About Professional Poker Chips

Any time you tune into a poker tournament or walk through a casino's poker room, there will always be the sound of poker chips in the background. Chips that are being passed around, played with and piled up to the fortunate winners. Any professional poker playing site will be using professional poker chips. Professional poker chips are the only way to go when running a legit poker room, first for security reasons and also because of their durability.

Function

Professional poker chips are used to represent a value in a poker cash game or tournament. This could either be a cash value like a blue chip equals $5.00, or a chip count value, like buying 1,500 worth of chips in a tournament. In tournaments, everyone will start out with the same number of poker chips, but in a cash game, the amount of chips players have depends on how much money they are playing with.

Features

Professional poker chips are also referred to as clay chips. They used to be made with all clay, but now they are made with a mix or materials to make them more durable when being tossed. A professional clay poker chip at a casino will last around five years. If they are for personal use, they can last a lot longer because they will not be getting played with as much. Typical chips weigh around 9 grams.

Identification

There are many things that are added to a professional to give it security and style. The first thing to look for on a chip is the color. The most commonly used colors are white and blue, which are used to represent a dollar. Red chips are used to represent $5, and high-valued chips, like $500, are represented by purple. Professional poker chips also feature spots of colors on the edges to keep it a more stylish look. On the flat surface of the chip, the edge is surrounded by a mold design that is usually a diamond, heart, spade or club. The center features an imprinted inlay that is fused right to the chip and can feature any custom lettering or pictures.

Benefits

Having professional poker chips can make your poker game look more legit and add a sense of security to the poker room. Custom printed chips with five different options can make it nearly impossible to duplicate and people may not want to go through the time and effort to do so any way. Professional poker chips are also a lot easier to perform tricks. These tricks include shuffling the chips, flipping them over your palm and balancing them on the table. The extra weight and thickness makes these tricks a lot easier to execute.

Size

A professional poker chip is about the size of two half dollars stacked together. If you are ordering professional poker chips, the size of your order should depend on what size game you plan on playing. Three hundred chips will cover a four- to six-person game. Five hundred chips will cover a seven- to eight-player game and over 1,000 chips will help cover a large poker tournament that you may be holding.