There are three main classifications of poker chips available today: Plastic, Clay, and Ceramic. Unfortunately it's not that simple, as chips can be mixes of clay and plastics. In many cases, a chip that is mostly plastic with a small amount of clay content can be called clay.
Here's one important fact to know before starting. Chip weight can have nothing to do with chip quality. It's a huge misconception with first time chip buyers. It's intuitive to think that a heavier chip is a higher quality chip, but it's not necessarily true. Chip weight is a preference.
A chip is made heavier by producing it with a metal core. 11.5 gram and 14 gram chips get their weight from that metal core. The weights of most casino chips are only 9-10 grams, light in comparison to most chips available to the home gaming market.
So it's ok to want a heavier chip, but buying the heaviest chips doesn't mean your getting the best. Stackability, sharpness of edges, and consistency of thickness from chip to chip is what defines chip quality (and look of course).
Below is our attempt to give you a quick education on poker chips so you can make the most informed buying decision possible:
Supermarket Plastic Chips - Composed entirely of plastic, these are the ones you've probably played with at one time in your life.
Dubbed "Supermarket Poker Chips", they're real light, weighing only a few grams, thin, and cheap. Since these can be found in almost any store, we do not carry this grade of poker chip.
ABS Plastic Chips - composed of a plastic material called ABS (high impact strength plastic). Most ABS plastic chips are molded with a metal core to add weight to the chip. The metal core also gives it the ability to be custom hot stamped. Poker Chip Lounge carries a wide selection of ABS plastic chips.
ABS plastic chips have certain advantages. The first is price. ABS is a less expensive material than clay. So an ABS plastic chip is always going to be lower in price than a chip with actual clay content.
Secondly, ABS plastic chips can yield sharper, more detailed mold designs strike designs than a clay chip can (ABS plastic used in composites is harder than clay, and this hardness creates sharper designs).
ABS plastic chips also have more durability and lifespan. Poker chips with clay content can chip and scuff much faster than ABS plastic chips.
You may hear or have read a variety of complaints about ABS plastic chips. One that we've heard is that it has a metal insert. We really don't see a problem with a metal insert in a poker chip. It gives the chip weight and ability to be hot stamped without cracking as much.
Some players don't like the pinging sound it makes when dropped into a pile
of chips, while others actually like the sound. One definite downside to ABS plastic chips is that they tend not to stack as well as a good clay chip.
Nexgen Plastic Chips - Nexgen plastic uses a specialized manufacturing process to make a plastic chip to feel more like a clay chip. Nexgen plastics have a softer, duller surface, which makes them stack more like a clay.
Nexgen plastics are priced a little higher than most ABS chips, but lower than a good clay compression chip. Pokerchiplounge.com carries a variety of Nexgen plastics.
PLASTIC POKER CHIP SUMMARY - There's nothing like a high end clay compression chip, but if your budget doesn't allow for casino grade clay poker chips, or if you want a nice custom hot stamped chip set, ABS & Nexgens plastic can be a great option. Now onto clays...
Injection Molded Clay Composite Chips -Composed of clay plus some other material. Sometimes a metal core is added for extra weight and hot stamping ability. Like an ABS plastic, manufactured using injection molding.
There is no such thing as 100% pure clay poker chips. A pure clay chip would be so weak and brittle you would be able to snap it in half. That means that any clay chip is a clay composite of some sort, even casino grade chips like Paulson, except they are manufactured differently (compression molding discussed later).
The problem is that even if a chip is 5% clay material and 95% ABS plastic it can still be called clay composite. This is why it's important to be careful when choosing a clay chip. You don't want to end up with a mostly ABS plastic when you want clay.
In fact, it gets worse. Some unscrupulous internet retailers refer to an ABS chip as "clay composite", when they know it has no clay content at all.
Why Clay? Certain players prefer clay content in their chips because the chips have a duller texture and different feel than that of an ABS composite chip. One advantage to the dull surface of a clay composite poker chip is its better stacking ability.
ABS composite chips have a slicker surface, and do not stack on top of each other as well as clay composite does. Based on customer feedback, stacking ability is more of an issue to professional and frequent players than it is to the average player.
Owning a set of clay composite poker chips does have its disadvantages as well. Most importantly is the fact that they simply have less durability than that of ABS composite. A clay composite chip is more fragile than an ABS composite, it can chip and will show scuff marks much easier. Because they are clay composite, real casino chips get beat up quite easily. But for those who really prefer clay, this is accepted and actually adds character to the chip.
Price is another factor when considering a clay composite poker chip set. Clay is a more expensive material than ABS, and the price of the chip will reflect that. Clay chips also have different sound when splashed against the pot than ABS chips. The clay gives it more of a "thud" than the "ping" you get with a composite chip.
Pokerchiplounge.com clearly defines the difference between clay vs. ABS plastic. In other words, if it has clay in it, it will be identified as clay composite.
Now within the clay chip selections, different chips use varying amounts of clay.
We actually separate clays further into two categories, Home & Tournament grade and casino grade clays. Home & tournament clays are moderately priced and are our best selling chips. The 14 Gram AK & Suits and the 13 Gram Proclay have a good clay feel to them and both can be custom hot stamped. The Desert Sands and Dunes chips have a bit less clay in them but feature fantastic mold designs and vibrant printed inlays.
Now onto Casino Grade Clays...
Casino Grade Clay Poker Chips - Most casino grade clay chips have a high clay content and are produced via compression molding. They have excellent stacking ability and sharp edges. Paulson produces the best casino grade clay chips available to the home gaming market.
Casino grade clays cost more, upward of $1 per chip. Many will move up to a casino grade clay set after owning ABS or injection molded clay sets. They're definitely more expensive but once owned, you have your chips for life.
Pokerchiplounge.com offers a few different Paulson series chips and the Great Wall series. The Great Wall series is not quite casino grade, but close enough for most, for a fraction of the price.
Ceramic Poker Chips - While most people are familiar with clay and ABS chips, ceramic poker chips are something new to them. Ceramics have actually been around for some time now, and are becoming increasingly popular.
Ceramic poker chips generally weigh around ten grams. The cool thing about ceramic chips is that the image is not printed on the surface, it's actually embedded inside the chip, under the surface. This means the image can never scratch or peel off unless the chip cracks or breaks.
Ceramic chips are not pure ceramic, so you don't have to worry about them easily cracking when playing. They also contain a polymer which helps give the chip some strength. They can crack if mishandled, but won't break when playing.
Ceramic chips have a textured surface so they stack real well. They can be customized as well, and are more diificult to counterfeit than an inlay chip. This makes them a very popular choice in the custom chip market.
