With all the talk over the past few years about what constitutes a "casino weight" chip, especially for those seeking home poker sets, somehow the impression has become prevalent that the heavier the chip, the closer to actual casino weight it is. For those of us who have played with casino chips (and maybe even collected a few!), we know that's not the case. 11.5-12.5 gram chips have become the standard heavyweight chips for home poker sets, but actual casino chips don't weigh that much. Or do they?

In a recent article in "Poker Player" magazine, Tom Golabek weighed a bunch of chips on his Ohaus scientific triple-beam scale. A cheap plastic chip weighed 1.5 grams; an acrylic "clay" chip (I think he means a plain mold Gamblers General Store type): 8 grams. Here were the results for Las Vegas casino chips:

Aladdin: 9.5 grams
Bellagio: 9.2
Binion's: 9.5
Boulder Station: 10.9
Circus Circus: 10.7
El Cortez: 8.0
Excalibur: 9.5
Flamingo: 9.8
Gold Coast: 9.8
Golden Nugget: 8.3
Harrah's: 9.6
Imperial Palace: 10.7
Luxor: 10.5
Mandalay Bay: 9.7
MGM Grand: 8.2
Mirage: 8.9
Monte Carlo: 9.7
Orleans: 10
Palace Station: 9
Palms: 10
Plaza: 9.3
Rio: 8.9
Riviera: 10.5
Sahara: 9.3
Sam's Town: 10.5
Sands: 9.7
Stardust: 12
Stratosphere: 9.8
Wynn: 9.7

Atlantic City ranged from 11.1 grams (Borgata) to 9.7 grams (Bally's). Foxwoods: 9.2. Pompano Park in Florida was the only chip nearing the so-called "casino weight": 12.1 grams.

While it isn't clear exactly what condition the chips were in, Golabek says that "All the chips I weighed were of average looking quality for that particular establishment, with no defects." And why does Golabek care? He's a magician who does chip tricks, and the weight is of importance to him!

Just thought you'd be interested.

Michael