Chip Sets
Fat Cat 500 Chip Set Review: A Year of Friday Night Games
Three years on the shelf, one year of keeping notes. What holds up on a 500-chip set that runs a six-handed basement game every Friday.
Nine years of Friday nights in a Toledo basement, and the one upgrade that changed how the table feels.
Three years on the shelf, one year of keeping notes. What holds up on a 500-chip set that runs a six-handed basement game every Friday.
A home game host compares the Fat Cat 500Ct Claytec set with the cheap plastic chips it replaced, on weight, sound, and what three years of Friday nights does to both.
Nine years of Friday night poker in my basement, three of them with clay composite chips. Here are the ten differences you actually notice, in the order I noticed them.
Nine years of Friday nights in a Toledo basement, and the one upgrade that changed how the table feels.
Nine years of Friday nights, one three by five card, and a setup that takes four minutes.
Three years, roughly 140 Friday nights, and one worn-out aluminum case. Notes on the chips that held up and the parts of this set I would change.
A retired machinist's two-year notes on the folding topper that turns a basement kitchen table into a Friday night poker room.
Two years with a folding topper on a kitchen table, plus plenty of nights at a friend's full table. Here is the honest split, from a man who hosts every Friday.
Ten things I noticed after two years of hosting Friday night poker on a folding topper, from the cup holders to the fold line.
A plain-spoken home game host on the 48-inch topper that made his old basement table work for six players, and what he would tell a friend before buying one.
Measure the table, clear it off, set the topper, lay out the chips, then put the whole thing away in two minutes. The order matters more than you would think.
A folding topper is not a poker table. Here is what two years of Friday games taught me about the 48-inch Trademark Poker top, including the eight-player claim and the fold line.
Two years, eighty-plus Friday nights, and three trips through a bowl of soapy water. Here is what actually happens to a plastic deck at a home game.
Two years of Fridays, one dish soap wash, and a stack of dead paper decks in a drawer. Here is where the plastic set actually earns its keep, and where it does not.
A home game host's plain-spoken notes on why the deck stops being a thing you buy every six weeks.
Two years ago my brother-in-law could not read the cards across the table. Here is the deck that fixed it, and why it never left the basement.
Nine years of Friday night poker in a basement taught me that cards do not wear out from shuffling. They wear out from what is on your hands and where you leave them when the game is over. Here is the routine that keeps a plastic deck in play for years.
A plain-spoken look at the plastic cards that survived two years of Friday night poker in a Toledo basement.
Five months of Fridays in a Toledo basement, six regulars, one deck that keeps curling. Here is what the machine actually did.
Five months of Fridays with a machine on the felt, and the places where fingers still beat it.
Five months with a KPAW shuffler on the basement table, and the ten changes I actually noticed.
Nine years of Friday nights, one brother-in-law with stiff hands, and the small machine that got the table moving again.
Five things I actually do every Friday, from where the machine sits to who runs it.
Five months of Friday night games, four jams, and one brother-in-law who can deal again. What the listing does not tell you about the KPAW shuffler.
A retired machinist runs his basement game through ten clear acrylic trays for a year and reports exactly what held up, what scratched, and what he would change.
The aluminum case came with my chips. The trays came a year later. Here is which one actually earns its shelf space on Friday nights.
Nine years of Friday games taught me that chip storage is not a small problem. Ten acrylic trays fixed it in one night.
Notes from nine years of Friday night poker, and the ten trays that ended the chip pile on my bar.
A year of Fridays, ten trays, and a setup routine that takes five minutes instead of thirty.
A retired machinist who hosts a Friday night basement game spent a year trying to find something wrong with ten acrylic chip trays. Here is what he found, including the parts the listing does not mention.
Three years on the shelf, one year of keeping notes. What holds up on a 500-chip set that runs a six-handed basement game every Friday.
Three years, roughly 140 Friday nights, and one worn-out aluminum case. Notes on the chips that held up and the parts of this set I would change.
A retired machinist's two-year notes on the folding topper that turns a basement kitchen table into a Friday night poker room.
A folding topper is not a poker table. Here is what two years of Friday games taught me about the 48-inch Trademark Poker top, including the eight-player claim and the fold line.
Two years, eighty-plus Friday nights, and three trips through a bowl of soapy water. Here is what actually happens to a plastic deck at a home game.
A plain-spoken look at the plastic cards that survived two years of Friday night poker in a Toledo basement.
Five months of Fridays in a Toledo basement, six regulars, one deck that keeps curling. Here is what the machine actually did.
Five months of Friday night games, four jams, and one brother-in-law who can deal again. What the listing does not tell you about the KPAW shuffler.
A retired machinist runs his basement game through ten clear acrylic trays for a year and reports exactly what held up, what scratched, and what he would change.
A retired machinist who hosts a Friday night basement game spent a year trying to find something wrong with ten acrylic chip trays. Here is what he found, including the parts the listing does not mention.