Contest entries will be submitted to an online video service such as YouTube. I’ve set up a group on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/group/flipjumptriathlon. There’s nothing there yet except an icon video, and the video upload feature is disabled until the official start of the contest. However, you won’t be required to use the YouTube group if you don’t want to, any online video service will do. Just submit the URL.

Each contest entrant will be allowed two entries, as long as the second entry uses the Single Jumps and Combinations not used in the first entry. For example, if your first entry included Fat Jumpers and Combinations with 9 or less chips, the second entry must include High Climbers and Combinations with 10 or more chips. You may use the same Freestyle video for both entries, or have a different one for each entry.

The new separate “Contest” page will be ready soon with all the official rules. So start practicing for the 1st Flip Jump Triathlon. More early contest information can be found here.

Having been an Entrecard member for over a year, I got a little lax and didn’t pay close enough attention to the evolving rule changes. I failed to notice the change from 1 to 5 posts needed per 3 month period, and I got behind. I’ve been busy relocating from Southern California to Northern California. This is now my 5th new post, so as soon as I’m reinstated by Entrecard, I’ll again be back dropping 100 plus cards a day.

The three events in the “1st Flip Jump Triathlon” will be: Single Jumps, Combinations and Freestyle. You’ll have your choice of two types of Single Jumps and two types of Combinations.

Start practicing now, so you can win part of the $200 in prizes, as well as bragging rights.

Flip Jump Triathlon Events

< 1 > Single Jumps

Choose between:

Fat Jumpers – When the Jumper stack has a lot of chips, such as a 622.

or

High Climbers – When the Catcher stack is several chips taller than the Base stack, such as a 226.

You’ll have 15 seconds to do as many Flip Jumps as you can, with no video edits. You may change the number of chips you’re using during the event.

< 2 > Combinations

Choose between:

Combinations using 9 or less chips.

or

Combinations using 10 or more chips.

You’ll have 15 seconds to do as many Flip Jumps as you can, with no video edits. You may change the number of chips you’re using during the event.

< 3 > Freesytle

This is where you can do any kind of Flip Jumps you want. You can use all the different catches, do two-handed Flip Jumps using one or two Base stacks, and include Zeros and Slinky’s. You can also combine Flip Jumps with Shuffles or any other type of poker chip trick.

You’ll have 30 seconds to do as many Flip Jumps as you can, with no video edits. You may change the number of chips you’re using during the event.

$200 in Prizes

The cash prizes will be awarded as follows:

1st Place = $70
2nd Place = $35
3rd Place = $20

Each of the five “Best Individual Event” winners will receive $15.

Contest Judging

I still haven’t worked out the exact judging procedures. It’s most likely going to be a combination of my poker buddies and I, as well as an online poll.

I’m now working on a seperate “Contest” page, which will have examples, all the official rules, an entry form, a listing of all the entries and a voting form.

Please feel free to comment with any suggestions and thoughts about this contest.

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.

That’s right, start practicing your Flip Jumps. Win part of $200, as well as bragging rights, in the 1st Chip Flip Jump Contest.

I’m still working on the exact format, rules and payouts. I think it’s going to be a Triathlon, where you choose to do three Flip Jump variations(events) from a choice of five or more variations.

Possible events, (see the Basics & previous posts for explanations):

High Climbers
Fat Jumpers
Combinations
Fancy Catches
Slinkys
Flip Jump Shuffles
Freestyle of your choice (unedited)

Submissions will be in the form a video uploaded to a website like YouTube, with the URL sent here to Chip Flip Jump. I’m not sure yet how the judging will be done, perhaps using an online poll. Comments welcome.

The grand prize will go to the best overall three event video, with smaller prizes going to the best of each event.

I hope you’ll use the comments below for suggestions about the contest format and rules.

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.