Poker Chips
It was a long time ago when poker was just a card game played by the rich at casinos or by the less rich at home for fun. Since then the internet revolution opened a new experience to all, with no limitation of color, gender, age or wealth. Now when two out of three homes have an internet excess, it has become much more then just playing online.
Collecting Chips
The not so new hobby I'm going to talk about today is the collection of poker chips. Yes, there is such a hobby and it is apparently well organized. Most of the poker chips collectors are poker players who can find a variety of chips in many sites specially designed for gambling goods. Among the variety of chips you can also find: Wooden cases for chips, travel cases, carousels, chip racks, chip trays, advertising chips and so on. Besides poker chips, at these sites you can find almost anything you want that is related to gambling.
History of Chips
The game of poker was born in the middle of the 19's century in the mid-west of the United States. The game was played mainly in bars and saloons. At these days of poker gambling, coins were used at poker tables. Then the chips entered the game to replace the coins .They were plain chips and the problem was they were very easy to duplicate, and so some of the players brought to the game fake chips of their own. The game usually ended with more chips then it began (bad for the casino). And so the manufactures of the chips realized it was better to make the chips unique. The poker chips are made in different colors, prints and graving, so each one has its unique seal.
Clay Chips
The clay chips were made between 1880 till 1930 and there were more then 1000 different kinds of chips. These chips were made for the expensive houses of gambling.
Plastic Chips
Since 1940 the plastic chips entered the casinos and stayed ever since. The plastic chips where made for the less expensive houses of gambling and they survived till this day in most places. These chips are cheap, easy to make, easy to maintain and they last for a very long time.
