Over the last ten years poker has grown exponentially. The reasons are numerous, including poker TV shows and the popularity of Texas Holdem. With the growing interest in poker there has been an increasing availability of poker chips. They can now be found in stores like Target and Walmart. While this has been a benefit for many poker players by allowing easy access it does create a problem by making it possible for anyone to slip in extra poker chips to any game.

Whether it is a tournament or cash game, having extra poker chips introduced into the game is a serious problem. Not only will it cause a problem with not enough cash to cover the chips in the game, but it will ruin the integrity of the game.

The problem is that there are several standard designs of poker chips that are available in dozens of retail locations and online websites. Any poker player can purchase these chips and bring them to the next poker game. With custom poker chips this would not happen.

With custom poker chips, it will be very difficult or even impossible to slip extra chips into the game. Whether you are hosting a game or playing in a poker game, you can feel much more secure knowing that the chip count at the end of the night will not be more than what was started with. The worst feeling at the end of an enjoyable night of poker is realizing that the bank does not have enough money to cover the chips that players have.

Not all custom poker chips are the same, though. They range in security, style, composition and even the amount of customization possible. The least secure chips have labels, inlays, or stickers placed in the center of the poker chips. The chip beneath the label is not customizable at all. With these chips you can only select from a few colors and just a couple designs to pick from. These chips can be purchased blank by any poker player and it is possible that the labels could be printed at home or any print shop.

The most secure custom poker chips are either clay or ceramic. Besides being secure, they are also the same type of poker chips that poker rooms and casinos use. They do cost more initially, but you will not have the headaches and the expense of having extra chips brought into the poker game.

Clay poker chips are one of the original types of chips that were used in casinos. There have been some changes over the years, but the current clay chips are very similar to the chips used nearly 100 years ago. Real clay poker chips can be completely customizable. The chip colors and stripes can be customized to your liking. These chips also have an inlay in the center of the chip. This inlay is not only of your own custom design but is also embedded within the chip. It is not a sticker or label placed on top of the chip.

Ceramic poker chips are relatively new. Lately, these have become a low cost option for very secure custom chips that home game players can own. Ceramic chips start as a white ceramic disk that can be completely customized. There are no base colors or designs. The edge and both faces are customizable. Also, similar to the clay poker chips, the image is actually embedded within the chip material. The image cannot be removed unless the chip itself is damaged. Due to these features, ceramic poker chips are the most secure custom poker chips available for home poker players.

We all would like to have full trust in all of the poker players at our games. Unfortunately, the brutal truth is that not everyone can be trusted. The poker night when there is not enough cash in the bank to cover the chips on the table will be a truly horrible night. Luckily, this can be prevented with custom poker chips. Make sure this doesn’t happen to you.

If you host games, have a set of custom poker chips designed and printed for you. If you don’t host but play at games that use standard poker chips that can be purchased at any retail store, suggest to the host that custom poker chips should be used at the game.