Poker Chip Dictionary

ABS
(abbrev). Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, a type of plastic used to make the popular 11.5 gram poker chips. Although ABS plastic chips are much better and softer than the hard-plastic supermarket chips, they are much lower quality than any of the mid-range chips.

blank
(n). A chip with no printing on it, bought by people looking to customize the look of their own chips.

budget chips
(n). This refers to chips that are below casino grade, but are still high quality. It usually refers to chips in the 20-60 cent range.

cancelled
(adj). Chips that were put out of circulation by a casino for some reason.

CCGTCC
(abbrev). Casino Chip & Gaming Tokens Collectors Club, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving gaming history.

china clays
(n). These are clay composite chips made in China by compression molding (more specifically, "injectopression"). These chips are very high quality overall and much cheaper than true clay chips.

chip snob
(n). Chip aficionados who know a lot about poker chips. They may have large sets of poker chips and trade sets to acquire different chips. They frequently look down on the cheaper chips on the market, such as Dice chips.

chipper
(n). Someone who collects casino chips.

clank
(n). A sound made by poker chips when splashed with other chips.

clay composite
(adj). These are poker chips that are comprised of (1) a substantial amount of clay AND (2) a substantial amount of non-clay material (such as sand). While it is true that all chips are technically "clay composite" (since no chips in recent time are "100% clay" anymore), the term "clay composite" only refers to chips that have a substantial amount of both clay and non-clay. Hence, true clay chips are not considered "clay composite" since they contain almost all clay. And ABS plastic chips (which are also labeled as clay composite) are also not considered "clay composite" since they contain so little clay.

clink
(n). A sound made by poker chips when splashed with other chips.

commemorative
(adj). Chips issued to celebrate a celebratory event, such as a holiday or casino opening.

CT
(abbrev). "ChipTalk", a popular internet forum for talking about poker chips.

Dice chips
(n). A popular brand of the ubiquitous 11.5 ABS plastic chips.

DP
(abbrev). "Desert Palms", a popujlar line of poker chips.

fantasy
(adj). Casino-quality chips that are not designed for casino use. On the chips, there is usually a fake casino or city name on the chips.

frac
(n). "Fractional", refers to a chip of a non-standard denomination.

H&C
(abbrev). "Hat & Cane", a popular poker chip mold made famous by Paulson.

illegals
(n). Chips that came from illegal (underground) casinos. These are popular with many collectors.

injectopression
(adj). An informal (and not especially popular) term which refers to the part-injection/part-compression molding process used to make "compression-molded" clay composite chips.

J-mold
(n). A particular mold used on ProGen chips.

L-mold
(n). A particular mold used on PGI chips.

LE
(abbrev). "Limited Edition". Chips lines where only a certain quantity of chips were issued.

PGI
(abbrev). "Palm Gaming International", a popular chip company.

PI
(abbrev). "Palm International", a popular chip company. The company is now better known as "Palm Gaming".

pr0n
(n). A deviation of the word "porn", it is used to describe material which is deserving of (or will be subjected to) the degree of intense and overeager viewing normally reserved for pornography. Within the poker chip community, it refers to pictures of people's personal poker chip collections.

SD
(abbrev). "Super Diamond", a popular brand of cheap plastic chips.

slugged
(adj). Chip that are manufactured with a metal insert inside them to give them weight.

spinners
(n). Chips (usually compression molded) that are manufactured with slight defects that result in a protruding center that causes the chip to spin while shitting on top of a stack.

supermarket chips
(n). These are the cheapest plastic chips available on the market. These are not considered real poker chips in any way.

true clay
(n). This refers to chips that are casino-grade clay chips. This terms does NOT imply that a chip is 100% clay (the highest-quality clay chips made today), since no poker chips that are made today are 100% clay.

COMMENTS:

Log in to post comments
or Register

I am looking for information on speed chips vs. clays, which chip is better for drop cutting. I would think the speed chips because of them being easier to handle and them being heavier. Still looking though...If anyone has any information on this subject it would be much appreciated.

highryder_1 on July 22, 2015

Poker Chips - Chip Dictionary

HPG ADMIN on March 1, 2013