I'm surprised you didn't mention that all of Claysmith's chips are based on real world casino chips: Gold Rush: Based heavily on Ellis Island casino chips Desert Heat: Based heavily on Mirage Casino chips Bluff Canyon: Based heavily on The Venetian Poker Room Chip Milano: Based heavily on the Bellagio Casino chip Rock and Roll: I mean......if I seriously have to tell you, then you don't deserve to know
I just received my order of 600 Milanos. 150 red $5s. 250 green $25s. 150 black $100s. And 50 purple $500s. A couple thoughts, as I believe Claysmith has made some improvements on the thickness issues of Milanos. In many reviews of Milanos, including this GREAT one, you see that the red $5s appear to be slightly thicker than the other denominations, while the other denominations are pretty consistent in thickness. Despite this, I decided to order a set about a month ago. But all over the internet, every site (including Claysmith's own site) was out of stock on the red $5 Milanos. This chip remained out of stock for about a month and is just now available again. Others may have noticed this as well if you were in the market. As soon as the red $5 chips were available again (about a week ago), I immediately ordered my set. I used pokerchipmania, as they were the cheapest I could find at $7.50 per 25. I received my set in 3 days btw. As I stacked my 24 stacks of 25 chips in the 4 denominations I mentioned before, I had NO thickness issues. All my stacks were almost perfect in all denominations. This leads me to believe that the unavailability of the red $5 chips was likely because Claysmith was fixing their mold/production of the $5 chips to fix the thickness issues. Just wanted to throw this out there since this is the best video review I've seen on Milanos and I want to make sure there's a proper update to the previous thickness issues.
I just bought a couple rolls of $5's to try. I play my home game with a set of nexgens. The nexgens are a great chip. And they keep everyone at my table happy. But the Milanos are a step above the nexgens. I'll end up buying a complete set of Milanos.
Milano poker chips seems to be readily available from a lot of places. Do Milano chips come from a single source or do various companies make their own version of the Milano chips?
So, i got a sample stack of Milano 5's to play with, and have had them for about 2 months now. I cleaned them with orange wipes to hopefully de-dedust them and knock the smell down. Unfortunately, it hasnt worked. They got slightly better, but they still smell like a rotten towel to me. I asked myself, do I care? Do people smell their chips that often? And the answer is probably NO, but I cant help but think, as a host of a poker game, that I'm putting something disgusting in the hands of my guests. I wish there was a fix for this, because I love everything else about these chips: the Bellagio-esque look, the weight, the hand feel, chip tricks and shuffling feel and sounds great, etc. I just dont know if I can get over this weird aspect of these chips.
The smell on the milanos really bugged me but I just wiped them down one at a time with orange wipes. It helped the out of the box smell a lot, just getting the dust off of them. Its annoying you have to do this, but I like them enough to get a set (I have a sample stack of $5's). And honestly, do you smell your chips? I was more worried the smell got stuck on your hands as you shuffle them and play all night - I dont want players at my game to get grossed out by my chip set. So far my testing seems to say, not really enough to notice. If you seek it out, you can probably detect it, but its barely there.
Question about Milano thickness issues. In older Milano reviews (2012-ish) there were many complaints about major thickness issues. Also some comments about these issues being resolved since then. Anyone make a recent order of Milanos that can speak to thickness concerns?
Just a quick comment on China Clay. I used to work for a company called ECC (English China Clay) in R&D. So I have some credibility on this issue. You are correct it is kaolinite (commonly referred as simply kaolin). There are deposits world wide. What makes it special is it's high whiteness, and fine particle size. It is used in ceramics, compounding, paint, paper coatings, food, and pretty much everything you see daily. What's more, it is relatively inexpensive in comparison to resins and other color pigments used to make these chips. So, basically, it's a great filler. It takes up space, it doesn't impact color, and because it's a plate shaped crystal, it adds strength. Of course you can use too much in the compound, and it has the opposite effect. Most compounding uses kaolin, or other fillers such as talc, calcium carbonate (ground up marble), silicas etc. All impart certain qualities on the final compound, but also just take up space and reduce cost.
I have 250$ (give or take 25$) dedicated to purchasing my first set of poker chips. I would like them to be of best quality as possible... design I don't care much (I find beauty in the individual relative to itself). If you had to go back into time and become a 28yr old passionate poker player on a budget... which would you choose?
HELP, just order the desert heat and then i found your reviews, got one question, they said they'll take them back no problem but i need some poker chips, should i trade them of for the milano or keep the desert heat as they may be kind of the same? price is almost double. is it worth the jump in price from desert to milano? ty love your videos.
I would look at ceramics, like Tiki Kings. If you don't like ceramics I would just wait for Paulson to release some more consumer chips. Thanks just me. Thanks for watching, good question.
I suggest you take a look at CPS china clays. I know they are limited as it was a group buy deal but supposedly the quality is pretty high @42 cents a chip. I have a sample set on order.
mstang1988 Wow, advanced comment. I'm not going to review PGI limited runs like the CPS or 8 V's. For those not familiar, certain groups order limited run custom sets. These are nice and people ordering them know what they are and what they want and don't need me to review them :) I'm sticking with stock chips, in this series anyway. Thanks for watching and good comment.
Hobbyphilic Thank you for the video series. It's helpful to get an overview of chips from one person, especially for the new buyer. I've read a lot to know have an idea and have handled a few of those in your review series. For cards to review I would add a few to your list. The Modiano Acetate Platinums and the Dal Negro Freedom X. I'm curious, are you a Chip collector or do you have just a ton of game tables (craps etc) and keep them stocked?
They must've upped the quality on the Milanos. I bought a set not long ago and I was very impressed. They aren't a Paulson or CPK but I was quite impressed. People that aren't obsessed with chips seem to like them a lot and think they're nice. For most poker players the Milanos would be a good chip.
Leroy Jenkins Leroy Jenkins playing poker? That'll be exciting. My favorite right now is the Milano set of chips. Second place Scroll. Last is Nile Club. If you don't mind the thickness issues, they feel the best for the price. The only contender that I haven't tried is the china clay Pharaoh's Poker Chips at Apache. Hope that helps, thanks for watching.
So I tried oiling these, and I've lived with my samples out on my desk, open to the air to breathe, for 6 months or more. They still smell like an old rotting towel. I cant get past it. I cant as a poker game host have my guests handling something that smells like garbage, no matter how cool the chips look. Especially at their price. I'd stay away from these.
They SMELL really bad. I just bought a set of "double trapezoid" chips, which are the same chip as the Milanos without the inlays. I tried oiling them with baby oil and letting them sit outside for weeks, but they still smell. I used them for the first time the other day wondering if people would notice, and right away someone said "what's that foul smell"? I'm trying to get a refund. You are warned. Perhaps they switched factories or owners or something and the current ones smell worse than the older ones?
I've heard a lot about oiling these chips, with mineral or baby oil and it helps with the smell thing. Anyone try it? I am going to in a few days. That's probably a good sign of how much I like these, if this works I would consider getting a 1,000 chip set and hand oiling the whole thing.
you're the man...JUST what I was looking for on RUclips, you've saved me going out and buying a dozen sample sets from five different websites
I purchased the milanos. Great chip. Thanks for helping with the decision.
@Leroy Jenkins
I am thinking about getting the Milanos. After 9 months of play, what are your comments? any suggestions?
I'm surprised you didn't mention that all of Claysmith's chips are based on real world casino chips:
Gold Rush: Based heavily on Ellis Island casino chips
Desert Heat: Based heavily on Mirage Casino chips
Bluff Canyon: Based heavily on The Venetian Poker Room Chip
Milano: Based heavily on the Bellagio Casino chip
Rock and Roll: I mean......if I seriously have to tell you, then you don't deserve to know
I just received my order of 600 Milanos. 150 red $5s. 250 green $25s. 150 black $100s. And 50 purple $500s. A couple thoughts, as I believe Claysmith has made some improvements on the thickness issues of Milanos.
In many reviews of Milanos, including this GREAT one, you see that the red $5s appear to be slightly thicker than the other denominations, while the other denominations are pretty consistent in thickness. Despite this, I decided to order a set about a month ago. But all over the internet, every site (including Claysmith's own site) was out of stock on the red $5 Milanos. This chip remained out of stock for about a month and is just now available again. Others may have noticed this as well if you were in the market.
As soon as the red $5 chips were available again (about a week ago), I immediately ordered my set. I used pokerchipmania, as they were the cheapest I could find at $7.50 per 25. I received my set in 3 days btw. As I stacked my 24 stacks of 25 chips in the 4 denominations I mentioned before, I had NO thickness issues. All my stacks were almost perfect in all denominations. This leads me to believe that the unavailability of the red $5 chips was likely because Claysmith was fixing their mold/production of the $5 chips to fix the thickness issues.
Just wanted to throw this out there since this is the best video review I've seen on Milanos and I want to make sure there's a proper update to the previous thickness issues.
can you please do a video showing all of them? and a chip by chip comparison with all the denominations?
Video made
agree your the man, good review. Help me alot before started spending money. Thanks for the work you do,
I just bought a couple rolls of $5's to try. I play my home game with a set of nexgens. The nexgens are a great chip. And they keep everyone at my table happy. But the Milanos are a step above the nexgens. I'll end up buying a complete set of Milanos.
Like the Bill and Ted reference
Milano poker chips seems to be readily available from a lot of places. Do Milano chips come from a single source or do various companies make their own version of the Milano chips?
So, i got a sample stack of Milano 5's to play with, and have had them for about 2 months now. I cleaned them with orange wipes to hopefully de-dedust them and knock the smell down. Unfortunately, it hasnt worked. They got slightly better, but they still smell like a rotten towel to me.
I asked myself, do I care? Do people smell their chips that often? And the answer is probably NO, but I cant help but think, as a host of a poker game, that I'm putting something disgusting in the hands of my guests.
I wish there was a fix for this, because I love everything else about these chips: the Bellagio-esque look, the weight, the hand feel, chip tricks and shuffling feel and sounds great, etc. I just dont know if I can get over this weird aspect of these chips.
Joe Gillum I know that this is an extremely late response. Try using vegetable oil, works like a charm
Thanks for the videos. Just had a question. What acrylic tray size do you recommend for Milano chips? The 68mm or 70mm?
Thanks in advance!
Yes... inlays on china clays are stickers.
thanks for this, very helpful!
Do the blue $10 chips differentiate from the $500s enough?
What chips did you end up with?
The smell on the milanos really bugged me but I just wiped them down one at a time with orange wipes. It helped the out of the box smell a lot, just getting the dust off of them. Its annoying you have to do this, but I like them enough to get a set (I have a sample stack of $5's). And honestly, do you smell your chips? I was more worried the smell got stuck on your hands as you shuffle them and play all night - I dont want players at my game to get grossed out by my chip set. So far my testing seems to say, not really enough to notice. If you seek it out, you can probably detect it, but its barely there.
Question about Milano thickness issues. In older Milano reviews (2012-ish) there were many complaints about major thickness issues. Also some comments about these issues being resolved since then. Anyone make a recent order of Milanos that can speak to thickness concerns?
Just a quick comment on China Clay. I used to work for a company called ECC (English China Clay) in R&D. So I have some credibility on this issue. You are correct it is kaolinite (commonly referred as simply kaolin). There are deposits world wide.
What makes it special is it's high whiteness, and fine particle size. It is used in ceramics, compounding, paint, paper coatings, food, and pretty much everything you see daily. What's more, it is relatively inexpensive in comparison to resins and other color pigments used to make these chips. So, basically, it's a great filler. It takes up space, it doesn't impact color, and because it's a plate shaped crystal, it adds strength. Of course you can use too much in the compound, and it has the opposite effect.
Most compounding uses kaolin, or other fillers such as talc, calcium carbonate (ground up marble), silicas etc. All impart certain qualities on the final compound, but also just take up space and reduce cost.
I have 250$ (give or take 25$) dedicated to purchasing my first set of poker chips. I would like them to be of best quality as possible... design I don't care much (I find beauty in the individual relative to itself). If you had to go back into time and become a 28yr old passionate poker player on a budget... which would you choose?
HELP, just order the desert heat and then i found your reviews, got one question, they said they'll take them back no problem but i need some poker chips, should i trade them of for the milano or keep the desert heat as they may be kind of the same?
price is almost double. is it worth the jump in price from desert to milano? ty love your videos.
you should do Wicked Spades chips. those things look SO cool.
what do recommend next step of Milanos I am looking to buy Milanos
I would look at ceramics, like Tiki Kings. If you don't like ceramics I would just wait for Paulson to release some more consumer chips. Thanks just me. Thanks for watching, good question.
I suggest you take a look at CPS china clays. I know they are limited as it was a group buy deal but supposedly the quality is pretty high @42 cents a chip. I have a sample set on order.
mstang1988 Wow, advanced comment. I'm not going to review PGI limited runs like the CPS or 8 V's. For those not familiar, certain groups order limited run custom sets. These are nice and people ordering them know what they are and what they want and don't need me to review them :) I'm sticking with stock chips, in this series anyway. Thanks for watching and good comment.
Hobbyphilic Thank you for the video series. It's helpful to get an overview of chips from one person, especially for the new buyer. I've read a lot to know have an idea and have handled a few of those in your review series. For cards to review I would add a few to your list. The Modiano Acetate Platinums and the Dal Negro Freedom X. I'm curious, are you a Chip collector or do you have just a ton of game tables (craps etc) and keep them stocked?
They must've upped the quality on the Milanos. I bought a set not long ago and I was very impressed. They aren't a Paulson or CPK but I was quite impressed. People that aren't obsessed with chips seem to like them a lot and think they're nice. For most poker players the Milanos would be a good chip.
Do they still smell bad? I'm about to pull the trigger on these chips?
I miss the slippery test
Milano, Scroll or nile club? Which do you prefer?
Leroy Jenkins Leroy Jenkins playing poker? That'll be exciting. My favorite right now is the Milano set of chips. Second place Scroll. Last is Nile Club. If you don't mind the thickness issues, they feel the best for the price. The only contender that I haven't tried is the china clay Pharaoh's Poker Chips at Apache. Hope that helps, thanks for watching.
Hobbyphilic Helps a bunch! What's the story with the Paulson Top hat and cane? Are they no longer selling to the public?
love hobby phil but the pharohs are better. they smell fine, look better, and are slightly better made
#firstworldproblems
What happened to Claysmith? Are they out of business?
So I tried oiling these, and I've lived with my samples out on my desk, open to the air to breathe, for 6 months or more. They still smell like an old rotting towel. I cant get past it. I cant as a poker game host have my guests handling something that smells like garbage, no matter how cool the chips look. Especially at their price. I'd stay away from these.
+Joseph Gillum Thanks for the update, viewers take note. Let us know what you end up with. Thanks for the comment.
I just made a new review of my 2500+ chip Milano set. Give it a look. ruclips.net/video/yk4W_lBXU7o/видео.html
They SMELL really bad. I just bought a set of "double trapezoid" chips, which are the same chip as the Milanos without the inlays. I tried oiling them with baby oil and letting them sit outside for weeks, but they still smell. I used them for the first time the other day wondering if people would notice, and right away someone said "what's that foul smell"? I'm trying to get a refund. You are warned. Perhaps they switched factories or owners or something and the current ones smell worse than the older ones?
Is the inlay a sticker?
buy striped dice plaques today. (this is a request.)
I'll see what I can do, maybe tomorrow. Thanks for watching.
ok :)
Wtf would you leave your chips out in the sun
I've heard a lot about oiling these chips, with mineral or baby oil and it helps with the smell thing. Anyone try it? I am going to in a few days.
That's probably a good sign of how much I like these, if this works I would consider getting a 1,000 chip set and hand oiling the whole thing.