Drew's Chip Guide
revision 1.0
03/27/04
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Table of Contents:
I. The Guide
1. Why was this written?
2. Who wrote it?
3. What is this guide?
4. What isn't this guide?
II. History
1. Brief History of Chips and Chip Companies
a. Origins and Early 1900s
b. The 1940s through the 1960s
c. The 1970s through the 1990s
d. 2000 to Current
2. Current Chip Company List
III. Poker Chips
1. Clay and Ceramic Poker Chips
a. Manufacturers
i. Chips
often used in casinos
ii. Chips
often used in home sets
b. Advantages / Disadvantages
2. Composite (Plastic) Poker Chips
a. Manufacturers
b. Advantages / Disadvantages
This guide is a WORK IN PROGRESS. There
may be errors, omissions, or grammar problems.
Please email me if you find any problems or have any suggestions to make this
guide better. I really appreciate your help!
Also, if you own any of the pictures used on this page and you object to their
use, please let me know.
I. The Guide
1. Why was this written?
(to the top)
I wrote this guide because there was a ton of misinformation regarding poker
chips flowing around the Internet.
Many distributors were claiming to be selling chips of a higher quality
(composite vs. clay) and many people didn't know the difference
between what they were buying and what popular casinos use. I have been doing
research into poker chips with regard to manufacturing
process for a number
of months now, and I have learned enough about poker chips that I felt
knowledgeable enough to write this guide.
2. Who wrote it?
(to the top)
My name is Drew Day and I am a college student. I attend Georgia Institute of
Technology in Atlanta, GA.
My interest in the manufacturing process of poker chips is purely recreational -
I am one of the dreaded Computer Science majors.
I'm also an amateur poker player.
3. What is this guide?
(to the top)
This guide is an attempt to clarify the options that a consumer has when
buying poker chips. This guide is a small, concise
information regarding poker chips, their history, their manufacturing and
distribution process.
4. What isn't this guide?
(to the top)
This guide is not intended for casino poker chips collectors. It is not a
price guide. This guide does not cover the cheap plastic chips
you cay buy at your local Wal-Mart. I do not specifically endorse one vendor
or distributor over any other.
This guide may not be 100% accurate. If there are
flaws in it, please send me an email.
II. History
1. Brief History of Chips and Chip Companies
a. Origins and Early 1900s
(to the top)
My knowledge of older historical poker chips is slim. If you are very
interested, you would be better off asking antique
chip collectors. The earliest manufacturing information I know of dates back to
the early 1930's. A billiard ball company
aptly named The Portland Billiard Ball Company [history
link]
began manufacturing poker chips along with billiard balls.
At this period, the company was using an early plastic called Plaskon (or "Breaknot").
The chips were very simple. There
were no edge spots and typically no design on the chip.
 |
|
Burt Company metal
die cut chips. |
In 1935, the Portland Billiard Ball Company changed it's name to The Burt
Company and began manufacturing chips
using a process called the metal die cut. This was a labeling process similar to
"hot stamping."
b. The 1940s through the 1960s
(to the top)
In 1947, the Burt Company purchased United States Playing Card's chip
manufacturing equipment. This time period
is when colored edge spotting was introduced most likely along with custom
design molds. The design of the insert
became more elaborate and more colorful.
 |
|
Burt Company clay
chips with edge spots.
These chips were made for a Tahoe casino. |
The 1950s saw the introduction of multicolored edge spots and even more
custom design molds.
 |
|
Burt Company clay
chips with multicolored edge spots. |
In 1955 a logo was introduced that is still used in casinos today: the top
hat and cane. While the logo is currently used
by Paulson Gaming Supplies, the "hat and cane" logo was originally used by the
Christy & Jones Co., Las Vegas NV.
These companies started introducing a variety of security features most of which
are beyond the scope of this guide.
 |
|
Christy & Jones, Co.
chip. |
c. The 1970s through the 1990s
(to the top)
In 1975 Bud Jones of the Christy and Jones
Co. designed and patented a new chip. Manufactured by the Bud Jones Co., Las
Vegas NV,
this chip is injection molded (versus compression molded) and was designed
to have different types of "coin" inserts. My knowledge of these
chips is slim, although if you are interested you can view the
patent for
this chip. This chip offers a number of advantages: very distinct edge
spotting, very distinct casino name labeling. This was designed to reduce
counterfeiting. The Bud Jones Co. has improved upon their chip
and they hold a number of patents of various gambling products.
 |
|
Bud Jones Co. chip
with
metal insert |
I have been unable to find historical
information about the Paulson Gaming Supply Co. (later known as Pual-Son)
but I assume they
operated during the same time period as the Burt Company (which is now
Atlantic Standard Molding of Portland Maine).
The next big jump in poker chip
manufacturing came in 1985 when Chipco International developed their ProTech
chip. Chipco
uses a unique ceramic compound and the most distinct feature is their
ability to print on the whole chip (even the chip's outer edge).
This has sparked a revolution in chip collecting - collectors now gobble up
full-color chips which are now a hot collectors item.
Casinos produce limited edition chips which are typically valid to use in
play and consumers collect them. Casinos enjoy this
for a number of reasons but mostly because the chips are sold at face value
($1, $5, $25, $100, or even $500) and it costs the
casino only $.60 to $.85 for the chip.
 |
|
Crystal Oyster
Casino fantasy
chip made by Chipco. |
To compete,
Paulson Gaming Supply started
producing wide graphic inlays and later full graphic inlays.
Here is an
example of this.
I am not aware of any major developments in
the 1990s. Paul-Son became the leading chip manufacturer and, by the end of
the 20th century Chipco was the second largest used chip in the United
States.
d. 2000 to Current
(to the top)
In late 2002, a French company named
Bourgogne et Grasset purchased
Paul-Son Gaming Supply Co. and Bud Jones Co.
The new company made a decision in December of 2002 to stop selling retail
product and currently only licensed casinos
can purchase products from B&G.
A number of companies now produce gambling
chips used in casinos thought the world. Currently, many security features
can be incorporated into chips including UV dyes, metal pellets, holograms,
and even RF (radio frequency) chips.
 |
|
The B&G RF
system used to verify chips. |
|
 |
|
B&G Software
designed to
automatically count
and verify stacks of chips. |
|
2. Current Chip Company List
(to the top)
This is a list of major chip manufactures.
There may be others and if you know of any please email me.
Many chips sold today are made by one of these manufactures and resold under
a different name.
Bourgogne
et Grasset (also owns Bud Jones Co.)
ZI Beaune - Savigny
21200 Beaune FRANCE
+33 (0)3 80 26 26 26
infobg@bgchips.com
Paulson Gaming Supply (owned by B&G)
1700 South Industrial Road
Las Vegas, NV 89102
(702) 384-2425
info@paulsongaming.com
CHIPCO
International
1281 Roosevelt Trail
Raymond, ME 04071
(207) 655-4455
info@chipco.com
Nevada Jacks
No Address Listed
(800) 652-4477
info@nevadajacks.net
Pokerchips.Com (Atlantic Standard Molding)
380 Warren Avenue
Portland, ME 04103
(888) 797-2220
info@pokerchips.com
RT
Plastics
901 S. First St.
Las Vegas, NV 98101
(702) 474-1112
rtplastics@aol.com
T.R. King
Company, Inc
400 West Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(800) 582-9698
trkingco@earthlink.net
Blue Chip Co.
Information Unkown
III. Poker Chips
1. Clay and Ceramic Poker Chips
a. Manufacturers
and Differences between Chips
(to the top)
Despite the injection molding process (which
uses plastics instead of "clay"), all the chip manufactures above are considered
to make "clay" chips. Calling chips clay is a bit of a misnomer: most of these
chips aren't made from entirely from clay. Some,
including the Bud Jones and
Chipco chips, aren't made from clay at all. The term
clay comes from the much older chips which
were, in many cases, made of a mixture of clay and shellac. Since clay isn't a
particularly durable material, newer chips are
made from a variety of substances including clay, plastics, complex resins, and
metals.
Each manufacturer has their own special mixture
and most aren't willing to tell you what is in them.
Because there is not really a good way to
divide as many chips as I need to describe, I just split them into two
categories.
The top set of chips are the variety seen in casinos most often. The bottom set
are used more for home game sets, although
they may be used in casinos.
i. Chips often used in casinos
(to the top)
|
|
 |
 |
|
Chipco Hard Rock Hotel
Chip |
Bud Jones chip |
Bud Jones chip w/ coin
inlay |
 |
 |
 |
| Paulson w/ regular
inlay |
Paulson w/ wide graphic
inlay |
Paulson w/ full graphic
inlay |
Each chip above has a different look and feel as well as a different security
feature set.
The Chipco chip is essentially a
ceramic disc that has been
printed on. Chipco chips are unique among casino chips. They feel
and sound different than every other chip listed here. To the best of my
knowledge, they are extremely difficult to make and consequently
difficult to counterfeit. You can see that the edge spots are
printed on
instead of inset into the chip. You will notice that the edge spots
of the chip
do not match up to the top printing. This is completely
normal and is a unique "feature" of Chipco chips.
The two Bud Jones chips are distinct in the clarity of their edge
spotting and printing. Because of the injection molding process Bud Jones
used, very precise lines and shapes could be inlaid into the chip. The Sands
Reno chip has a metal coin inlaid into the chip both as
added security and to give the chip added weight. Do not confuse this with the
"metal insert" in Clay Composite chips - those inserts
serve no aesthetic function and are simply there to make the chip heavier.
The next three chips are all made by Paulson. The first chip has a
custom molding for the MGM Grand. It is popular for casinos to do this
as an added security feature and to make the chip more customized to their
casino. The first chip is the old, regular style. The second is the
wide graphic inlay style which is fairly recent (mid-1990s). The last
chip is the full graphic inlay style. This chip was made essentially
to keep up with the flamboyant
Chipco chips and the colorful direction of
casinos. You'll notice the Top Hat & Cane on the chips. If you see
this, you can almost be sure the chip was made by Paulson. You'll also notice
the multi-colored edge spotting which is very common
on Paulson chips. One last feature that
Paulson chips have: tiny
ridges that are put into the outer edge
of the chip.
ii. Chips often used in home sets
(to the top)
The first chip from Blue Chip, Inc. is very similar to to the Paulson
chips and it comes as no surprise: Blue Chip was founded
by the Ende family who used to own and operate Paulson Gaming Suplies. Blue
Chip's chips feel significantly different
than Paulson's chip and they weigh slightly less. Blue chip uses a
shell mold
and the chips have the same ridges along the
outer edge of the chip. Blue chip currently makes fantasy chips including the
Fan of Cards series and the James Bond series
of casino chip. I have also seen chips that come unlabeled from this company.
The next chip form
T.R. King is the only
one that looks it - the crown mold on the outside gives this chip away.
Some casinos use
this chip but it's not nearly as widely used as Paulson's or
Chipco's chips.
The chip on the bottom left is made by
RT
Plastics. I am quite sure that some casinos use this chip but I do not know
a lot about them.
If anyone has any information or would send me a sample chip, I'll include more
about these chips.
The ASM on two of the above chips stands for
Atlantic Standard Molding, Inc. These chips are available from
pokerchips.com which
is one of the largest providers of consumer clay poker chips on the internet.
These chips are fairly distinct and different from the other
"clay" chips - namely the Paulson chips. The ASM chips have a a few different
molds including the Horsehead mold seen above. These
chips also feature a
brass dust that is included in the clay mixture of
the chip. This adds weight to the chip as well as giving it a nice
sheen under good lighting. The second chip is labeled
Kardwell because
pokerchips.com will not supply any chips
with edge spots styles
other than the one shown above the
pokerchips.com label. The bottom chip has the edges cut out because the chip
was removed from
circulation or it is only a sample chip.
The
Nevada Jacks chip is probably
identical in its feature set to the ASM chips. Obviously, the NEVADA mold distinguishes this chip
from the rest of the clay chips.
The last chip is brand (at the time of
writing), made by Molding, Tooling, and Design, Inc.
It is sold at
chips4poker.com.
This chip is made with what I suspect to be a
injection molding process.
The chip is filled with a metallic center (although
the shiny part you can see from the picture is just a foil label). The chip has
a unique and pleasant feel to it and while I would
typically consider this a composite chip, the price and the features of the chip
put it in the clay category.
b. Advantages / Disadvantages
(to the top)
The primary advantages of authentic clay chips
include their value: they are often worth a significant amount of money
and
consequently have a decent resale value. This especially goes for casino
chips which are hot collector's items. Another advantage
of these chips compared to composite chips is their
security features. These
chips can be customized and are often hard to produce.
Additionally, there is a
cool factor involved in having a casino chip
that is one-of-a-kind with your own edge spotting and perhaps own label.
2. Composite (Plastic) Poker Chips
a. Manufacturers and Chip Design
(to the top)
There are basically a few variations of
these chips. They typically come in 8 (or less) gram and 11.5 gram
varieties.
I am not sure if there is actually more than one manufacturer of these
chips. Given their similarities, I can only guess that a single company
manufactures all of these chips. I am quite sure that the chips are made in
China and that they are sold to distributors at 3 ($.03) each.
Supposedly the minimum order for these chips is one million.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| "Suited" style |
"Royal Suited"
style |
"Super Diamond"
style |
"Six Striped" style |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| "Deluxe Diamond"
style |
"Dice" style |
"Tri-Color" style |
"Striped
Professional" style |
The four leftmost chips are virtually identical in construction. They are
made of a metal insert which is put into a plastic injection
machine. The plastic is molded around the metal which is used to make it
heavier. One easy way to check if there is metal in one
of these chips is to put a magnet near the chip. If the magnet picks the
chip up, it has a metal insert. They feel like a hard plastic and make
a "clink" sound when dropped.
There are variations of the "Suited" and "Deluxe Diamond"
chips that do not have a metal insert and they weigh anywhere from 4gm
each to 8gm each. These chips are marked on the premise that heavier
is better.
Note: I have (I actually own) chips that have the "Suited" design
yet are not identical in feel or sound to the aforementioned chip.
I suspect that the "Tri-Color" chip (which is currently only
available from www.casinosupply.com
as far as I know) is identical
in feel to the chips that I have. My suited chips feel much more like
authentic clay chips and have a soft clay/rubbery feel instead of
a hard plastic feel to them. They sound like regular chips when
hitting a desk and they stick together better. I also these chips to be
different because www.5stardeal.com
started (at the time of writing) selling two different sets of these chips:
one called "11.5gm composite"
and one called "11.5gm CLAY composite." I suspect that the latter is the
variety that I purchased and recommend.
The "Super Diamond" is likely to be the cheapest of the heavier (11.5gm)
chips. These chips have a vinyl-like crosshatch finish on them
and, consequently, the stack very nicely. Because of their low price, these
chips are often purchased for use in home tournaments.
The "Tri-Color" chips are fairly new at the time of writing.
They are unique in that they are the only clay composite chip with multiple
color edge spots (see
www.casinosupply.com). These chips are slightly more expensive than
regular clay composite chips.
The "Six Striped" and "Striped Professional" chips are both
lighter chips (8gm). They are also cheaper than most of the other
chips listed.
b. Advantages / Disadvantages
(to the top)
There are some clear advantages and
disadvantages here both between the Composite versus Clay chips and among
the Composite chips.
The first (and most obvious) advantage is price. These chips range
anywhere from $.10 to $.50 each. I STRONGLY suggest shopping around
for these chips and ASKING FOR SAMPLE CHIPS. You can often find these
chips even cheaper if you are willing to buy on
eBay.
Another advantage is delivery
time. These chips are virtually always ready-to-ship. You may
experience some delay if you
get these chips "hot stamped" - which means to imprint gold foil onto
the chip with your initials, chip values, and sometimes
even custom logos.
Another advantage yet is that these chips
will virtually last forever. They are very difficult to damage and
they do not get dirty easily.
Some disadvantages include the texture
of the chip. Because they are such a hard plastic, they are difficult to
maintain in a high stack.
This also creates difficulty in doing chip tricks because some of the
tricks such as chip shuffling rely on cohesion between the chip surfaces.
Note: The chips I mentioned above (some "Suited" and the "Tri-Color"
chips) would not suffer from this problem.
Additionally, these chips are not secure
at all. They could be walked into a home game if you are not paying
attention.
This guide is Copyright 2004 by Drew Day. All
trademarks are property of their respective owners.
All pictures are used for an educational purpose and are not intended to garner
profit.
