With chip shuffling I am the rankest of beginners. I bought some nice chips, I’ve watched a few near-useless Youtube tutorials and sometimes I can riffle up a stack of 20 chips. I took this up as a bit of occupational therapy after the chemo gave me neuropathy in my hands and feet. I have trouble estimating pressure I apply with my fingers. I can feel textures, but they are different somehow. Shuffling a stack of chips like someone in the World Series of Poker gives me a way to exercise those fine motor skills.
I started with the plastic/metal chips I’ve been using with Arthur. I have had them forever (possibly a wedding gift) and never really used them until this year. They are a nice set of chips and work well for our games, but they are a bit slick for shuffling. If you look closely at that picture, you’ll see I didn’t get it perfectly.
Pixie is not a fan of this new hobby. Those hands should be petting her! Often she will lovingly headbutt my hand as I am trying to shuffle, knocking over the stack. Other times she will lay her chin on a few chips and if I try to get them she will threaten to bite. Those are the joys of being owned by a cat.
I feel like someone with full feeling in their fingers would be able to shuffle the plastic chips a little better, but to save myself some frustration, I bought some “nicer” chips. These are Majestic Poker Chips from Apache, made of clay similar to real casino chips. I understand the casino chips are more durable but I probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
I would love to get a full set of these (or maybe even something cooler, with zombies or Tiki characters). But that would be pretty pricey considering they wouldn’t get much use. Aesthetically, I’m starting to develop an appreciation for clay chips. I like how the edge designs are molded in, so every chip has unique irregularities.
I will end the post with a bonus picture of some chips I put together for Arthur. I bought some unlabeled chips and applied a design using Avery 1″ labels and a printer. Unfortunately the design is wearing off. If it’s hard to see, it’s Rory’s head and tail!
