clay poker chips

poker chips

2005-06-09T01:02:00.000-07:00

Poker Chips : The Next GenerationDecember 20, 2001
There's an old saying in gambling that the man who invented the casino was smart, but the man who invented the chip was a genius.
The reason behind the saying is clear to anyone who has ever gambled for significant stakes using cash. Actually, it's probably reasonably clear even to people who have only used chips. Chips look and feel like toys. You can fling them about in ways you would never fling money about. Most games would have CONSIDERABLY less action if people had to play for cash.
None of this is remarkable news; these are fairly old concepts. But the poker chip has recently gone to the next level.
Online poker and the virtual chip make regular poker chips seem like $20 gold pieces by comparison.
I had been staying away from online pokers until recently, because I was concerned about possible collusion, but I kept hearing too many stories about players who liked the games, and I figured it was my duty as a gaming writer to investigate.
I have plenty of stories that have come out of my first few ventures into online poker, but the biggest and most obvious is the almost ridiculous ease with which one's mouse can be coaxed into throwing chips into a pot.
Think about it.
You don't need to pull cash out of your wallet to buy chips.
You don't need to pick up a physical item, even if it does look like a toy, and remove it from "your" stack and put it into the "communal" pot.
All you need do to is PLAY A VIDEO GAME. All you need to do is click your mouse and play with the pretty pictures. This is something that even old fogies like me have gotten used to doing on computers (I was in college when "Pong" came out and we thought it was the coolest thing we'd ever seen. Well, second-coolest, after the 5-foot high "rhymes with pong" that a friend of mine had).
Two whole generations have now been trained to think that video games are fun, that you can just click an afternoon or evening away… except, as they would say in hyping a boxing match, "this time it's personal." Now it isn't a game. Now it's real money, even if it doesn't look that way.
It gets worse (or better, depending on your point of view). If you go on tilt or play badly, you're not doing it in front of people you know and whose respect you might want. You're sitting in your favorite comfortable chair (at least, it's that way if you spend much time at your computer), you can drink or smoke whatever you like… all the comforts of home.
Except that poker isn't played well "comfortably." Poker requires alertness and concentration. Even more so, it requires a respect for the chips in front of you. If you don't respect your chips, they tend to wind up in other people's stacks, and as we've seen, it's pretty easy to lose respect for virtual chips.
I have a feeling this inevitable disregard for virtual chips plays a big role in why so many friends have reported "good games," and I must confess (without wanting to lure anyone into playing who isn't already) that in my limited sample of about 20 hours play, the games have been absurdly good. I might just be running good, we'll see.
Nonetheless, one of poker's greatest traps is to loosen up too much when you see a loose game, and with virtual chips, that trap is even easier to fall into than it is in a regular game. Do yourself a favor and put some cash in front of you when you play. Count off the bills, at least roughly, when you lose a hand. You'll probably treat your virtual chips with more respect, and that'll make it a virtual certainty you'll have a better chance to win.

multicolored poker chips

2005-05-24T23:16:00.000-07:00

Poker Craze Fuels Demand For ChipsDecember 3, 2004
It may be a gamble, but retailers bet poker chips will win big this holiday season as the nation’s craze for Texas Hold ‘Em continues to surge.
In 1999, Poker Chips USA in Northridge raked in $60,000 in sales over the holiday season. The online store tripled that amount over the same time frame last year, said owner Gus Fanfassian.
“This is the hottest trend in games right now,” said Ellen Heaney Mizer, game buyer for Barnes & Noble, which will set up displays of poker products in all its stores for the holiday season.
Feeding the frenzy for multicolored poker chips, cards, tables and all things poker-related are shows such as ESPN’s “World Series of Poker” and Bravo’s “Celebrity Poker Showdown.”
“They’re showing a whole bunch of young people how to play,” said Will Hunt, who started a retail line of poker products called All N’ Poker this summer.
“College kids love the game because it allows them to sit around a dorm room and play for several hours with just a few bucks,” he said.
Even Restoration Hardware, a high-end furniture store based out of San Francisco, is carrying everything from Ace shot glasses to mechanical card shufflers. Wal-Mart, Target and various other retailers are offering an array of poker goods as well.
Poker Chips USA’s most popular item is a 1,500-chip Texas Tournament set that ranges in value from $449 to $649.
“We sell anything you see in the casinos except the dealers,” Fanfassian said.
Aahs! carries everything from dice to poker sets that range from $60 to $200. There is even a sign next to the store’s prominent display of poker products suggesting how many chips are needed for games of varying size.
Since Hunt started All N’ Poker in Davis, Calif., this summer, he said orders for T-shirts and visors bearing the company’s trademark logo — “Dominate the Table,” have swelled to the hundreds on a weekly basis.
“Surfers have Quiksilver and basketball players have Nike — we want to be that brand for poker players,” Hunt said.

Premium Clay Poker Chips

2005-05-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

These clay poker chips have a nice sound and feel to them. They have no metallic clink and feel lighter than the 10.5 grams that they weigh. They are some of the nicest composite chips that I have handled. The increase in weight from a typical 9 gram 'real clay' chip to a 10.5 gram 'real clay' chip made a big difference in both feel and sound. The chips do not sound as hollow or light-weight as the 9 gram version.
They have three nice edge spots (white spot except for the white chip) with a crown engraved between each spot. The edge spots are not painted on, they are solid through the chip. The overall feel of these chips was better than I anticipated and the craftsmanship was very high.
Like all 'real clay' chips, they can be snapped in half with your fingers but it takes about 5 times as much effort as the All-in Chips. You can see the crack in the image to the left, I forgot to scan the chip before breaking it! The innards are the same white clay/plastic/resin composite material that seems to be in the center of all these types of chips. The lack of a metal insert results in a better feeling and sounding chip. They do not have a metallic sound to them.

"Club Desperado" Clay Poker Chips

2005-05-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

Poker suppliers have two versions of the Club Desperado clay poker chips. They have this Blue Chip Co. real clay chip and they also have a ceramic Club Desperado chip (shown below).
These are nice chips with three or four very nice bi-color edge spots, except for the 50¢ chip which does not have a multi-color edge spot. They come in standard colors and denominations.
Sample chip diameters were 39.04, 39.07, 39.06, 39.03, and 39.06mm. Three chips stacked together was 9.90mm thick. Seven chips stacked together was 23.14mm thick.
These chips do have denominations printed on them but the printing is so small that some players might never even notice. The labels are typical Blue Chip Co. labels, indestructible but off-centered on many chips. Maybe I've grown used to the slightly off-centered labels because they don't bother as much as they did a year or two ago. I like these chips, they have a lovely western motive that would fit in well in any saloon.

11 Gram Clay Poker Chips

2005-05-11T07:18:00.000-07:00

These are 9 gram clay poker chips composite chips that are somewhat unique in their styling and center. There are six edge spots which are not painted on to the chip. There are no edge ridges.
The labels can be peeled off with a fingernail on the first try. The paper label is covered by a plastic film. The label itself has a shiny foil-like appearance. There are large denominations printed on these chips.
This is the only chip that I had to cut in half to determine if there is a metal insert in it or not, there is not. There is a grey slug under the inlay, but it is of a composite material. The chip itself feels somewhat like a typical 11.5 gram composite but is a bit softer. It is quite easy to take a small chunk out of the edge of the chip using your fingernail.

Mardi Gras Clay Poker Chips

2005-05-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

The Mardi Gras clay poker chips are nice Blue Chip Co. chips with nice colors and multi-colored edge spots. Like the Grand Island chips reviewed below, they feel a bit more substantial than other Blue Chip Company chips that I have reviewed.
These chips come either with, or without, denominations printed on them, the purple chip has three tri-colored edge spots, all the other chips have three bi-colored edge spots. This chip is not your standard Blue Chip Co. 'Flames' (Seashell) mold, rather it is printed on the same mold as the Nevada Jack Marinin Club chips; the four suits and a groove are engraved into the mold. The chips have sharp edges that will round with age.
I was sent twelve chips. Sample diameters were 38.99, 39.11, 39.06, 39.05, and 39.05mm. Three chips stacked together was 10.03mm thick. The weight was low at 8.5 grams.
Some of the labels on these chips were off-centered but not as bad as some other Blue Chip Co. poker chips. None of the labels were extremely bad and you might not even notice without specifically looking for it.
The labels are embedded into the chip and could not be peeled off, even with a knife. The labels hid scratches very well.

Modern Clay Poker Chips Review

2005-05-06T10:12:00.000-07:00

Modern Clay Poker Chips Review: These are beautiful chips! They have the right color combinations, the right multi-colored edge spots, and good feel and texture. These chips feel a little 'used' right out of the box, they have rounded corners and slightly faded colors. They are easier to handle than other new chips with sharper edges.
Chip colors are a little duller than on most other new poker chips. The black is not quite as dark and the dark red edge spots on a light red $5 chip can hardly be seen (the multi-color edge spots come to the rescue however, as the orange spot can be easily seen). The duller colors are, no doubt, part of the 'used' feeling these chips try to achieve right out of the box and is not necessarily a bad thing. These are beautifully colored chips with gorgeous multi-colored edge spots! There are ridges on the rolling edge. The sound, weight and feel seem slightly more robust than a regular Blue Chip chip but slightly less robust than a Horsehead chip. This mold does not have the usual Blue Chip clamshells molded into the rim but has 2, 4, 8, Q, 5, J, 7, 9, A, 3, 6, K, 10. The border area is about 8mm wide whereas the usual Blue Chip clamshell mold borders are about 5mm wide. After riffling these chips for a month or two, they do seem to have a little more bulk than the typical Blue Chip clamshell chips. These were some of the best stacking and least slippery chips that I was sent and there seems to be a suction effect between chips.Scratching the clay resulted in no viewable damage. These are tough chips! The labels were impossible to peel off with either a fingernail or knife. They could not be punctured and were very hard to scratch. Scratches could hardly be seen and did not seem to go through the label, exposing the chip color underneath. Unfortunately, some of the labels are a bit off-center but these labels are tough and permanent!These chips come in all the standard colors and denominations - Blue(.50), White(1), Orange(2), Red(5), Green(25), Black(100), Purple(500). If you're looking for a traditional chip with beautiful edge spots, these chips should be at the very top of your list. These chips would be almost perfect if you could order them with your own custom center.

Anyone tried making clay poker chips?

2005-05-03T19:21:00.000-07:00

Does anyone have any experience of trying, and if so what materials to use ?

When I was demoing at a rubber stamp show a couple of weeks ago, rolling out Premo, cutting a circle with a cutter and then putting a texture/pattern on both sides by pressing it between two rubber stamps, that's what people thought I was making. I thought I was just showing how to get great textures with stamps.
I think polymer clay would be a fine material to use for poker chips. The only problem I see is that relatively thin items, as I assume your poker chips would be, sometimes come out not completely flat (a little curved, warped, rippled, whatever you care to call it) after baking. You could flatten them out by putting something heavy on them as soon as they come out of the oven, while they're still warm. However, this would obviously smash any raised areas, so any "relief" effect that you wanted would be ruined. To keep them flat while baking, you might try baking them between two sheets of tempered glass -- not something I've tried, but it ought to work. Of course, that would also smash any relief designs on the chips.
If you're completely new to polymer clay, I'd suggest looking for a message called "Welcome to rec.crafts.polymer-clay," which is posted to this group frequently (I can't recall if it's weekly or every two weeks). It will give you a good general introduction to working with polymer clay. With regard to brands of polymer clay, Sculpey III is the easiest to use but is also the most brittle. It's still fairly durable and ought to be OK for poker chips - I think most problems with breakage occur with small thin parts of the clay item (such as fingers or noses), which I assume your chips won't have. (Not that there would be anything wrong with poker chips with noses -- heaven knows stranger things have been done with polymer clay!)

Clay Poker Chips news!

2005-04-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

Shortly thereafter, the Modern Clay poker chips line was introduced, a 10 gram high-end clay poker chip made by the same manufacturers that make clay chips for many Las Vegas casinos including the prestigous Mandalay Bay. This chip was purposely designed from the ground up to embody everything discerning home poker players look for.

You like clay poker chips? So do I

2005-04-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

clay poker chips 1220 1044 cheap clay poker chips 79 68 custom clay poker chips 64 55 discount clay poker chips 64 55 real clay poker chips 54 46 11.5g clay poker chips 45 39 poker chips clay 20 17 13 gram clay poker chips 16 14 professional clay poker chips 15 13 authentic clay poker chips 14 12 collecting clay poker chips 14 12 orange clay poker chips 14 12 how to make clay poker chips 13 11 buy clay poker chips 12 10 poker chip sets, clay poker chips 12 10 13 gram real clay poker chips 11 9 9g clay poker chips 11 9 inexpensive clay poker chips 11 9 100% real clay poker chips 10 9 500 clay poker chips 10 9 all clay poker chips 10 9 1000 clay poker chips 9 8 11.5 gram diamond clay poker chips 9 8 clay poker chips for cheap 8 7 club desperado real clay poker chips 8 7 free shipping on clay poker chips 8 7 clay casino poker chips 7 6 clay poker chips information 7 6 orange double diamond clay poker chips 7 6 poker clay chips 7 6 11.5 gram double diamond orange clay poker chips 6 5 13.5g clay poker chips 6 5 clay poker chips poker chips 6 5 11.5 gram orange clay poker chips 5 4 200 clay poker chips 5 4 50 11.5 super diamond clay poker chips 5 4 casino clay poker chips 5 4 clay poker chips + hot stamp 5 4 clay poker chips 11.5g 5 4 clay poker chips 500 count 5 4 poker sets chips clay casino chess 5 4 striped clay poker chips 5 4 1000 peice set of clay poker chips 4 3 11.5 gram clay poker chips 4 3 11.5 oz clay poker chips 4 3 50 piece clay poker chips 4 3 600 clay 9g lv diamond poker chips set 4 3 casino clay poker chips sets 4 3 clay poker chips discount 4 3 clay poker chips in tampa 4 3 free clay poker chips 4 3 pulson clay poker chips 4 3 pure clay poker chips 4 3 solid color clay poker chips 4 3 triple crown clay poker chips 4 3 true clay poker chips 4 3 100% clay poker chips 3 3 11.5 orange clay poker chips 3 3 12.2g clay poker chips 3 3 50 piece 11.5 gram diamond clay poker chips 3 3 buying cheap clay poker chips under 10 dollars 3 3 cards customer service case poker chips clay 3 3 clay casino style poker chips 3 3 clay poker chips for sale 3 3 clay poker chips reviews 3 3 clay solid color poker chips 3 3 colorful clay poker chips 3 3 desert sands clay poker chips 3 3 new 600 clay 9g lv diamond poker chips set + chip case 3 3 personalized clay poker chips 3 3 poker party clay chips 3 3 real clay poker chips no composites 3 3 royal flush clay poker chips 3 3 10 g pure clay poker chips 2 2 1000 clay poker chips royal flush 2 2 11.5 gram diamond orange clay poker chips 2 2 11.5 super diamond clay poker chips 2 2 13.5 clay poker chips 2 2 500 texas hold em clay poker chips 2 2 650 11.5 gram clay poker chips 2 2 aluminum clay poker chips 2 2 authentic las vegas clay poker chips 2 2 bicycle clay poker chips 2 2 bulk clay poker chips 2 2 cards customer service case poker chips clay e-mail 2 2 casino clay 10.5 poker chips sets 2 2 clay vs. composite poker chips 2 2 clay & poker & chips & elephant & striped 2 2 clay composite poker chips 2 2 clay denomination poker chips 2 2 clay dice poker chips 2 2 clay poker chips canada 2 2 clay poker chips dfw 2 2 clay poker chips on sale 2 2 clay poker chips value 2 2 clay poker chips vancouver british columbia 2 2 edge spot clay poker chips 2 2 elephant stripe clay poker chips 2 2 game store with clay poker chips in pa 2 2 high stakes clay poker chips 2 2 individual clay poker chips 2 2 makers of clay poker chips 2 2 most beautiful true clay poker chips 2 2 new or used clay poker chips 2 2 paulson clay poker chips 2 2 phony clay poker chips 2 2 pro clay poker chips 2 2 real clay 13.5 poker chips 2 2 royal flush 8 gram clay poker chips 2 2 the most beautiful clay poker chips in the world 2 2 tri-color triple crown clay poker chips 2 2 what stores sell clay poker chips 2 2 where can i buy clay poker chips 2 2 where can i buy real clay poker chips 2 2 wholesale chip layouts clay tables poker chips supplies 2 2 yellow double diamond clay poker chips 2 2

Clay Poker Chips!

2005-04-27T07:47:00.000-07:00

Clay poker chips are made of pro clay and clay composite material and are more popular for home games. Both pro clay and clay composite chips makes the same sound as casino chips. Pro clay poker chips have a rough surface and are made with no metal insert to adjust the weight. Pro clay poker chips are usually 9 grams in weight. Clay composite poker chips have the same rough surface, but is made with a metal insert to adjust the chip weight. Clay composite chips are usually made in 11.5 grams and 13.5 grams in weight.

Clay Poker Chips Overview

2005-04-26T16:29:00.000-07:00

Want to add a little piece of Vegas in your home games. Clay Poker Chips are 2-tone quality royal flush poker chips are produced from hi-grade pro clay composite resin material with rounder edges for superior texture. All chips have values on both sides.

An Investigation of an Adaptive Clay Poker Chips clay poker chips

2005-04-22T18:19:00.000-07:00

Other work has shown that adaptive learning can be highly successful in developing programs which are able to play games at a level similar to human players and, in some cases, exceed the ability of a vast majority of human players. This study uses clay poker chips to investigate how adaptation can be used in games of imperfect information. An internal learning value is manipulated which allows a clay poker chips playing agent to develop its playing strategy over time. The results suggest that the agent is able to learn how to play clay poker chips, initially losing, before winning as the players strategy becomes more developed. The evolved player performs well against opponents with different playing styles. Some limitations of previous work are overcome, such as deal rotation to remove the bias introduced by one player always being the last to act. This work provides encouragement that this is an area worth exploring more fully in our future work.clay poker chips

clay poker chips

2005-04-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Northern Ascent LLC, the company behind Clay Poker Chips and Tables .com, has announced that it will donate 20% of the net profits from online sales during the month of January to aid in the tsunami relief efforts in south Asia and eastern Africa.

clay poker chips

2005-04-19T09:59:00.000-07:00

clay poker chips