Poker Chip Material: What’s The Difference?

Almost everyone has played a game using 1940s style plastic chips. They are sold in all the marts and usually come packed in a revolving plastic or wood holder. Plastic chips are inexpensive but colorful and they serve the purpose, if the purpose is a penny ante friendly game of poker with a betting limit of 10 cents. People around the world still use and enjoy them. You don’t see them in any World Poker Tournaments or in any chip-fearing casino. Composite chips have become the rage in certain poker circles. Players like the sound that the metal insert makes when the chips hit the table or touch each other. Some composite chips are produced using a patented process that gives each chip weight, color and sound. Most players can’t tell the difference between a composite chip and a casino chip.

Composite chips come in several weights. They start at 5 grams which is the beginner’s weight and then a 7.5 gram weight is available for beginners who think the 5 gram is too light. Players who don’t really care about their poker chip set are happy to use an 8.5 or 9.0 gram chip. The heavier the chip the better the sound when it hits the table, that’s why the 11.5, 13.0 or 13.5 gram chips are so popular. There are more design and color options available in heavier chips, plus they are stain and scratch proof. Heavier chips can be personalized for special tournaments or just for the Friday night game. Heavier chips are more expensive, but die-hard poker players don’t care about the cost when it comes to duplicating casino action.

Clay chips are considered the Rolls Royce of the chip industry. Casinos and the top national and international tournaments use them. Clay chips come in an assortment of colors and designs as well as weights, but most clay chips are in the heavy weight category. Clay poker chips are not 100% clay; they are a mixture of clay composites. Casinos actually put microchips in their clay chips to prevent forgeries so even the professional chips are not 100% clay. Paulson is one of leading manufacturers of all clay chips. Their chips mimic casino chips in design and color and are produced in the same factories as clay chips.

Clay and composite poker chips are available in a one color version or in two and three color designs. Two color chips are extremely popular because they tend to be less expensive than the three colored chips. Some of the designs use on clay and composite chips included Suited, Diamond and Dice, which are imprinted around the edge of the chip. The amount of chips needed to play a game is based on the number of players. All chips are not created equal, but on the playing surface they all talk the same language.