With so many different chips and retailers to choose from, we know that it can be overwhelming to narrow it down to 1 set of poker chips. By reading this information, hopefully you will be able to make an informed decision that will lead you to your perfect set of poker chips.

Poker Chip Terms - The most commonly used terms when referring to poker chips:

• Mold - The mold of a poker chip is the solid blank chip and the design that is compressed into the actual chip. This is basically the chip before anything is put on it
• Edge Spots - These are different patterns of colorful spots that are added when making the mold of a chip.
• Inlay - The graphic label placed in the center of the poker chip. Most casinos use round inlays.
• Hot Stamp - Hot Stamping is the process of transferring foil numbers, letters, or designs onto the surface of a poker chip. This is usually cheaper than purchasing custom inlays. The most popular designs are using initials or denominations. Custom graphic hot stamps using logos or other artwork are also available at Royal Poker Supply.
• Insert - A metal insert placed into poker chips for added weight. Many of the cheaper ABS and Composite style chips use metal inserts to add to the weight of the chip. This usually gives the poker chips a high pitched sound when playing with them. Clay casino poker chips do not use any type of insert for added weight. The weight is in the material of the chip.

Types of Poker Chips - We classify poker chips into 4 categories:

• Clay Poker Chips - These are the types of chips you find in most Las Vegas casinos. The key to identify real clay poker chips from the impostors others claim are real clay is that real clay poker chips are compression molded and have no metal insert. These chips generally weigh around 9-10 grams each and have designs or patterns molded into each chip. Multi-colored edge spots are used in a variety of edge spot patterns and help increase the security of the chips for casino use. There may be a colorful inlay with the casino name or denominations covered by either a smooth or textured cover. There can also be designs or denominations hot stamped onto the chip using gold or silver foil. Clay poker chips are considered the cream of the crop when it comes to poker chips. They are made using a very labor intensive process, which is why the cost is so much higher than other types of poker chips. Real clay poker chips usually cost around $1.00 - $1.50 per chip with inlays.
• Ceramic Poker Chips - These are the "other" chips you will find in Las Vegas and casinos around the world. These are made of a ceramic composite material that allows for full color graphics across the entire surface. Ceramic chips are gaining in popularity. Ceramic chips usually weigh around 10 grams each. The texture is somewhat smooth on the surface. Overall, ceramic poker chips have a nice feel and sound to them and are great to play with.
• Composite Poker Chips - Most of the poker chips retailers are selling these days are composite poker chips. This means that they are not true clay or real clay or pure clay like some may claim. They are simply an injection molded chip using plastic/clay composite mixtures. These chips usually have a metal insert for added weight and usually weigh more than a typical clay or ceramic casino chip. These chips usually weigh between 11.5 grams and 14 grams each as opposed to a 9 or 10 gram casino chip. The real advantage to composite chips is the cost is significantly lower than clay or ceramic chips and the quality is better than ABS/Plastic chips. They usually sound, look, and feel better than the regular ABS/Plastic chips described below. These chips can usually be hot stamped with your initials or denominations and some chips (like our Nexgen lines) can even accept custom labels because they have a recessed center.
• ABS/Plastic Poker Chips - These are the cheapest poker chips you will find. They are made using and ABS Plastic material with a metal insert for added weight. These are usually made in China. These chips are injection molded and are so mass produced that the quality is usually poor. The most typical style of ABS Plastic chips are the dice poker chips or suited poker chips you can find at the large retail stores for very cheap prices. Royal Poker Supply does not sell ABS Plastic poker chips because we want to offer high quality products to our customers. Composite chips are a much better alternative and the cost difference is very minimal.

Choosing a Poker Chip Set - There are several things to consider when purchasing a poker chip set. The first decision you need to make when shopping for a poker chip set is deciding on which style of poker chips you like. Then you will need to determine how many poker chips you need and which chip denominations or colors will make up that set.

• How Many Chips to Buy - This really can vary depending on how you will be using the chips and how many players will be playing in your poker games. The majority of poker chip sets we sell are between 500 and 1000 chips. However, here are some recommendations on how many chips to buy:
  
  5-6 Players = 300-500 Poker Chips
  7-8 Players = 500-650 Poker Chips
  8-10 Players = 650-750 Poker Chips
  10+ Players = 750-1000 Poker Chips


• Which Denominations/Colors to Choose - Once you know how many poker chips you need, the next step is to choose which chip denominations or colors to have in the set. We recommend picking 3 or 4 consecutive denominations and selecting about 60-80% of the chips in the lower denominations. The actual denominations you need will depend on what types of games you play. If you are playing cash poker games where the chips actually represent money, you will most likely want to choose lower denominated chips like $1, $2, $5, or $25 depending on how high the stakes are. If you are playing tournament style games where the chips are not worth their actual value, you will probably want to stick with higher denominations of chips. For tournament players, usually there is a pot of money that the top players will split at the end. The chips in these games really act like points rather than actual money. For tournaments, most players choose sets with the following denominations: $5 - $25 - $100 - $500 OR $25 - $100 - $500 - $1000.

  If you are choosing a set that uses colors only (there are no denominations), you can still follow the above guide using whatever colors you like. You can also have denominations hot stamped onto the chip for a very small cost. The following is a list of what colors most casinos use for each denomination of chip:
  
  $1 - White or Blue
  $5 - Red
  $10 - Blue or Brown (color varies on $10 chips - choose whatever)
  $25 - Green
  $100 - Black
  $500 - Purple
  $1000 - Yellow
  $5000 - Gray, Pink, or Brown (color varies on $5000 chips - choose whatever)

• Examples: Here are some examples of well balanced poker chip sets:
  
  500 Chip Tournament Set: (200) $25 Chips, (200) $100 Chips, (75) $500 Chips, (25) $1000 Chips
  500 Chip Cash Game Set: (200) 25 cent Chips, (200) $1 Chips, (75) $5 Chips, (25) $25 Chips