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Poker Chips Composition & Weight
Casino poker chips are very high quality and a pleasure to play with. However the cost will prohibit most people from being able to afford playing with them.
Poker chips vary in composition, weight, decoration, and even size. These factors are entirely personal, and up to you. The most common question in determining what kind of poker chips to purchase usually involves the composition - what's the difference between clay and composite poker chips? Clay and/or ceramic poker chips are what is normally used in today's casinos. Clay chips are more valuable and more expensive than composite poker chips. Clay chips have a feel and sound that are familiar to casino players. Composite or plastic poker chips are often weighted with a metal insert to be given the weight and feel of clay/ceramic poker chips. Composite poker chips are less expensive than clay/ceramic, but have a long life. Because of their plastic texture, composite poker chips are often more difficult to use for chip tricks and stacking.
Difference between clay and composite poker chips
Clay and/or ceramic poker chips are what are normally used in today's casinos. Clay chips are more valuable and more expensive than composite poker chips. Clay chips have a feel and sound that are familiar to casino players. Composite or plastic poker chips are often weighted with a metal insert to be given the weight and feel of clay/ceramic poker chips. Composite poker chips are less expensive than clay/ceramic, but have a long life. Because of their plastic texture, composite poker chips are often more difficult to use for chip tricks and stacking.
Weights: No, all chips are not exactly the same weight. Because no two production runs are ever exactly the same, some chips may weigh a little less and some chips may weigh a little more than their target weight. To alert our customers to this fact we report our chip weights as average weights.
8.5 grams.9 grams. 9.5 grams.9.8 grams.10 grams.11.5 grams.13 grams.14 grams.
Not Milk Jug Plastic
The outside of these chips, for the most part, is made of industrial resins, also called plastic. But, it isn't milk jug plastic and certainly not the cheap, light weight chips you can find at a discount store for $3.99 per 100. The inside of these chips has a metal slug, and it's that slug which give the chip its relative weight. They are manufactured in China , by the millions (which by the way, also happens to be where most of the gambling merchandise you see in stores and websites come from), and one of the largest markets is, of course, the United States .
Plastic Poker Chips
If you don't mind a standard plastic poker chip, you should pick up a set at your local department or toy store. They break easy but they are very cheap and easy to replace.
Plastic poker chips are the standard chip that most people have used to play poker at some time. The 100 piece standard red, white, and blue plastic poker chip set can be found at most department stores for under $5.
There are some better quality plastic chips available. These weigh more than the standard cheap chips and they cost more.
Poker chips are made of composite material also referred as ABS or plastic. Composite poker chips are made in a variety of weights ranging from 4 grams, 5 grams, 7.5 grams, 9 grams to 11.5 grams. The most popular weight for ABS composite chips is the 11.5 gram chips.
The number of poker chips you need for a game depends on the number of players. The following is a pretty good rule of thumb:
300 chips for 3-4 players
400 chips for 4-5 players
500 chips for 5-6 players
Clay Poker Chips
Composite, clay, or composite clay poker chips are recommended for most poker players. They look and feel like real casino chips, will last a long time and are reasonably priced. There are other standard chip weights than those compared here, including 5 gram, 8 gram, etc.
lay poker chips are usually made out of clay and other materials that surround a metal core. They usually weigh 8 to 14 grams and measure the casino standard diameter of 39 millimeters. Good clay chips have a soft distinct feel that many people prefer.
Most poker chips that are COMPOSITE poker chips, this means is that the clay in the chip has been mixed with a composition of other materials. CLAY COMPOSITE poker chips are mass produced for the general market, and are closely held secrets that manufacturers do not make public for obvious reasons.
They are injection molded poker chips, some CLAY COMPOSITE poker chips have more clay than others, and some have less, meaning they are manufactured in molds, and injected with the composition material, be it plastic or a combination of clay and plastic and other materials.
Casino quality chips are not injection molded, but are produced using a very sophisticated process that requires time and much more skill than that required for injection molded chips -- hence the higher price they command.
The production process variations also apply to the width of chips. Although with variations are so minute they do not make a difference in style or feel, not all chips are exactly the same width. This explains why you may sometimes get less than 100-chips in a plastic or acrylic 100-chip tray.
The Dice Border or Dice Design poker chips have a heavy metal insert that gives the chip the weight. The chip is much heavier than most other chips. Therefore, we call these Dice chips 11.5g (avg. weight) SUPER HEAVYWEIGHT poker chips. While they are the same average size, 39mm, and have the style of casino poker chips, we cannot advertise these as CLAY or CLAY COMPOSITE poker chips and besides, it's against state & federal laws to falsely advertise a product as being something it's not. .
Composite Poker Chips
Composite poker chips are usually made out of plastics that surround a metal core. They usually weigh 8 to 14 grams and measure the casino standard diameter of 39 millimeters.
Composite poker chips are usually durable and fairly inexpensive. These are much better than plastic poker chips. Composite poker chips have a 'smooth' feel to them as opposed to clay poker chips that feel 'soft' in comparison. This softness makes clay poker chips easier to pick up. The smoothness of composite chips can make them slip off a persons hands.
Casino poker chips are very high quality and a pleasure to play with. However the cost will prohibit most people from being able to afford playing with them.
Poker Chip Quality
As with most things, the more you pay, the better the quality. For example, you may find a store that has two 11.5 gram composite chip sets, similar in all respects, except price.
Cheaper sets might have slight color variations, be unbalanced, vary in weight, or have other similar inconsistencies. This will probably not bother most people but if you or your opponents are accustomed to the best, it might be worth spending more.
In general, the heavier the chip, the better it feels. 13 to 14 gram clay chips are harder to find and more expensive than other chips but they are considered best by most people.
Gamblers that spend time in casinos might prefer an 11.5 gram chip because it is closest in weight to the casino chips they are used to. People who have never owned a poker chip set or have only played with plastic chips should be happy with a 7.5 to 9 gram set.
Nowadays:
The most popular weight for poker chips today, is 11.5g. Just to set you straight, however, let's be clear that the professional casino chips have an average weight of between 9g - 10g. Casinos are smart...they want to save as much money as possible as they take as much as they can from you. Casinos don't need a chip to weigh as much as a 747 Jumbo Jet. Among other considerations, the casino wants a quality chip, with a reasonable weight that will do the job. Consumers, on the other hand, have the misconception that chips HAVE to weigh as much as a jumbo jet. That brings us to the chip weight debate.
Many of the 11.5g or 13g chips being represented as clay, do not have this protective coating. The manufacturers did not go the extra mile and as a result, you can scratch these chips by using just your fingernail. I know this, because I've done it. I received an email from one of the largest suppliers of these chips, here in the USA , and he told me these chips will show wear & tear immediately. I already knew that, since I found out the hard way. Something to consider when your looking at the 11.5 or 13g or 13.5g chips that call themselves clay (and forget to mention they are metal on the inside).
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