Poker chips make playing poker enjoyable as players can easily use them to settle up at the end of the night. Using chips in place of real cash makes them loosen up at the poker tables. These discs are also in important tournaments when winners get rewarded in millions after clinching a title.
Most poker chips are not magnet, although a few niche chips are magnetic and have built-in neodymium magnets. Magnetic poker chips are most often found at casinos, who use them as interesting promotional items to attract more poker players to their tables.
Different chips are used for different tournaments, with each representing the prize amount. However, knowing the various types of poker chips available can help you select what to use in your next game or tournament. So, let’s learn which one is suitable for you.
Types of Poker Chips
Poker chips are made from different materials, including plastic, clay, and ceramic. They come in different colors, which represent their denominational value. Poker players use the chips to bet in casinos.
| Type of Chips | Traits |
| Ceramic | High quality, durable |
| Clay composite | Most widely used, most expensive |
| Metal | Unique design, hard to find |
| Plastic | Cheapest, deviation in quality |
For you to become an expert poker player, you have to understand all the facts about poker chips, such as whether they’re magnetic or not.
If you are interested in buying poker chips, here are several types you need to familiarize yourself with.
Ceramic Chips
Ceramic chips are high quality and durable, a step up from the rest. They are manufactured through injection molding, resulting in a smooth surface with aesthetically pleasing, customized graphics. They slide well on the poker felt, doing chip tricks swiftly compared to other types. These chips can be used privately at home or in casino halls.
Clay Composite Chips
Clay poker chips are the most widely used chips and arguably the most expensive. They’re manufactured through a compression molding process that transforms them into strong discs of different designs. They slide well along the table, as well as when felt. Doing chip tricks with clay composite chips is easy since they are heavier.
Composite chips have a nice texture and feel, and they also produce a good sound when you splash the pot. They come in different weights, colors, and designs and can be customized as well.
Metal Chips
Metal poker chips have a unique design. They’re available in shades of bronze silver and gold, but finding them can be quite challenging. If you are lucky to find metal poker chips, they’ll undoubtedly be stars of your poker game.
Plastic Poker Chips
Plastic chips are injection molded to produce high quality, casino grade poker chips. They are a bit slippery and have a little deviation in quality compared to the others. Plastic options are the cheapest. They are often light, without any specifications. They come in various variations according to the technology involved in their manufacture. Their looks can be customized.
How to Differentiate Between Real or Fake Casino Chips
Every casino has unique sets of poker chips with different security features. Their security features vary from specialized markings, distinct artwork, and complex color combinations. Some of their chips are designed with advanced technology, such as the RFID.
There’s also a general myth that a chip has to weigh 11.5 grams for it to be considered official. But most top casinos in Las Vegas have chips that weigh between 8.5 and 10.6 grams. Any markings found on each casino’s chip indicate their origin. And if you come across poker chips with no casino logo, it’ll definitely be a counterfeit.
Standard color coding of the chips is used to represent their value and prevent counterfeits. They also help to denote table limits on signs during table games.
Therefore, if you want to find out if a casino chip is legit or fake, check its weight on a scale, the color, any specialized markings, the quality of the graphics, which includes the casino logo, design material, and RFID integration. Casinos embed RFID tags in their poker chips to track the activity at table games or those chips that have been stolen or counterfeited.
How to Buy the Perfect Poker Chips
Poker chips come in different values. High-value chips are available in denominations from $5000 to $25000. These are used in high stake games played by professional poker players. They are often used in private poker games. There are also average value and low-value chips you can buy for your game.
Buying the perfect poker chip will depend on your budget and taste. A lot of chips are out there, but you have to know them for you to choose the best. Here are a few factors to consider:
The Quantity
Poker chips are available in sets of 100 up until 1000. You can decide to buy them in sets or per chip. But before you do that, you’ll need to have an idea of the quantity of your order. At most, you’ll want to get enough chips that’ll cover several players. For tournaments, you may have to order an equivalent of one chip stack for each player up to the maximum number of players allowed, with a few extra stacks for replacement.
Your chips order should be based on the game’s stakes and the number of players you’re expecting, plus any extras in case the stakes escalate. Each player may require at least 100 chips. The majority of these should come from two of the lowest denominations and about 20 pieces from high denomination chips.
For a more in detail guide on exactly how many chips you need for your poker game, read this article.
The Type
There are different types of poker chips, and all of them are valued differently to enable you to choose what suits you best. Some can be used to play home games, small stage games, friendly poker games, and even tournaments. Depending on the anticipated type of game, the number of players, your budget, and your preferences, you should be able to choose the right type of product for your game.
The Color
If you are keen on maintaining industry standards, you can select your chips depending on their color. This will also help to minimize confusion among players who are accustomed to using certain chips colors that they know represent a particular value.
The Weight
Weight is an important factor to consider when buying your chips. Lightweight poker chips are often cheap, while heavier chips are costly and more durable. Your choice of weight of chips will depend on how frequently you’ll be hosting your poker games.
You want to invest your money in chips that will last long without being replaced—besides, poker players like playing with heavier chips because they are easy to maneuver and riffle.
The Design
Poker chips come in distinct designs. They include standard design, stickers, gold or silver foil stamping, engraved, and much more. You can also purchase pre-designed options that have customized graphics or pictures or opt for sticker designs that are easy to place and difficult to damage.
Your chips can be hot stamped with silver or gold lettering or engraved to prevent them from getting counterfeited. They can be engraved with your initials, business logo, name, signature, or anything else that gives you a unique identity.
Conclusion
Poker chips are manufactured with high standards to improve identity and also promote sales. Magnetizing the chips is one way of marketing and attracting more customers to the business. Before purchasing your poker chip set for a game, you have to consider a few factors such as the number of chips to buy, what colors represent a particular denomination, your budget, and much more.
Here’s how to achieve this:
- Understand the various types of poker chips, as well as their different colors and values.
- Be able to identify legit poker chips from counterfeit ones.
- Determine the best poker chips you want to purchase for your next game.
