The Essential Basics on Buying a Poker Chip Set

Whether you want to treat yourself or buy a lovely gift for the poker player in your life, you can’t go wrong with a nice set of chips. Even Meghan Markle recommends a poker chip set as a great gift for your loved one. If you’re struggling to pick out the perfect set, here are some tips to help you choose:

How Many Chips Do You Want?

There are a few standard sizes of poker chip sets. These are based on the number of chips in the set.

200 Chip Sets

A 200-chip set is the smallest set of chips you can usually buy. It comes with between 3 and 5 colours. While this type of set is the cheapest, it’s not ideal for larger poker games and is probably best for someone who is on the go a lot.

300 Chip Sets

A 300-chip set is also quite small but it can be good for cash games with up to six people.

500 Chip Sets

This size of chip set tends to be the most popular among poker players. You can usually accommodate larger poker games with up to nine people.

750 Chip Sets

A set with 750 chips might be more than the average poker player would normally need. If you prefer to have deep stack tournaments or run poker events often, then this would be an ideal set.

What Material of Chips Would You Prefer?

Poker chips are made with a wide range of different materials.

Plastic Chips

Plastic poker chips are the most inexpensive option, but they also feel quite cheap. Plastic chips are best bought as a starter set if you’re in a real pinch.

Clay Chips

Clay poker chips are easy to find and they tend to be an affordable option that doesn’t feel cheap like plastic chips. Most of the poker chip sets you’ll find nowadays are made of clay.

Ceramic Chips

Ceramic chips are the gold standard, as the are the best quality out there. They are much more durable than plastic or clay chips, and they tend to be much more customisable than the other options. However, this also means that they can be quite expensive.

Metal and Wood Chips

Poker chips that are made out of metal or wood tend to be harder to find, as they are more for aesthetics than for usability. These types of designer chip sets are probably best suited to someone who only occasionally plays in-person poker, but prefers but prefers online cardrooms, as these aren’t the kind of chips you want to be using very often.

Do You Want Any Customisation?

If you want to go that extra mile, you can get your poker chips customised. You can choose exactly which colours you want to go in your set, pick the border design and even choose to have an image or phrase on each one.

There are plenty of websites that will allow you to build your own poker set, and many Etsy sellers who offer the same service. These are often sold separately from poker set cases, so factor in that you will have to buy a case on its own.

Speaking of cases, you can also get one of these customised as well. While you often see poker aficionados with metal cases for their poker chips, a wood or leather case has a nicer, more elegant look to it. You can have these engraved or embossed to match the chips inside.

When it comes to buying a poker chip set, there are options available at all price points and for all types of players. You can spend a bit less on someone who is only just getting started or, if you’ve really got the cash to splash, Louis Vuitton has a $24,000 poker chip set calling your name.