Also keeps the whole pile together as the dealer slides it towards the player who has either purchased the chips or has won them.

Around the face of the chip is a pattern that is more deeply embossed than the criss-cross pattern. Some casinos use whatever design the manufacturer supplies, but most create a unique pattern. Many use the club-spade-heart-diamond pattern, others use the top-hat-and-cane pattern. There are casinos that have their own names embossed around the face of the chip. To further personalize their own chips, some casinos request that strips of contrasting colors be inserted into the chip around the edges. Others have contrasting plastic or metal inserts placed into the center of the chip. Every chip made in these unique forms will have the casino’s name and the actual dollar amount either embossed or printed (on both sides) in the center of its face. All of these markings, stampings, strippings, etc., protect the casino from counterfeit chips. The designs are individually protected, many of them by copyright.

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There was a time when chips from various casinos could be used in neighboring casinos in Las Vegas and in Reno.

As “counterfeit” chips started to appear all over town, the practice of interchanging chips ceased. The rule all over the world now is: Redeem all chips in the proper casino! Chips from other casinos will not be accepted anywhere else.

Private individuals may have chips manufactured for themselves, and whatever they place on the chip will be protected by copyright, just as if they were a casino. Obviously, a chip that has just the owner’s initials cannot be copyrighted. Designs and logos can be, and often are, copyrighted.

There has been an attempt to create a standard for color- value correspondence in the United States and in many islands in the Caribbean. The suggested colors are as follows:

Of course, you will find variations on these colors as you travel from casino to casino. It seems to be fashionable to be “different.”

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