Has anyone had a great experience with a poker chip vs. the traditional challenge coin, and if so who did you use?

I have seen them used in the traditional sense and they were just fine. I would suggest that you get the ones that are not stickers on poker chips but the ones that are actually apart of the chip. At my last unit we used them as incentives. They were given out by the BN leadership to all the company teams and you were allowed to give them for whatever you felt warranted one and after receiving three, they could trade them in for a 4 day pass, COA, or a unit t-shirt.

I'd suggest you use the tags "Challenge Coin" for this. Also, though I don't have a poker chip or experience with the purchase or pros/cons, I can suggest you check out a few older threads:
https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/what-is-the-best-custom-challenge-coin-manufacturer-for-quality-and-price

https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/what-is-the-oldest-or-most-unique-challenge-coin-you-own

https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/challenge-coin-roll-call

Best of luck.

I’ve seen poker chips used in a few different ways, and honestly, they work just as well as traditional challenge coins if they’re made properly. The key is going for the ones that are fully processed rather than the sticker ones,those feel cheap and don’t last. In my last unit, we used poker chips as incentives for different achievements, and they actually became highly sought-after because they could be redeemed for rewards like extra time off or unit gear.

Speaking of poker chips, they’re commonly used in online casinos too. Some platforms even have custom chips for games like poker and blackjack, similar to what’s available on https://topui88.net/.