The Casino Chip – Learn Their Colours, Materials, And Values

Posted: August 17, 2023

Updated: August 17, 2023

Using cash at the gaming table at a land-based casino is no longer possible. It's too messy and impossible for the dealer to take care of whilst dealing the cards. Instead, when you enter the establishment, you'll need to convert your cash into chips at the cashier. These come in various forms, the most noticable being different colours. Each colour signifies a different cash value. So, as you can imagine, it's essential to know these colours before you begin any betting.

Using cash at the gaming table at a land-based casino is no longer possible. It’s too messy and impossible for the dealer to take care of whilst dealing with the cards. Instead, when you enter the establishment, you’ll need to convert your cash into chips at the cashier. These come in various forms, the most noticeable being different colors. Each color signifies a different cash value. So, as you can imagine, it’s essential to know these colors before you begin any betting.

Types And Colors of the Casino Chip

Casino chips are commonly employed as a form of currency within gambling establishments for games like poker, blackjack, and roulette and come in various types and colors. This casino chip, typically round but sometimes rectangular, serve as a substitute for cash at the casino tables. In practical terms, this helps to enhance both security and convenience by condensing large sums into a single unit.

The use of casino chips has evolved from an enthusiast and club practice to a standardized element of contemporary gaming, with their production now completely mechanized. The spectrum of chips encompasses several categories, primarily falling into two groups: plastic chips and ceramic tiles.

The Casino Chip: Ceramic, ABS, And Plastic

If you prioritize the use of high-quality chips during your gameplay, plastic poker chips may not meet your standards. These lightweight chips can be easily acquired from numerous high-street stores or even repurposed from other tabletop games. However, a plastic casino chip possesses a notable drawback in terms of both aesthetics and functionality, being easy to stack and count.

So, if you engage in cash play, it’s essential to prevent participants from introducing their chips into the tournament. This precaution guards against the potential for players surreptitiously adding extra chips to their collection before departing for the event.

A Casino Chip With Metal Inserts

Today, you can find more robust and weightier plastic chips, often referred to as composite chips. These chips are commonly produced in China using a combination of composite plastic resin. Some of these even incorporate a metal insert, adding to their overall weight.

Their texture is plastic-based, while those featuring metal components emit a metallic sound, which is quite different from the usual customary resonance of high-quality ceramic tiles found in casinos. Despite this, they remain more appealing for gameplay, especially when compared to lightweight plastic chips, despite their higher cost. Additionally, they offer enhanced stackability when compared to their plastic counterparts. However, they don’t attain the same level of quality as found in a ceramic casino chip.

Authentic casino chips are predominantly ceramic, though they could be more accurately described as molded chips. Contemporary ceramic tiles encompass a blend of materials that exceed traditional ceramics in durability. They typically comprise a mixture of substances including sand, calcium carbonate, Crete, and clay.

Measurements And Design Variations

The standard dimensions for a casino chip includes a diameter of 39mm, with a weight typically ranging from 8 to 16 grams per chip. In comparison, roulette color chips maintain the same diameter and thickness, but they are often lighter due to the use of different materials. On the other hand, oversized casino chips, which are generally 43mm in diameter, are often reserved for higher denominations or specific games like baccarat. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) has adopted an even larger casino chip, measuring 50mm, for their main event.

Cheap Casino Chip For Home Games

Lightweight plastic chips weigh around 2 to 4 grams each and commonly come in standard colors such as red, white, and blue. These chips are typically smaller than traditional casino chips. Compound and ceramic tiles generally weigh between 9 to 13 grams each, although you’ll find there isn’t an official weight specification. Some chips with metal inserts can be even heavier.

A casino chip used in land-based casinos typically weigh between 11 and 12 grams. However, chips intended for home use can exhibit more significant weight variations, occasionally reaching up to 13.5 grams, depending on the manufacturer and production method.

A Better Quality Casino Chip

Typically, heavier chips are deemed more valuable and sought after due to their enhanced tactile and auditory qualities when interacting with one another.

Composite tiles are available in monochromatic designs (often with printed patterns), two-color combinations, and three-color options, with the latter being more expensive. Graphics on ceramic tiles are referred to as engravings. These engravings are usually crafted on paper and coated with a thin layer of plastic, which is then applied to the casino chip prior to the compression process. This embedding process permanently secures the engraving to the tile, making it impossible to remove without causing damage.

While designs can vary, the most common options include:

Suited Chip (with the four sticks printed around)
Diamond Chip (with diamonds printed around)
Dice Chip (with the 6 faces of a die printed around)

The Standard Colours And Chip Values

The conventional casino chip game colors typically include red, white, blue, and occasionally green and black. Nevertheless, a diverse array of colors has recently started to emerge. Among these, pink, lilac, yellow, orange, and grey are among the most prevalent. Defining the color and value of poker chips lacks official regulations. Every casino or private tournament is at liberty to adopt its own color scheme. Nonetheless, widely accepted denominations exist.

These two compilations display the established values assigned to each chip based on color. The initial list encompasses the five most popular colors, while the second encompasses a grand total of thirteen colors. If you’re playing casino table games at one of the best online casino sites in the UK, 22Bet Casino, then take note that the chip colours might be different depending on the game’s provider.

Basic Poker Casino Chip Colours And Values

White Chip = $1
Yellow Chip = $2
Red Chip = $5
Blue Chip = $ 10
Gray Chip = $20
Green Chip = $ 25
Orange Chip = $ 50
Black Chip = $ 100
Pink Chip = $ 250
Purple Chip = $ 500
Bordeaux chip = $ 1000
Blue Chip Sky = $ 2000
Brown token = $ 5000

It is conceivable that the monetary valuation assigned to a casino chip colours might differ across certain casinos, but the list above reflects the common practices in most casinos. We suggest that you always make sure to verify the chip values with each specific casino before going all-in. The same goes for playing at an online casino like 22Bet Casino. Though the colour of their chips might be similar, it’s always a good idea to check each game’s pay table to ensure the true value of each coloured chip.

Casino Plaques For High Rollers

Typically, when dealing with extremely high denominations from casino whales, casinos forego using standard chips or even larger-sized chips, opting for plaques instead. These plaques are rectangular pieces made of plastic, approximately the dimensions of a credit card or even larger. Although in certain casinos, the shape might be more oval than rectangular.

Therefore, if a patron intends to place a solitary bet or a sequence of bets amounting to around £5,000, £10,000, or £25,000, they can opt for a plaque in lieu of a casino chip. There have been reports of certain UK clubs employing £500,000 plaques, and according to online casino news in the UK, the London Club in Las Vegas once utilized black plaques valued at $10,000,000.