Any history behind oversized chips? (1 Viewer)

[upNdown]

I was just thinking about oversized chips and how wild we are for them. As far as casino clay 43mm chips, can it be true that all there’s ever been is house molds and the 43mm RHC mold?
I just can’t think of any others.
Safe to say 43mm clay chips are fairly new to casinos, historically speaking? I guess the oldest ones I can think of are baccarat chips.
Is there any existing thread or resource about the history of oversized chips?

 

[pedrofisk]

There is also the no mold oversized tournament chips now used at the WSOP main for 500K and 1M.

 

[dew4au]

I'd like to know why baccarat games use 43mm.

 

[moose]

BCC made oversized as well as chipco.

 

[BGinGA]

As far as casino clay 43mm chips, can it be true that all there’s ever been is house molds and the 43mm RHC mold?
I just can’t think of any others.

Paulson has produced casino 'oversize' chips for at least 40 years: 43mm (several house molds and the IHC-inverted hat & cane), 48mm (FHC-fat hat & cane), 50mm (plain mold). Might even be a 46mm plain mold out there (thinking one of the Winner Club chips). They also produced 36mm and 41mm chips.

ASM/CPC produced/produces a 44mm chip (although I'm not sure any were ever made for casinos), and BCC produced a 50mm plain mold chip. Don't recall if BCC had a 43mm mold (don't think so), and I don't think TRK ever offered oversize chips. Chipco, GOCC, and Sun-Fly all produced 43mm ceramic chips.

 

[WedgeRock]

Any history behind oversized chips?

My instincts tell me that oversize high value chips is to discourage counterfeits, but i have no proof of that.

 

[upNdown]

BCC made oversized as well as chipco.

And CPC makes o

My instincts tell me that oversize high value chips is to discourage counterfeits, but i have no proof of that.

I've read that one reason casinos use oversize for high denoms is so you can't hide a high denom at the bottom of a stack of cheap chips. This is apparently important because cheaters will either sneak a stack of chips onto a winning bet after the bet has won? Or maybe somehow switch the bottom chip on a stack on a winning bet? I'm not sure, exactly, and it would seem to make sense to just not pay cheaters at all, but they're definitely an added precaution against cheating, somehow.

 

[gopherblue]

My instincts tell me that oversize high value chips is to discourage counterfeits, but i have no proof of that.

Actually, one of the primary reasons was to prevent cheating. If, say, you were playing blackjack and could hide a $5000 brown chip under a couple red chips, you might be able to use sleight of hand and switch the stack with one of just red chips if you lost. If you won, you would leave the stack as is and get paid on the $5000. There was a famous cheat who did this for years and made millions. The trick was sitting in the seat that the dealer handled last when clearing losing bets/paying winners. If you were fast and careful, even the cameras couldn't pick up the different stacks in those days.

EDIT: @upNdown beat me by a few seconds....

 

[upNdown]

Actually, one of the primary reasons was to prevent cheating. If, say, you were playing blackjack and could hide a $5000 brown chip under a couple red chips, you might be able to use sleight of hand and switch the stack with one of just red chips if you lost. If you won, you would leave the stack as is and get paid on the $5000. There was a famous cheat who did this for years and made millions. The trick was sitting in the seat that the dealer handled last when clearing losing bets/paying winners. If you were fast and careful, even the cameras couldn't pick up the different stacks in those days.

EDIT: @upNdown beat me by a few seconds....

yes, i think thats what i was trying to say!!

 

[WedgeRock]

Thank you, counterfeits and cheats. Because of you we have oversized large denoms.

 

[moose]

OK why oversized baccarat chips then? Even the $5 chips are oversized.

 

[gopherblue]

OK why oversized baccarat chips then? Even the $5 chips are oversized.

Because baccarat players are lushes (e.g., James Bond), and they are so drunk that they need larger chips due to their blurred vision and fumbling hands.

 

[WedgeRock]

Best answer I've heard:

Also, especially on older baccarat chips, it is common to see 'negotiable only at baccarat'. They may have used the larger sizes so that the chips were more easily distinguishable from regular house chips, and couldn't be used inadvertently elsewhere in the casino. Why would this matter? I'm glad you asked :wink:. My theory: In high-end casinos with a lot of whale action, baccarat is always reported separately on the financial statements of the casino. Why? The swings in baccarat from whale activity can be so volatile as to materially affect the financial performance of a casino, so they will typically split it out in order to reduce the uncertainty of the rest of the income statement. In the early days when accounting wasn't so automated, keeping the baccarat chips negotiable only at baccarat may have been a way to better account for the overall profitability of arguably the most volatile game in the casino (due to large single bets and thin house edges).

Source: http://www.chiptalk.net/forum/threads/baccarat-chips.42336/#post-653496