Chips from the fictional 'Casino de Isthmus City'.
  1. Poker Chip Colors Value
  2. Standard Poker Chip Denominations
  3. Bulk Poker Chips For Sale
  4. Poker Chip Values
  5. What Do Poker Chip Colors Mean

Wynn Las Vegas colors Edit. In Las Vegas, the poker room at Wynn has introduced some new colors and chip denominations not found in other Vegas rooms. $2: brown; $3: peach; The $2 chips are used at the 8/16 limit and the $3 chips are used for 1/3 blind no-limit and the 6/12 Omaha/8 game References and Sources Edit. Rec.gambling.misc FAQ. Apr 26, 2017  What do the different colors of poker chips mean? April 26, 2017 chips colors different mean poker. There are actually more chip colours with standardised values and you can find a free printable guide at. What do the different colors of poker chips mean? Nov 21, 2019  The second category of poker superstitions relates to poker chips and is a level up in weirdness. What do you mean, you think it’s perfectly normal to stack your chips with the colors in an alternating pattern, while always using your lucky poker chip card protector?

50,000 Malagasy franc gaming plaque from Grand Cercle casino, Antananarivo, Madagascar, circa 1995.

Casino tokens (also known as casino or gaming chips, checks, or cheques) are small discs used in lieu of currency in casinos. Colored metal, injection-molded plastic or compression molded clay tokens of various denominations are used primarily in table games, as opposed to metal token coins, used primarily in slot machines. Casino tokens are also widely used as play money in casual or tournament games.

Some casinos also use rectangular gaming plaques for high-stakes table games ($25,000 and above). Plaques differ from chips in that they are larger, usually rectangular in shape and contain serial numbers.

  • 3Construction

Use[edit]

Money is exchanged for tokens in a casino at the casino cage, at the gaming tables, or at a cashier station. The tokens are interchangeable with money at the casino. Generally they have no value outside of the casino, but certain businesses (such as taxis or waiters—especially for tips) in gambling towns may honor them informally.

Tokens are employed for several reasons. Because of the uniform size, shape, and patterns of stacks of chips, they are easier to tally compared to currency. This attribute also enables the pit boss or security to quickly verify the amount being paid, reducing the chance that a dealer might incorrectly pay a customer. The uniform weight of the casino's official tokens allows them to weigh great stacks or heaps of chips rather than tally them (though aids such as chip trays are far more common.) Furthermore, it is observed that consumers gamble more freely with replacement currencies than with cash.[citation needed] A more pragmatic reason for casinos using chips in place of cash at table games is to discourage players from grabbing back their bet and attempting to flee should their bet not win, because chips, unlike cash, must be redeemed at the casino cashier and have no value outside the casino in question. Lastly, the chips are considered to be an integral part of the casino environment, and replacing them with some alternate currency would be unpopular[dubious].

Many casinos have eliminated the use of metal tokens (and coins) in their slot machines, in favor of paper receipts or pre-paid cards, which, while requiring heavy infrastructure costs to install, eliminate the coin handling expenses, jamming problems encountered in machines which took coins or tokens and can allow more game-specific technology in the space of a machine which would usually be dedicated to coin mechanisms. While some casinos (such as the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas) which installed the receipt system had kept the $1 tokens around for use as $1 chips, most other casinos using the receipts had simply scrapped the tokens entirely. Most casinos using receipts have automated machines at which customers may redeem receipts, eliminating the need for coin counting windows and decreasing labor costs.

Casino chip collecting is a part of numismatics, more specifically as specialized exonumia collecting. This hobby has become increasingly popular with the Casino Chips & Gaming Tokens Collectors Club formed in 1988. Some collectors may value certain casino tokens up to $100,000, which are typically traded on online auction websites like eBay. Several casinos sell custom-made sets of chips and one or two decks of cards stamped with the name of the casino on them. Each set is contained in a small briefcase or box.

History[edit]

The ancestors of the modern casino token were the counters used to keep score in the card games Ombre and Quadrille. In 1752, French Quadrille sets contained a number of different counters, known as jetons, fiches and mils. Unlike modern poker chips, they were colored differently only to determine player ownership for purposes of settling payments at the end of the game, with different denominations differentiated by different shapes that each counter type had.[1]

In the early history of Poker during the 19th century, players seemed to use any small valuable object imaginable. Early poker players sometimes used jagged gold pieces, gold nuggets, gold dust, or coins as well as 'chips' primarily made of ivory, bone, wood, paper, and a composition made from clay and shellac. Several companies between the 1880s and the late 1930s made clay composition poker chips. There were over 1000 designs from which to choose. Most chips were white, red, blue, and yellow, but they could be made in almost any color desired.

Construction[edit]

Authentic clay chip manufactured for home use.
$1 chip from Treasure Island, Las Vegas, NV.

The vast majority of authentic casino chips are 'clay' chips but can be more accurately described as compression molded chips. Contrary to popular belief, no gaming chip going as far back as the 1950s has been 100% clay. Modern clay chips are a composition of materials more durable than clay alone. At least some percentage of the chips is of an earthen material such as sand, chalk, and clay similar to that found in cat litter. The process used to make these chips is a trade secret, and varies slightly by manufacturer, most being relatively expensive and time-consuming per chip. The edge spots, or inserts, are not painted on; to achieve this effect, this area of the clay is removed and then replaced with clay of a different color; this can be done to each chip individually or a strip can be taken out of a cylindrical block of material and replaced with the alternate color before the block is cut into chips. Then each chip receives a mid-inlay if desired, and is placed in a special mold that heats and compresses the chip at approximately 10,000 psi (70 MPa) at 300 °F (150 °C), hence the term compression molded chips.

The printed graphics on clay chips is called an inlay. Inlays are typically made of paper and are then clad with a plastic film applied to the chip prior to the compression molding process. During the molding process the inlay becomes permanently fastened to the chip and can not be removed from the chip without destroying the inlay.

Ceramic chips were introduced in the mid 1980s as alternative to clay chips, and are also used in casinos, as well as being readily available to the home market. The ability to print lettering and graphics on the entire surface of the chip, instead of just the inlay, made them popular. Ceramic chips are sometimes also referred to as clay or clay composite, but they are in fact an injection-molded chip made with a special plastic or resin formula that approximates the feel and sound of ceramic or porcelain. There are less expensive chips for the home market, made from various forms of plastic and plastic covered metal slugs as well.

The chips used in North American casinos typically weigh about 10 grams, but are usually between 8 and 10.5 g. Companies that manufacture chips for actual casinos include Gaming Partners International (whose subdivisions include Paulson, Bud Jones, and B&G), Classic Poker Chips, Palm Gaming International, Game On Chip Company and GTI Gaming.

Colors[edit]

There is no universally standardized color scheme for poker chip values, and schemes not only vary nationally and regionally, but even from venue to venue, or by event type within a single venue.

A standard 300 piece set of Plastic Injection chips often sold as 'clay composite' chips.
A set of injection molded ABS poker chips 'hot-stamped' with denominations 100, 50, 25, & 10.

Chip colors found in home sets typically include red, white, blue, and sometimes green and black; however, more recently a wide assortment of colors have become readily available, particularly in lower-cost ABS plastic chips. Common additional colors are pink, purple, yellow, orange, and grey. Newer designs in home chips include three-color designs where a three-step molding process creates a chip with unique base, secondary, and detail colors. As chip sets are tailored to the buyer, the values of various colors vary widely, with less traditional colors either used as very high values such as $500, $1,000, $5,000, and so forth, common in tournaments, or as special 'fractional' values such as $2 or $0.50, common in low-limit games.

In casinos, uniform chip colors and sizes are sometimes specified by the local gaming control board for consistency. For example, regulations in New Jersey[2] and Illinois[3] specify similar uniform colors. Notably, Nevada has no regulations regarding color, which is why Nevada casinos may use white, blue, or gray as $1, though $5 and greater are almost always consistently colored. All US states where gambling is legal require that casino chips have a unique combination of edge spots for identification, the name and location of the casino and the chip's value, if any, impressed, printed, or molded onto the obverse and reverse of the token.

In 19th-century America, there was enough of a tradition of using blue chips for higher values that 'blue chip' in noun and adjective senses signaling high-value chips and high-value property are attested since 1873 and 1894, respectively.[4] This established connotation was first extended to the sense of a blue-chip stock in the 1920s.[5]

$2.50 chips (colloquially referred to as 'snappers' by chip collectors) are mostly used for blackjack tables, since a 'natural' (a 21 on the first two cards dealt to a player) typically pays 3:2 and most wagers are in increments of $5. However, the Tropicana Casino and Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and others, have used $2.50 (pink) chips in $7.50 to $15 and $10 to $20 poker games.

$20 chips are used mostly at baccarat and pai gow poker because a 5% commission charged for all winning banker wagers at baccarat and winning wagers at pai gow converts evenly. Bets of $20 are not uncommon in traditional table games such as craps and roulette; a $20 chip, for example, places a $5 bet on each of the 'hard ways' in craps and is preferable to passing a stack of chips or making change.

Because eight is considered a lucky number in Chinese culture, chips denominated 8, 88, and 888 (e.g., $8 in the US) are common in casinos catering to a Chinese clientele, often as a promotion for the Chinese Lunar New Year. They will sometimes contain an image of the animal associated with the year and are issued in a variety of colors.

Low-denomination yellow chips vary in value: $20 in Atlantic City and Illinois (which also uses 'mustard yellow' $0.50 chips); $5 at most Southern California poker rooms; $2 at Foxwoods' poker room in Ledyard, Connecticut; Running Aces Harness Park and Canterbury Park, both in Minnesota; and at Casino del Sol in Tucson, Arizona; and $0.50 at Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Blue chips are occasionally used for $10, most notably in Atlantic City. In Las Vegas and California, most casinos use blue or white for $1 chips, though many Las Vegas casinos now use $1 metal tokens in lieu of chips.

Chips are also available in denominations of $1000 or more, depending on the wagering limits of the casino. Such chips are often yellow or orange.[clarification needed]. Casinos in Nevada, Atlantic City, and other areas that permit high wagers typically have chips available in $5000, $10,000, $25,000, and more; the colors for these vary widely.

Denominations above $5000 are almost never encountered by the general public; their use is usually limited to 'high limit rooms' where bet sizes are much greater than on the main floor. Casinos often use gaming plaques for these denominations: These plaques are about the size of a playing card, and must be marked with serial numbers. The greatest value placed on a plaque to date is $10 million, used at the London Club in Las Vegas.[6]

Televised poker tournaments and cash games sometimes use bundled paper bills for high denominations, though the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour use round chips exclusively with denominations up to $250,000; tournament chips, however, are not redeemable for cash.

European casinos use a similar scheme, though certain venues, such as the Aviation Club de France, use pink for €2 and blue for €10. European casinos also use plaques rather than chips for high denominations, usually in the €1000 and higher range.

Security[edit]

Each casino has a unique set of chips, even if the casino is part of a greater company. This distinguishes a casino's chips from others, since each chip and token on the gaming floor has to be backed up with the appropriate amount of cash. In addition, with the exception of Nevada, casinos are not permitted to honor another casino's chips.

The security features of casino chips are numerous. Artwork is of a very high resolution or of photographic quality. Custom color combinations on the chip edge (edge spots) are usually distinctive to a particular casino. UV markings can be made on the inlay. Certain chips incorporate RFID technology, such as those at the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas. Also, makers' marks are difficult to reproduce. Also being used by one manufacturer, Palm Gaming, is an audible taggant incorporated into the ceramic chip blank. A simple handheld reader will beep if the gaming chip is authentic. Palm Gaming is even manufacturing custom made molds for their ceramic gaming chips- adding yet another high level of security to its gaming chip.

Chip

Counterfeit chips are rare. High levels of surveillance, along with staff familiarity with chip design and coloring, make passing fake chips difficult. Casinos, though, are prepared for this situation. All states require that casinos have a set of chips in reserve with alternate markings,[citation needed] though they may not be required to have exactly the same number of reserve chips as they do on the floor. The most notable instance of counterfeiting chips was broken up in 2005, when two men were caught falsely converting $1 chips into higher denominations.[7]

Casino chips used in tournaments are usually much cheaper and of much simpler design. Because the chips have no cash value, usually chips are designed with a single color (usually differing in shade or tone from the version on the casino floor), a smaller breadth, and a basic mark on the interior to distinguish denominations; however, at certain events (such as the World Series of Poker or other televised poker), chips approach quality levels of chips on the floor.

Variations[edit]

Several casinos, such as the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, issue 'limited edition' varied-designed chips, commemorating various events, though retaining a common color scheme. This encourages customers to keep them for souvenirs, at a profit to the casino.

In certain casinos, such as the Wynn and Encore Casinos in Las Vegas, chips are embedded with RFID tags to help casinos keep better track of them, determine gamblers' average bet sizes, and to make them harder for counterfeiters to reproduce. However, this technique is costly and considered by many to be unnecessary to profit. Also, this technology provides minimal benefits in games with layouts that do not provide gamblers with their own designated betting areas, such as craps.

In television[edit]

The first game show to use them, Duel, had a variation in which the contestants answer questions using oversized casino tokens. The World Series of Poker at one time actually used its casino tokens for the poker tournaments, but in more recent years has had special Paulson WSOP clay sets made for the tournaments.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^David Parlett. 'Quadrille and Médiateur: Courtly ladies' game of 18th-century France'. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
  2. ^'New Jersey Casino Control Commission – Chapter 46. Gaming Equipment'. state.nj.us. 2006-07-30. Archived from the original on 2006-07-30. Retrieved 2019-09-17.
  3. ^'Section 3000.625 Chip Specifications'. ilga.gov. 2017-01-23. Archived from the original on 2017-01-23. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  4. ^Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, Merriam-Webster.
  5. ^Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Merriam-Webster.
  6. ^'The London Club's $10 Million Gaming 'Plaque' Raises the Bar for Las Vegas'. Business Wire. 2000-08-14. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014.
  7. ^'Counterfeit Chip Ring Broken Up in Vegas'. Vegas Tripping.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Casino tokens.
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Standard poker chip denominations
Alcoholics Anonymous sobriety coins, given for specified lengths of sobriety; on the back is the Serenity Prayer. Green is for six months of sobriety; purple is for nine months.

A sobriety coin is a token given to Alcoholics Anonymous or other 12 step group members representing the amount of time the member has remained sober. It is traditionally a medallion the size of a poker chip 33 mm (Standard) or 34 mm in diameter marking the sobriety time achieved, awarded for abstaining from alcohol while with the program. In other 12 step programs it is to mark time abstaining from whatever the recipient is staying away from. There is no official AA medallion or chip; they are used in AA culture but not officially Conference Approved, and the AA logo has not been granted for use on medallions.[1]

  • 1History

History[edit]

Poker Chip Colors Value

Alcoholics Anonymous was not the first organization to use sobriety chips: other temperance societies gave medallions to those who swore to stop drinking/using and to track the duration of their sobriety.[2]

First use[edit]

Dr. Bob and the Good Old Timers, the history book for Alcoholics Anonymous, discusses the work of Sister Ignatia in Akron, a nun who was devoted to assist early members of A.A. and was known for passing out coins to these members. In this book, it states, “Sister Ignatia gave each of her newly released patients a Sacred Heart Medallion, which she asked them to return before they took the first drink. She would occasionally give out St. Christopher and St. George medals as well.” [2]

Use in AA[edit]

The actual history of how the A.A. chip came about after this is still a mystery. It is believed to have originated in 1942 in Indianapolis. The man who began the Alcoholics Anonymous section in Indianapolis, Doherty S., is thought to have started the sobriety coin tradition within this section of A.A.[3]

The Portland Group (Maine) began a tradition of using colored poker chips to mark time of sobriety.[4]

As each section of A.A. saw fit, it joined in on the sobriety coin custom. As private companies saw these coins being used, they began to manufacture “A.A.” chips (even though they were not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous) and sell them to different sections. It is believed that the company that made the modern chip as we know it today occurred in Minneapolis in 1965.[2] Wendells Inc from Ramsey, Minnesota began manufacturing the raised center bronze AA Medallion in 1973. The Wendells medallion is the most common bronze coin given by AA members.[5]

Do Poker Chip Colors Mean

Meaning[edit]

Standard Poker Chip Denominations

When a twelve-step member is presented with his or her first chip, they are often told, 'This chip represents AA's commitment to you – not your commitment to us'. Sobriety coins themselves do not necessarily help the holder stay sober, but studies have shown a connection between the visual presence of the coin and the holder's self-resolve. The coins are meant to motivate the holder to continue their abstention from the subject of their addiction.

Coin design[edit]

Several Alcoholics Anonymous tokens

Bulk Poker Chips For Sale

“Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of both men and women who share their experience, strength, and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism”.[6] To show how far along each person is in their sobriety most A.A. groups use a chip of a particular color or alloy that constitutes a range of time that person has been sober.[6] These different colored chips and values are meant to be tokens of inspiration and a reminder of just how long the member has been sober and how far that member has come. It is evident that “early on, many people in A.A. carried personal mementos to remind themselves of the importance of their sobriety”.[7] From personal mementos to coins, the practice of giving out something such as a sobriety chip represents the will and desire that a person has to quit drinking. “The practice of giving sobriety chips in A.A. is attributed to a group in Elmira, N.Y. in 1947. The celebration of birthdays came from the Oxford group where they celebrated the anniversary of their spiritual rebirth, in Alcoholics Anonymous people choose the anniversary of the date of their first full day without a drink. There are fourteen basic coins that are given to members within their first year of sobriety. Generally coins are given at one month, three months, six months, nine months of sobriety the first year. After this coins are given after each yearly milestone.

A 36-year sobriety coin given to a 59-year-old member at a meeting in Methuen, Massachusetts.

Typical coin milestone colors

  1. Silver Chip – 24 hours of sobriety
  2. Red Chip – 30 days/1 month of sobriety
  3. Gold Chip – 60 days/2 months of sobriety
  4. Green Chip – 90 days/3 months of sobriety
  5. Purple Chip – 4 months of sobriety
  6. Pink Chip – 5 months of sobriety
  7. Dark Blue Chip – 6 months of sobriety
  8. Copper Chip – 7 months of sobriety
  9. Red Chip – 8 months of sobriety
  10. Purple Chip – 9 months of sobriety
  11. Gold Chip – 10 months of sobriety
  12. Green Chip – 11 months of sobriety
  13. Bronze Chip – 1 year of sobriety.[8]

“The chip system is optional and not a part of all A.A. groups nationally or worldwide”.[9] In 2011, the General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous estimated that there were about 58,000 Alcoholic Anonymous groups throughout the United States.[9] All the chips after the One Year-chip are traditionally also bronze. There are special novelty chips that come in other metals, colors, types and designs. Common premium sobriety chips are gold- and silver-plated, colored and sometimes coated in a clear epoxy dome.

Notes[edit]

Poker Chip Values

  1. ^'The Meaning Behind AA Chips And Medallions'.
  2. ^ abc'Origin of AA coins, chips, tokens or medallions – AA FAQ'. Anonpress.org. Retrieved 2014-04-12.
  3. ^'Alcoholics Anonymous : Frequently Asked Questions About A.A.'s History'. Aa.org. Retrieved 2014-04-12.
  4. ^'Barefoot's World'. www.barefootsworld.net.
  5. ^'The Story Behind The Wendells Raised Center AA Medallion'.
  6. ^ abhttp://www.aa.org/pdf/products/m-24_aafactfile.pdf
  7. ^'AA Medallions | AA Coins | AA Tokens | AA Chips | Recovery Gifts | AA Token'. Sobermedallions.com. Retrieved 2014-04-12.
  8. ^'Understanding AA Chips' Colors, Meanings, and Their Importance'. ttccare.com.
  9. ^ ab'My Blog – My WordPress Blog'. www.seekingthelight.com.

References[edit]

What Do Poker Chip Colors Mean

  • The Anonymous Press. (n.d.) Origin of AA coins, chips, tokens or medallions? Retrieved from anonpress.org
  • Alcoholics Anonymous (2012). Frequently asked questions about AA's history. Retrieved from www.aa.org
  • Independent Alcoholism Help Council (IAHC). (2012). Relapse prevention and sobriety aids. Retrieved from www.alcoholic.org
  • Barefoot’s World. (2002). Some history of AA chips. Retrieved from www.barefootsworld.net
  • Marijuana Anonymous Online. (2012). MA Online sobriety chips. Retrieved from www.ma-online.org
  • General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous. (1956/2011). A.A. fact file. Retrieved from www.aa.org/pdf/products/m-24_aafactfile.pdf
  • Sober Camel. (n.d.). Sober Camel Sobriety Coins. Retrieved from http://sobrietycoins.com/
  • Sober Medallions. (2009/2012). Medallion Story. Retrieved from http://sobermedallions.com/
  • Christian Recovery Forums. (n.d.). AA glossory. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20140217221637/http://www.ipass.net/a1idpirat/AAglossary.html
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