18xx Poker Chips
Rode Strawther
The Bank chips were made to be a versatile set that will work great with Board Games or Poker. The chips are made by the same company that makes our popular Majestic & Royal chips. The chips are solid clay and weigh around 10 grams each.
We were asked by members of boardgamegeek.com last year to design chips for board game players. Some of the unique features asked for were a 20 and 2000 chip. Since many people will be using these chips for 18xx games we have a very light Train theme. If you look closely at the mold you will see train tracks going around the chip.
I have had my chips for a couple months now. I am very impressed by them. Compared to other chips I have used (Iron Clays as an example), these are far and away better. Got 300 to cover nearly any board game including 18XX games. Love that they have 20 denomination as well!
These chips are great. The ONLY complaint I have is that the color on the 100s is pretty variable. Some of them are a DARK black, some are closer to gray. Somewhat less noticeable with the 5s and 2000s. Otherwise, i could not be happier.
When purchasing online, however, there is a strong trend to follow the most common Vegas colors. Nowadays your standard set of labeled poker chips available for purchase offers a selection of white $1 chips, red 5s, dark blue 10s, green 25s, light blue 50s, black 100s, and purple 500s. No 20s. Frankly, this is not ideal. Most importantly for 18xx, $25 chips are awkward. Yet if you decide you really want $20 chips, you will will need to (1) find a manufacturer that offers them (not easy), or (2) skip labels altogether and use a blank but fully customized set (less user-friendly). And if you go for option number one, what color should you make those $20 chips if there is no standard?
In forming my opinions and mining the net for information on poker chips, I read a lot and watched a lot of review videos. In truth, I owe a debt of gratitude to the people who know much more than I do about poker chips and 18xx. What follows is a brief sampling of some of these resources, many of which dive deeper into specific aspects of the topic than I do here.
In the US you can order a sample to test if you like those particular chips.
He ordered his here in Germany because the poker hype made it so they are available here. He says he could imagine the same thing happened in Japan.
The weirdest thing about the 10s is how non-committal Roxley are to the denomination. They add the bare minimum compared to loads of 5s and 20s, so not enough for anyone who wants to use 10s, but their presence winds up the purists. Very odd.
are both sensible denominations to use. Throw in a few pointless 10s, and you have a superfluous denomination that adds another colour to remember when counting stacks from the side, and another ratio to make change for.
I have since the first BGG.CON used a great set of poker chips that say boardgamegeek that I bought at the CON after the poker tournament there. I have used those proudly since then. I must say however that these blow them away.
I prefer board gaming over computer gaming because I like the personal interaction and tactile feel of handling board games. And I can tell you poker chips get used across a ton of different games, Incredibly versatile. They will see the table every session more then any other item or game in my collection. And having a premium product like this enhances the experience.
Most economic games feature a lot of transactions. In Irish Gauge, people will be buying stock and collecting dividends. In Power Grid, people will buy power plants, buy resources, expand their network, and collect revenue. And when you have transactions on that scale, paper money becomes a liability.
Next up we have the Monaco poker chips which are as close to casino grade chips as you can get without springing for older, retired casino chips. These Monacos are made in the same factory as casino grade chips and the quality shines through.
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