Race-Off

1. Part of the procedure of "coloring up" in a poker tournament involves a "race-off" of chips, in which chips gets consolidated and extras randomly distributed.

How it Works

At intervals in a poker tournament, the lowest denomination chips become obsolete as the blinds and antes rise. For example, when it's time to start the round with $100 antes, there is no need for $25 chips.

Almost always, there is an odd number of chips left over, let's say 12 lower chips, the equivalent of 3 of the higher denomination. Each of those three bigger chips will go to a different player at the table, determined by high cards dealt from the deck.