[wolispenok]

Manufacturer: All in Chips
Retailer(s): All in Chips
Average Price: US$ 0.34
Material: Clay (as advertised on their website)
Member Review by: Wolispenok

These are very nice chips with a fair price. They are made by a company called HOLD'EM HIGH and can be found at www.allinchips.net

The reviewed chips have been played with for more than six months, at least once a week. The poker group that plays with them is comprised of enthusiast players. We have available this All-In set, a Poker Chip Company ASMs custom set, Nexgens with paper labels, and of course the 11.5g ABS Chinese stuff.

Price

All-Ins are good for US$ 0.34 per chip in a 1,000 chip set (without S&H). When I put that in context, the price looks really good. It's a much better price for the quality than the Nexgens (US$ 0.20) and just a tad cheaper than the real clays (solid color clays at US$ 0.35 and clay spotted at US$ 0.50 from pokerchips.com). I will try to compare these 3 different chips throughout the review for a better understanding.

Some group buys are taking shape and going for edge-spotted ASMs without inlays reaching the price of US$ 0.40. If that became permanent, it would hurt these chips' value at this price.

Feel

These have a rubbery feel. Nexgens feel like plastic with or without a label (and I love them for what they are) and clays (ASM) are just plain hard. Both feel like you are holding a disk of some hard material. All-Ins are "kind." They have a very soft touch and their edges are more rounded than others.

When you first hold them they seem to have some kind of powder on them, but you soon get the rubbery-feeling thing. Lastly, I would like to say that I do prefer their feel to the clay texture from ASMs.

Stacking

I am not the best person to judge stacking as I am a believer that 30-chip stacks are already something like the Petronas Towers. You can stack All-Ins 20 chips high during a game, lift the whole stack and place it in the pot unharmed.

I have recently tried to make a stack from ground to table height and it worked just fine. I believe that it's more due to the rubbery feel than anything else.

When stacking chips I tend to pay additional attention to the chips sides and if their surfaces are fully in contact one another. All-Ins behaved very well.

I would easily say they stack way better than Nexgens and they score as good as ASMs.

Sound

I really like the sound of these chips. Although I am a fan of the ASM sound of hard clay I am really enjoying the softer sound of the All-Ins. You can hear that these are softer to the touch and lighter in weight by their softer sound. But it's not a cheap sound, it's a very elegant one. I wouldn't mind having some ASMs with All-Ins clanks.

Looks

The first time I saw All-Ins I could only focus on one thing: why a company that make such a great product needs to put their logo in every chip? It really bothers me. But maybe it's just the fact I would love to have a set of these with a custom anything.

The graphics on the chip are not hotstamped. The chips are made of two different-colored materials, very well shaped to show off the suits, logo, brand, and side dots.

Their chip color combinations are: black, purple and green chips with pink inlays, navy blue chip with light blue inlays, pink chips with light green inlays, red chip with white inlays, white chip with red inlays and yellow chip with navy blue inlays.

Don't ask me where they get the color combinations. It's clear at least that they have tons of the pink stuff. I'm not pleased at all about the color combinations.

I would like to add that I feel much more confortable counting stacks of solid colored chips. This is a feeling that´s growing stronger although I love edge spots. But that´s just me.

Security/Originality

Security is pretty non-existent, as they have only one flavor and as far as I know you can't get them customized. Here in my region not many fancy chips drop by so it's very rare that someone (from a bunch of invited players) comes unnoticed with a black All-In to the table.

But of course it's a problem for higher stakes games.

Durability

I am pretty sure that one thing you are expecting to see in this review is the fact that you can break them with your bare hands. That's true. Believe it or not I did ask my poker buddy if I could have some and before he gave me the chips I asked him if it was ok if I tried to break one of them. He said ok and SNAP. Yes you can break them easily.

I have let them fall from the table and they remained intact. I started doing the bounce trick and they were still okay.

If you are a regular player then they are good enough for you. If, on the other hand, you jump on the table when you are beaten by a flush and try to beat your adversary in the face. . . well. . . look for a shrink.

It is also important to say that the chips are not losing their rubbery feel. They are still looking fine and good. One thing I have recently felt is that I can feel the suits inlays in some chips when I am rubbing my fingers (not nails) on them. The inlays seem to be much harder. Only time will tell as I have not felt this on every chip and it's much more like one chip among fifty.

These chips also get dirty easily. Awfully dirty? Not that much. Mostly color-to-color contact and storage. I regularly translate a little faded colors and a scar or two as "character." I don't get the point of playing with brand-new, recently-washed chips.

Diameter and Weight

Instead of giving you decimal measurements I will let you know how a stack of each feels in you hands:

Diameter – All-Ins seem to be something a hair larger than clay chips. On the other hand Nexgens seem to be a hair larger than All-Ins.
This one has also created a lot of discussion about the real chip sizes (Nexgens are really 40mm? ANd ASM chips are 39mm?) but again, that´s just my feeling after shuffling them for hours at work.

In the real world on a real table this wouldn't make a difference. Remember, these chips have rounder edges so if you hold two All-Ins shuffled with three Nexgens or clays you will know there are strangers in the nest.

Weight – they are definitely lighter than Nexgens and seem the same as ASM clays. In the end they seem to have a very comfortable weight to make two 10-chip stacks and push them to the pot.

Reviewers Comments

Chip Freak Problems

Some chips have inlays blurred or not perfect. Would this bother me if I had a set? NO. It's a very low ratio of these.

The ridge (mold junction point) on the side of the chip is a little noticeable on some. I believe that these would pester only those who already own clay chips. For those who don't it's less apparent than on plastic-injected chips such as the Nexgens.

Combine the previous two characteristics and you have the side dots not perfect on every chip.

On the internal recessed circle there is a blob of material that really looks like an injection mark (it doesn't displease me but it's there and any chip freak will notice it). When it happens it does on one side of the chip only.

Because they are softer, your rage will take a greater toll on these poor chips: nail presses and chip friction will leave scars.

Conclusion

First of all I don't own this set. It's a buddy's.

Will I get them? I don't think so. I prefer customs; I'll probably go with ceramics.

Would I recommend these to a friend? Any day.

Would I let my friend get Nexgens instead of these? If custom labels were an issue I would certainly tell him to get the Nexgens. If he could save a little more I would tell him these are more than worth the effort. If looks were important then, well, it's HIS decision only.

Why do we currently play with the All-Ins?
- First thing we really like is the rubbery feel they have.
- We ended up liking the fact that their colors are more vibrant than the other sets available.

I don't have a doubt these are the best intermediate chips. And we do play intermediate chips only. No Paulsons and no ChipCos.

In the end, all you need in a poker game are vibrant colors so everyone knows each chip value quickly. You also want to respect people's ears, and the splash sound can be one of the best sounds to a poker player. Feel and weight are also important. And looks. . . well. . . beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Chip Pictures

Yellow chip showing minor blemishes in inlays (watch closely the 'A' and 'P' and compare them to the other pictures and you will see the problems).


Green chip showing wear and injection blob on the inner recessed circle


White chip showing mold ridge along chip


All Chips in faced and stacked view, courtesy of the Manufacturer: