Sidepot Gaming Company and ChipTalk.Net Host Online Clay Poker Chip Contest with Innovative Design Tool.

Bellingham, WA (PRWEB) April 27, 2006 -- Online retailer of high-end poker chips and supplies for home games, Sidepot Gaming Company (BuyPokerChips.com), and Internet poker forum ChipTalk.net have partnered for an innovative online contest that includes poker players in the actual chip design process. The winning design will be used for Sidepot’s newest clay poker chip line, the Protégé.

The contest, hosted on the ChipTalk.net forum, is being held in several stages, including: general discussions; color discussions, submission, and voting; inlay design submissions, and voting; and then final judging. Chip base color, edge spot colors, edge spot configurations, inlay shape and inlay design will all be decided by the community, and combined with Sidepot’s exclusive Cigar & Snifter clay mold. The contest winner, in addition to having their name associated with the award winning design, will receive a choice between $750 cash or a poker merchandise package with a retail value of about $1500.

Widespread poker community involvement in the contest is made possible by a unique Internet design tool that allows participants to visually play around with the millions of combinations possible for the winning chip. Dubbed "The Chip Factory" by its creators, themselves members of the ChipTalk.net community, this online application enables users to design all aspects of a casino-grade clay poker chip set. The contest version of the “Chip Factory” can be found at: http://www.buypokerchips.com/poker_chip_factory/tool.html

"The high-end home poker chip market is still very limited, compared to what it could be," said Stephan Aarstol, founder and president of Sidepot. "We wanted to push the envelope and get away from the typical top down design approach – we wanted to involve our core customer base, chip collectors and poker players, who collectively have many great ideas about what types of chips they want to play with. With the Chip Factory tool, anyone can quickly and easily convey their preferences without the need for advanced graphic design skills."

"Our members are really dedicated to bettering the quality of clay poker chips available in the high-end of the market," said Greg Cagle, the founder of ChipTalk.net. "As a community of chip aficionados, we are all invested in bringing a truly fine home clay poker chip to the market, and we felt that this contest gives us that opportunity."

The Protégé Contest is taking place over a period of several months starting in April, and the winner is expected to be announced around the middle of the summer. The contest is currently in the early stages, so participants and contestants are still welcome to participate.

About Sidepot Gaming
Sidepot Gaming (on the web at BuyPokerChips.com) is an online retailer specializing in high-end, casino-quality poker chips for home poker games. Poker aficionados can choose from pre-packaged chips sets for Texas Hold’em tournaments or design their own combinations of chips. Sidepot also offers chip cases, poker tables, cards, video and other accessories and poker tips; free shipping is included with each order.

About ChipTalk.net
ChipTalk.net (www.chiptalk.net) is an Internet forum where poker aficionados can read, post and share information about poker chips and other poker-related topics.

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