How Are Casino Chips Manufactured?

If you’ve ever played in a casino, there’s a good chance that you’ve asked how real casino poker chips are produced. Anyone who’s been to the casino or played cards at home with commercial poker chips may have noticed the differences in the dimensions, colors, and imprints with textural patterns for each casino chip. Our idea was to “slice” into the issue and reveal the materials employed.

What is the process by which the real commercial and casino poker chips are manufactured? There are two main methods employed to make commercial and casino poker chips. 

The most commonly used method is a process known as injection molding, which uses ABS plastic as the main material. Another method is the compression and molding process of clay. Let’s now explore the process of making poker chips and address other questions you may be asking.

The First Casino Chip

The exact origins of the casino chip are an unanswered question, and gaming has been a common practice since the beginning of records. The oldest games on the board discovered are from the Neolithic period, around 6,000 BC, which was the time in the Stone Age.

When they were making plans for the location of Giza’s Pyramids, betting was an integral part of daily life. The evidence suggests that in Ancient Egypt, dice and numerous other onboard games were discovered along with papyri dating to 4,000 BC, which was a law that banned betting in the region.

The first one is the betting chip. It’s a bit difficult to pinpoint. In the early days of Rome, five hundred years before Christ’s birth, Christ gambling was prohibited and was popular. The use of tokens makes it possible for players to deny the fact that they gambled, which is well documented. Chips were introduced.

Over the next two millennia, chips evolved into the form that we see in our day. The most notable examples of this evolution are the sought-after and intricately carved mother-of-pearl tokens from the Chinese Quin dynasty, dating from the 18th century. Then there were early modern-day tokens that the Gold Rush created.

The Classic Casino Chip

The mid-1800s Wild West, the explosion of gambling without regulation, and gold prospectors who were brimming with gold resulted in the creation of modern casino chips. 

Casinos needed to weigh and test gold. The process was lengthy and challenging, and it is not something you should attempt during an intense blackjack or craps game.

Gold was assessed far from the table, and chips were used. The first examples were made from ivory, bone, and clay. To stop counterfeits, casinos were required to brand and design their chips.

Most chip makers keep their processes a secret, creating chips on order, either clay or ceramic. There are many opinions on the best, and plastic is certainly not a starting point for serious players.

Different Types of Poker Casino Chips

Striped dice and poker casino chips that are suited are two of the most popular types of casino chips produced by injection molding. You’ll find both variants in casinos and sets sold in the market at home.

In most cases, clay isn’t employed in creating chips for real casinos. With time, it became apparent to casino owners that the chip’s quality was deteriorating with age.

Ceramic chips were later used as an alternative to clay to prevent the inevitable degradation of clay chips and to provide a durable option that would be more durable for millions of gamblers who would carry the chip in their pocket, flip, or even splash the poker chip. 

The poker version made of ceramic chips is often described in the present by many as “Clay Composite”, but they aren’t constructed from clay at all.

Security and Durability of The Modern Poker Casino Chip

The advancement of technology has greatly improved the production of poker chips both inside and outside of casinos. 

There is no information to the general public on the specific materials employed in the injection and compression molding process employed by casinos. 

It is, however, known that clay in combination with a proportion of other elements is utilized in the process of compression molding.

This not only provides casinos with additional protection in terms of fraud that is duplicated, but it also provides an alternative not to need to spend more for the creation of new chips, considering that they’re made using specific formulas designed to improve durability.

The authentic chippings for casino games are constructed for enduring pressures as high as 10,000 psi. Furthermore, it is non-toxic and heat-resistant when exposed to temperatures in Fahrenheit that can reach 300 degrees. 

The best chip is made using an inlay of paper and a heat-resistant film that cannot be separated, and this gives protection against duplicates and serves as a means of extra toughness.

The Future of Casino Chips

Casino chips feel tactile and are an excellent way to keep control of your bets. Take 100 chips. If they’re gone, stop. Certain casinos are now introducing digital systems, and many modern chips come with RFID chips that are unique to them.

You can also do tricks using chips, such as the chip twirl and riffle chip roll, knuckle roll spin and bounce, fanning, and the disappearing chip. If the chips aren’t down and the chips are up, they’re in the game for the long haul.

In between the procedure of indenting casino chips in a single step and printing the graphics with inlays covered by plastic film, the production method can be discovered as costly and laborious.

Final Thoughts

We hope you enjoy studying the process of making poker chips the way we enjoyed conducting the research. Thank you for taking the time to read!