All About Poker Chips

Poker chips have been made from many different materials over the years, and have had many different appearances.  For many centuries, gamblers used simple tokens – such as pebbles, stones, or coins.  Some players even made their own makeshift chips out of wood, scrap gold, and clay. But in more recent times (well, the 19^th century) the move was made to use the now well known clay poker chip.

Clay poker chips entered mass production in America in the early 1800s, but didn’t become incredibly popular until the 20^th century, when people started to care more about how the chips looked.  Chips from the 20^th century tend to be better designed, with engraved slits which keep the chips stacked neatly together, rather than the smoother edges of the older chips.

In the 1940s, plastic chips began to appear.  Most purists still prefer to use clay chips because they feel and sound nicer, have a good weight to them, and are long-lasting if they are looked after carefully.

Many casinos print patterns into their chips as a form of branding.  Different value chips are coloured differently to make it easy to spot the value of a bet at a glance.

You can buy poker chip sets for home use.  Plastic chip sets can cost as little as ten dollars for a small box, but sets of quality, personalised chips made out of clay can cost more than two hundred dollars for a pack of 500 in a quality presentation case.  These sets should last a lifetime, however, and are the perfect gift for the poker fan in your life who “has everything”