Clay Chips

I have found that the best chips for doing most Flip Jumps are clay poker chips, because there is very good friction between the chips. This gets more important as the stacks you’re using get taller. The higher the friction, the better chip stacks hold together and land on each other. Probably the best quality clay chips available are called “Paulsons”, made by Gaming Partners International, formally Paulson Gaming Supplies. They are used in many casinos around the world, and are also available, in several styles, from many gaming suppliers online. I recommend my affiliate Discount Casino Gear for good prices and fast service.

All new Paulsons are what I call “Sharpies“, chips with a very sharp edge, which can do Flip Jumps that I call the “Zeros“. My favorite style is the “World Top Hat and Cane”, above left. They have a good rim size in relation to the inlay size, which makes them nicely weighted toward the outside edge. They range in weight from 8.8 grams to 10.6 grams, depending on the color. I carry 44 of these chips in 4 colors.

Another type of Paulsons I use are from my local Chumash casino, above right. They range in weight from 9.1 grams to 10 grams, with red chips being lighter than white chips. They have become “Rounders” due to heavy use and machine washing. They’re good for mixing Flip Jumps with “Shuffles“, since they’re easier to Shuffle than Sharpies. I carry 25 chips in 2 colors.

Other new Paulson chips that are available from online gaming suppliers include: the “National” series, the original “Top Hat and Cane” series, and the “Pharaoh’s” series, left. These chips are all made from the same mold, and they range in weight from 9.3 grams to 10.2 grams, depending on the color. I carry 8 assorted sample chips.

Ceramic Chips

Another type of chips found in many casinos are made of ceramic rather than clay. They are beautiful full-color full-chip printed chips with very rounded edges.They have a different feel than clay chips with a more glassy sound when ruffled. They have a nice pebbled surface with okay friction for taller stack Flip Jumps. They range in weight from 9.9 grams to 10.8 grams, depending on the color. I carry 8 “Rounders Casino” sample chips made by Chipco.

Composite Chips

The last type of chip I carry are common Composite chips, which can be found almost everywhere. They’re made of plastic and have a metal insert molded into the chip to add weight. They have a beveled edge and are slippery with very little friction. They’re cheap to buy, but are only good for the most basic Flip Jumps. As the stacks get taller, they just won’t stay together very well. They range in weight from 11.5 grams to 11.8 grams, no matter what color. I carry 20 chips in 2 colors.

I wanted to create a case that would carry plenty of chips, as well as having a good padded surface for practicing. I started with an empty 300 chip aluminum case, above center, (available for $8.94 from Discount Casino Gear (affiliate)). All the other materials are quite inexpensive, and the case is easy to modify.

To create the finished case, above left, I first removed the dividers separating the cards and the dice compartments, as well as the central four chip dividers. Next I created the padded insert, seen on the right above. It started with a 11 1/8″ x 7 1/4″ piece of 3/4″ plywood, covered with a 1/8″ piece of rubber mouse pad material. I then wrapped it with a piece of felt and stapled it to the bottom of the plywood to keep it tight. I then screwed a piece of 3/8″ plywood on the bottom so it would sit flat and raise the height. The insert fits snugly into the center section. There’s room to store 52-53 chips on each side of the insert.

Photo by Randy Morse

All of the videos you see here at Chip Flip Jump were shot using this case as the background. I just turn it around backwards and sit behind it, shooting from the front side.

Next time I’ll talk about the different kinds of chips I carry in this very cool customized case.

Many of you are familiar with the Poker Chip Shuffle trick. When you start with an 8-chip stack, 4 of one color on top of 4 of another color, and then Shuffle three times, you end up with the same 4-on-4 stack you started with.

The same thing happens when you do three 224 Chip Flip Jumps using the same 4-on-4 stack. You end up back where you started.

Now for the interesting part: You also end up with the same stack after two 224 Flip Jumps or two Shuffles, a stack of 2-2-2-2. Therefore, you can mix Flip Jumps and Shuffles by switching to the other after the second Flip Jump or Shuffle, and get the same end result.

Chip Flip Jumps on the video: Chip Flip Jump & Shuffle Mix
3 Shuffles
3 224’s
2 224’s + 1 Shuffle
2 Shuffles + 1 224

Chip Flip Jump & Shuffle Mix - 1:09

In order to do a Big Slinky* poker chip trick, you need to understand a couple of concepts I haven’t elaborated on before.

The first is the use of a Sitter stack, which is a shorter chip stack sitting next to the Base stack. The Catchers are put down on top of the Sitters after catching the Jumpers.

The other concept is a variation I call a Switcher. This is when you switch the Jumpers and Catchers after each jump onto a Sitter stack. On each jump you put the Catchers down overhanging the Sitters.

• The Sitters then become the new Base.
• The Catchers become the new Jumpers.
• The Jumpers become the new Catchers.

And then do it again, etc. It’s easy to do since the stacking can be very loose.

In the video, I start with 3 stacks of 20 chips, plus the 4 chips I’m going to Slinky with. I split out the stacks so there are stacks of 20(K), 16(G), 12(C), 8 and 4 chips. Then I start at the top, and Slinky on down.

Chip Flip Jumps on the video: Slinky 4 Down 5
2K2G-s2G2C-s2C28-s2824-s242

Slinky 4 Down 5 - 0:23

* Slinky is a registered trademark. Watch a cool old Slinky commercial.

I finally spent some time working on doing a one-handed Quadruple Chip Flip Jump. I’ve been able to do a Two-Handed Quad for a long time. After I discovered I could do the Zeros, I set out to pull off a Sharpie Quad, a 5 chip 131-122-113-104. It’s a little tricky to do without getting a Pullover, stacking is really important. I then went for a taller 11 chip jump with 1-1-2-3 Jumpers. It took a while to get this one, the intermediate stacks kept moving, thus many Pullovers.

Chip Flip Jumps on the video: 2 Quads
131-122-113-104
191-182-263-335

2 Quads - 0:32

Until next time, flip on.

The minimum number of chips necessary to do a Single Chip Flip Jump with most poker chips is 3 chips. As you saw in the last post, (The Zeros and Tiddlys, Sharpies and Rounders), with Sharpies you can do it with 2 chips.

The minimum number of chips necessary to do a Combination Chip Flip Jump with most poker chips is 4 chips, and once again, with Sharpies you can do it with 3 chips. Using Sharpies also increases the number of different variations that are possible with any given number of chips, since you can do the Zeros.

3 Chips

As is probably obvious, with 3 Rounders you can do the most basic of all Chip Flip Jumps, the 111, 1 off 1 onto 1. With Sharpies you can add 3 more variations, 2 single-jumps and a double-jump.

Chip Flip Jumps on the video: 3 Chips
111
102, 201
111-102
3 Chips - 0:34

4 Rounders

There are 4 variations that can be done with 4 Rounders, 3 single-jumps and the one true minimal double-jump.

Chip Flip Jumps on the video: 4 Rounders
112, 211, 121
121-112
4 Rounders - 0:24

4 Sharpies

When you use 4 Sharpies, there are 7 additional variations that are possible, 3 single-jumps, 3 double-jumps and a triple-jump. This gives you a total of 11 variations that are possible with 4 chips.

Chip Flip Jumps on the video: 4 Sharpies
103, 301, 202
211-103, 112-103, 121-202
121-112-103
4 Sharpies - 0:55

As you can see, the number of possible variations greatly increases with each chip you add. I’ve done the 11 possible variations with 5 Rounders, but I don’t know how many more jumps are perhaps possible with Sharpies.

I didn’t think the Zeros were possible until I bought some New Paulson poker chips. By Zeros, I mean a Chip Flip Jump poker chip trick done without a Base stack. It’s only possible to do with chips that have a very sharp edge, (which I call Sharpies). Most chips don’t have a sharp enough edge, and some even have a very rounded or beveled edge, (I call all of these Rounders).

The 101 Test

The simplest way to see which type chips you have is to do the ‘101 Test’. If you’re able to do it, the chips are Sharpies, if not, they’re Rounders, which end up doing what I call a Tiddly, named after the game Tiddlywinks.

The first video below shows four types of chips doing the ‘101 Test’.

• New Paulson chips – Sharpies which can do a 101 with no problem.
• Used Paulson chips from my local Chumash casino – Occasionally you can pull off a 101, but not consistently. They’ve become Rounders due to heavy use and machine cleaning..
• Chipco Ceramic chips – Have a very rounded edge and do Tiddlys only, with an occasional front flip.
• Common Composite chips – Have a beveled edge and do Tiddlys only, and are almost controllable.

101 Test - 1:15

The Other Zero

Since a flip jump with no Jumper isn’t really a flip jump at all, (except maybe in your imagination), the only other Zero would be done with no Catcher stack.

The 420 example in the next video is really more of a Finger Flip Jump than a Chip Flip Jump, since you flip the Jumpers off the Base with your finger, and you don’t catch them. It’s not hard to do, and is usually done around here when it’s ‘break time’.

The Other Zero - 0:10

Until next time, keep Flip Jumping

Pullovers

When an attempted combination jumps more than the expected number of chips, I call it a Pullover. For example, when trying to do a 161-242 and both Jumper stacks flip over at once, you end up with a 341 Pullover. This is the easiest mistake to make, and is usually caused by careless stacking.

Double Combos

The easiest combination to do is the classic 1-2 double. On the first jump you’ve got a Jumper1, and on the second a Jumper2. The following video shows three variations using the same number of jumping chips: The classic 1-2 Double, then the Under & Back, and the Thumb-Slide Double Turnover.

Chip Flip Jumps on the video: 3 Double Combinations - 0:22
161-242, 161u-242 and ts1-161t-242t

3 Double Combinations - 0:22

Triple Combos

Stacking for a triple flip jump takes a little more care, with the first Jumper stacked very tight, and the next two getting looser. You really want to ‘set’ the first two stacks so they don’t move. Following are two classic 1-2-3 Trip Flip Jumps, one using ten chips and a harder version using eight, finishing with a 314.

Chip Flip Jumps on the video: 1-2-3 Trip Flip Jumps - 0:24
181-262-334 and 161-242-314

1-2-3 Trip Flip Jumps - 0:24

Quad Combos

I’ve not yet been able to pull off a successful 1-handed quad flip jump, although I haven’t tried very hard. However, a two-handed quad is not very hard at all, and the stacking can be rather loose since you’re going off in opposite directions with each flip jump.

Chip Flip Jumps on the video: 2-Hand Quad - 0:17
171l-161r-242l-222r

2-Hand Quad – 0:17

Reverse Combo

And then there’s the backward or reverse way of doing a combination. Here you do a fatter Jumper before a skinny one. You need to stack the first Jumper real tight and the second very loose or you’ll get a Pullover for sure.

Chip Flip Jumps on the video: Reverse Double Combo - 0:17
251-143

Reverse Double Combo – 0:17

As you can see, a huge number of variations are possible when you start doing combinations. I’ve only just begun to explore the outer limits.

This trick really starts to get fun when you start using more than a Jumper1 (one-chip Jumper). I like two chips, Jumper2, the best. The mass is just right for a nice controlled jump. Using a Jumper1 on a big climb can get a little wild and hard to control sometimes.

The following video is of a warm-up drill I like to do, a Jumper2 worked down a stack seven times. Three Divers, one Rollover and three Climbers.

Chip Flip Jumps on the video: 2 Down 7 - 0:42
271, 262, 253, 244, 235, 226 and 217

2 Down 7 - 0:42

As you start to use fatter Jumpers, (3,4,5 and more chips), again it gets harder the more chips you add. You’ll also notice that it begins to put more pressure on the Base, in a sideways direction, the more chips you’re jumping. If the Jumper stack gets too fat, it will blow the top off the Base and the trick will fail.

You’ll see in the following video that when I do a 532 that it pushes the top chips of the Base3 in the opposite direction from where the jump is going.

Chip Flip Jumps on the video: Fatter Jumpers – 0:28
352, 253, 442, 244, 532 and 235

Fatter Jumpers - 0:28

That’s it for now. Next time we’ll do some Combinations.