Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 4:16 am Post subject: Las Vegas poker chips
LAS VEGAS POKER CHIPS?
The other day, my friend Jack was about to make an online purchase of a decent set of poker chips, and asked me if I had any particular brand, make, or vendor to suggest. He stressed that the guys in his weekly home poker game were goading him to upgrade from his current cache of cheap plastic chips to something more professional. Jack said he completed a comprehensive search and review of the poker chip market on the internet and decided to equip his table with nothing less than what is used at professional casinos and poker rooms in Las Vegas. "Clay chips weighing 11.5 grams!", he stated emphatically. My friend had read ads using such verbage as "Quality Clay", "Professional Las Vegas Casino look & feel", "Heavy Weight", "Casino Style", "Deluxe", and something called "ABS Casino Quality Chips". All these chips, he was informed, were "clay" and weighed 11.5 grams..."just like the casinos and poker rooms in Vegas and Atlantic City". Yes, Jack was going to go 1st Class, professional level, and purchase a set of LAS VEGAS poker chips.
He had the right idea in stocking up with casino grade chips. These chips have a nice sound when they clink against each other, or when they are pushed into the pot. Clay chips at 11.5 grams are also an ideal weight to perform poker chip tricks and flourishes (shuffling, flips, twirls, rolls, etc.). Yes, those chips will serve him well.
However, all is not as he thinks. First of all, the "clay" chips he was about to purchase were actually "acrylic composite chips". Many chips are sold as "clay" but are actually an acrylic (or similar) composite. They look and feel like clay and I'm not sure I can tell one from another. It's a minor point to me whether the chips are made of an acrylic composite or clay. I understand that the acrylic composite chips can expect a longer lifespan than the pure clay chips (which tend to break).
Jack read on multiple sites that the "The Standard" weight of the poker chip used in Las Vegas casinos was 11.5 grams. He just happened to be talking with the right guy, at the right time, regarding the weight of Vegas (and other) casino poker room chips.
During the last year, I started keeping a $1 chip from every casino and poker room I had played in. I now have 42, from across the country, on my shelf.
I had weighed each chip on my hi-tech, Ohaus scientific triple beam scale. Before you say, "Who brings poker chips home...and weighs them?!!", poker chips are part of my business. I'm a Magician and use poker chips in my close-up act. I also produced an instructional DVD on performing poker chip tricks and flourishes. Part of my research was determining the best chip-weight for doing such table acrobatics. 11.5 grams was the winner. The heaviest weighted chip I tried was 13.5 grams which seemed, well...a little heavy. I also found that I need at least 8 grams of weight to perform the shuffles, flips, twirls, and rolls with the profiency I'm accustomed to.
Here's the surpise of this story...only two of the 47 casino and poker room chips weighed, reached the weight of 11.5 grams. All were "clay" or more likely acrylic composite chips. The two chips that met the 11.5 gram so called "Standard Professional Casino Grade" weight as claimed on the internet was found at a harness racing track in Pompano Beach, Florida, and at The Stardust in Las Vegas. The Stardust was the only casino/poker room with a metal insert in their $1 chip.
It is true that I only had one chip from each casino and it might not be representative of the average chip of that casino, but it probably is. All the chips I weighed were of average looking quality for that particular establishment, with no defects. With that said, below are some interesting statistics.
Weight of a cheap plastic chip: 1.5 grams
Weight of an inexpensive "clay" acrylic composite chip: 8 grams
The following weights are of $1 denomination poker chips taken out of play from corresponding casino/poker rooms during 2004/2005.
LAS VEGAS:
Circus Circus 10.7 grams
Sahara 9.3
The Mirage 8.9
Plaza 9.3
Bellagio 9.2
The Sands 9.7
Bally's 10.6
Luxor 10.5
Gold Coast 9.8
The Palms 10
Imperial Palace 10.7
Harrah's 9.6
Orleans 10
Aladdin 9.5
Monte Carlo 9.7
The Stardust 12
Sam's Town 10.5
Boulder Station 10.9
The Flamingo 9.8
Golden Nugget 8.3
El Cortez 8.0
Excalibur 9.5
Rio 8.9
Binion's Horseshoe 9.5
Mandalay Bay 9.7
Riviera 10.5
Wynn 9.7
Stratosphere 9.8
Palace Station 9
MGM 8.2
FLORIDA:
Seminole Hard Rock Casino, Hollywood 10.7
Seminole Indian Casino, Coconut Creek 10.4
Seminole Indian Casino, Hollywood 10.5
Miccosukee Gaming, Miami 10.6
St. Tropez Cruise Ship, Port Everglades 10.4
Calder Race Course, Miami 10.8
Pompano Park, Pompano Beach 12.1
Hollywood Greyhound Track, Hollywood 10.5
Miami Jai-alai, Miami 10.0
Dania Jai-alai, Dania 10.0
Palm Beach Kennel Club 10.8
CONNECTICUT:
Foxwoods 9.2
Tom Golabek is a long time poker player, and magician. He offers an instructional DVD/VHS entitled, "Poker Chip Tricks & Other Fancy Flourishes at the Card Table", which can be purchased at www.pokerchipsvideo.com.
Get out a bit more?. Do you think the poker rooms come to me? I am retired, and my main past-times are playing poker, doing things having to do with poker, and close-up magic (mainly performing tricks with coins, cards, and poker chips).
The above piece is coming out in an upcoming issue of FULL TILT MAGAZINE. PLAYBOY MAGAZINE (July '05, p. 16) cites the article as a reference regarding weights of poker chips.
I have posted this piece on many forums. It's funny to see the feedback I have received. Those who were about to buy chips found it really helpful. Those who were/are interested in doing fancy tricks with poker chips thanked me for the information. Others were impressed with the number of poker rooms I've played in. Some commented that the article was a "real education" on poker chips. Many said they were never aware of, nor thought of the weight of poker chips, and enjoyed reading about it.
Others call me a moron, some ask me, "Don't you have anything better to do with your life?", and some suggest "I get out a bit more?"
I just came back from playing in the WSOP. It felt like every fifth guy was from UK. I got the impression that Brits were as fanatical about poker as Americans.
Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 3:36 pm Post subject: Vegas
It's one of those imported things, like Hamburgers, but where does a Brit go for poker, to play in real life, he doesn't generally, unless he comes to vegas?
Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 5:44 pm Post subject: Re: Vegas
Colocation wrote:
It's one of those imported things, like Hamburgers, but where does a Brit go for poker, to play in real life, he doesn't generally, unless he comes to vegas?
What is WSOP?
World Series of Poker.
Just for information, I have received more orders for my Poker Chip Tricks DVD from the UK than from any other European nation.
Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 8:47 pm Post subject: poker chips
hey tom
i wrote you in other online poker forum but couldnt get your answer there so maybe you can answer me here...
i wanna but aa new set of chips
should i go with the set made from clay, 11.5 gram for a chip or there is a better one?
know where i can get it online?
thanks alot!!
Last edited by kotsba on Sat Dec 17, 2005 12:13 pm, edited 1 time in total
Hi Kotsba,
I think 11.5 gram chips are great. I'd pick up a set of those. I don't think it's important if it is "real clay" or a composite of some sort that looks and sounds like clay.
Where to buy on-line? Go to google, and plug in "poker chips". You'll get page after page of poker chip vendors. Click on 3 or 4, and you'll know everything you want to know.
I deal with www.5stardeal.com when I buy chips by bulk. For a single set of chips, I would just compare the prices, and go with the best. Chips are heavy, and costly to ship. Have you checked the stores in your area?
I hope this helped.
Citytom
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 12:13 pm Post subject: hey tom
hey tom
thanks for the info..it more than helped
i cant check for stores in my area since i live in israel
gambling is against the law here so there is no place to buy the chips..
only via the net
but thanks a lot!!
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