[smitty007]

Hey everyone, wondered if anyone could give me some feedback on how the Smooth ceramics wear with use vs. Textured chips wear with use. I'm interested in stackability and slickness of the chips mainly, but also any other things that you have come across while using the chips.

I have samples of both, but am mainly interested in how they wear with use because I like the feel of textured chips, but have heard that, with use, they get slicker than the smooth chips and was wondering if there is any truth to this?

Thanks ahead of time for your help!

-smitty

[the3rd]

Originally Posted by smitty007

Hey everyone, wondered if anyone could give me some feedback on how the Smooth ceramics wear with use vs. Textured chips wear with use. I'm interested in stackability and slickness of the chips mainly, but also any other things that you have come across while using the chips.

I have samples of both, but am mainly interested in how they wear with use because I like the feel of textured chips, but have heard that, with use, they get slicker than the smooth chips and was wondering if there is any truth to this?

Thanks ahead of time for your help!

-smitty

I had the same questions. So... I ruined a couple of my samples. I took two textured chips and rubbed them together. In about one minute there was noticeable wear. After two minutes, they felt very much like the smooth variety. With my smooth samples, I rubbed them longer and more violently without any appreciable wear. I used some 1500 grit sandpaper on them as well. The print quality suffered more on the textured surface chips as well. The smooth chips had an even lightening of the colors, but no real loss in clarity.

I followed up by rubbing the edge of one chip on the flat surface of another like you would a coin. Once again the textured suffered more. The only way you could notice the wear on the smooth chip was under extreme viewing angles. H4tfan came to the same conclusion in his review of ABC samples.

Only when scratched with a sharp object, was the mark less noticeable on the textured chip. How often does this happen while playing poker?

I have come to the following conclusions. The wear induced under H4tfans review is more than would be inflicted under normal conditions. IMO, the smooth would fare better at most poker tables when it comes to wear issues. They also start out looking nicer, at least to me.

As for stacking, I am disappointed with Chipcos. Both real casino and home chips samples had spinners. They were not so bad as to effect stacks smaller than 20 or so and suspect as high as 40. I don't have enough to give a definite answer. They have the best feeling texture in my opinion. Even better than my B&G chips from the Palms. How does texture effect stacking? I've found that to be a matter of contention on this site. From the posts I've read, it seems that textured is definitely better for initial stacks. But if the table gets bumped or something similar happens all bets are off. Sometimes the smooth chips stay up better. As textured chips wear I could assume this could be more and more accurate.

FWIW, I have played many hours with full sets of the old BR Pro Kokopellis, NJ Skulls, smooth Bellagio replicas and Chipcos in a casino. Overall, I like the Bellagios best (except for the bleeding on the 100s and the unaligned spots). Hope this is what you were looking for Smitty.

[noelsarchs]

I'm placemarking this thread so I can find it later as I have the same question regarding the options for the new Kokopelli group buy.

[smitty007]

Originally Posted by the3rd

I had the same questions. So... I ruined a couple of my samples. I took two textured chips and rubbed them together. In about one minute there was noticeable wear. After two minutes, they felt very much like the smooth variety. With my smooth samples, I rubbed them longer and more violently without any appreciable wear. I used some 1500 grit sandpaper on them as well. The print quality suffered more on the textured surface chips as well. The smooth chips had an even lightening of the colors, but no real loss in clarity.

I followed up by rubbing the edge of one chip on the flat surface of another like you would a coin. Once again the textured suffered more. The only way you could notice the wear on the smooth chip was under extreme viewing angles. H4tfan came to the same conclusion in his review of ABC samples.

Only when scratched with a sharp object, was the mark less noticeable on the textured chip. How often does this happen while playing poker?

I have come to the following conclusions. The wear induced under H4tfans review is more than would be inflicted under normal conditions. IMO, the smooth would fare better at most poker tables when it comes to wear issues. They also start out looking nicer, at least to me.

As for stacking, I am disappointed with Chipcos. Both real casino and home chips samples had spinners. They were not so bad as to effect stacks smaller than 20 or so and suspect as high as 40. I don't have enough to give a definite answer. They have the best feeling texture in my opinion. Even better than my B&G chips from the Palms. How does texture effect stacking? I've found that to be a matter of contention on this site. From the posts I've read, it seems that textured is definitely better for initial stacks. But if the table gets bumped or something similar happens all bets are off. Sometimes the smooth chips stay up better. As textured chips wear I could assume this could be more and more accurate.

FWIW, I have played many hours with full sets of the old BR Pro Kokopellis, NJ Skulls, smooth Bellagio replicas and Chipcos in a casino. Overall, I like the Bellagios best (except for the bleeding on the 100s and the unaligned spots). Hope this is what you were looking for Smitty.

the3rd,
Thanks for the response, that helps a lot! I always thought textured chips would be better for stacking, but after reading some posts on CT I'm not so sure! I do like the feel of the textured chips though...

-smitty

[Matt]

Originally Posted by the3rd

I had the same questions. So... I ruined a couple of my samples. I took two textured chips and rubbed them together. In about one minute there was noticeable wear. After two minutes, they felt very much like the smooth variety. With my smooth samples, I rubbed them longer and more violently without any appreciable wear. I used some 1500 grit sandpaper on them as well. The print quality suffered more on the textured surface chips as well. The smooth chips had an even lightening of the colors, but no real loss in clarity.

I followed up by rubbing the edge of one chip on the flat surface of another like you would a coin. Once again the textured suffered more. The only way you could notice the wear on the smooth chip was under extreme viewing angles. H4tfan came to the same conclusion in his review of ABC samples.

Only when scratched with a sharp object, was the mark less noticeable on the textured chip. How often does this happen while playing poker?

I have come to the following conclusions. The wear induced under H4tfans review is more than would be inflicted under normal conditions. IMO, the smooth would fare better at most poker tables when it comes to wear issues. They also start out looking nicer, at least to me.

As for stacking, I am disappointed with Chipcos. Both real casino and home chips samples had spinners. They were not so bad as to effect stacks smaller than 20 or so and suspect as high as 40. I don't have enough to give a definite answer. They have the best feeling texture in my opinion. Even better than my B&G chips from the Palms. How does texture effect stacking? I've found that to be a matter of contention on this site. From the posts I've read, it seems that textured is definitely better for initial stacks. But if the table gets bumped or something similar happens all bets are off. Sometimes the smooth chips stay up better. As textured chips wear I could assume this could be more and more accurate.

FWIW, I have played many hours with full sets of the old BR Pro Kokopellis, NJ Skulls, smooth Bellagio replicas and Chipcos in a casino. Overall, I like the Bellagios best (except for the bleeding on the 100s and the unaligned spots). Hope this is what you were looking for Smitty.

Good post

Which smooth chips did you test, the old ones that makes a "clack" sound or the latest ones that are more similar to ChipCo chips?

Matt

[abcgiftsandawards]

From the testing that I have done, as well as several other customers, the smooth chips definitely hold up better over time. To me it makes sense, as the textured chips are like rubbing sandpaper across each other constantly...there is going to be wear. We are actually going to stop carrying textured chips very soon, once our current supply runs out.

Thanks,
Gene

[noelsarchs]

Originally Posted by abcgiftsandawards

From the testing that I have done, as well as several other customers, the smooth chips definitely hold up better over time. To me it makes sense, as the textured chips are like rubbing sandpaper across each other constantly...there is going to be wear. We are actually going to stop carrying textured chips very soon, once our current supply runs out.

Thanks,
Gene

Could you post a close up picture of the smooth next to the old textured please?

This affects the new Kokopelli group buy options and I for one would like to see the difference before finalizing my order this week.

[smitty007]

Once the texture wore off wouldn't you be down to the same surface as the smooth chip starts out as?

My biggest question is, do the textured chips get slicker than the smooth chips with use?

[the3rd]

Originally Posted by Matt

Good post

Which smooth chips did you test, the old ones that makes a "clack" sound or the latest ones that are more similar to ChipCo chips?

Matt

The smooth Sunfly chips are Bellagio replicas. I'm not sure if that makes them old or new, but they sound nearly identical to Chipcos to my ears. I also tested ABC and CasinoTek smooth chips.

[the3rd]

Originally Posted by smitty007

Once the texture wore off wouldn't you be down to the same surface as the smooth chip starts out as?

My biggest question is, do the textured chips get slicker than the smooth chips with use?

The texturing seems pretty tough, so I think it would require casino use to wear away the texturing entirely. The image would be very degraded before that point. Even though you can see the texture in the picture you can't really feel it anymore. To answer your question, textured chips won't get slicker than a smooth chip, but by the time they feel the same as a smooth chip, they will look like crap.

Originally Posted by noelsarchs

Could you post a close up picture of the smooth next to the old textured please?

This affects the new Kokopelli group buy options and I for one would like to see the difference before finalizing my order this week.

Sorry for the embedded pics, but I couldn't get ImageShack to upload my pics. The ABC texture feels similar to the BR Pro Kokopellis if I remember correctly. If you liked the original Kokos, you will most likely like the new ones with the texture. Some of the smaller detail in the denoms and the gradients between colors might look better on the smooth.This picture, due to its size is not really indicative of what is visible to the naked eye. To just look at the chips, there is just a bit of lost detail with the textured one. Unfortunately I don't have an old Koko to photogragh for comparison, so this is the best I can do for now.