[RTBrandy]

What is the general consensus on the following...

same design, front and back (vs. different)

and

having the denominations on the chips...


(I know, ultimately, it's a personal decision, just wondering what others think about it....)

Thanks

[sambo]

i'm doing chips right now and i decided not to put denominations on them so that i could hold a T1000 or a T10000 tourney or a cash game with the same chips. just put a piece of paper on the wall w/ the denoms.

as for the same thing on the front and back or different... well.. i'm still considering either so i'm interested in what opinions people will have just like you.

[jello-broom]

I strongly believe in having denominated chips for tournament use, and having non denominated for cash use (2 different sets for each purpose). Of course it's cool to have denoms for cash games, but ultimately, unless you play the SAME stakes ALL the time, non denoms will be much more versatile for cash use ...

As for having different inlays/designs on the chip, I could have either one, but I think I'd generally prefer to have both sides the same.

[tastic]

I have customs on order and have denoms on all chips...personally, I'm not a fan of NCV...especially for cash sets as they represent real money and it's my personal opinion that this should be indicated...

My current tourney set has denoms as well, as I tire of the "what's this worth again?" questions

As for the inlays, I've gone with different designs on each face...one with a white and one with a black inlay so when they are in a pot, there is a yin-yang effect going...

Again, these are all subjective as there are arguments for either...

[plz]

I have non-denomination chips as well as having a set of fully custom chips with denominations (ASM) about to be delivered. Here's my experience:

If you're only going to purchase 4 - 5 different chip colors, you'll get the most versatility with chips that have no denomination printed on them. You can use them for both tournaments (you'll rarely need more than four different chip colors for tournaments unless your players like a lot of chips, which I don't) as well as ring games. Of course, you probably won't use the same set of chips for both tournaments and cash games on the same night, but if you vary your formats (e.g., cash games one week, tournaments the next week) you can use the same non-denominational set for both formats. This setup gives maximum versatility with the minimum number of chips.

For my fully custom set, I created eight different denominations: $0.25, $1, $5, $25, $100, $500, $1000, and $5000. This set works for just about any tournament structure with starting stacks from T1000 up to T10000 (e.g., the WSOP main event structure) as well as the cash games that I play, where the maximum chip denomination we use is $25 and our pots range from a few dollars to a maximum of about $500. If we ever increase the stakes, I'll have enough higher denomination chips to handle that scenario.

The drawback with chips that have printed denominations is that you just need more chips if you want to use them for both cash games and tournaments. You're unlikely to play a tournament where the starting stack is less than T1000 (although I've played tournaments where the starting stack is T100 and the starting blinds are $1 - $2) so you really need to have $100 and $500 chips for these tournaments. Unless your cash games are for the same stakes, you'll need a different set of denominations for the cash games.

If you do decide to get denominated chips, it's my strong advice to get the denomination printed on both sides. My custom chips have exactly the same design on both sides since I like the symmetry, but I've played with asymmetric chips as well, and they work fine (as long as the denomination is printed on both sides). This is mostly a personal preference.

Hope this helps.

[RTBrandy]

I, Ultimately went with the same design on both sides, with denoms on both sides in the following breakdown...

$1 .......... 700 ....... white 3D14 red / arc yellow
$2 .......... 300 ....... pink 312 black
$5 .......... 600 ....... man red 312 yellow
$10 ........ 200 ....... blue 312 white
$25 ........ 800 ....... green 312 dg pink
$100 ...... 500 ....... black 312 red
$500 ..... 100 ........ purple 3D14 arc yellow / dg pink

I can use these same chips for ring and tourney....

my thoughts were that I didn't want to cause the players any more thinking than was absolutely necessary...(i.e. looking up colors, pot counting, etc)

I might have gone overboard, but, hell, that's what an obsession is for, eh?

[tallsbutler]

i use the same thing on each side for my chips.

[viet rounder]

In all honesty, u gotta have denominations, cash or tourny. Ask yourself, what are chips? Chips are props that represent currency, which means they should have denominations. Otherwise they'll just be art diskets. IMHO, chips that do not have denominations look unfinished.

Your set can be versatile in whatever denomination u choose. Lets be honest, most people here stress out as if u eventually need a cash set and a tournament set. This is really nothing less than an excuse to purchase more chips (yes im a victim too). The truth is, you dont need both. Either way will be fine. You can still use $0.25, $1, $5 for tournaments as well. Have everyone start out with $50, and make the blinds $0.50-$1.

Bottomline, have denominations. You can never go wrong with this route.

[hachkc]

Personally, I like having 2 sets: 1 for tournies and 1 for cash games. There are several reasons for this:

1. Usually, we always have a cash game after the tourney is over or when enough folks have busted out or shown up late.

2. You don't have to worry about "chip migration" between tables. Not a big concern to me but some folks have had problems before.

3. I just think chips look wrong without a denom on them; personal preference. If I'm paying for customs, I want what I like. My cash set goes from .25 - $100 and my tourney set goes from $5 - $1k.

[MeridianFC]

My take. I have denominated on my cash set, just numbers on the tourney set. The cash chips represent, well cash. The tourney chips represent equity in the tourney pool. I like having two separate sets, one for each purpose. Secure and you get to have two chip sets.

I prefer same design front and back. The temptation to utilize everbit of artisitic space on offer is strong, I just think it looks better to have all of the whichever chips look alike whether or not their face up or down.

My cash set is 25¢/$1/$5/$25/$100 and covers all levels I play at and has some wiggle room for inflation

My tourney set is 25/100/500/1000 and I don't really need the 1000. When it comes to tournies I really like folks to have stacks of chips, hell who doesn't love stacks? I usually don't do multi table stuff though I could double my normal SnG style table if required. If pressed the tourney set could make a cash set.