I'm (relatively) new to the club and to the hobby, and hope not to ruffle any feathers, but I do not think there is any harm in these type of chips. No hobby has any foolproof guarantee that items are legitimate and all buyers should have the burden of doing their research on any potential purchase. As everyone knows "Caveat Emptor". Maybe that's perfect world thinking, but there is no way to police every aspect of chips, whether for casino or home use.

Yes, I do agree that the club should take a forward looking stance on these matters, and help get the word out on the true origin of chips made for the home market, but to make a rigid declaration that "the practice should be halted" is not in the best interest of the club, in my opinion.

I visit both the ChipBoard and chiptalk.net each day, and see both sides of this issue. I'm not sure everyone realizes the size and strength of the home chip market these days. Not only are home poker chip buyers becoming more savvy, they are demanding better, more authentic quality in their sets. Cheap Chinese plastic chips just do not cut it for many. Recently, a representative of ASM chips announced that they would begin to offer double edge spot colors on their chips (H-mold, HHR, etc). There is currently another group buy of chips through Blue Chip for a design of Samurai Palace chips that are absolutely beautiful (see link below for a picture of the chips).

The way I see it, there are many, many more people interested in home poker sets than collecting casino chips. I enjoy both, and was part of the Pharaoh Club and Casino chip buy (I bought 1000 chips for our home games). Over a quarter million of the Pharaoh chips were ordered in that particular group buy!! I'm afraid that if we (as a club) begin handing out directives as to what cannot be written on a chip or what must be included on a chip intended for home use, we would alienate potential members, as it projects an "elitist" attitude. I know that if someone not included in the design process of the Pharaohs had come in and demanded that Fantasy be included in the chip inlay just to keep someone from being confused that there actually wasn't a Pharaoh's Club and Casino in Cairo, I would have laughed and told them to get over it.

If I purchased a chip under the assumption that it was originally from a casino, and it ended up a fantasy chip or from a home set, I honestly don't think my first instinct would be to blame the for not warning me of my foul-up. If I weren't a member of the club, I would actually think about joining just to protect myself from future indiscretions.

Just my opinion!