Casino chips aren’t your regular run-of-the-mill poker chips used in casual home games. These have a long history of development and design, usually responding to cheating or security issues as they arose. In the mid-19th century, in bars in the American Midwest and in the old river-boats, poker players would use anything from coins to gold nuggets as they gambled. But eventually, by the end of that century, the clay poker chips casino establishments use became the standardized monetary tokens used in these games.

These chips were first made of various materials such as wood or ivory, but the casino poker chips of a clay-based composition soon came to predominate. These were made in high-pressure compression-molding machines. In recent times, though clay-ceramic mixtures are still used to create some chips, the more usual production method involves injection-molded resin chips. And a recent innovation in the design of casino chips involves either a metal center with a plastic rim, or chips entirely of metal. The standardization makes chips easier to stack on a table, easier to keep track of, and easier to count (or weigh) when it comes time to cash in a player’s winnings.

The design of casino chips has always continually been embellished and perfected in response to security issues. In the early days, players could easily cheat by sneaking their own chips into games. But once the casinos developed their own custom designed poker chips that became harder to do. Now there are security features such as markings that only show up under ultraviolet light, or radio frequency ID tags that make the chips harder to counterfeit. And of course, almost since its adoption in casinos, clay poker chip designs incorporate distinctive artwork and custom colors.

These security measures may not be enough, however, in this high tech age. Casino chips, even with current security features, may eventually disappear. Token-counting windows have already given way in many cases to machines that receive the chips and eject a receipt that is taken to a cash window. But now there are a few experiments involving a pre-paid money card, used with a reader right at the gaming table. It’s possible that if this catches on, the long, interesting history of the casino poker chip may come to a close, leaving nothing but stories and the aura of a legend.

Jeremy Larson is a foremost expert in finding acid reflux medication field. His work has been extensively published in various online publications in the areas of medications for acid reflux. For more information on the treatment, visit remedyforacidreflux.com.