In this episode we take a look at a luxury set of poker chips, take a retrospective look
at a classic Dan & Dave deck, and announce the winner of the Tally-Ho 3-deck mega giveaway!
All that coming up next.
[Music]
It’s the Holiday season at the Wake household and it’s a good a time as any to take a
look at some fine quality items that might make good gifts for the discerning gentlemen
on your list… or for yourself (just don’t tell your wife).
… … … You know, despite my affinity for cardistry and magic and, even, collecting,
my first interactions with cards--as I’m sure is the case for many of you--was card
games.
Gin, Solitaire, black-jack and of course Poker.
Actually, an interesting fact about me is that I made a living playing poker one year
of my life, in my early twenties.
Let’s just say It was a rough year.
Texas hold’em was my game of choice and I won a lot of tournaments at the dog track,
but eventually one bad beat in a casino tournament in Atlantic city pretty much put an end to
my ‘semi-pro’ poker career.
I don’t really miss alot of what came with those days.
The stink of cigarettes.
The anxiety in the pit of my stomach as the dealer dealt the river card.
But oddly enough the one thing I do miss was the feel of poker chips.
There’s something about them.
Maybe it’s the clickety-clack noise they make as you fidget with them.
In this episode we take a look at a product that really caught my eye.
The Iron Clays poker chips.
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the Gentleman Wake.
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These are the Iron Clays Luxury Game Counters manufactured by the Roxley Game corporation.
Within this attractive box is a set of 100 chips in differing denominations.
The box is beautifully designed with a victorian era aesthetic.
The box is a dark gray bordering on bronze color and is embellished with gold metallic
inked ornamentation and eggshell lettering.
The type is embossed in several places.
The era-appropriate copy on the top of the box announces that the contents to be 10 gram,
iron-cored ‘thumpers’ imported and warranted by the Roxley Company.
The side panels of the box include some additional marketing copy and branding.
The front and back include the product name in large embossed type.
It also states that the game counters are warranted for the duration of ownership or
until death.
The bottom of the box features a peek at the contents via additional marketing copy and
some pictures of the included chips.
They include, White, Celeste, Maroon, Navy and Gold chips in denominations of 1, 5, 10,
20, and 100 respectively.
Now without even opening the box I could tell you that the marketing department really did
their homework.
For a person like me this hits all the triggers.
The entire vibe of the box from the label-making flair, to the language and the embossing just
really says this is a quality product.
This is a box that I won’t mind displaying on my desk, on my bookcase, or in a game room.
Additionally there’s a significant weight to the whole package that promises additional
quality.
The Roxley Co. was also smart to never specifically identify the product as poker chips or specifically
for card games.
This allows for a blanketing of broader uses that obviously is smart.
Opening the magnetic closure reveals more beautiful labeling on the inside front panel--consistent
with the outside of the box--and a fantastic deep crimson red damask pattern with a vintage
style logo on the inside of the upper flap.
Pulling on the red satin ribbon allows for the removal of a hard-plastic injection modeled
tray.
We’ll get to that in a second.
The inside of the empty box includes additional graphics.
A eggshell and gray repeating pattern with a monogram logo in the center.
The empty box immediately made me think of the kind of deluxe magnetic enclosured brick
boxes made available by the expert playing card company.
But alas, the dimensions of this box are slightly smaller and can’t accomodate a deck of cards,
at least not in the vertical orientation.
The tray is hefty and sturdy.
The top is clear blue-tinted plastic with additional raised design and branding elements
consistent with the box.
The lower half is a navy blue chip tray not unlike the kind you’d find in a casino.
Ok, so the packaging is a homerun… but the true reason to own these would be the poker
chips themselves.
As advertised by the box, there are 100 Iron Clays included in the set.
Forty white chips marked with a 1.
Twenty each of the celeste 5 chips and the navy 20 chips.
10 maroon chips, marked with a 10 value.
And the 10 gold chips valued at 100 as well.
The chips themselves weigh 10gs as advertised--which incidentally is a bit less that the standard
11.5g chips you’d get in a poker chip set like the 500 chip set seen here.
The Iron Clays are also about a millimeter smaller in diameter.
The face of the chips include some scrollwork design elements with the denomination printed
in a slightly indented circle in the middle.
The clays feel great however.
The surface is matted and soft to the touch which is nice.
The chips quantities are easy to read when stacked thanks to the ribbed edge spots that
are common in poker chip design.
The 100 count is certainly not a large set.
Perfectly suitable for games of 4 or 5 players but perhaps a bit low for the traditional
eight seats at a poker table.
In which case perhaps a second set would make a smart purchase.
The price isn’t cheap, at $60.
You could get a set of 300 standard poker chips at a local walmart.
But if you’re like me you want the game to look as good as it feels to play it--in
which case I feel like the price is commensurate with what you get.
The chips are currently available at Artofplay.com.
Also available on Artofplay.com are the Plaid Playing Cards from Dan and Dave industries,
we’ll take a look at those in a second.
Before we do, I would like to take a moment, in the days just after Thanksgiving, to give
a very special thank you to the Patrons of this channel.
Thanks to their contributions we are able to consistently increase the quality of the
content we provide.
If you would like to become a patron and supporter of this channel we invite you to please visit
the Gentleman Wake patreon page.
All of the contributions we receive go towards increasing the value and frequency of the
videos and posts we make.
Funding goes towards better and more prizes, increased production quality and much more.
Hopefully one day we’ll be able to dedicate our full time to making great content for
all of you.
Anyway, here’s the link, check it out if you like.
We’ll be right back.
Welcome back.
So you’ve got your poker chips, now you need a deck of cards to go with them?
What then?
Well, Dan and Dave Buck, aka the Buck Twins, have a couple of decks of playing cards perfectly
suited for just about any card game.
Although the buck twins have made a name for themselves with their fantastic cardistry
and magic maneuvers, they haven’t lost sight of the playing cards intended purpose.
These are the number 1 AKA Arizona Red and number 2 AKA California Blue Plaid decks from
Dan and Dave.
Available in two distinct plaid patterns, the decks come in matching tuck cases.
The tuck case belonging to the Arizona Red deck is gambler’s green and the one for
the California Blue deck is in beige.
The green no.
1 deck features a red, white and green plaid pattern and the number 2 beige deck includes
a blue, brown and beige plaid pattern.
Both boxes are printed on high quality matte paper card stock.
Both tuck cases feature an embossed texture designed to mimic leather.
The words Playing Cards are printed in embossed gold foil on both.
A descriptor above signalling them as U.S. Regulation.
Both have four small gold foil circles with the pips underneath and the initials of the
Dan and Dave Playing Card Company below.
The sides read the D&D Playing Card Company, Los Angeles California on one side and the
copy ‘Fine playing cards for gentlemen’ on the other.
The bottoms have the UPC barcode and the traditional logo and ad copy.
The top announces the deck name and edition number (either 1 or 2).
Both boxes are held shit by custom tax stamp inspired seals with the D and D monogram logo.
The backs feature a representation of the back designs and state that they are made
in the USA.
Opening the box reveals that the tuck flaps states Bad Luck is Bad Play and that the interior
of the box repeats the respective plaid pattern of each deck.
Pulling the plaid playing cards out of the box reveals a wonderfully understated design.
The card backs are full bleed casino style, perfect for gameplay.
The plaid design itself has a vintage feel that reminds me of the madison avenue era
aesthetic of the late fifties and early sixties.
Turning the deck over reveals that the cards are actually eggshell in color rather than
standard white and this further cements the retro vibe.
And in fact, the soft eggshell is actually one of my favorite aspects about the cards
and make the deck feel a little bit more special.
The pips and pip placement are bicycle standard although the red of the diamonds and hearts
is bit more muted.
The index font is blockier than standard but very legible.
This, plus the use of slightly recolored if standard courts, makes the plaid decks perfect
for magic as well.
Included with each deck is an Art of Play ad card, and a cocktail drink recipe card--further
bringing home the mad men flair.
The no.
1 deck includes a recipe for mint juleps and the no.
2 deck has a recipe for a Sazerac.
Aside from the ingredients and the directions for making the drinks there’s a bit of lore
for each cocktail printed on the cards.
Each deck includes a different set of jokers.
The green deck features a peregrine falcon on one joker and a stag on the other (obviously
a play on the Buck twin’s last name).
The blue/beige deck features another buck, this time just a bust illustration, while
the other joker features a salmon.
All four jokers have the scientific name for the species represented under each depiction.
The deck is printed by the United States Playing Card Company as a result they handle wonderfully.
They are classic crushed stock, traditionally cut and air cushion embossed.
Even though the back design isn’t intended for cardistry, the deck still looks good in
a flourish.
Fans are particularly interesting due to the edge-to-edge plaid design.
All in all the plaid decks are a wonderful set of quality playing cards designed to excel
on the card table but also just as well suited for magic, cardistry or collecting.
The Plaid decks, both no.
1 and no.
2, have been out on the scene for quite awhile and are still available at Artofplay.com.
Okay, so I know a lot of you out there are still anxiously awaiting the announcement
of the Tally-ho triple deck mega giveaway so without further ado, congratulations to
Feliz Anton Molina for winning!
Contact me via Instagram or Facebook to claim your prize!
If you didn’t win, don’t fret, we’ve got some great contests coming up on this
channel including something that will put this three deck giveaway to shame!
You are definitely going to want to click here to be subscribed to not miss out on that
opportunity!
Coming up this holiday season on the channel; a review of the Cartomancer House of the Rising
Spade, a look at some Outlaw inspired decks and an announcement of some really cool and
exciting news--some of you who follow me on Instagram might be able to guess.
Thank you so very much for watching!
To watch another great video click here.
I’ve been the Gentleman Wake, See you next time!