about selecting the correct chip colors and quantities for various types of cash and tournament games.
Learn more and compare all our chips in the Help Me Choose! Chip Section.
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Help me choose a chip case
Before you determine exactly how many chips you need, it is good to know a little something about Chip Cases. Cases come in standard 500, 750, or 1,000-chip capacities, but unfortunately, not every style comes in every size. Different cases also accommodate a different number of chips per row. I get a little obsessive here since I don't like to mix different colors in the same row if I can help it. It looks messy and it makes it harder to count your chips. Our Complete Sets take all this into account.
About the Aluminum Briefcase 500 Chip Case. If you want a simple, yet highly functional aluminum briefcase-style carrying case, the Aluminum Briefcase 500 Chip Case gets the job done. The case can also hold 2 decks of cards. Each row in the 500 chip case holds 50 chips so you might think about purchasing your chips in multiples of 50. Our Complete Sets take this into account.
About the Wooden Oak Briefcase 500 Chip Case. The Wooden Oak Briefcase 500 Chip Case comes in a 500-chip capacity. It fits only the chips; there is no room for cards or accessories. This is a very sharp case if you need something a little nicer than the standard aluminum case, yet still need the mobility of a briefcase-style case. The five 100-chip oak tray inserts hold chips in rows of 25 so think about ordering your chip colors in multiples of 25. Our Complete Sets take this into account.
About the Mahogany Table-top Case. The Mahogany Table-top 750 Chip Case is stunning. If you need to store and display your chips in a nice room, this is the case for you. The top tray holds 450 chips in 6 rows of 75 chips and the bottom tray holds 300 chips in 4 rows of 75 chips, as well as a few decks of cards and buttons. You might think about ordering your chips in multiples of 75 as well so each row is filled with only one color. Our Complete Chip Sets take this into account.
About the Aluminum Briefcase 1,000 Chip Case. If you want a simple, yet highly functional aluminum briefcase-style carrying case, the Aluminum Briefcase 1,000 Chip Case gets the job done. The case can only hold chips, no playing cards. Each row in the 1,000 chip case holds 100 chips so you might think about purchasing your chips in multiples of 100 for most of the colors. Our Complete Sets take this into account.
About the Rolling Chest 1,000 Chip Case. Carrying around 1,000 chips in a briefcase can get pretty heavy. A 1,000-chip set with a carrying case, cards, and a few accessories can weigh over 40lbs (18kg)! Do your back a favor and buy this rolling poker chest. The ingenious Rolling Chest 1,000-Chip Case fits 1,000 chips, several decks of cards, a shuffler, and other accessories. Please note that you will also need to buy 10 Acrylic 100 Chip Trays to use with this case. These 100-chip trays hold the chips in 5 rows of 20, so think about purchasing your chip colors in multiples of 20 or 100 as well. The Rolling Chest makes for a good companion to the Clear Carrier 1,000 Chip Case since both cases require you to store your chips in Acrylic 100 Chip Trays. In the Owner's Setup, I use the Clear Carrier while at home and the Rolling Chest when I travel.
Please note that the Rolling Chest can really only be delivered in Singapore. It is too large to fit in the the UPS 25kg flat rate box used for shipping internationally. Please Email Us for a separate shipping quote to your country. More Shipping Info.
About the Clear Carrier 1,000 Chip Case. The Clear Carrier 1,000 Chip Case is used the world over to move chips around casinos efficiently. I use one in my home for the same purpose. The Clear Carrier also fits vertically in a small wheelie-style suitcase so you can discretely transport your chips to your friends house; just don't set it down horizontally or the chips will fall out. You will need to purchase 10 Acrylic 100-Chip Trays to use this case. These 100-chip trays hold the chips in 5 rows of 20, so think about purchasing your chip colors in multiples of 20 or 100 as well. Our Complete Sets take this into account.
About Acrylic 100-Chip Trays. The Acrylic 100-Chip Trays are the standard casino chip trays that hold 100 chips, in 5 rows of 20 chips. One nice thing about storing your chips in trays is that it makes counting, stacking, and moving chips around must faster. It's useful to have a couple of these lying around during a game just for that purpose. If you use the Rolling Chest 1,000-Chip Case or Clear Carrier 1,000 Chip Case, then you must use these trays.
Please also note that these trays come in two sizes. The Bluegate Lucky Bee, Pro Clay Casino, and Striped Dice chips are slightly thicker than the standard Paulson and Nevada Jacks casino chips. We sell 2 sizes of the acrylic chip trays to accommodate the different chip thicknesses (e.g. use the 66.7mm tray for the Paulson's). The external dimensions of both trays are essentially the same so they will both fit perfectly in the Rolling Chest 1,000-Chip Case and Clear Carrier 1,000 Chip Case. The two different size trays do not stack well if they are mixed, however, so keep that in mind if you need to stack multiple types of chips.
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Help me choose playing cards
We sell 3 brands of poker Playing Cards, in both narrow and wide sizes. Although the wider variety is commonly referred to as "poker-size," most professional poker rooms actually use the narrower "bridge-size" cards. Bridge-size cards are 1/4" (6mm) narrower than poker-size cards and are easier to shuffle and hold while you are dealing. Playing cards used for poker are usually made out of plastic, not paper. They can be cleaned and re-used over and over and although they are more expensive initially than paper cards, they are a much better value on a per-game basis. By the way, you can check out the Help Videos section to learn how to shuffle properly and deal a Texas hold 'em game.
The faces of poker playing cards come in various "indexes" (the size of the numbers) and pips (the suit symbols). Making a choice here is simply a matter of taste. The regular index and pips are easier to read when you are looking discretely at your hole cards, whereas the jumbo index and pips are easier to read when you deal the cards on the flop, especially for people who are sitting far away. Lastly, the backs of playing cards come in numerous patterns, which are usually quite busy to hide any markings that might accumulate on the cards. We have chosen a few of our favorites.
About KEM Playing Cards. KEM playing cards (KEM Narrow, KEM Wide) are made in the USA and are largely considered the best playing cards in the world. They are made from 100% cellulose acetate and are scuff resistant and completely washable. They do not mark easily and are very secure. The company is now owned by The United States Playing Card Company, the largest casino-card supplier in the world. The USPC also makes Bicycle and Bee branded cards. They now have the contract with the World Series of Poker. KEM cards are not holding up in humid climates, however. I keep my KEMs in a photography dehumidifier cabinet inside a card press. This keeps them slippery and perfectly flat. For those less fanatic, I recommend Copag Playing Cards, which are quickly becoming my favorite.
About Copag Playing Cards. Copag Playing Cards are made in Brazil from a proprietary PVC plastic. The company has been around since 1908. Copaq made a push into the poker market when KEM faultered in the early 2000's and had secured the World Series of Poker contract up until 2007 (KEM now has it, due to Harrah's tie up with KEM's new parent company USPC). Copag's hold up much better than KEM's in hot humid climates. Copaq is our most popular seller and we sell an equal amount in the narrow or wide sizes and regular or jumbo pips.
About Bee Playing Cards. Bee branded "No. 92" cards (Bee Red, Bee Blue) are the most popular "replaceable" card used in American casinos for black jack and other table games. They are made from coated paper and come only in the wide size, regular index. These cards are not as secure as the traditional plastic poker cards (Copag Playing Cards) because they can be bent or marked quite easily (unintentionally of course!). They need to be replaced regularly (casinos replace them a couple times per day), but they are only a few dollars per pack. Some players like to buy cases at a time and open a new deck for every poker session. Bee cards, and their ubiquitous, slightly cheaper, Bicycle brand cousin are made by The United States Playing Card Company, the largest casino-card supplier in the world.
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Help me choose a table or table top
One of the best improvements to a home poker game is to play on one of our proper Poker Tables. The large oval shape allows up to ten players to sit comfortably around the gaming action, and the padded rail keeps all the chips and cards on the table. The surface has just enough friction to slide cards into place and cuts down on the sound of chips hitting a hard table. The cushioned surface also makes it easier to lift and peek at your hole cards and shuffle the cards and chips.
The problem, of course, is that proper poker tables are very long, so not everyone has room in their house or apartment to set one up permanently. The Portable Full-size Table has folding legs so can be stored length-wise along a wall. The Folding Table Top folds in thirds and can be tucked away in a closet. The Roll-up Poker Cloth Table Cover literally rolls up into a tube and can be stored pretty much anywhere. The 8-Player Octagon Poker Tables is perfect for smaller games in intimate settings.
Tables can be delivered throughout Singapore but cannot fit in our international flat-rate shipping boxes. Please Email Us for a separate shipping quote to your country.
About the Roll-up Poker Cloth Table Cover. The Roll-up Poker Cloth Table Cover turns your dining room table into a temporary poker table. We will cut the foam to the exact dimensions of your table, adhere the Poker Cloth to the foam with spray adhesive, and then finish the cloth's edge so that it will hang about 3-4 inches (10cm) on each side of the table. We cut the corners for square and rectangular tables so that it falls correctly. On oval or round tables, we add a complete drop rim the so that the Poker Cloth hugs the table.
Please Email Us or put a note in the comment section during checkout. We need to know the exact width and length dimensions of your table, the approximate thickness of your table, and the amount of overhang, if any. Rectangular, square, or circular tables are easy; if your table is oval, make sure you email us first! We can also send you the padding and cloth uncut and you can do it yourself.
The Suited Poker Speed Cloth is made from Polyester/Olefin and is protected with Scotch Guard, a Teflon fabric protector. Cards slide effortlessly across this surface and many casinos are switching away from felt to use this superior, longer-lasting material. Volara is the best closed cell gaming table foam. It is a little on the stiff side, but will also hold up to repeated use. The cloth is bonded to the volara pad with 3M™ Super 77 Spray Adhesive. That's the trick part since a lot of adhesive needs to be used to avoid wrinkles and bubbles.
The Poker Cloth Table Cover can be delivered throughout Singapore but cannot fit in our international flat-rate shipping boxes. Please Email Us for a separate shipping quote to your country. Shipping Info: 10lbs/5kg (dimensional weight used for local delivery).
About the Folding Table Top. The Folding Table Top is one of our most popular tables and you can place it right on top of your existing dining table or similar base. It also allows you to play on a longer surface than the underlying table on which you place it. Although it is not quite full size, it is adequate to fit 8 players comfortably and 10 players in a pinch. It measures 36 x 79 inches (90cm x 200cm) and folds in thirds to about 26 x 36 inches (66cm x 90cm). It even comes with its own travel bag with carrying straps. It weighs about 47lbs (21kg).
I'm not so thrilled with the graphics (it's obvious the manufacturer didn't know a thing about poker!), and the green felt is not as good as our Full-size Portable Poker Table or casino-grade Roll-up Poker Cloth Table Cover, but the materials are decent and will stand up to repeated use. For what you get, the price is very reasonable.
Tables can be delivered throughout Singapore but cannot fit in our international flat-rate shipping boxes. Please Email Us for a separate shipping quote to your country.
Shipping Info: 44lbs/20kg 107x74x10cm.
About the Full-size Portable Poker Table. The Full-size Portable Poker Table measures 48 x 96 inches (122cm x 244cm) and can accommodate 9-10 players. This no-frills table is still made with casino-quality materials. The high-density rail foam, Whisper vinyl, Volara closed-cell padding, and Suited Speed Cloth all come from the States and are the same as we use on our high-end Custom-made Poker Tables.
Height-adjustable Ikea "A" legs and a running support frame underneath the table make for a very sturdy playing surface. You can put elbows all around and it won't tip or sag. I made several tables myself, but have found my own master craftsman in Singapore who now upholsters the rails. His rails have no seams, no wrinkles, and perfect tension. The rail really makes the table a poker table.
You can choose from a few different options. The playing surface and rail can either be a complete oval or have a dealer position cutout with a chip tray. The table can be supported by Ikea A-legs and frame or simply be used as a table top on your existing dining table. And finally, you can buy just buy the padded cloth top by itself (no legs, no rail). The last option is called the "Flatwood" and can be found on the Roll-up Poker Cloth Table Cover page.
Tables can be delivered throughout Singapore. Please Email Us for a separate shipping quote to your country.
Shipping Info: 120lbs/54kg 250x122x15cm.
About the 8-Player Octagon Poker Table. Our 8-Player Octagon Poker Tables are casino-quality and make for an intimate setting in a home game. We use our best vinyl fabric on the high-density padded rail and our best Suited Speed Cloth for the playing surface, just like our custom tables. The build quality is not quite as beautiful, obviously, but the tables are durable and economically priced. The stainless steel cup holders are deep and the folding legs allow for quick storage. Dimensions are 48 x 48 x 30 inches (122 x 122 x 76cm) and the weight is about 50lbs/23kg.
Tables can be delivered easily throughout Singapore. Please Email Us for a separate shipping quote to your country.
Shipping Info: 50lbs/23kg.
About the Custom-made Poker Table. Our Custom-made Poker Tables are a beautiful "race track" style poker table. They are made to our exact specifications with cabinet-quality wood in America by master table builders. The wooden inlay, the "race track," can take a variety of stains and has a lacquer finish for durability. The pedestal base has a matching stain. The stainless steel cup holders pop out easily for cleaning. The Suited Speed Cloth or Casino Felt comes directly from our American casino suppliers. The table design makes it easy to pop out the center piece and replace the cloth from time to time. We can also do a dye-sublimation graphic (the best process) on any part of the poker cloth. Although with sufficient lead time we can design your table from scratch, we usually keep 5-10 of these tables in stock at any given moment so you can choose from a couple different color combinations if you want your table today. Please Email Us for more details and options before ordering.
Tables can be delivered easily throughout Singapore. Please Email Us for a separate shipping quote to your country.
Shipping Info: 200lbs/90kg.
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Help me choose accessories
We carry the essential Accessories for your home poker game. Every item serves its purpose, as you will see.
About the Dealer Button. The Dealer Button, about 2 inches (5cm) in diameter, is used to designate the dealer for each hand. Some home games pass the deck of cards around the table as each player becomes the new dealer for the next hand. In a casino, the cards stay put with the professional house dealer, who deals every hand. A dealer button is then passed around the table to designate the player who is merely acting as the dealer (i.e. the last to act on the hand). In your home game, if you pass the deck, then you don't really need a dealer button, since it is pretty difficult to forget who the dealer is when he is holding a deck of cards in his hand!
I would suggest, however, that you use a dealer button and have only a couple players do all the dealing. In my home games, I sit in the middle table position and deal every hand. When I need a break, the person sitting opposite me takes over. Dealing is an art and takes some practice. Using a few well-positioned dealers, rather than 10 different ones, makes the game go much faster and cuts down on the mistakes. Good dealers, who control the pace of the game, will deal about 30-40 hands per hour. Home games, where everyone takes a turn dealing, average about 20 hands per hour. Over the course of the night, the difference really adds up. Shuffle up and deal!
About the Missed Blind Buttons. The 3 Missed Blind Buttons (missed, little, big) are rarely used in home games, but employing them is a fairer way to play. They are used in cash games to keep tabs on who has not paid their blinds for the current round. They are never used in tournaments since players must post their blinds even if they are not seated to play the hand.
As a game of hold 'em is dealt, the players posting their blinds are "paying the rent" for the next orbit of play just like you pay your apartment rent at the beginning of the month. (If there are 10 players at the table, then an "orbit" would be 10 hands of play.) After you post the blinds, you then get to play the next 8 or so hands for "free," so to speak. If you were to get up from the table to take a break, as the blinds come back around to your empty seat, the dealer would issue you a "missed blind" button (and specifically the "little" and "big" buttons as well). When you return to the table, you can either "post" (i.e. pay) your missed blinds immediately and play the next hand, or you can wait until the blinds naturally come back around to you and post them at the correct time for the next orbit.
About the Tournament Dealer Button. The Tournament Dealer Button is a convenient dealer button that doubles as a tournament clock. In tournaments, blinds are increased every level, which usually last 20-90 minutes each. You can set the timer in 5-minute increments up to 95 minutes. An alert sounds with 1 minute to go and when the level is completed. The timer automatically resets itself for the next level or can be paused during breaks.
The button also has a 30-second "bet timer." If a player is taking too long to act, any player at the table can "call time," and press the bet button. The slow player then has 30 seconds to act on his hand. This speeds up play considerably and its mere existence is usually enough to deter slow play. Many players in cash games use this button just for the bet button feature.
The Tournament Dealer Button is similar in size to a regular dealer button and comes packaged in a small box the size of a deck of cards so it can easily fit in cases.
About the Spinner Card Cover. Place the Spinner Card Cover on top of your hole cards while playing Texas hold 'em to "protect your hand." Players seated in the two spots next to the dealer are particularly susceptible to having their cards inadvertently mucked. This card cover protects your hand.
Some players just use a chip to protect their hand, but a proper card cover will cut down on the confusion as to which chips are in play and which are in your stack. Spinner card covers are also fun to play with since you can spin them around on your cards.
About Cut Cards. Cut Cards are not really used to cut the cards, as you would be asked to do by the dealer while playing black jack in a casino. Rather, poker cut cards are placed on the bottom of the deck while you are dealing the poker hand. This covers the bottom card on the deck so it will not be revealed inadvertently. See our Help Videos section to learn how to shuffle and deal a game of Texas hold 'em.
If you order a set of (Copag Playing Cards), we will throw in a couple free cut cards. Otherwise, make sure you choose the correct size for your cards.
About the Automatic Card Shuffler. The Automatic Card Shuffler can shuffle up to 4 decks of cards (although you only need to shuffle one deck for poker), either narrow "bridge" size or standard "wide" size. It operates on 4 size C batteries (not included). I'm not enamored with any of the shufflers in the market, but this one sure flies off the shelf. I prefer to do my own shuffling, which, for me is faster than fiddling with a shuffler. You can learn a proper shuffle in our Help Videos section. Sometimes, however, we will play with 2 alternating decks of cards and other players will do the shuffling to keep the game moving faster. In that case, the automatic shuffler comes in handy.
About the Clear Spacers. The Clear Spacers can be used to take up slack in chip cases or be used to separate chips in a chip rack, just as they do in casinos (e.g. a spacer is inserted after every 20, 25, or 100 chips). This makes visually counting the chips easier. It is worth having a few lying around in case you need them.
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How many chips do I need and in what colors?
This is the nuts and bolts of designing your chip set. We have taken most of this section into account when designing our Complete Sets, but those are primarily for typical low stakes cash games and the occasional tournament. Your needs may differ. In designing your chip set, there are 4 basic questions you need to answer:
- How many chips in total do I need?
- How many different colors/denominations?
- How many of each color/denomination?
- Which color/denomination should start the set?
- Try out our Excel chip calculator (right click to download)
Summary. Generally speaking, you need about 75-100 chips per player for a typical cash game. Since most Texas hold 'em games are now played with 8-10 people, our most popular chip sets contain 750 and 1,000 chips. Most chip sets come in 5-8 colors/denominations. Cash games require 4-5 colors and tournaments require 4-5 colors, with overlap in the middle denominations. For cash games, about 50% of your chips should be in your primary two playing colors/denominations. Following the casino standard colors/denominations, a mini stakes game would go heavy on Blue $0.25 and White $1 chips, low stakes games would use primarily White $1 and Red $5 chips, medium stakes Red $5 and Green $25, and high stakes game would use Green $25 and Black $100. If you play higher than that, you probably don't need my advice, but $500 chips are usually Purple and $1,000 chips are usually Yellow. For micro stakes games, you can stick with the standard colors and merely divide all those numbers by 10 or 100. Note how standard denominations increase by a factor of 4 or 5 (e.g. $1 x 5 = $5 and $25 x 4 = $100). This spacing is very efficient since it keeps your total chip count down to a manageable, and affordable, level.
Fixed limit games are usually played with only 2-3 colors at a time. The 3rd color is used to store value in the winners' stacks as they make change for losers when they make re-buys. No limit games are usually played with 3-4 colors at a time. If you play the occasional tournament as well, you will leave your lower denoms in the case because tournaments are almost always played for 'fantasy' stakes, regardless of the actual buy-in amount. You will use your Green $25 and Black $100 chips early in the tournament and your Purple $500 and Yellow $1,000 chips later in the tournament.
If you play both cash and tournament games with 8-10 people, you really need 1,000 chips. Our most popular sellers are the 750 and 1,000 Complete Sets, but we often have repeat customers who buy a second set of 500 chips when they realize they didn't buy enough chips the first time around! We aren't really trying to sell you more chips, well, maybe a little, but sooner or later most avid poker players will have a set of 1,000 chips, with the ultimate goal of ending up with The Paulson 1,000! For a detailed discussion of how such a set is used for several types of cash games and tournaments, see our Owner's Setup page.
The underlying theme in the above summary works fine for players in dollar-denominated countries with exchange rates hovering around the US Dollar (e.g. Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, etc.). It also works well for players who would rather play with blank, color-only, chips without printed denominations. Printed denominations are classy and they make it easier to remember the value of each chip, whereas blank chips are more flexible since you can easily change their value from game to game. The standard denominations of 1, 5, 25, 100, 500, and 1,000 might not make much sense in your own currency. For instance, there are about 35 Thai Baht to the US dollar, so if you wanted to play in Baht, then the pre-printed "1" denominated chip would be pretty much useless (although you could start your chip set with the 5 or 25 denominated chip). Indonesian Rupiah start at over 9,000 to the dollar! To work around this issue, I'll give you some ideas below, or you can also just get a set of Custom Labels.
Introduction. Now, let's get into the detail. First, a note about "casino" colors, denominations, and spacing. In America, there are some pretty standard colors for the denominations:
| Color | Denom | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Blue | $0.25 | Such a low-value chip is not very common in casinos |
| White | $1 | Sometimes light blue or tan |
| Red | $5 | |
| Green | $25 | |
| Black | $100 | The infamous "black action" |
| Purple | $500 | |
| Yellow | $1,000 | Sometimes orange |
| Silver | $5,000 | Sometimes brown, varies widely |
Our three higher-end chip lines generally come in these standard colors and also have denominations printed on them: Paulson Top Hat & Cane, Nevada Jacks, and Bluegate Lucky Bee. Our "color only" blank chips (Pro Clay Casino and Striped Dice) mostly come in these same standard colors as well. I am a big proponent of using standard colors. Players move around the world playing poker. We should all be playing the same game with the same equipment.
Even more important in my mind, most casinos use a progression of chip denominations that increase by a factor of 4 or 5 (e.g. $1 x 5 = $5, $5 x 5 = $25, $25 x 4 = $100, etc.). If 4-5x spacing works well in a casino, it really shines at home since you don't have a vault of chips you can tap when you run out of your lower denoms. Each player will have a nice stack of chips and you won't ever run out of chips because the higher denominations can "store" the value of stacks and stacks of the lower denoms, thereby freeing up your lower denoms for more rebuys or more players. Please keep this 4-5x issue in mind if you create Custom Labels with your own denominations or currencies. It is hard enough to get what was once thought of as a huge 1,000 chip set to work with all the games people play nowadays: cash and tournaments, no-limit and limit, 10 player cash games and 20 player tournaments. (See our Owner's Setup to see how a 1,000 - 1,500 chip set gets worked out in various types of games.) If your chip denominations are spaced only 2x apart (e.g. $1 and $2, $5 and $10), then you would need triple the amount of chips. Shorter 2x spacing also puts too many colors on the table. You should play poker with only 3-4 colors of chips at a time. Any more and it causes the game to slow down considerably.
Another way to look at it is to make sure you have enough chips in the proper denominations to cover the value of all the buy-in's over the course of the night. If you play $1/$2 $200 no limit Texas hold 'em with ten players, for instance, then the total initial buy-in amount is $2,000. If, on average, everyone makes 4 re-ruys, that's another $8,000. The total is $10,000, so you need at least that amount of value in your chip set, preferably in the first 3-4 colors. In our typical Paulson 1,000 Chip Set, we include 200 $1 White chips (worth $200), 300 $5 Red chips (worth $1,500), and 200 $25 Green chips (worth $5,000). That's only $6,700, which is not quite enough. You'll need to break out the 4th color, the 100 $100 Black chips (worth $10,000), at some point during the game. It's obvious to see now that the 1-5-25-100-500-1000 spacing is far superior to a 1-2-5-10-25-50-100 progression.
Buying a set of poker chips is not an obvious, straight-forward endeavor. There are a couple ways to go about it. You can first determine how many chips you need in total, and then how many in each of the different denominations or colors and then look for a brand of chips that accommodates those requirements. Or, you can first choose your brand of chip, which is what most people do, and then select the best overall quantity for each color, making mental notes how you will need to modify your games to work around the set's short comings. For instance, if your desired set only has 5 colors and you want to play both cash and tournaments, then you will need to designate your White chip (usually worth $1 in cash games) as a 1,000 value when you play a tournament. A 5-color set is usually going to come in White, Red, Green, Black, and Purple/Blue, so there won't be a color that usually designates 1,000 (Yellow).
Let's now address the 4 questions directly.
1. How many chips? When ordering your chips, consider the number of people in your typical game, the stakes, and the type of game you usually play. You should order enough chips for about 75-100 chips per person. That will give everyone a "stack" with which to play. Poker is more fun when you can shuffle and stack your chips and not have to be constantly making change for other players. If you play both cash and tournament games, or different stakes of cash games, then you essentially need 2 chip sets: heavy on the lower denoms for your first cash game and heavy on the middle denoms for tournaments and higher stakes. If that wasn't enough to think about, you should probably also buy your chips to fit neatly into your case, so that would be 500, 750, or 1,000 chips. These cases hold the chips in rows of various quantities. I like to match the rows with the colors so that only one color sits in a row. Ok, I'm a little obsessive, but it makes counting your chips much easier. If you can afford it, I recommend going right to the 1,000 chip sets. Most Texas hold 'em poker games nowadays have 8-10 players and 1,000 chips will give you all the flexibility you need to play different stakes for cash games and tournaments. Check out how I use my Owner's Setup in several types of games. I really do use all 1,000 chips, and in fact use an extra 500 chips to accommodate some of the games.
2. How many different colors? Once you determine how many chips you need in total, you need to choose how many color denominations you will need. I suggest choosing at least 4 colors for cash games and a small amount of a 5th color for added flexibility. For tournaments, chips of a 6th and 7th denomination are often needed, especially if you want to play "fantasy" stakes (as in "I re-raise you $10,000!"). Most tournaments are usually played with higher denoms, regardless of the actual cash buy-in amount. You will generally only play with 3-4 colors at a time, but as the stakes go up, or as the tournament blinds increase, you will need to "color up" to the higher denominations. Obviously, if you get a 500 chip set, you won't be able to get as many colors as you would in a 1,000 chip set because a game requires more or less a fixed amount of the first 2 colors to get the game started (see below).
3. How many of each color? This decision is largely dependent upon the stakes you play and the types of game you play. Generally speaking, for cash games, approximately 40-50% of your chips should be in the first 2 colors. Those are the chips you will play with the most because the blinds and the initial bets will be in that range. Your middle 2 colors would be about 30% of the total, and your 4th and 5th colors would be about 20% of the total. You can squeeze in a 6th color (10% of total) if you get a 1,000 chip set. To move up to a 7 or 8 color set, you probably need to go over 1,000 chips. Again, our Complete Sets take this into account.
If you play mostly limit games instead of no-limit, then you might even need more of your chips in the first 2 colors. For instance, if you play a $1/$2 or even a $3/$6 limit hold 'em game, it is highly unlikely a player would ever be able to bet a $25 Green chip (there would need to be a lot of raises around the table before this could happen). The 3rd color $25 Green chip would probably only be used to store value when making change for other players at the table (i.e. when you run out of $1 White and $5 Red chips and a losing player needs to make a rebuy). Generally speaking, limit games only require 2 colors of chips. If you play $1/$2, go heavy on the $1 White and $5 Red chips. If you play $5/$10, get ton of $5 Red chips and then some $25 Greens. If you play $25/$50, then go heavy on the $25 Green and $100 Black chips. Well, if you play those limits, you probably don't need my advice! It's hard to use the same set of chips for a $1/$2 game as well as a $25/$50 game if you buy a small set. You need to pick your poison, so to speak, or get a 1,000 chip set.
If you play no-limit games, on the other hand, your 3rd and 4th colors usually come into play more often. It gets a little tiring making a $100 bet by counting out stacks of $1 chips! As the night wears on and most of the first 2 colors are out on the table, rebuys can be made with the larger denom chips and one of the winning players at the table can simply make change for the person. This is precisely why chips should be denominated in multiples of 4 or 5 (i.e. $1, $5, $25, $100) and not 2-3x ($1, $2, $5, $10). A 2-3x system will put too many chips on the table and not enough left in your case to be used for rebuys. Casinos have already figured this all out, so it is helpful to use them as a guide.
If you play tournaments, then you will use the middle ($25 Green and $100 Black) and higher ($500 Purple and $1,000 Yellow) color spectrum of your chip set. As the blinds escalate, and players drop out, you will "color up" the stacks of small denom chips and put the bigger chips into play. In fact, even if the actual cash buy-in for the tournament is only a few dollars, most tournament structures start with $10/$20 or $25/$50 blinds and at least $1,000 or $1,500 in starting chips (technically they would call them T1,000 or T1,500 tournaments). Such "fantasy stakes" tournaments even start with $10,000 or more in chips. From the outset, your $1 White and $5 Red chips would not even be used. It is nice to have enough $25 and $100 chips to start off a tournament. The 750 and 1,000 chip sets should suffice. Then, when a tournament gets down to heads up play, you don't want mountains of chips in front of the players, but rather a smallish stack of $1,000 and $5,000 chips. The game will go much faster. It is also usually late at night by that point and everyone is tired.
Most of the high-end American-made clay chips come pre-printed with $ signs and start their set at $1. Typical American chip sets go heavy on the $1 White and $5 Red denominations and go lighter as you move up the scale. This is fine if you want to play a White or Red chip game. If you want to play a lower limit game, you need to tweak the set by, say, designating the $25 chip as 25 cents or the $500 chip as 50 cents. I tweak my Owner's Setup in this way.
To conclude, it is very difficult to create a set that can be used in every situation. You would need several thousand chips. The 4-5x rule for the spacing between the denominations (e.g. $1, $5, $25, $100) provides a lot of flexibility, but the 40-50% requirement for your first 2 colors takes it away, especially if you really need to have 2 sets of "first colors" (i.e. one for cash games and another for tournaments). The determining factors are therefore: limit vs. no limit, low vs. high blind structure, and cash vs. tournament. If the answer is "all of the above," get a 1,000-chip set with 6 or 7 colors. Alternatively, some people will get a nice, true clay, smaller set for cash games and then a less-expensive huge set for tournaments. Perhaps you can start with our Complete Sets, which were designed for cash games and the occasional tournament, and then tweak from there in our Loose Poker Chips section.
4. Which denomination or color should start the set? The "starting chip" decision primarily has to do with the stakes you play. For instance, if you never play small stakes, you can start your chip set with the $5 Red, $25 Green chip, or whatever, instead of the $1 White chip. The starting chip decision might also involve the currency in which you play and its exchange rate to the US dollar.
For this discussion, please note that the Paulson Top Hat & Cane and Nevada Jacks chips are printed with $ denominations in the standard American progression of $1, $5, $25, $100, $500, and $1,000. The Bluegate Lucky Bee chips have the standard numbers printed on the label, but no $ signs. Lastly, the Pro Clay Casino and Striped Dice chips are both blank. The Lucky Bee can also take a Custom Label.
The usual $1 White chip makes a nice starting chip in Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand, which all have currencies denominated with $ signs and have exchange rates pretty near the US dollar (e.g. US$1 = S$1.52). Hence, Singapore players can merely buy a set of chips in pretty much the same combinations as a US player would. They would merely be playing at effective stakes about 35% lower, that's all. The Hong Kong dollar is about 8:1 to the US dollar, however. The $1 White chip would be worth about 12 American cents when used in Hong Kong. Those are some pretty low stakes for people who can afford Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips! I would suggest the Hong Kongers merely start their chip sets with the $5 Red chip and avoid the $1 White chip altogether unless they really want to play lower stakes. Of course, you can avoid this issue altogether if you just play in US dollars, regardless of your location. Most poker tournaments around the world are denominated that way. This has helped standardize the values, colors, and even chip manufacturing.
In non-dollar-denominated currencies, you have the option of following the colors or following the numbers. In Thailand, for instance, where US$1 = 35 Baht, I would suggest either playing the $1 White chip as 25 or 50 Baht ("follow the color," rounding off a little), or starting the chip set with the $25 Green chip and play it as 25 Baht ("follow the number"). That is, in the second example the $25 chip would be played as 25 Baht, even though 25 Baht is really only worth about US$0.70 in actuality. I think I prefer to "follow the numbers" since it is less confusing.
The problem is that you begin losing colors as you start your chip set with the higher denoms. I think you get the picture, but here are some other work arounds if you stick with the $-denominated Paulson chips:
| Country | Rate | Starting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Currency | Per US$ | Chip | Comment |
| Euro | 0.75 | $1 | Use $1 chip and play it as 1 Euro |
| Aus Dollar | 1.30 | $1 | Use $1 chip and play it as A$1 |
| NZ Dollar | 1.50 | $1 | Use $1 chip and play it as NZ$1 |
| Sing Dollar | 1.55 | $1 | Use $1 chip and play it as S$1 |
| UAE Dirhams | 3.50 | $1 or $5 | Use $1 or $5 chip and play it as 1 or 5 Dirham |
| Malay Ringit | 3.50 | $1 or $5 | Use $1 or $5 chip and play it as 1 or 5 Ringit |
| HK Dollar | 8 | $5 | Start with $5 chip and play it as HK$5 |
| China Yuan | 8 | $5 | Start with $5 chip and play it as 5 Yuan |
| Taiwan Dollar | 32 | $25 | Start with $25 chip and play it as T$25 |
| Thai Baht | 35 | $25 | Start with $25 chip and play it as 25 Baht |
| Indian Rupee | 44 | $25 | Start with $25 chip and play it as 25 Rupee |
| Philippine Peso | 45 | $25 | Start with $25 chip and play it as 25 Peso |
| Japanese Yen | 115 | $1 or $100 | Start with $1 and x100 or start with $100 as 100 Yen |
| Korean Won | 900 | $1 | Multiply by 1,000 (i.e. Use the $1 as 1,000 Won) |
| Cambodia Riel | 4,000 | $1 or $5 | Multiply by 1,000 |
| Indonesia Rupiah | 9,000 | $1 | Multiply by 10,000 |
| Vietnam Dong | 16,000 | $1 | Multiply by 10,000 |
We make Custom Labels for our Lucky Bee chips specifically for most of these currencies.
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Show me examples of typical chip sets
In this section, I will discuss 3 typical player profiles and match them to one of our Complete Chip Sets. For a very thorough discussion of how chips are used in various games, you can also check out the Show me the Owner's Setup and how it is used in all games section below.
Profile 1: I play every type of game. Most poker fanatics play every type of game: small, medium, and high stakes cash games; fantasy stakes tournaments; fixed limit and no limit; sometimes with 5 players, sometimes with 10, and sometimes with 10-20 players in a tournament. If you play this much poker, you probably know what you need: 1,000 chips in at least 6-7 colors.
Here is our typical Paulson 1,000 Chip Set that can be used for most all games:
| Quantity | Value | Color | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200 | $1 | White | 40-50% of chip count in 2 primary denoms |
| 300 | $5 | Red | This set is a little heavy on Red |
| 200 | $25 | Green | If you need more Green for tournaments, reduce White or Red |
| 100 | $100 | Black | That's $10,000 of Black, if you need more, reduce White or Red |
| 100 | $500 | Purple | Use for tournaments or as a 50c chip in smaller cash games |
| 100 | $1,000 | Yellow | Use for tournaments or as buy-in markers.* |
*Instead of requiring everyone to pay cash at the time of every buy-in, you can issue a "yellow marker" (disregard the "$1,000" on the chip) and write down the amount on a piece of paper. For instance, for every $200 buy-in, issue one yellow marker, and write the amount down. Then, at the end of the night, the player would pay back his markers in multiples of $200 worth of real chips and whatever is left over is his winnings for the night.This set works great if you play in US dollars or in currencies that use dollars with exchange rates near the US$ (Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, etc.). If you play in Taiwanese dollars (T$32 = US$1), then the $1 White chips are rather useless, however. You should start your set with the $5 Red chip or $25 Green chip as your primary color. Adjust the quantities accordingly so that 40-50% of your chips are in your first 2 colors. You could play with this $-denominated chip set in Japanese Yen (Y100 = $1), but you would then probably start your set with the Green or Black chip (and not have any White or Red). At some point, however, you will lose too many colors on the low end if you follow this line of logic. You would then probably be better off with a non-denominated set or one with Custom Labels. In such a case, you would play a blank White chip as 100 Yen or you would have a White chip printed with Y100.
The important thing to keep in mind is the relative number of chips in each color. The above set works perfectly for cash games with typical bets primarily in the $1-$5 range (note 50% of chips are White and Red) and almost as well in the $25-$50 range. It works for tournaments that start off with blinds in the $25-$50 range, and can accommodate tournament blinds all the way up to $1,000. In my own Owner's Setup, I've added a couple tweaks: 100 extra $0.25 Blue chips for smaller cash games and 100 extra 5,000 chips for 10+ player and larger tournaments. I also have an extra 100 $25 Green chips and an extra 200 $100 Black chips to accommodate larger cash games and 10-20 player tournaments.
Profile 2: I play primarily cash games and only a few tournaments. You don't need as many colors if you play primarily cash games, especially if you play mostly fixed-limit and not no-limit. You still need 75-100 chips per player, but now a 750 chip set will usually work for these cash ring game up to 8-10 players (e.g. Paulson 750 Chip Set). Your main decision here is to determine your "starting" chip. About 40-50% of your chips should be in your first 2 colors. If you play $1/$2 blinds, your starting colors would be White and Red. If you play $5/$10, then your starting colors would be Red and Green. In those two situations, you would only use the Green and Black chips to "store value" on the table so the big stacks can make change for the players who need to rebuy. If you need a 25-cent or 50-cent chip, then you can use the Blue chip to start your set or designate the $500 Purple chip as that value. If you play micro-limits, stick with the usual White-Red-Green-Black progression and merely divide their values by, say, 10. The White chip would then be worth 10 cents, the Red chip 50 cents, and so on. If you use blank chips or Custom Labels, it is important to keep the chip values separated by a factor of 4-5 (i.e. $1 x 5 = $5, $5 x 5 = $25, $25 x 4 = $100, etc.). This will keep you from running out of chips and it will be easier to make change.
Here is our Paulson 750 Chip Set set up primarily for cash games:
| Quantity | Value | Color | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 150 | $1 | White | 40-50% of chip count in 2 primary denoms |
| 225 | $5 | Red | This set is a little heavy on Red |
| 150 | $25 | Green | That's $3,750 of Green, if you need more, reduce White or Red |
| 75 | $100 | Black | That's $10,000 of Black, if you need more, reduce White or Red |
| 75 | $500 | Purple | Use for tournaments or as a 50c chip in smaller cash games |
| 75 | $1,000 | Yellow | Use for tournaments or as buy-in markers |
Profile 3: I play mostly tournaments. For tournaments, you won't need White chips at all, and you might not even need Red chips, depending upon where you start your blinds. Nonetheless, you probably still need 750 to 1,000 chips and 5-6 colors for tournaments because they are almost always played for "fantasy" stakes. That is, the cash buy-in for the tournament might only be $20 or so, but each player would start with 1,000 or even 10,000 in starting chips. Most chips used for tournaments are denominated (25, 100, 500, etc.), but do not have a currency printed on them, similar to our Bluegate Lucky Bee chips. The blinds usually start at 25-50 and increase steadily as the tournament progresses.
Our Bluegate Lucky Bee 1,000 Chip Set in Clear Carrier re-configured to be used primarily for tournaments accommodating up to 18 players with T10,000 starting chip stacks would look like this:
| Quantity | Value | Color | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 300 | 25 | Green | The first 3-4 levels of a tournament use Green |
| 300 | 100 | Black | Black is used in the most tournament levels |
| 100 | 500 | Purple | Used heavily during the later levels |
| 100 | 1,000 | Yellow | Used to color up lower denoms later in the tournament |
| 200 | 5,000 | Blue | Use the non-denominated Blue chip as 5,000, helpful for "fantasy" stakes T10,000 tournaments |
The total value of chips required for an 18-player, T10,000 tournament is 180,000. You will need to color up the lower denoms as the tournament progresses. Hence, this 180k requirement must "roll" through your chip set so you actually need a much higher total value. The above set has 187,500 of value in its first 4 colors. The non-denominated Blue chip (played as 5,000) then adds all the cushion you would need. In a pinch, you can even use this Blue chip as a 1 or 5 denomination in cash games. We left it non-denominated to add flexibility to the set.
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Show me the Owner's Setup and how it is used in all games
Although I have a warehouse full of chips, I primarily use a standard Paulson 1,000 Chip Set in Clear Carrier for my own home games. In my actual Owner's Setup, I have an additional 500 chips, which give me more flexibility in running all the games I play. My set looks like this (the "+" quantities are in the additional chips added to the standard 1,000 chip set):
| Quantity | Value | Color | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| +100 | $0.25 | Blue | Used for small stakes games (from the Paulson's "Pharaoh" line) |
| 200 | $1 | White | Used primarily in 10-player $1/$2 no limit Texas hold 'em games |
| 300 | $5 | Red | Ditto |
| 200+100 | $25 | Green | I need an extra 100 Green for 20-person tournaments |
| 100+200 | $100 | Black | Ditto, an extra 200 Black |
| 100 | $500 | Purple | Used for tournaments or as a 50c chip in smaller cash games |
| 100 | $1,000 | Yellow | Used for tournaments or as buy-in markers |
| +100 | 5,000 | Silver | Used for big tournaments (from Paulson's "World" line) |
When discussing my chip set, I will assume it is only 1,000 chips and then will make comments when I use the extra 500 chips. I usually travel with the chips in my Rolling Chest 1,000 Chip Case and keep the extras in my Clear Carrier 1,000 Chip Case. That way, the chips are always stored in their Acrylic 100 Chip Trays, and each tray is neatly comprised of only one color. I can move the trays in and out of each carrying case quite easily. The trays facilitate counting, coloring up, and moving the chips around games as well. The Paulson's have $-sign denominations printed on them. I'm an American living in Singapore, which also uses a $-sign in its currency (at about 35-40% of the value, i.e. S$1.00 = US$0.60). This makes it very convenient.
I will discuss below how I use my set for 4 different cash games and 2 types of tournaments, and in almost every case, except my main Saturday night game, using my original 1,000 chip set requires me to make a tweak or two (so that's why I added the extra 500 chips). You really need at least 1,000 chips to play everything from cash games to tournaments. You will use only 3-4 colors at any given time, but you will need the whole range of 6-8 colors for playing different cash limits or as tournaments progress through the higher blind levels. Generally speaking, cash games work out your lower and middle denominations while tournaments work out your middle and higher denominations. Even with 1,500 chips, I still need to make some tweaks here and there.
Micro stakes game: divide the chip denominations by 10. During the week, I play a micro stakes game with family members for lunch money and bragging rights. We divide all the chip denoms by 10, so play the $1 White as 10 cents, the $5 Red as 50 cents and so on. There are only 5 of us so we usually have enough of the White chips to go around and around. We use quite a few of the Reds, but rarely break out the other colors. When we bet, we call out "$1" and "$5," not "10 cents" and "50 cents." It makes it easier if you are always calling out what it says on the chip and it makes my 4-year old dream about the World Series of Poker. The difference is that the buy in amounts are merely a tenth of the value of what you get in chips. Using chips in this way is similar to tournaments (see below), where the actual cash buy-in amounts are significantly lower than the nominal value of the chips you receive. Many people buy standard denominated chips and routinely make a similar tweak for all their games. Micro stakes games work out my White, Red, and Green chips; the rest usually stay in the case. I don't use the $0.25 Blue Pharaoh chip since it would just confuse the issue.
Low-stakes no-limit game: use the $500 chip as 50 cents. During the week, I sometimes play in a "student of the game" no-limit hold 'em game with a $100 buy-in and 50c/$1 blinds. We usually use the $500 chips as 50 cent pieces. This gets them out of the case and into play so they will wear in and look like the rest of the chips over time. We call them out as "50 cents," which isn't quite consistent with my point above, but it makes sense in this game because the rest of the chips are called out exactly as their printed denoms. There are 10 players in this game, sometimes up to 12, so each player starts with 10 $500 Purple small blind chips (played as 50 cents) and 20 $1 White big blind chips. That wipes out all of my 100 Purple and 200 White chips at the start of the game, and we usually have to facilitate moving the Purple chips from person to person every once in a while to help them make their small blind when it is their turn. It is not a huge inconvenience, but it shows the limitation of the set. I suppose I could get more $500 Purple chips, but I already have 1,500 chips! If we play only 5-6 handed, then we will use the $0.25 Blue Pharoah chips and not have to rely on the $500 Purple tweak. The $25 Green chips will trickle out as players make rebuys, but all the Black and Yellow chips stay in the case.
Fixed limit games: need lots of chips in just 2 colors. It's rare, but when we play $3/$6 fixed limit hold 'em, all of my 200 $1 White chips get distributed immediately, with the rest of the initial buy-in made up in $5 Red chips. Most casinos will play this game strictly as a White-chip affair and issue racks of 100 chips at a time to each player making a $100 buy in. I don't have enough White chips to do that, so have to use the $5 Reds as well. Personally, I don't like mountains of chips on the table anyway because it slows down the game. The $5 Red chips speed up a $3/$6 limit hold em game considerably. As with most limit games, we only need 2 colors to play an entire $3/$6 game. My 300 $5 Red chips are usually enough for all the rebuys. I only break out the 3rd color, $25 Green in this case, to store value on the table within the big stacks while they make change for players who need to rebuy. When we play $5/$10 limit hold 'em, the game is obviously played primarily with $5 Red chips, as it is in a casino. My 300 $5 Red chips are enough to play $1,500 in total stakes. Divide $1,500 by 9 or 10 people, and I have enough $5 Red chips for about a $150 of buy-in power per player. Again, that is not quite enough, so I first distribute all my $5 Red chips during the initial buy-in and then make up the difference with the $25 Green chips. As players bust out and make rebuys, I give them $25 Green chips and the big stacks help make the change. Very rarely does the 3rd color, $100 Black in this case, come into play. The $500 Purple and $1,000 Yellow chips stay in the case as well.
Medium-to-high stakes no-limit game: use 4-5 denominations and a 6th color as a "marker" chip. On Saturday nights, I usually play in either a $200 buy-in $1/$2 blind no-limit game that has a zillion rebuys, or we just cut to the chase with a $2,000 $5/$10 no-limit game. In the former, it's a rather loose game and it is not uncommon for people to make 7, 8, or even a record 25 buy-ins over the course of the evening. In the $200 $1/$2 game, the initial $200 starting stack of 20 $1 Whites, 21 $5 Reds, and 3 $25 Greens wipes out all my $1 White chips immediately (I designed my set that way). The first few rebuyers are given $5 Red and $25 Green chips to get a few more of the Red chips out on the table. As the banker, it is important that I regulate the amount of chips of each color during the course of the night. A big stack player will usually change a couple of the $25 Green chips for some of his $1 White and $5 Red chips so that the rebuyer can make up his blinds. At some point, subsequent rebuyers are given only $100 Black chips, and again, someone at the table will help make change. The first four colors of the standard set have a total value of $16,700 (200x$1 White, 300x$5 Red, 200x$25 Green, 100x$100 Black). That means you can comfortably play a game with that amount of total buy-ins and rebuys. You'll need to break out the $500 Purple chips if you go over.
As you can see, such a $200 $1/$2 no-limit game is played with 4 colors eventually. Some people prefer to play with only 3 colors, but as I pointed out, I don't like mountains of lower denoms on the table since it slows down the game and you'll run out of chips. Save the scooping of monster pots and building a fortress stack for the casino! As I point out in several places in the Help Me Choose! buyer's guide, I can't emphasize enough that chip spacing should be in increments of 4-5x, not 2x. That is, $1, $5, $25, $100, $500, and so on. A 2x spacing ($1, $2, $5, $10, etc.) is very inefficient and you will end up with piles of chips on the table and then run out of chips very quickly, even if you have a 1,000 chip set. At any rate, when these $200 $1/$2 games get out of hand, a bunch of my $100 Black chips find their way to the table by the end of the night. I usually have some left over $5 Red and $25 Green in the case. The $500 Purple chips are never used, but we use the $1,000 Yellow chips as "markers" to keep track of the numerous rebuys. These chips don't play in the game; they just help keep the accounting straight. For every $200 rebuy, or multiple there of, the player gets a Yellow marker chip and the rebuy is written down on a piece of paper (which is shredded at the end of the night!). Every once and while we do a buy-in check so there won't be any disagreements later. At the end of the night, the players pay back each Yellow marker with $200 worth of playable chips and what ever is left over, if anything, are their winnings for the night (or morning by that point). Alternatively, you can just do the rebuys with cold hard cash and then the marker chip is not as important. I just like to use all my chips! And this crazy game does just that.
When we play a $2,000 buy-in with $5/$10 blinds game, I need my extra 100 $25 Green and 200 $100 Black chips. I'll usually distribute all of my 300 $5 Red chips at the beginning of the game so that each player starts with a stack of 30 Reds ($150). Then, each player gets a stack of 30 $25 Green chips ($750) and 11 $100 Black chips ($1,100), for a total of $2,000 worth of chips. This way, everyone starts with a nice stack of 71 chips. That setup wipes out my 300 Red and 300 Green chips in my extended 1,500 chip set. Re-buys are made with $100 Black chips until they are exhausted as well, and then we move onto the $500 Purple chips. We have yet to require the $1,000 Yellow chips, and for now, we use them as buy-in marker chips. If you buy only the standard set, you can still play this $2,000 $5/$10 game, but you would start with fewer Green chips and have to rely more on the $500 Purple chips. That inconveniences the players a little. Heck, if you are playing this level, then you should pony up for the extra chips! Alternatively, if you never need the 200 $1 White chips in the standard set, then you can replace them with more $25 Green and $100 Black chips. The extended 1,500 Owner's Setup has about $39k in value from the $5 Red, $25 Green, and $100 Black chips, $89k in value if you include the $500 Purple chips, and $189k in value if you include $1,000 Yellow chips. Although the standard set has a total value of $166k, it is misleading because over half of that value is stored in the 100 $1,000 Yellow chips, which rarely come into play at these levels. They would only be used to store value in the big stacks when you run out of the lower-denom chips (and of course they would be used in tournaments).
Medium-level tournaments: start with middle denominations. Once a month, I put on a 4-5 hour tournament for 10-20 players with a small buy-in but a $3,000 starting stack and $25/$50 starting blinds. This is typically how a casino does it as well (although they sometimes describe it as "T3,000 with 25/50 starting blinds" so as not to confuse anyone with $ signs). You aren't really playing $3,000, just whatever the actual buy-in amount is, whether it be $10 or $300. The White and Red chips, therefore, stay in the case the whole time. The starting stack of 20 $25 Green, 20 $100 Black, and 1 $500 Purple blows out 200 Green and 200 Black chips (I need to use some of my extra $100 Black chips). If you get only the standard 1,000-chip set, you would start each person with fewer $100 Black chips and add another $500 Purple or two, but my players like to have a nice size stack when they start the tournament. It's no fun having $3,000 in front of you but only a few measly chips. It's great to have a big enough chip set to give me this option. If I am running a two table tournament, however, I am forced to distribute fewer $100 Black chips to each person and more $500 Purple chips (or, again, use my "extra" chips that I bought just for this occasion). I can easily accommodate rebuys with $500 Purple or $1,000 Yellow chips, if I am running a rebuy tournament. Other players help make the change. At some point in the tournament, as the blinds increase to multiples of 100, I color up all the Greens and remove them from play (assuming they are not being used for antes). You don't have to do this in cash games, but it is customary in tournaments to color up the chips as the game progresses (again, you want only 3-4 colors on the table at any one point). By the end of the tournament, only $500 Purple chips are on the table, and I am just breaking out the $1,000 Yellow chips. This tournament puts all my middle and higher denom chips to pretty good use. There are no glaring drawbacks to the chip combination of my chip set in this case.
Fantasy stakes tournaments: need to add the extra 5,000 denominated chips. Once a quarter, we play an 8-hour mock World Series of Poker-style tournament for a bigger buy-in, $10,000 in starting chips, and a slower blind structure. This tournament works out the chip set similarly to the $3,000 tournament, but if the tournament has more than 15 entrants, all of my 100 $500 Purple and all my 100 $1,000 Yellow chips get on the table sooner or later by necessity. In fact, if you do the math, my original 1,000-chip set has a total chip value of $166,700. That's enough chips for only 15-16 players in a $10,000 buy-in tournament (15 players x 10,000 initial stack = 150,000 total value). In such a big tournament, I really need a 5th color. Although my $ denominated Paulson chip set comes in 6 colors, I start this tournament with the 3rd color in the progression, the $25 Green chip (and do not use the $1 White or $5 Red chips at all). So, if I am running more than 15 players, I will need a different solution to provide a higher denomination than the $1,000 Yellow. If Paulson made a $5,000 chip in the regular Top Hat & Cane line, then I wouldn't have a problem. Unfortunately, they chose to make a silly $10 Blue chip instead. I don't use that chip at all (it's morally reprehensible!). Paulson just released a "World" chip line, however, that has a chip printed with a 5,000 denomination on the inlay but no currency symbol. It's a good enough match, so I carry a tray of 100 of these 5,000 Silver chips just for big tournaments. I break out this chip when I color up the $500 Purple chips from the table. With this additional tweak to my set, I can run a 2 or even a 3-table, $10,000 fantasy-stakes tournament quite easily. If I have 2-3 tables, then I need to use my 100 extra $25 Green and 200 extra $100 Black chips so that everyone starts out with a decent stack of chips in the beginning.
Conclusion: I love my chip set! As you can see, a 6 or 7 color, 1,000 + 500 chip set is very flexible, but still has its limitations. If you get a 500 chip set, your options are cut in half, but that merely means you have to be twice as creative if you want to play all these games! If cost is a big issue, then perhaps you can choose a nicer Paulson Top Hat & Cane or Nevada Jacks 500 or 750 chip set for your cash games and buy a separate 1,000 chip, entry-level Striped Dice set for tournament play.
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Help me choose a Gift Set
Our Gift Ideas section was designed for a poker neophyte who would like to buy a set of poker chips for his or her friend with a single click. Gift Sets are very similar to our Complete Chip Sets, but also include proper poker Playing Cards and a few Accessories.
How many chips? Most of the Gifts Sets include 750 poker chips for a couple reasons. Our nicest, most gift-worthy, chip case is the Mahogany Table-top 750 Chip Case, which holds 750 chips. That number also makes for a very flexible set, allowing both cash game and tournament play. Most Texas hold 'em games are played with 8-10 players and you generally need about 75-100 chips per player. Some straight cash games could probably get by on only 500 chips, but the players would constantly be making change for each other. If your friend wants to play tournaments, then more of the higher denomination chips are required, which are included in the 750 chip sets. Regardless of the buy-in amount, even if only a few dollars, tournaments are usually played for "fantasy" stakes.
Which chips? The primary difference between the Gifts Sets is the quality of the actual chips. Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips are absolutely the finest poker chips you can buy. They cost US$1.34 per chip and are true clay casino chips. Paulson chips are used in the vast majority of Las Vegas Casinos and many others around the world. If you can afford them, Paulson chips make an amazing gift. Our best seller, which is more affordable, is our mid-range chip called the Bluegate Lucky Bee. They are labeled with denominations (1, 5, 25, 100, etc.) and cost about US$0.62 per chip. Our blank mid-range chip is the Pro Clay Casino, which feels slightly better (more clay-like) than the Lucky Bee chip, but the colors are not quite as vibrant. You can't go wrong with either chip. Our entry-level chip is the Striped Dice, which costs only US$0.15 per chip and does not even pretend to mimic a casino chip. You'll see this ABS hard plastic chip everywhere, given its affordability and popularity.
A note about chip colors. In our ready-made sets, we have already decided the quantity of each color/denomination that comprise the chip set, based upon the needs of typical home players. Our 750 and 1,000 chip sets are designed primarily for cash games in the $1-25 bet range and up to a total buy-in range of $50,000 or so (those are the sweet spots, the set is actually more flexible than that). If your friend plays smaller or bigger stakes, just let us know and we can reconfigure the set if necessary (please add a comment during checkout or Email Us). An example will highlight the issue. We start our Gift Sets with the White chip, which is almost universally valued at $1. The Paulson Top Hat & Cane and Bluegate Lucky Bee chips have the value "$1" and "1" respectively printed on the White chips, whereas the other brands of chips are blank. You can play a blank White chip at any value, of course, or even disregard the numbers on the numbered chips, but chip colors are pretty standardized (White $1, red $5, Green $25, Black $100, Purple $500, Yellow $1,000). If your friend always plays a game with a minimum bet of $5 or more, then there would be no need for the White $1 chip. In such a case, we can reconfigure the set to include more Red $5 and Green $25 chips and remove the White $1 chips. That is probably the only change for most people since if your friend plays smaller stakes (bets usually below $1), then it is customary to go with the standard set and merely mentally divide all the denominations by, say 10. That would make the White $1 chip play as 10 cents, the Red $5 chip as 50 cents, etc. Finally, if your friend plays in a currency where $ signs or the 1, 5, 25, etc. numbers don't make any sense, then stick with blank chips or look at our Custom Label section.
In general, you get what you pay for. All of our chips are high enough quality that you wouldn't embarrass yourself by giving them as a gift to anyone.
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Help me take care of my chips
If you treasure your Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips as much I do, I would like to tell you how I take care of them. First of all, if they get wet, dry them immediately with a cotton towel or paper towel and then air dry them over night before placing them in their case. And don't forget to store them in a "cool, dry place."
Brand new clay chips usually have a chalky or dusty residue on them when they come from the manufacturer. It is important to wipe this off before you start intermingling the chips because the dark colors will rub off and contaminate the brighter colored chips and edge spots. Over time, the chips will clean themselves again, but in the beginning the residue creates quite a mess.
You might have heard about crazy people oiling their clay chips. Real casino chips pass through thousands of oily and sweaty palms every day, and this body oil is soaked up by the chip and helps set the colors. You can simulate this process at home by oiling your chips with mineral oil. Be warned, however, oiling your chips takes forever. Use only Mineral Oil for this task, never vegetable oil! Look for Mineral Oil wherever they sell wooden chopping blocks for the kitchen, or, for twice the price, look in the laxative section at your local drug store. I have also used Johnson's Baby Oil, which lists its ingredients as mineral oil and fragrance. It seems that Baby oil is slightly lighter than chopping block mineral oil and the fragrance wears off quickly. I used baby oil on my last set of Paulson's. Before you start, keep in mind that when all is done, it takes about one minute per chip to oil them properly. You won't actually be oiling them for a minute, but all the wiping, drying, turning over, etc. takes a lot of time. A 1,000 chip set will take about 15 hours of finger and elbow work. You will also need to dry them twice for 24 hours at a time. It takes about a week to complete the whole task, assuming you only have a few hours every night to work on them. Do it while you are watching TV or something, or, better yet, get 10 poker buddies to help!
I prefer to oil and break-in my chips before I begin playing with them, but you can do it at any time. If your brand new chips have a chalkiness to them, or your old chips are a little dirty, first wipe them down with a damp cloth and air dry them on a big towel over night before oiling them. The colors on the Paulson chips, in particular, have a tendency to rub off on each other when they are brand new. Wiping them down first and then oiling cuts down on this effect. If you decide not to oil your Paulson's, you should still wipe them down with a damp cloth, and then a dry cloth, and let them air dry at least overnight before you begin playing with them. In addition to the instructions below, you can also watch a quick Help Video to see the techniques in action.
How to process your Paulson Top Hat & Cane chips right out of the box.
- Wipe each chip with a damp cloth to remove the chalky residue. Right out of the box, wipe each chip with a damp cloth and set the chip aside. I usually do chips in batches of 20. If the cloth gets discolored, use a fresh cloth on each color of chips. Then, once you have wiped 20 chips with a damp cloth, wipe each chip with a dry cotton towel. Set the chips on a large bath towel and air dry them for 12 hours. Once they have air-dried for 12 hours, turn each one over and dry for another 12 hours (which is not essential if your towel has lots of airflow). If you don't want to oil your chips, you can stop here.
- Soak 60-100 chips in mineral oil for about 10-20 minutes. Pour some mineral oil into a large bowl and completely submerge a batch of 60-100 chips in the oil (start with just 20-40 until you see how fast you work). Purists like to rub the oil on and wipe it off, but I have found soaking the chips does them no harm and is significantly faster. Use a new bottle of oil for each color of chips, or do your light-colored chips first and change the oil when it gets discolored.
- Remove 20 chips from the oil bath and briefly wipe the excess oil off each chip. Take one chip out of the oil at a time. Wipe it briefly to remove the excess oil. Set it aside. This towel will get oil-soaked rather quickly. It is not your primary drying towel, however, so this is ok. Do this quick wipe for 20 or so chips per batch and set them aside for the next step.
- Thoroughly dry each chip with a cotton towel or paper towel. Dry each of your 20 chips more thoroughly now, about 5-10 seconds per chip. I usually run them through my towel-lined fingers like a I'm spinning a wheel. I prefer paper towels for this step since they absorb the oil more efficiently, but cotton towels will work well too. Replace the towels often so you are always using a dry towel.
- Air-dry for 12 hours. As you finish oiling and double-wiping the chips, place them on a large bath towel to dry for 12 hours.
- Repeat. Take 20 more chips out of the oil bath and repeat. Do a quick wipe down, then a more thorough dry rubbing, and place the chips on the drying towel. Once you have processed the 60-100 chips, place another batch into the oil and let soak for 10-20 minutes and repeat until you just can't take it any more.
- Turn over and air-dry again. After 12 hours of air-drying, wipe the chips with a dry towel for a few seconds, turn them over, and air dry them for another 12 hours. After the second 12 hours, wipe them briefly again with a dry paper or cotton towel before putting them away in your storage case. They are ready to use for play now.
Break in your chips and round off the edges. This is a very dangerous step so try it first with a small sample of white or yellow chips. You might want to skip this step altogether and just start playing with your chips in real games. The problem is that the colors of the chips, even after oiling them, will still rub off onto the edge spots and other chips. The technique below works well for the White chips, but poorly for the Blue and Black chips. Proceed cautiously with small batches to see how it is going. I actually no longer do this with my chips, but I'm the type of guy that doesn't mind wearing bright white tennis shoes either.
Start breaking in your chips by taking each color separately and mixing them around with each other. I find it easier to put them in a ziplock bag or a tied pillow case and fumble the bag around in my hands. Ziplock bags have the added advantage of keeping your chips from accidentally escaping onto the floor. You can also do a couple bags at the same time. Your goal is to round off the sharp edges through simulating natural motions, but not scratch the inlays in the process. It is actually pretty difficult to scratch the inlays, but I just want to warn you not to toss the bag around or put it in an automatic tumbler. As a good start, put a single color in a zip lock and work them for about an hour per batch. Look at them often and stop if the colored clay residue makes your chips look too dirty.
It is particularly important to separate the colors when doing this mixing with brand new Paulson chips, since, as I point out above, the main chip color tends to rub off and bleed for a little while. If the color rubs off onto a chip of the same base color, then there is no problem, but if you mix all your different colored chips together, then it will be a bloody mess. Regardless, the multicolored edgespots will become contaminated with the main chip color as you run them across each other anyway. Oiling the chips beforehand minimizes this to a degree. Don't fret about this too much since the markings will fade over time and I think the markings add character to the chips anyway. The problem with the Blue and Black chips is that the dust smears all over the brightly colored edgespots rather than leaving distinct markings. This does not look good. At some point, regardless what you do, the chips will look like normal casino chips, nice and worn in. The contrast is just a little drastic in the beginning.
You can do this sliding and mixing for hours on end and it might not look like you are getting anywhere, but it really is helping softening up the edges. Keep in mind, chips used in a casino are handled 24/7 for weeks and weeks, jammed in and out of racks, scooped up in pots, stacked and restacked millions of times, and shuffled by players constantly.
Wash or Clean your chips. If you ever need to wash your clay chips, you can use a very mild, diluted detergent (diluted Dreft baby laundry detergent is good), a soft tooth brush, and a damp cloth. Don't ever submerge your clay chips in water. Dip the toothbrush in the diluted detergent and gently clean the chip. Wipe them down thoroughly with a damp-to-wet cloth to remove the detergent residue, and then immediately wipe them with a dry cloth. After you clean and wipe them down, air dry the chips on a big towel for 24 hours, turning them once at the half-way point. You should probably then re-oil them.
Keep in mind, however, that casinos rarely, if ever, clean or oil their clay chips, and they last for 5-7 years with daily use. I don't want to scare you aware from owning them! They will age with beauty and last you a life time.
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That's the end of the "Help Me Choose!" section. Now, go play poker!
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