Bud Jones Chips Break Easy??

[adidino]

I mention on this forum a week ago or so that I picked up 500 Borgata Bud Jones from the casino. Well, I had a chance to play with them in my cash game last night and I found a handfull of cracked ones. Not a big deal since I can just bring them back and swap them out. Anyway, I decided to finish the job on one of the chips and broke it in half. The chip was not was not what I expected to inside. The chip itself seems to be a hard plastic with a brass slug in the center. The Borgata label just peeled off like a normal sticker. Is this how all the bud jones were made or did they make these with less quality overtime? How are these much differen than the cheapy 11.5 grams I can buy for 20 cents each? I can post some pics if anyone is interested..

Tony

[ledavatar]

I had a friend pick up some Borgata chips for me and one of them was cracked. That's the first time I've seen any Bud Jones crack, not that it's inconceivable. Post some pics of the one you "finished the job" on if you can. I'm curious as to what the sticker and the brass center looks like.

[ott]

Sure, plastic would crack as would clay. Depends how it's used or abused, you can still get a lifetime's use out of them.

[tomb1]

Yup, most Bud Jones chips have metal centers.

I think it's been mentioned before on the forums, but I realize most people may not know this.

From the GPI/Paulson/Bud Jones brochure: "V7 chips are the most popular line of Bud Jones chips and are the heaviest weighted chip thanks to a heavy embedded metal insert. The 39mm V7 chip weighs 12.3 grams."

I love BJ chips, but I must admit I was disappointed (at least) when I found this out. Kinda like there is no Santa Claus.

But the difference is what's on the outside, not the inside. BJ chips have the best semi-soft feeling material. They stick & stack well, they play great, they have excellent color combinations and edge spots, and they sound perfect. That's the difference between BJs and the slick plastic Chinese 11.5 grammers -- the outside. That's what I like about them.

As far as cracking, I've never seen a cracked BJ chip, but I've heard it happens to a few.

OK, let's go to the replay film....

Here are two typical BJ V7 chips -- Commerce Casino $1 (decal A) & Flamingo LV 60th Anniversary (decal B):


Let's look at them cut in half (ouch, that was like cutting off your own you-know-what):



Here's one with the label removed (tough to do, but possible) showing the molded material over the brass (non-magnetic) insert:


And here is what the chips look like from the inside. Note the insert, the edge/printing color as the base, and the major color molded over that. BJ chips also go through a finishing process that gives them beveled edges and makes them perfectly consistent.


My own feeling is that the Decal A (classic) chips are more sturdy and feel better, since they have a wider rim area. But that's subjective with no evidence to back it up.

Tony, I'd love to see your pics of the cracked Borgatas and the brass insert.

OK, that's all I can handle tonight. No animals were injured in this post, but a few good chips were! (My wife thinks I'm nuts for taking a hacksaw to some of my favorite chips. But actually, she thinks I'm nuts over this whole chip thing anyway!)

[ledavatar]

Thanks Tomb, it must have taken heart to hack open those perfectly good casino chips. I thought the brass center in the BJs meant that there's a brass coin in the center, not some gooey molded horror of metal with little shape. I guess you learn something new everyday.

[tomb1]

I thought the brass center in the BJs meant that there's a brass coin in the center, not some gooey molded horror of metal with little shape. I guess you learn something new everyday.

Oh yeah, I didn't mention... All my explanation was about the BJ decal chips. The many cool BJ coin-inlay chips have two stamped metal coins back-to-back in the center, with the plastic material molded around them.

V7 coin center chip


V6 coin center chip


V6 cut in half


Back-to-back coins cut in half

[tomb1]

Updated the coin inlay post (above) with new pics. More gratuitous chip violence!

And just for the heck of it... here's another plastic "composite" chip (R.T. Plastics/Gamblers General Store) that is solid with no metal core:

[pocket snowmen]

has anyone cut thru a v6 chip? ex) the ones from the canterbury... whats inside these... im guessing they are solid... but anything is possible

[tomb1]

has anyone cut thru a v6 chip? ex) the ones from the canterbury... whats inside these... im guessing they are solid... but anything is possible

I'm pretty sure that the Canterbury chips are BJ V7s (Decal B style) -- similar style to the Flamingo chip above. They don't appear to match the inlay size and the available patterns for V6 chips.

But I could be wrong -- I'll know for sure when I get some next week. I assume they have a metal inlay for weighting, but we'll see.

If anybody who has Canterbury's wants to cut one open, let us all know!

As for other V6 decal chips, I don't have any -- only V6 coins. But GPI says that "V6 chips are a special range of chips for casinos that prefer lighter weight chips. They weigh 10.5 to 11.5 grams." So I assume they are solid plastic.

[pocket snowmen]

i would be very disappointed if the canterbury chips had a metal inlay..... that would mean the wsop chips have a metal inlay.... very depressing

[pokerchipreviews]

Niiiiiiice pics. I'm with the other guys....must have hurt just a little to tear up those chips.

Cheers,
John
www.pokerchipreviews.com

[tomb1]

Nothing's too good for the discriminating ladies and gentlemen who read these boards. Anything in the name of science, my friends!

Seriously, the quality of these chips is a big deal for those of us who like and collect BJs. So I've got to look at the evidence and see where it leads, even if I don't like the answer.

From what I've heard, it sounds like there might be problems with some chips. I don't know if it's related to the purchase by GPI, if it relates only to newer or older chips, or what. This isn't good news.

More info as it develops....

[MaxChips]

Like tomb, I have also been curious of what was inside a BJ chip. I broke a few open with a vice and a hammer. It is a metal slug, but it is not an irregular blob of metal. It has a hexagonal shape with two notches across from each other. It just looks like a glob because that is how the plastic molded over the slug. The notches are there to give the plastic something to grip to. They are very different from the 11.5 grams chips from china. The Chinese chips do not have a solid core and the outside material is a very cheap hard plastic.

Also, I do think the quality of Bud Jones chips did suffer a little after the merger. Honestly though, I have only come into contact with one casino chip, The Borgata in A.C. But it seems the material is very different from the Max chips I own. The borgata chips are more plastic and don't have a semi-rubbery type feel of the Max chips. None of the Max chips I owned were cracked. I shipped plenty of them also, and they manage to survive the trip intact 100% of the time.