Chip

1. A unit of betting in poker, coming in different colors to represent different denominations.
2. To grow your chip stack slowly, as in "chip up" or "chip away" (verb).

Chip and a Chair

One of the most famous quotes in poker history was coined by Jack "Treetop" Strauss at the 1982 World Series of Poker Main Event. Early in the second day, Strauss moved all-in and lost. As he got up from the table, he realized he still had a single $500 chip under a napkin, and because he never actually said he was all-in (he simply pushed his chips forward), he was still in the tournament. From there, Strauss won the championship, saying, "All you need to win is a chip and a chair."

Chip Colors

While there are some variations, in many gambling jurisdictions, there are standard colors for chip denominations. The most common official colors are white ($1), red ($5), green ($25), black ($100), purple ($500), and orange ($1,000). If you play poker in Las Vegas, you will usually see yellow for $1,000 chips instead of orange and you will also commonly see blue or gray for $1 chips.

Chip Cash Value

In Las Vegas, you will often be able exchange chips from one casino for cash at another casino, especially if the casinos are owned by the same company. Tournament chips, however, are complete separate (and look different) from cash game chips and have no cash value.

Related Terms

Chip Dumping