Blog Posted on 13/01/2022 | Author: Karen Macarthur

Common & Popular Types of Poker Chips

You don’t need poker chips to play in a cash game of poker, and you could use silver dollars as well as regular cash. There’s a reason that colored disc markers were invented.

Poker chips make it easier to play and settle down at the end. Chips make it easier for players to relax at the tables, even though they don’t always feel like real money.

Poker chips are essential for tournaments. Each player starts with the same amount of chips, and they hope to get the title, the glory, and a lot of cash.

This article will cover all types of poker chips, whether you are just looking for some chips to play at home or looking to purchase a set to use in your game.

Main Types Of Poker Chips

There are three types of chips:

• Low-quality chips for casual card players
• Premium chips for more sophisticated players
• Casino-grade chips for serious collectors

Plastic chips of lower quality

Pure plastic poker chips are the cheapest, and they’re not better than betting with matchsticks and dried beans. These chips are readily available and relatively inexpensive, but serious poker players should avoid them.

ABS “dice” chips are an excellent choice if you have a tight budget. These chips are made of thicker plastic, which is great for casual home casino games, especially if you don’t play very often.

Premium Clay Poker Chips 

Many chips will be described as “clay,” but this is usually a marketing trick. The chip will only contain a small amount of clay, and this term should not be used for top-end casino chips.

However, plastic composite chips that are marketed as “clay composite,” or “clay” are great chips for those who don’t have the budget but still want a premium chip.

Clay composites are available on the market if you don’t have the budget for Paulson chips. They can be very similar to Paulson chips in appearance and feel, but they cost a fraction of the price. These clay composites are mass-produced by a combination of compression molding and injection, and these clays are also known as China clays.

Ceramic chips are an alternative option for serious home poker players. If you have a tight budget, ceramic chips that are not casino-grade are also available, and their slippery texture may not be to everyone’s taste.

Casino-Grade Poker Chips

Casinos use ceramic chips and clay chips. However, you may find smaller casinos that use plastic composites.

It is difficult for retail consumers to obtain casino-grade chips. The currency of casinos is chipped, so they keep their manufacturing secrets. Manufacturers tend to concentrate on the casino market and not the house market. However, there are exceptions.

Casino-grade poker chips are mostly collectors who sell and buy on secondary markets. These chips can be expensive and are not affordable for home gaming. There are many materials that poker chips can be made from, but they will mainly be made from plastic.

It can be difficult to identify the material used in a brand’s chips. Many chip manufacturers use the term “clay” to market their chips. Ceramic chips are not made from traditional ceramics, and China clay chips can also be found in ceramic chips. Casino chips using clay chips may not contain pure clay.

Types Of Poker Chip Materials

Plastic 

Plastic chips come in a variety of sizes and qualities. There are many options for quality and prices. You can find a variety of plastics in poker chips, and these include the cheaper, less durable chips you might buy at the supermarket or the more expensive, more luxurious plastics. Most plastic chips are lightweight, so a metal insert is often used to add weight.

Low-Quality Plastic Chips

The cheapest plastic discs, which you can find in gas stations and supermarkets for around a penny each, are at the bottom of this spectrum. These discs look, sound, and feel cheap and should not be used.

Next up is the dice chips made from ABS plastic. There will usually be a metal insert to give the chips their weight. These aren’t much more expensive than the other categories, but they offer superior quality at every level. While dice chips make a great first set, you’ll eventually want to upgrade. These chips don’t feel, look or sound like real things.

High-Quality Plastic Chips

The mid-range plastic chips have a higher quality than the basic dice chips and a better appearance. These chips will often include metal inserts. They may be called “Clay” or “Clay-composite,” but they are mostly plastic with a little clay. Although they don’t sound or feel like a casino chip, they can be seen from afar.

This material is used by well-known brands. There are also high-end plastic chips. They are still plastic, even though many people don’t like how they feel. 

Faux Clay

Faux clay poker chips are a special type of poker chip that is no longer made and very hard to find. They are a cheaper alternative to the more expensive clay chips. Look out for “Deluxe Dice”.

Clay

This is the real deal. The highest quality casino chips are made from genuine mineral clay chips. These chips are not made from pure clay, as no poker chips are, and they are clay mixed with other materials to make the chips more durable. Pure clay is extremely fragile. However, casino-grade “true clay” chips contain a high percentage of clay. Even though the chip is called clay, it may be a plastic composite.