Understanding poker chip values and colors [complete guide]
Published by: PokerOrg
Poker chips are poker currency. Players use them in cash games 📈 and tournaments, home games, and casino or cardroom events. They represent dollar amounts during play, and provide a way to 📈 play poker with a shared understanding of those amounts.
Standard poker chip values and colors
Every casino, cardroom, and home game host 📈 can establish their own poker chip values. The values may vary by tournament operator, casino owner, or local poker community 📈 standards. One of the first questions a player should ask at a new venue is: “How much are poker chips 📈 worth?”
Poker chip values
Values assigned to chips are generally the same across most poker rooms:R$1,R$5,R$10,R$20 orR$25,R$100,R$500, andR$1,000. For higher stakes, there 📈 are usuallyR$5,000 andR$1,000 chips on hand, with some as high asR$25,000 orR$100,000.
Chips used for home games are often the same, 📈 with white as the lowest denomination, then red, blue, green, black, purple (or lavender), yellow, orange, and another shade of 📈 green. Some venues offer pink and various shades of blue.
Poker chip colors
The primary reason poker games use chips is to 📈 create consistency. Players in almost every establishment must exchange money for chips and use the chips only at the tables. 📈 The chips are all the same size, with only colors to designate the difference in values.
Color coding also allows security 📈 systems to better monitor the action at tables, as chip stack sizes and different colors are easier to see than 📈 dollar bills.
Poker chip color value: cash games vs tournaments
All venues will differentiate their poker chip colors for cash games and 📈 tournaments. The basic reason is that gaming chips in cash games are worth the exact value on the chip. In 📈 tournaments, however, players buy in for a specific amount of money that doesn’t usually correspond with the amount in their 📈 starting chip stacks.
Another reason to use separate chips is to prevent players from trying to sneak cash game chips into 📈 a tournament. Tournament chips are kept in a very secure location until the event takes place. Additionally, poker players are 📈 allowed to keep chips and take them from the casino — usually as memorabilia.
Tournament chips, however, are the strict property 📈 of the establishment.
Different poker chip colors separate the two types of chips. Tournament chips must have higher denominations, and they 📈 often bear the name of the event or host, such as the World Series of Poker or World Poker Tour.
Chip 📈 values in cash games
Most poker rooms use the same poker chip values across different cash games. There’s no industry standard, 📈 but most establishments apply identical poker chip color values for at least some denominations, like theR$100 black chips. Other values 📈 may vary, especially for the higher-value chips.
White =R$1
Red =R$5
Blue, Brown, or Orange =R$10
Green =R$25
Black =R$100
Purple =R$500
Yellow, Orange, or Gray =R$1,000
Orange, 📈 Gray, or Red/White/Blue =R$5,000
Dark Green, Dark Blue, or Brown =R$25,000
Light Blue or Gray =R$100,000
Each state’s gaming control board (or national 📈 gaming regulators if outside of the United States) must approve and register most aspects of different poker chips. That includes 📈 logos, chip colors, weight, sizes, designs, and materials. Each state may have its own requirements and standards.
Most professional poker chips 📈 at poker rooms display the room’s logo in the center of all gaming chips. The logo display is a form 📈 of advertisement, but the logo or brand name also makes the chips optimal for mementos and collections.
Removing colored chips from 📈 casinos
Some restrictions apply to removing poker chips for cash games from casinos. There’s usually a time limit on cashing in 📈 the chips. Because of the time limit, you usually can’t cash in chips used as collectors items at a later 📈 date. Poker rooms may also change their logos or designs periodically to prevent counterfeits and fraud.
Rectangular poker chips
For the highest-stakes 📈 cash games, casinos started using rectangular plaques. These are heavier and clearly different from any poker chip. Their unique design 📈 is an indicator that the stakes are high. High-stakes players often enjoy using something other than standard gambling chips. And 📈 it’s not a coincidence that the shape of these chips resemble the shape of paper money.
Chip values in poker tournaments
Poker 📈 chip values don’t represent actual dollar amounts, so most tournaments report chip counts by prefacing the number with T$.
For example, 📈 a player may buy into a tournament forR$400 and receive 40,000 in chip values, spread across different colors of chips. 📈 That player now has T$40,000 in the tournament. The chips don’t correspond to a real-life dollar amount. But an amount 📈 is necessary to track stack sizes and poker chip distribution.
High value chips in tournaments
Anyone or any establishment hosting a poker 📈 tournament must have enough chips to supply all potential players. While high-denomination cash game chips may be rare, every tournament 📈 must have high poker chip values on hand.
Color-ups
Colors are important for many reasons in a poker tournament, but they must 📈 be easily distinguishable when the dealers and staff do color-ups.
As players bust out of a tournament, the remaining players accumulate 📈 their chips. Those remaining players will pile up many more of the lower values than necessary with increased blinds. The 📈 tournament staff will remove the smaller denominations in exchange for higher values, reducing the chip stacks to more manageable sizes.
Stacking 📈 poker chips by color values
Poker chip color value also matters when stacking chips. The standard way to stack is to 📈 separate poker chip values by color in stacks of 20. Tournament players should be able to look at another’s stack 📈 and determine how many chips they have. This is necessary for calculating odds and making betting decisions.
Setting chip values and 📈 stack sizes for home games
Home games almost always use the same poker chip colors from house to house. The average 📈 poker chips set contains whites, reds, and blues or greens. Larger home games may use bigger poker chips sets with 📈 more colors, such as black and yellow.
There are no values printed on chips intended for home-game use. This allows poker-night 📈 hosts to set the values that best represent the money at stake in their games. For example, instead of white 📈 chips representing one dollar, they can be worth one cent.
Typically, home games start with 25 to 50 chips per person. 📈 This depends on the stakes and number of players, as well as the general betting patterns of the participants. More 📈 advanced and experienced home games may let players buy in for a specific dollar amount that matches the exact poker 📈 chip values. A standard game may useR$1/$2 blinds.
Home game poker chip color values
Different options for poker chip distribution could be:
$40 📈 for 20 big blinds (20BB) = tenR$1 chips, fourR$5 chips, 1R$10 chip
$100 for 50BB = tenR$1 chips, tenR$5 chips, fourR$10 📈 chips
$200 for 100BB = tenR$1 chips, tenR$5 chips, nineR$10 chips, twoR$25 chips
The above distributions can work just as well forR$0.01/$0.02 📈 games.
Home game tournament poker chip color values
Home game tournaments are more complicated but still manageable. Running a home game tournament 📈 requires knowledge of (and setting up) a blind structure and instructions for how to color up chips. A host could 📈 hold a tournament for up to six people with a set of 300 poker chips, but a 500-piece set is 📈 optimal, especially for deep stacks.
To start each player with 100BB, the host would judge poker chip value by color. For 📈 instance, you may decide that eight white chips represent T$25 each. You may also set eight reds at T$100 each, 📈 eight blues at T$500 each, and five greens at T$1,000 each.
Pro tip: When playing with a 300-piece chip set, recycle 📈 the white chips as higher denominations later in the tournament. As long as everyone agrees that the chips can take 📈 on a higher value, recycling the colors works well.
Chip values in major poker tournaments
How much are poker chips worth in 📈 poker tournaments? The value is shown right on the circle in the center of the chip. Most establishments will print 📈 chips especially for a particular tournament series, like the WSOP or WPT. Casinos like the Venetian also print special tournament 📈 chips for their signature series.
Multi-colored tournament chips
Poker chip colors in major tournaments are often multi-colored designs. The chips typically display 📈 multiple colors around the outer part of the chip but one primary color in the center.
For example, the T$100 chip 📈 at the World Series of Poker at the Rio was the standard black but with blue highlights. When looking at 📈 the top or the side of the chip, though, it’s clearly a black chip. And when a player or tournament 📈 staff stacks them perfectly, they align to show the primary and secondary colors clearly.
Cashing in colored tournament chips for stated 📈 value
Tournament chips show their tournament value (500, 1000, etc.) but also add a disclaimer of “no cash value.” That means 📈 you can’t take the chip to the cashier cage and exchange it for cash, because tournament dollars don’t equate to 📈 real dollars. The values of gambling chips for tournaments correspond with the blind structure.
Tournament poker chip colors and values
Major poker 📈 tournaments typically start at a value of T$25 (or just 25) and increase per standard blind structures.
Green = 25
Black = 📈 100
Purple or Light Blue = 500
Yellow or Gold = 1,000
Orange or Gray = 5,000
Dark Green or Brown = 25,000
Pink or 📈 Lavender = 100,000
Red = 500,000
Light Yellow = 1,000,000
The higher-valued professional poker chips only come into play in the late stages 📈 of very large tournaments, such as the WSOP Main Event.
A brief history of poker chips
Centuries ago, gamblers used various tokens 📈 in games like poker. These were called tokens, jettons, fiches, mils, checks, or cheques.
The modern-day customisable poker chip came into 📈 play when saloons and early casinos realized using a standard set of betting chips would prevent misunderstandings between players and 📈 dealers. Standard poker chip colors and values had the added benefit of reducing cheating opportunities.
Clay poker chips
Original poker chips were 📈 made of clay, but they were brittle and needed frequent replacements. As the years and games progressed, manufacturers began to 📈 use clay composite materials with additives to make them more durable.
Today’s most commonly found chips are made of mineral clay 📈 with additives for strength. The highest-quality gambling chips are called ceramics, though they’re actually made with highly durable plastic resin. 📈 However, these chips are expensive and lack the feel of clay chips that most players prefer for stacking and shuffling.
Plastic 📈 home game chips
Home game chip sets are often made of plastic. The very cheap, original chip sets consisted of very 📈 thin, plastic discs. Those transitioned to stronger plastic chips with metal inserts to make them heavier. Manufacturers eventually added some 📈 amount of clay to better mimic the look and feel of real casino chips. Professional chip sets with strong clay 📈 chips can be prohibitively expensive for the casual home game player.
Poker chip sizes
Over time, the size of casino chips has 📈 changed, but it’s now consistent in almost all casinos. Poker chips are 39mm in diameter, with only an occasional high-limit 📈 chip a little larger — possibly up to 48mm. The standard thickness of a poker chip is 3.5mm. The weight 📈 can vary from 7g to 20.5g, though most stay between 8g and 14g.
What is an RFID poker chip?
Today’s casinos have 📈 begun to incorporate RFID poker chips into their rotation. These chips contain radio frequency identification (RFID) using electromagnetic fields for 📈 tracking purposes. Manufacturing these chips can be expensive, but using them can prevent theft. They also help track player action 📈 at the tables, as well as dealer performance.
Poker chip values FAQs
What color poker chip is worth the most?
In most casinos, 📈 the light blue or grey poker chip is worthR$100,000, which is the highest chip value available. In lower-stakes games, the 📈 black chip is often the highest in value, worthR$100 in most casinos.
What color poker chip is usually assigned the lowest 📈 value?
White poker chips are typically assigned the lowest value, usually starting atR$1 in casinos. As such, low-stakes Hold’em games can 📈 be easily identified by the stacks of white chips on a table in front of each player.
Are casino chip colors 📈 universal?
There is no universally standardized color scheme for the value of poker chips, even though many casinos follow the same 📈 system as introduced above. It always makes sense to familiarize yourself with the value of each of the chips used 📈 by a casino before buying and placing your bets for this reason.
Do all US casinos use the same color chips?
Most 📈 US casinos follow the standard poker chips’ value and colors, although there are a few exceptions. So, before sitting down 📈 for a game of poker in the casino of your choice, you need to double-check the value of the chips 📈 in front of you – never just assume!
How do casinos verify chips before cashing them?
Casinos have various high-tech ways of 📈 verifying their chips before cashing them. Some use holograms and color-shifting ink, while other casinos have RFID transmitters, which make 📈 them impossible to replicate. This prevents fraud and ensures that only legitimately won chips can be cashed in on the 📈 casino floor.
Featured image source: Flickr by Marco Verch Professional Photographer used under CC license
