About Poker Chips

When playing poker at a casino or a home game, it is rare to wager and play with cash and coins. Instead of dealing with dollar bills and making change, poker players prefer to use poker chips. Poker chips are assorted by color and every player buys in for a certain amount when they are playing. In cash games, everyone will receive an amount equal to the money they have and in tournaments everyone will start out with an equal stack. There are different kinds of chips that people play wit, from professional clay chips to cheap plastic chips that are great for casual games.

Types

Typically there are three different kinds of poker chips. The most expensive and professional kind are known as clay chips. The ones underneath that are composite chips, and the cheapest poker chips are plastic chips. Clay chips weigh the most, to give them the feel of more value and are typically thicker than any other kind of chip. Composite chips can also way a lot occasionally and can be mistaken for clay chips as well.

Function

Poker chips are used to keep track of players during a poker game. There are usually four or five colors in a set of chips, all having a set value that will be used during the game. The chips are so popular that digital poker chips are actually created for use during many online poker websites like at Bodoglife.com and Oddsmaker.com. Whoever has the most poker chips is clearly the leading person in the tournament, but sometimes this is misleading if they have a lot of low-valued chips compared to someone who has a small collection of high-valued chips.

Features

The clay chip is the most popular and professional chip and it is made with a special process that causes them to work so well and become so expensive. Actually, clay chips are not made of clay at all, but a blend of materials that will not chip and break as easily as clay would. They have the feel and weight of clay that makes them comparable. Casinos order specific designs for all of their chips to prevent any fakes getting leaked into the casino and they involve four different parts of the chip: the edge spot, printed inlay, body and mold design. People can custom order chip sets as well and customize all of their chips as necessary.

Size

The chip is about the size of a half-dollar and a little bit thicker. Plastic chips are also the same size, but they are thinner and feature grooved edges where the chips can actually connect into. Composite chips are much like clay chips, but they have more of a plastic feel and slide a lot easier than clay chips.

Potential

If you gain enough experience with poker chips, then you can actually do tricks with your chips while sitting at a poker table. Tricks are common for poker players that want to pass time waiting their turn and by doing the tricks you can actually intimidate newer players at the table. One of the most common tricks is the "Chip Shuffle." This trick is performed by separating your chips into two stacks right next to each other and using one hand to shuffle them in together. It takes a while to master and is best done on a completely flat surface.