The next time you see a stack, we promise you’re going to look at it differently. After learning this poker chips trivia, you’re going to hit the felt with new eyes.
Or, at the very least, with a few facts to fire out to your friends.
Poker chips history
Let’s kick off this poker chips trivia session with some early history on the topic. And if you love a bit of poker history, why not check out our articles on poker cards and poker tables too.
Did people always play with chips?
Poker wasn’t always played with little discs. In the early days of poker, before Texas Hold’em even came on the scene, people used to play with any thing.
Instead of standard chips, they’d use little pieces of gold, ivory, paper, wood or even bone fragments. And that was the case up until the late 19th century.
When were chips first used in poker?
We know for sure that from 1880, chips were widely used in poker. It’s hard to say when they first came on the scene, exactly.
But what we do know is that businesses started mass producing the discs from 1880 onwards.
Lots of colours were available from the get go, with the most popular choices being red, yellow, blue and white.
Manufacturing poker chips trivia
Wondering how exactly poker chips are made? We’ve got the low down…
What materials are used to make a poker chip?
A number of different types of materials are used to make poker chips. And depending on the chip set you buy, their make up could differ.
Traditional poker chips are made of clay. However, that’s expensive and not so durable. These days the more expensive chips are usually made to replicate the feel of clay but with a mix of materials, such as plastic resin, to make sure it’s durable.
Then at the other end of the spectrum, cheaper chips tend to be made 100% of plastic.
How are traditional clay stacks manufactured?
Expensive clay chips are made by hand during a laborious process. It involves pressing a chip into its basic shape, then cutting out small shapes and replacing them with different colours, typically along the edge.
Special graphics are printed on paper and then coated in plastic.
Afterwards, the chip is put into a mold to be compressed and fired. This process makes it durable. And you can take this poker chips trivia nugget to the bank!
How much does a poker chip weigh?
The weight of a poker chip can vary wildly. In casinos around the world, you can find chips that weigh anything from 8g to double that at 16g. If you’re playing in the United States, most casinos and card rooms stick to chips that weigh around 10g.
Of course, if you’re playing online somewhere like bet365 Poker, the chips are weightless! Check out this bet365 bonus code if you want to sign up.
Quirky gift ideas
Looking to pick up a present for the poker fan in your life? If wowing them with your newfound poker chips trivia isn’t enough, we’ve got a poker gift guide that might come in handy.
Or if you’re a whizz in the kitchen, maybe you should try whip up your own batch of poker cookies.