Can You Take Poker Chips Home
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Picture this: You’ve had a swell time playing poker at your favorite casino, and for some reason, you decided to take the chips home with you. After some time, you’re back to the casino with your chips, hoping to exchange it for real money. But they tell you that your chips have expired and you can no longer exchange them for their monetary value.
Okay, so this is the obvious one so I saved it for last since you might have forgotten. Welcome To Apache Poker Chips. Apache Poker Chips has been operating in Las Vegas since 1999. Being located in Las Vegas gives us the opportunity to play with and review all new products as soon as they become available. We sell the same chips and cards used at the top Casinos around the world. You can make a ton of money selling them to poker chip enthusiasts or build an assortment of antique poker chips. While you can sell your chips, they won’t hold much value until they become a collector’s item. Vintage poker chips can fetch you a significant amount of money. Poker chips hold great value, whether they are old.
Not only have you lost a substantial amount of cash, but you’re also stuck with expired poker chips and have no idea what to do with them. So you wonder, ”are old poker chips worth anything?” Let’s find out!
Are old poker chips worth anything? Yes, they are. You can make a ton of money selling them to poker chip enthusiasts or build an assortment of antique poker chips. While you can sell your chips, they won’t hold much value until they become a collector’s item. Vintage poker chips can fetch you a significant amount of money.
Poker chips hold great value, whether they are old or new. However, once new poker chips leave the walls of a casino, they become entirely useless as they no longer hold a monetary value. On the other hand, old poker chips will become useful outside the casino when they age.
Sadly only certain chips hold some value while the majority of old chips will be close to worthless.
What do You do with Old Casino Chips?
If you own old casino chips, you can sell them for a reasonable price. Casino chips expire and go out of use. Sometimes, old casinos close down, and their chips are destroyed or stored away somewhere.
People with old chips generally viewed old poker chips as being worthless until a trend in the late 70s saw people keeping old poker chips as antiques.
People that traveled far and wide authenticated their travels by collecting different chips from different locations. And from this hobby emerged a business. Casino chip collectors are numismatics but could be specifically called exonumia collecting.
In 1988, the Casino Chip & Gaming Tokens Collectors Club (CC>CC) was established as casino chips collecting gained increasing popularity. It became even bigger after eBay, the online auction site, was created in 1995. This gave owners and buyers a great platform to buy and sell vintage casinos chips with ease.
Some Collectors pay a massive amount of money for antique casino chips. The prices vary according to the state of the chip and the time it was in use. The older the chip, the more it’s valued.
What are Old Poker chips Worth?
There is no fixed range for old poker chips. Their quality and rarity usually determine the prices. A large number of vintage poker chips are sold off on eBay. This means it’s even harder to put an exact price on an old chip. However, there are high-value chips that naturally cost more.
In 2014, an extremely rare $5 chip from Golden Goose casino was sold for $75,000 at the Casino Chip & Gaming Tokens Collectors Club (CC>CC) convention. The chip was so rare that it was regarded as the only surviving chip of its kind.
But here’s where it gets interesting; the same kind of chip was sold for $3000 in the 90s. So what changed? Rarity. When it was sold for $3000, there were probably still a few of them available.
The Golden Goose Casino was closed in 1980, and you’d expect that a fair amount of their casino chips would still be around for 10 to 15 years. But by 2014, it would already be 34 years since the casino was closed, making it harder for any of their chips to exist.
Now, it’s important to note that the prices of chips aren’t based solely on how old they are. The primary factor is a rarity.
For example, a $5 chip from a lucky casino was sold for $52,500 at the same convention. Meanwhile, chips of higher denominations from the same casino have been sold for less. The $5 chip went for that much because only 2 of its kind was known to have survived.
Therefore, if you own a vintage casino chip that’s likely to be very rare, you’re almost sure to make a small fortune. Otherwise, you can auction your vintage casino chip on eBay and make some money from them.
What Buyers Look out for in Poker Chips
If you have a chip you want to sell off, here’s a chip guide that should tell you how valuable your chip may be.
- Type of Casino Chip: Buyers/Collectors lookout for casino chips based on their types. Poker chips can be differentiated by their colors and material used in their production.
- Inlay of the casino chip: This is an important check, to avoid counterfeit, casino chips are thoroughly examined for the inlay. An inlay that has been tampered with can be deemed as fake.
- Stamp: A casino chip without a stamp can not be redeemed. Stamp resonates with the originality of the casino chip. Without a clear stamp, the casino chip is nothing.
- Edges and Texture: Although due to age and usage, the edge and texture of the casino chip may be worn out, that is no excuse if it’s heavily damaged. Casino Chip Collectors deal with casino chips that are well preserved.
- Rarity: The lesser the number of surviving chips, the higher its value. If you have a chip from a collection that has long been lost, you could potentially sell it for a lot of money.
- Source/Mold: A casino chip gotten from known and trusted casino and card rooms have better chances to be redeemed even when they’ve expired. The mold identifies the manufacturer of the casino chip.
If your chip passes the above, it could probably be worth great money. Preserve it well and cash out big.
Final Thoughts
Don’t be quick to dispose of your old casino chips. They could be worth much more than you could’ve imagined. Some chips are sold for as much as $70,000. As long as you have your casino chips appropriately preserved, you can be sure it is worth some money in the market (although this could only be a few dollars instead of thousands).
If you happen to come across a casino chip from a defunct casino, you might be able to sell it for a good amount of money. Alternatively, you can keep it for some years and sell it off when the value has skyrocketed. Either way, right old casino chips are immensely valuable and highly coveted.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- What’s the maximum amount of money that can be exchanged for a poker chip? There’s absolutely no limit to this, as long as the casino room can provide casino chips equal to the value of the money. There are known high-value poker chips ranging from $5,000 to a whopping $25,000. These are mainly seen in rich and professional poker plays.
- Can my poker chips be used at any casino? Yes. Although you’d have to go through scrutinizing verifications to ascertain:
- Ownership of the chip
- Outstanding markers/debt with the casino you got the chips from.
- The expiration date of the chip
- Your player’s card to ensure you won the casino chip during a game.
Even with all these, it’s not always a good transaction to the casino room as chips can only be cashed in ONLY at the casino it was issued.
- How do casinos identify fake casino chips? After intense physical scrutiny and checking the chips against the known casino standard weight, the casino organizers go ahead to check for the embedded microchip and use UV rays to identify their unique markers on the casino chip.
When all these aren’t identified, the chip is confirmed as fake.
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I was at a friend’s house recently and the topic of poker came up. During the conversation, he asked me, “can you play poker without chips?” After answering him, the question got me thinking so I did a bit of research and decided to share a few tips on how to play poker without chips.
Poker games are built around wagering or betting. Therefore, unless you are strictly playing for fun you will need some form of currency or monetary substitute available to play with. Otherwise, it is virtually impossible to know who is winning or losing. Almost universally, the most common thing used in lieu of real currency is poker chips.
However, sometimes an impromptu poker game will happen and no actual poker chips will be available. Fear not. You probably have numerous different options to use as an alternative somewhere in your house or place of business. I know because I scoured my house and office for ideas to fulfill the needs of avid poker players when it comes to playing without chips.
Here are a few obvious and maybe not so obvious quasi-poker chip options:
1. Spare Change
Okay, so this is the obvious one so I saved it for last since you might have forgotten about your kid’s piggy bank or those coins built up in the center console of your car. Speaking of which, I once built a $4,000 bankroll from the spare change lying around. If I can do it, surely you could use those accidental savings to play a quick game with your family or buddies. Rolls of pennies, nickels, dimes, or all three would serve perfectly. Just make sure you set the parameters ahead of time dictating whether the winner actually gets to keep the money.
2. Play Money
Perhaps the most common option that one might have lying around the house is in the form of play money collected from various board games. The most obvious that come to mind are Monopoly, Payday, and the Game of Life. It’s likely that one or more of these types of games are stuffed in a closet or cabinet somewhere. If so, the fake cash will serve you well in a game of poker. Maybe the most fun part of using play money comes from pretending like the money is real and you are a group of high rollers!
3. Board Game Pieces
While you’re raiding the game closet if you find that you do not have any board games that contain play money all hope is not lost. Many other games contain game pieces that can substitute fairly well for poker chips. Here are a few examples of games that have either some form of chip or other items that can be used as money. Most everyone has at least one of the following games that contain good poker chip substitutes: Othello, Connect 4, Backgammon, and Checkers. In a pinch, one could even bet with Scrabble tiles.
If you have multiple games with reasonably useful game pieces, feel free to mix and match so that you have enough quantity to play poker with. Scrabble tiles could be $1, red Connect 4 chips could be $5, all the way up to using black Othello pieces as $1,000 chips.
4. Dried Foods
Another option that could upset your significant other is to use common dried foods from the kitchen pantry. Dried beans, corn, and/or legumes work well since they won’t make a huge mess and are typically available in large quantities. You could even boil them up afterward and have some poker chili!
Just be sure not to use any foods that are ready to eat. For most, the temptation is too great and you will probably eat up all the profits. Besides that, who wants to eat an M&M that has been touched by everyone at the poker table. That’s pretty gross.
5. Office Supplies
If you are playing an impromptu game at the office, your options will be limited with no poker chips. Even so, I’m sure there are plenty of items in desk drawers that will do nicely in a poker game. Just make sure the boss isn’t around.
Here are a few things that might be laying around or in a desk drawer:
- Paper clips (Preferably Color)
- Tacks
- Rubber bands
- Posted Notes (Fold Them)
Poker Chips Set
6. Color Popsicle Sticks
This is a great stackable option that most households, especially those with kids, have stuffed in a drawer somewhere. I recommend cutting each stick into thirds to stretch out the number of “chips” that you have. This will add a nice variety to your game.
If you don’t happen to have color popsicles, then it wouldn’t take long to just write different denominations on each stick. The best way to do it is to give a stack to each player who is tasked with writing on a different amount. Otherwise, you can just have the sticks serve as one single denomination.
7. Garage Items
Your typical garage likely has numerous items that can come in multiples and can serve as poker chips. This is especially true if you have a dedicated toolbox that almost always contains a wide assortment of the following:
- Nuts
- Bolts
- Nails
- Washers
- Fasteners
- Electrical Terminals
How Many “Chips” Do You Need to Play Poker?
For most poker games you typically need about 500 poker chips for the game. However, games with 6 players or less can usually get by on 300. This sounds like a lot, but it’s really not since your house or office typically will have a variety of items which can act as a poker chip substitute. Of course, if you have rolls of coins you just evenly distribute them among the players.
Can You Take Poker Chips Home Depot
What Type of Game Should We Play?
My advice is to only play short stacked cash games or tournaments where the blinds don’t go up. That way you don’t have to round up too many chip replacement items and can just get on with the business of playing poker. After all, your significant other or boss might not appreciate you digging around like a groundhog and making a huge mess!
Assigning Denominations
Without real poker chips available, the best thing you can do is to keep things simple and only use three different poker chip amounts. I would recommend playing 25/50 blinds and giving the following “chips” or denominations that go in a player’s stack:
- $25- 8 Chips
- $100- 8 Chips
- $500- 2 Chip
This setup will give each player $2,000 or 40 big blinds to start with. This allows for an exciting action-packed game. If you need some advice on playing short stacked, I wrote a brief guide with charts that anyone can obtain for free by signing up for my newsletter. Feel free to use my raising ranges or whatever you like so that you can dominate your friends!
What If Someone Runs out of Chips?
If someone busts out, my advice is to let them “rebuy” for a half stack of 20 big blinds or $1,000. That way no one is ever out of the game and some will be able to play deep-stacked as the game progresses.
Alternative Methods of Playing
If everyone in your poker group has access to a computer or even a smartphone/tablet, another option is to play for play money against each other “LAN party” style. There are numerous poker sites out there that offer play money games where you are able to create your own “home game” table to battle against your friends. I recommend Pokerstars since they have the smoothest software and have a way to set up private home games.
Don’t Forget to Use Good Playing Cards
Good playing cards are relatively inexpensive. So, if you can’t afford good poker chips but want to still have a classy game, pick up a quality deck of cards!
Can You Take Poker Chips Home
Attributions LAN party image by Sanza29 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons