Poker Chips - History and Variety

Debi

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I was checking out this page which gives some insight into the history of chips:

History of Poker Chips

I have seen such a variety of chips in home games and live poker tournaments. It would be a cool hobby to collect poker chips.

Check out that article above - it is interesting what people have had to use in place of chips. There was a time you couldn't easily find them.

Have you ever had to substitute something for poker chips? If so what did you use?

Do you have any interesting or unique chips you want to share with us?
 
mtl mile end

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I've tried to avoid commenting on articles about chips that really need a lot of fleshing out at the risk of going on for pages, but there's a little I can add to this one. For about six years I was an avid collector of chips - not individual chips of collector value, but playable sets that have been "retired" from card rooms.

This section of the article could use serious tweaking:


What Are Casino Chips Made From?

02-madefrom.jpg
If you've got friends who are into holding home poker games with authentic poker chips, you've probably heard them boast about how they only want clay casino chips because they're the most authentic. They'll talk about how they feel realistic - and they'll brag about how their casino tokens are identical to what the real deal uses.

After all, casinos only use clay poker chips, right? Actually, you'd be wrong. Poker tokens aren't 100% clay - even the ones you find in the big casinos. They're actually made from a composite that may include a small amount of clay, but is much more durable than clay alone.
In addition to clay composite chips, you'll also find ceramic chips (although these are NOT made of traditional ceramic) at some Las Vegas casinos. Ceramic casino tokens are also popular for home poker games.




Chip formulae are a carefully guarded secret by each manufacturer. Very few individuals know the exact composition of poker chips. They contain little to no clay. Many of the components seem to be plastics or other polymers.


Traditional chips can generally be divided into two styles: "compressed clay" (or simply "clay") and "ceramic". Clay chips are produced by compressing the ingredients in powerful presses multiple times. Some chips, like Paulsons are pressed at relatively low pressure (a few thousand PSI) while some, like ASMs are made with much higher pressures (tens of thousand of PSI). You can feel the difference when you handle the chips. Paulsons are soft and buttery, ASMs are harder. Ceramic chips are not ceramic. They are manufactured in a way to simulate the appearance of ceramic, but if you heat them, they melt (as do clay chips) - I would conclude from this that they too are made of mostly polymer.


When you purchase five hundred "Authentic, Casino Weight, Clay Composite" poker chips for $50, you are getting injection molded plastic chips that resemble compressed clay. On many of these chips, you can see the injection "dimple" where the plastic has entered the mold. These chips are often "slugged" - the plastic was injected around a metal slug to add weight. Unslugged to slugged, these chips weigh in at 6-18 grams each (actual compressed clay chips weigh about 8-12g). There is no such thing, AFAIK, as an official weight for chips at any casino anywhere.


When you purchase ceramic style chips, they are often manufactured by the same process (and perhaps the same facilities) as casino used ceramics. They usually weigh around 10g each, unless they are slugged. AFAIK, no casino uses slugged ceramics.


The third chip variant is the vinyl chip. Formerly, the main manufacturer was the Bud Jones company, but I think they were purchased by Matsui. Matsui is currently the largest manufacturer of these chips, I believe. Vinyls are very durable with a range of colours and customization that cannot be matched by compressed clay. They too weigh in at around 10-12g.


Oh, I could go on for days, but perhaps a dedicated series of threads would be more appropriate.
 
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Very interesting reading. I currently use the mentioned 50$ chips in home games but we (me and my friends) are not so serious players so it is not a problem for us. Regarding the chip replacements - around 9 years ago while i was at the university we wanted to play poker with my colleagues but did not have money for chips so we started collecting lowest nominal coins of 1, 2 and 5 cents and in no time we had the equivalent of around 2.5$ which we used instead of chips. It worked quite good in fact till the moment when we were drunk one night and spent them to get 4 beers. :D
 
Bev

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This is a great read.
I do know that chips were not always used - that people used actual money, coins , gold nuggets,gold dust etc. - and I totally understand a standard had to be made. I didn't know about what the materials used were until this article. I understand that the chips had to branded/forged so that counterfeit could be to a min. The security to make them is impressive !
Thanks to playing so much online poker - I have learned the rules of the chips for the different games , tourny's having no cash value - wow I wish ....
They have a lot to deal with when casino's start merging and I can understand the need to find out if the chips can be used in multiple places - makes sense.

I have even heard of people paying for merchandise in stores not the casinos with chips if they are the ones that have a cash value ( used in cash games) I wish I would of started collecting those !

watching live games and seeing and hearing the people shuffle their chips was at first fun to watch - but then the if it is a long tourny - now it gets annoying . I will never be one to play with them at the table ! Because of the feel of the chips , I can't see poker chips going into electric devices - not as long as you have live games and true poker players !
 
Edison A

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the one who invented the poker chips was a genius says a saying and I think the same, I think the only thing that could replace the chips is the real money on the table, in my country we play the 4-player poker games at a table with real money without coins only tickets, we call it (criollo poker) in that type of poker there is only one betting round and you can change the cards you want 1 time only, I think that the only thing that could substitute the chips is the money, but in some cases I think that the coins could also replace the chips
 
acidburnfx

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Different from other sports, poker doesn't require much equipment to be practiced. I've heard stories of people using beans instead of traditional chips to play a home game on the kitchen table. If you see, this and one more deck end up being more than enough for a few hours of fun.
 
hugh blair

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Everytime I get to hold chips in game a couple of minutes later they are history:icon_joke:dontknow:
I do collect one of them as mementos from different holidays I have been on though.
The noise they make in a live game is my biggest memory of them everyone messes with them:)
 
ZenGreen

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i wish chips would tell me how much is in the pot, it would be so easy to impliment but I guess, people would tell me, that if you cant pay attention you shouldnt know, but I dont want to pay attention I just want to know how much is in the pot. Some chips are just nasty, and wet chips disquest me
 
pescaofish

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To play we use instead of Chips, Real money, Dollars, Euros; unless you are playing a Tournament, then we need to use some kind of Chips.


We buy the commercial sets of chips with all the denominations that are easy to buy online. :mad:::mad:::mad::
 
Nelson1712

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Interesting article, my point of view is that the tiles are made of Clay / Ceramic because due to their material they produce a pleasant sound to the ear, on the other hand it is difficult to substitute these (poker chips) for money coins, this I imagine they do it to avoid so much money flowing on the tables
 
ELPRIIINCIPE

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Well, another great article about the history of poker,
It is nice to read these articles and to know each day a little more about this beautiful discipline, I particularly as I have not yet had the opportunity to attend a casino or a casino ignored all this, but now I have an idea about the poker chips and their value

Thank you very much for sharing this article.
 
Dailon Arroyo Blandon

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Very interesting the story of how the chips appeared in the game of poker .... the fact is that the chips give an extra adrenaline bonus to the game of poker ... the different denominations and designs and colors of chips give life to the game..!
 
ammje

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I remember a few years ago was more difficult to find chips to play poker, it is now easier, I bought some at a supermarket to play with my friends.
We used to do a few sheets of cardboard and a marker, writing the value of each tab.
 
chicopaw

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With technology rising ,i am sure they implant mini chips to calculate pot size, who knows they may even show there personnel stats. I have not yet had the opportunity to attend a casino or a casino to play poker yet.. Biggest think is to learn to flip those chips like the pros
 
Andrew Popov

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Very interesting reading. I currently use the mentioned 50$ chips in home games but we (me and my friends) are not so serious players so it is not a problem for us. Regarding the chip replacements - around 9 years ago while i was at the university we wanted to play poker with my colleagues but did not have money for chips so we started collecting lowest nominal coins of 1, 2 and 5 cents and in no time we had the equivalent of around 2.5$ which we used instead of chips. It worked quite good in fact till the moment when we were drunk one night and spent them to get 4 beers. :D

In Russia, too, there are in circulation coins in 1, 2, 5 and 10 rubles. (one ruble is 1/62 dollars, so playing coins in 1-2 or 5-10 you will have something like a game cache with a similar limit). For a tournament game this is not very suitable, but in home games, tournaments are rarely played - it usually requires a significant number of players. In addition, many have coins of "Soviet" times - they have long been not used in monetary circulation. But they are cute, well-made and have different denominations in designation:

b1161525b4.jpg

Of course, it's better to use special sets of chips for the game, but they are not very common in Russia and are quite expensive. Their purchase makes sense only regular "serious" game. In a simple home game, it's easier to find substitutes for "real casino chips". :D
 
Luvart

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Interesting information about poker chips. I expected the Las Vegas casinos to have weird and expensive tailor-made chips. The shuffling thing is something I still have to learn......I haven't had the opportunity to go to a live poker event to put this thing into practice, but the future is ahead.....
 
makisaa

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Poker chips like poker cards can be items for collectors. Poker chips are the poker currency. I remember when playing cards we used legumes like beans for chips! I think that the best material is ceramic because it is baked clay and can last for thousands of years and its designs too.
 
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Maybe it would be a cool to collect poker chips from live poker tournaments but it's prohibited. But I think it's better. You always have unique feeling that you keep unique chip in every live poker tournament. While the same chip at your home... you would be tired to watch at this chip someday... And no need to worry if you lose it.
 
SPANKYSN

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I was checking out this page which gives some insight into the history of poker chips:

History of Poker Chips

I have seen such a variety of chips in home games and live poker tournaments. It would be a cool hobby to collect poker chips.

Check out that article above - it is interesting what people have had to use in place of chips. There was a time you couldn't easily find them.

Have you ever had to substitute something for poker chips? If so what did you use?

Do you have any interesting or unique chips you want to share with us?


Collecting poker chips can be an expensive proposition. In the late 70s and early 80s, I started buying chips at each casino I entered....some had 25 or 50 cent chips, but most had a minimum $1 chip. On one trip in the early 80s, I walked from the Union Plaza in Downtown Las Vegas to Caesar's Palace....it took me about 5 hours, stopping in almost every casino in the downtown region and on the strip. At the time, they had both colourful casino chips and also metal slot tokens. I collected so many that I had trouble keeping my pants from falling down from the weight in my pockets. Some of my chips are worth face value, but some, especially chips from casino/hotels that no longer exist, are valuable. The last time I checked online, I had a few that were just under $100, with several in the $15 - 20 range. It was a fun hobby, but just like my sports card collection that my mother threw out when I was a kid (today's worth over $250,000), it is now a dust collector, and hard to sell for value on Ebay or Kijiji.
 
sryulaw

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Reading this article, I remembered a story of a man in the US who stole chips from a casino and tried to sell on the internet, I did not imagine that there would be enough crazy to do that.
The good thing is that technology has been helping everyone from security in banks to casinos, in the article talks about the chips that each casino has, this leaves expensive counterfeit chips.
Now I had a doubt in vi in Alliexpress, magic deck that with a certain dark glasses you could see the cards, then I was in doubt is that small poker house did not use something like that to benefit the house, to have more profits?
 
Nikolay Nakhaev

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In Russia, too, there are in circulation coins in 1, 2, 5 and 10 rubles. (one ruble is 1/62 dollars, so playing coins in 1-2 or 5-10 you will have something like a game cache with a similar limit). For a tournament game this is not very suitable, but in home games, tournaments are rarely played - it usually requires a significant number of players. In addition, many have coins of "Soviet" times - they have long been not used in monetary circulation. But they are cute, well-made and have different denominations in designation:

b1161525b4.jpg

Of course, it's better to use special sets of chips for the game, but they are not very common in Russia and are quite expensive. Their purchase makes sense only regular "serious" game. In a simple home game, it's easier to find substitutes for "real casino chips". :D
Yes. my friends often played at home using our coins instead of chips.
the most optimal was a substitute)
now from my circle no one plays poker and no real sets for the game

cool article about chips. I'll know. because the chips are the main weapon of the player) an entertaining story of their origin of development)
 
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Nikolay Nakhaev

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became interested in this article and found some interesting facts that I did not know about, but sometimes I saw in the broadcast of games on the Internet:

in some high-stakes casinos they also use "plaque" (from $ 25,000 and above). plaque differs from the chip in that it is larger and, as a rule, has a rectangular shape. In addition, unlike chips, they have serial numbers in the casino.
 
bruno13xs

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very interesting article did not know. I thought if you like old betting gold nuggets would be very heavy load as many gold nuggets to the winner of kkkk table.
But today we have several different types of plug and each can produce their own cards and customize with you want to play at home with friends
 
king11682

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Interesting the history of the poker chips, how they were evolving from the clay cards and how the poker houses were perfecting their chip models so that it was not easy to falsify them. You can also use your poker chips to pay for almost anything on the property: a buffet dinner, something from the gift shop, tips for the waitress. Who does not dream of stacking a mountain of chips valued at a fortune in a large casino.
 
Hackerosito

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Interesting that before the chips did not exist, God bless the one who had the brilliant idea to build them and make them, nothing better than that feeling of winning good pits and stacking them. Also interesting the information of the most expensive chips you love built, I hope that in the future we will not take away this feeling of physically feeling the chips and pushing an all in with them.
 
Poker Chips - History of Chips
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