Casino Chips And Security Issues

The colored plastic poker chips you use in your games with friends at home are not the same thing as genuine casino chips. Those have had a long history of development and design, often in response to security issues. They started out by replacing the haphazard methods that poker players had for gauging their winnings in the early games in the mid-19th century, in Midwestern bars and on American steamboats. Random coins and gold nuggets gradually gave way to the standardized clay poker chip sets.

These chips were first made of various materials such as wood or ivory, but the casino poker chips of a clay-based composition soon came to predominate. These were made in high-pressure compression-molding machines. In recent times, though clay-ceramic mixtures are still used to create some chips, the more usual production method involves injection-molded resin chips. And a recent innovation in the design of casino chips involves either a metal center with a plastic rim, or chips entirely of metal. The standardization makes chips easier to stack on a table, easier to keep track of, and easier to count (or weigh) when it comes time to cash in a player's winnings.

The design of casino chips has always continually been embellished and perfected in response to security issues. In the early days, players could easily cheat by sneaking their own chips into games. But once the casinos developed their own custom designed poker chips that became harder to do. Now there are security features such as markings that only show up under ultraviolet light, or radio frequency ID tags that make the chips harder to counterfeit. And of course, almost since its adoption in casinos, clay poker chip designs incorporate distinctive artwork and custom colors.

However, despite all the security improvements, it may be technology that spells the end for casino chips. Token-counting machines have already automated some of the process, taking in the chips and spitting out a receipt to take to the cash window. The next step, with which a few casinos are already experimenting, may be inevitable, which is to use a pre-paid money card and have a card reader installed right at the gaming table. If this catches on, then the casino poker chip might eventually disappear, leaving behind nothing but a long, and in some cases, an almost legendary history.

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