From super expensive high end chips to quite economical low end chips, there is a clay poker chip available for any budget. With the huge variety of available styles and design the task of choosing can be tough. Read on for some tips on how to make the choice less of a burden.

If you are not in a hurry to purchase poker chips and can take some time researching, then you will have no problem making a good choice. Assuming you have plenty of time, you should search the web for poker chip reviews and even order samples of clay poker chips for your own personal testing.

When ordering samples of clay poker chips, be sure to get a wide variety. They can range in price from $.12 per chip to $1.35 per chip. Even if the high end clay chips are not in your budget, buy a few samples for comparison. Also, pay attention to design since you will have to live with the choice for a while.

Clay poker chips are pretty much never 100% clay. If they were, the chips would be too fragile and brittle; so one could argue that all clay chips are made from a composite material. However, high end clay chips, such as the Paulson poker chips, are considered true clay chips, are used in many casinos, and are one of the standards that all clay poker chips are measured against.

Do not be afraid of clay composite poker chips. These options are often of superb quality with excellent sound and feel qualities. Often times there are unique designs available and some clay composite chips will have a metal insert. The metal insert may or may not be detectable when the chips are dropped together.

One upside to having a metal insert in a clay composite chip is this can allow the poker chip to accept gold foil hot stamping. With this hot stamping process, you can add up to three initials or denominations chosen from a pretty comprehensive list.

Depending on your taste, background, and experience level you may decide that real clay casino poker chips are a must have. If you are in this boat, be sure that you purchase samples of all the chips you are contemplating before making a purchase. While there are savings to be had by purchasing a poker chip set, your investment in just a 500 piece set could rise well above $500.

During the process the objective is to become educated about clay poker chips and a minor expert of sorts. However, no matter what reviews, friends, and experts say about a particular style or brand of chips, remember to listen to yourself and your tastes. You will be the one laying out the cash. Make it count for you.