Poker Chip Specification

POKER CHIPS AND SPECIFICATION

Poker chips are as common as playing cards, and come in many shapes and sizes. From the simple thin plastic poker chips you can buy at the grocery store, to professional quality poker chips used in casinos, they are the units used to measure success or failure in a poker session. Poker chips are easier to use than actual money at the table due to their size and the ease it takes to count them as opposed to random bills and coins. Poker chips also make a game safer, as after a session, either in a casino or in a home game, pay outs can be made more accurately. Studies have shown that people feel more comfortable playing with poker chips also, and will show more gamble with poker chips than they would if they saw actual cash in front of them. Poker chips as we know them today started to come into popularity in the late 1800s and are now an integral part of the game of poker.

POKER CHIPS AND THEIR DESIGN

The most popular poker chip is the clay chip. This is a bit of a misnomer though, as poker chips made of 100% clay were stopped being produced sometime in the 1950s. The clay poker chips that people talk about today are actually made of a combination of materials, including clay, chalk, sand, calcium carbonate, and other materials. Although the exact process of making the chips is an industry secret, it is commonly known to be a time consuming and relatively expensive process. Another popular poker chip used in casinos as well as home games are clay composite chips, also known as ceramic chips. Again, this is a bit of a misnomer as they are actually just injection molded plastic discs which feel like ceramic. The wording or graphics on the middle of a chip is called an inlay. The inlay may show the amount the poker chip is to represent, the casino or owners name who the chips were made for, an artistic graphic or a combination of all of these. The inlays are actually pieces of paper laid onto the chip and then covered with a thin sheet of plastic which becomes a semipermanent part of the chip during it’s high compression phase of production. Poker chips designed for casinos usually weigh between eight and ten grams. Poker chips sold to the home market can weigh even more, sometimes up to thirteen grams.

POKER CHIPS AND THEIR COLOR

Poker chips vary widely in color, especially in home games because many companies will allow the consumer to choose from a huge selection of colors. Although poker chips in casinos are a bit more uniform, they can also vary, because only some states like New Jersey and Illinois have regulations on certain colors to denote certain denomination of poker chips. The Gaming Control Board actually puts no restriction on Las Vegas poker chip color, although they do require the poker chips to show the name of the casino and the value of the poker chips. Although the color of poker chips in some casinos do not have to be a certain way by law, a lot of rooms do try to stay somewhat uniform with the other casinos. For example, on the West Coast, blue poker chips are often used as one dollar chips, but again colors vary from state to state and in places like Atlantic city, a blue poker chip may be worth ten dollars. Yellow poker chips are extremely common in cardrooms and casinos and are usually lower value chips, worth twenty dollars or lower. In Illinois a yellow poker chip is a twenty dollar chip, unless it is mustard yellow, which is a fifty cent poker chip sometimes used. Again, yellow poker chips vary in value depending on what casino or cardroom uses them but they seem to be a lower denomination chip, worth maybe five dollars in a California cardroom, two dollars on a Connecticut Indian casino, or even fifty cents in a Wisconsin casino. Although the vast majority of poker chips used in casinos and cardrooms are simply colored, some casinos have had flashier colored poker chips like the pink poker chip used at the Tropicana casino in New Jersey. Many places try to keep in uniform by making the black poker chips the one hundred dollar chips, and the purple poker chips the five hundred dollar poker chips. Poker chips can also come in larger denomination at casinos, like the one thousand dollar, five thousand dollar poker chips, and even higher, but are usually not necessary for a game of poker. Below is a list of common denominations used for poker chips. Do keep in mind these are not universal, but generally pretty common.

• White $1
• Yellow $2
• Red $5
• Blue $10
• Grey $20
• Orange $50
• Black $100
• Pink $250
• Purple $500
• Burgundy $1,000
• Light Blue $2,000
• Brown $5,000

POKER CHIPS AND THEIR POPULARITY

Poker chips have been so widely used and are such a part of gambling history, that hobbyists who collect poker chips are becoming an ever increasing group. Most who collect poker chips look for rare poker chips no longer in use at a casino, or poker chips from casinos that no longer exist. The hobby of collecting poker chips has really taken off in recent years with conventions being held for people to show off and look for specific poker chips, like the world famous Casino Chips and Gaming Tokens Annual International Convention. Rare poker chips have sold in recent years for as high as fifteen thousand dollars, and poker chips collectors are always on the lookout for a rare chip. Poker chips conventions also offer notable public speakers on the history of poker chips, and allow collectors to mingle and socialize with others who share their passion. Clubs are also available to join for those who collect poker chips, the most notable probably being The Casino Chip and Gaming Token Collectors Club, whose stated purpose is to preserve the colorful history of poker chips. The Casino Chip and Gaming Token Collectors Club is very serious about poker chips and are in works to build a museum to celebrate the history of poker chips, which you can read more about here. Wether you love the look and feel of poker chips no longer used, love playing with the poker chips used at your local casino or cardroom, or cherish your own set of poker chips that you bought at a hobby store or ordered online, you can be assured that poker chips will continue being used in poker games throughout the world, with the familiar sound of poker chips being shuffled and played with filling the rooms.

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