Poker Chips – Types, Application, History

The numbers you see as poker chips value are a direct representation of how much a chip is worth in real or tournament money. At least, that holds true if you play at a casino. The concept is very simple and has been facilitating poker games ever since the 1880s. However, if you are a discerning player, you quickly find out there’s much more to poker chips than meets the eye. Learn everything there is to know about poker chips in this 5-minute read.

A Word About Poker Chip Origins

‘Chips’ in the poker language are circular casino tokens replacing money as standard for betting. In the early days of gambling, bags of gold dust and unrefined pieces of gold acted as ‘chips’, but people quickly realised some sort of a standard ought to be set. In the beginning, manufacturing proved to be a real problem, not to mention that counterfeit chips posed an even bigger problem.

In the 1880s, finally, a more technologically advanced process to produce chips was discovered. While that didn’t completely do away with the practice of counterfeiting chips, it made it much harder. Currently, casino chips are as much about convenience as they are about prestige. They are richly ornamented and custom-made to suit the branding of the respective casino.

Manufacturers

Just like the multitude of casino chip values, the number of manufacturers isn’t very small either. They bring their unique spin to the design and quality of this very basic item, thus creating the need for a discerning overview of what is on offer. The cool thing is that if you call up one of these manufacturers, you might be able to order custom poker chips – at the right price, of course. Those are the leading poker chip manufacturers:

Some of these companies, for example, Fat Cat, are known for their acceptable-quality products at an affordable price, which sits alright with their goals. Similarly, there are companies like Paulson – offering high quality at a high price, which don’t want to be known as anything else. Their cheapest set costs upwards of $300, which is a premier poker chips set by all means.

Poker Chip Types by Material

Poker was invented some time before the first chips came into use. As we mentioned, manufacturing them was very challenging at the time, namely because there wasn’t a cheap and reliable material such as plastic. The truth of the matter is that plastic is, actually, an undesirable choice at the high levels of professional poker. There are other materials which are better suited for the making of professional poker chips.

Plastic

Plastic can’t be regarded as anything other than a cheap alternative when it comes to poker chips. It can’t emulate the feel of the premium materials and is not that good of a solution in the long term because the chips made of plastic deteriorate quickly and get dirty easily.

That puts us in mind of the so-called ‘colour chips’ only played with at the roulette table. While colour-coded like other poker chips, they have no printed values and don’t have the nice feel of premium casino tokens. These chips can be used only at land-based casinos, but you can normally see them next to the wheels at roulette games at the best roulette sites.

What’s more, plastic doesn’t allow for sophisticated designs and much customisation. Not that any casino would be interested in putting their logo on a set of plastic chips. ABS or ‘dice’ chips are the king of this category. This superior plastic has a higher density and lends itself to the creation of casino tokens.

China Clay

China clays are not 100% made of clay. These are composite chips that give more of an authentic feel to the game than their plastic counterparts. But even so, China clay chips still pale in comparison to, let’s say, Paulson chips, which are made entirely out of clay. The only two reasons someone could choose China clay over the top-end clay chips are the price and not knowing the difference between the two.

Ceramic

If you are not a chip collector, these ceramic poker chips will probably be a bit of an overkill. These are like a small piece of art – something that would behove the best casino sites if they were to use physical tokens. Not only do they look great, but ceramic has such a smooth surface that it was destined for the creation of professional poker chips. We will see how well ceramic chips fair against clay ones in the next paragraph.

Clay or Ceramic Poker Chips Are Better?

At first, the specifics of ceramic and clay chips are not apparent just by knowing the material they are made of. We want to give you the best possible insight into what the two materials bring to the table for poker players and, hopefully, help the players decide for themselves which type they would like to use.

Clay seems to be the top-of-mind material for casino operators when it comes to chips. Ceramic proves way too slippery, plus the sound clay makes is a tad too hard (high-pitched). What’s more important is that clay is easier to work with and leaves more room for customisation, which the casinos love.

Poker Chip Types by Price

Nobody will judge you if you don’t splash out on premium poker chips just to impress your friends. Often times poker chips value is all that the players need to see, and all the rest is secondary. You’ll be able to have decent fun with your buddies for just above $20. That’s correct; this is the price of the cheapest chips set on the web presently. We will discuss what you get for your money. Pick a price range and see what kinds of poker chips are available.

Cheap Poker Chips

Even though you may find the word ‘professional’ in the description of these items, don’t be fooled. They are anything but what professionals use. First of all, these are chips made out of plastic, which we already pointed out is not the best material for that purpose.

Secondly, they don’t benefit from an inlay design, meaning that any decoration you see on them is just stickers, including the poker chips’ value. That being said, we can’t neglect the fact that cheap poker chips are so affordable. Here are four good propositions in this price range.

Mid-Range Price Poker Chips

At this price range, the feel and durability of the chips dramatically improve as they will be made of clay or composite material. It’s also worth noting how that slightly increases the poker chips’ weight. This is also a good sign, as most players like it when the poker chips have a bit more weight to them. It goes without saying that you’ll also get a sturdy aluminium case to store your chips in.

Expensive and Custom Poker Chips

These are casino quality, which is why not all players feel ready to make such a purchase. However, here’s what you will get for your investment. Most of the time, the pieces will be ceramic – the kind of chips professional poker players are most pleased with. This simply goes back to how this is the choice of casinos; therefore, any serious poker player would prefer if the same standard is met.

You’ve probably seen it a million times – poker professionals shuffling their chips. If you’ve tried doing any of the tricks they do with your set of plastic coins, you probably didn’t have a fun time. However, if you consider buying one of the sets mentioned above, you will have much better chances of doing the tricks shown in the next video:

Though we are not here to discuss tricking, we will throw out there that it’s better to pay a little more for your chips set if you intend to do tricks. You can ask the seller which of their products is best suited for that purpose. Don’t shy away from inquiring; after all, you’ll be paying a good price.

Where to Buy

If there’s a big supermarket near you, this should be the first place to check for cheap poker chips. Unsurprisingly, the big retailers are always there for you when you need a poker chip set. Their logistics networks are so well developed that it will only take a few days for your delivery to arrive. These are four major wholesalers where you can order your poker chips or buy them in person.

As mentioned, you can either order online or make a purchase in person – whichever is more convenient for you. The thing with ordering online is that shipping isn’t always free, especially if you want to receive the product in short order. Knowing that, make sure to read the fine print that says when to expect your delivery and how much extra it will cost, if there’s an additional fee for that.

No Poker Chips? – You Can Still Play

One of the most asked questions by amateurs is what to do when you don’t have poker chips handy. Of course, at the professional level, this is an unforgivable mistake, but if you are playing with friends, there are a couple of things you could try. Forget about the customisable poker chips and the shiny briefcases they come in; you can still have a whale of a time if you improvise. Here are three things you can do when you don’t have poker chips.

Bet Straight up Cash

No one thinks less of throwing cash in the middle of the table than tossing a chips bet. Paper money is equally viable to poker chips in the sense of betting. While paper money isn’t as handy and doesn’t stack up as neatly as chips do, it’s a good option that will make your game at home possible. A mixture of stacks of custom poker chips and bundles of cash can be seen at the highest level of high-stakes poker.

Strip Poker

If we leave aside the infamy of strip poker earned from movies and sitcoms, we can appreciate it as a chip-free way of playing the game. Every time you lose, you remove a piece of clothing – the rules say. The only problem is – only so many people will agree to a game where bad beats are remembered for a lifetime. On the other hand, strip poker makes for a nice catalyst for a romantic gambling night with your significant other.

Virtual Poker

Don’t let the fact you don’t have a professional poker chip set to get in the way. The best alternative – online poker. You don’t have to play for real money. You could be making friends and having a good time on a platform such as Zynga Poker – where no real money transactions take place. Free poker chips are given to you when you create an account. It’s a purely for-fun experience, which is best shared with friends. Of course, a social casino or another established online platform can do the same job.

FAQ

Maybe you wanted to learn something more about customisable poker chips or where to buy a full set? In this segment, we will answer additional questions to shed more light on the topic of poker chips. Do you think we missed something? Read below to see what players ask.

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