We play our .25/.50 cent $20 buy-in ring games with the Jackpot Casino Coin Inlay chips, denominated at .25/$1.00/$5.00. They cost about .17 cents each if you hunt around, and are willing to buy at least 500.
As much as I'd like to get a nice set of custom ASM's or the likes for our weekly games, I have a hard time playing with chips that are in most cases worth more than the actual denomination on them!
If we ever grow to a $1/$2 game I'll probably upgrade the chips, since at least the $1 chip would be worth about $1.
For some reason though, we've found that the 25/50 cent level is the least amount we can use that still keeps the game "serious" when it comes to action and betting, like respect for a raise. We've tried playing for less, but when you push all-in as the chip leader for $4.50, it doesn't have the same effect as pushing in for, say $37.00. Playing for less than out levels equated to almost playing with peanuts or pennies.
