Chips are a valuable part of live poker equipment. Before the late 19th century, things were a lot less standardized. Players from over a century ago would have used pieces of gold, silver, some coins, or even scraps of paper.
In the 1880s, chips started to look more like the ones you shuffle today. Using clay and compression molding, players finally had consistent tokens for poker and other games. Gamblers' fingers had never felt so lucky, but the chips were fragile. For that reason, we now see several mixtures with varying amounts of plastic, ceramics, clays, or even metals. Some larger denomination chips even contain RFID technology (radio frequency identification) for extra security.
There are over 2,000 casinos in the United States, meaning tons of different chip designs. Around the world, there are countless millions in circulation. Most sets are unremarkable and common, but the ones on this list are special.
In no particular order, here are 5 rare or unusual poker chips we found.
Golden Goose $5 Chip
The Golden Goose Casino was only open for five years and closed in 1980, only offering slots. But, for a few months, this casino had a single blackjack table. When it closed for whatever reason, the chips vanished, making them exceedingly rare. In fact, there's only one chip of these $5 chips known to exist.
And so, when a $5 Golden Goose chip went up for auction, it sold for a little over face value.
In 2014, an anonymous seller gave the one-of-a-kind chip to an anonymous buyer for the sum of $75,000. In the 1990s, the last time the chip was sold, it went for just $3,000.
Thanks to the cane and top hat logos around the edges, this Golden Goose chip is instantly recognizable as a Paulson. Along with Bud Jones chips, Paulsons is one of the official suppliers for the World Series of Poker.
North Korean Casino Chips
Not much information makes it out of North Korea, and even fewer pictures of poker chips escape the borders.
Casino Pyongyang is located inside the capital of North Korea, Pyongyang. In fact, this Egyptian-themed casino is located in the basement of the Yanggakdo International Hotel, along with a swimming pool, billiards hall, barber shop, and a massage club.
This is also the hotel that the American university student Otto Warmbier visited and was charged with stealing a political banner from. The ordeal ended in tragedy when he was returned to the US after seventeen months with severe brain damage, causing his death.
The two chips on the far left appear to be made by Bourgogne-et-Grasset (B&G), but the pearlescent chip next to them comes from an unknown manufacturer. In the right image, we see a Paulson chip from the Emperor Hotel and Casino.
Illegal American Poker Chips
In the 1920s, all the way through to the late 1960s, illegal card games needed chips. Speakeasies were already breaking the law by serving alcohol during the American Prohibition, so a little extra gambling revenue wasn't a problem. To run their games, unlicensed establishments got their hands on sets of simple, and often crude chips. The materials used were either Bakelite, Catalin (two early plastics), or clay.
While they aren't the rarest, illegal chips have a certain Wild West charm. Most are made of a single color, though some have colored edge spots. The denominations or casino logos are just as simple. It made sense to keep things basic, especially if the next police raid could happen at any time.
Rounders Poker Chips
It's been over a quarter-century and Rounders is still one of the most iconic poker movies ever made. Naturally, any of the chips used in the film would be a treasure for passionate poker players. The authentic Rounders movie chips are difficult to come by, but they circulate on eBay and chip forums from time to time.
We'll be looking at the ones used for Mike McDermott and Teddy KGB's matches. Apparently, a full set of 1,000 chips was purchased for filming and afterward, picked up by an unknown buyer.
Atlantic Standard Molding manufactured the chips used in Teddy KGB's club, as well as the ones used in the Chesterfield room. Users on the poker chip forums estimated the value of some Rounders chips to be upwards of $200. However, this figure is probably much higher now, especially for the $1 (which is harder to find). If Rounders 2 gets confirmed, it will send the prices even higher.
The $5, $25, $100, and $500 chips were used in the scenes, but not the $1, though it was included in the set. Each chip features the "Roman" inlay pattern, which was retired by Atlantic Standard Molding after this prop set.
Along with the original props, two other promotional Rounders sets became available.
One set (pictured below on the left) was offered to European distributors of the film, as part of Miramax's Europe promotion.
The other set (pictured on the right) was briefly sold on the Miramax website in 1998 and featured a slightly different inlay design.
Casino Royale Chips and Plaques
It wasn't the most realistic portrayal of the game, but the Casino Royale chips and plaques are definitely cool. The stakes in the match between Bond and Le Chiffre were unbelievably high, but through poisoning and a heart attack, our hero prevailed. The final $115 million hand is ridiculous, but entertaining. On a very connected board, Hollywood staged an epic cooler. One player had for the nut flush. Another made a full house with and the villain trumped that with .
Of course, James Bond had for a straight flush.
If you aren't buying a replica set, the authentic prop chips are extremely expensive – especially the plaques. On one auction site, the blue pearlescent plastic $1,000,000 plaque sold for £40,625 ($53,239). The red $500,000 plaques are about half as expensive.
As for the poker chips, a set of seven with each denomination sold for almost $4,000 in an online auction.
Honorable Mention: Mike Tyson MGM Chip
Mike Tyson has absolutely no connection to poker chips – or so you thought.
On June 26th 1997, Tyson and Holyfield arrived in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand. The fight was highly anticipated, but in the third round, Mike Tyson took a chunk out of his opponent's right ear. Next, he bit Evander Holyfield's left year, bringing an end to the fight.
Tyson was disqualified, forfeiting his $30-million fight purse.
Of course, if MGM Casino had known about this beforehand, we probably wouldn't have these ultra-rare $10 chips. Each one could cost you around $400, but for some, this is a unique piece and a fantastic talking point.
If we missed any interesting sets, let us know with a quick comment!
