Poker chips are no longer limited to games and betting but instead can also represent your individuality, events, or company. From a poker night with your friends, introducing a business, to organizing an event, custom poker chips are the way to go.
Custom chips can make use of logos and colors, as well as different designs as per the users requirements, therefore, they can be used for both informal and formal purposes. Customized poker chips might look quite complicated at first sight, but with the proper approach, it can be fun to make.
In this guide, you will learn how to get started with designing custom poker chips, ensuring that it matches your event or brand.
Why Design Custom Poker Chips?
Custom poker chips are not just about the game—they are more than that. Their usefulness ranges from individual use, to marketing or advertising use, to use for special occasions and events. Everything you choose, be it the color, logo, or text, can be personalized to suit your needs. These personalized chips can also serve as souvenirs for weddings, corporate events or tournaments.
As much as it might seem like a herculean task to design your own poker chips, envisioning the process and breaking it down into several segments will make it easier. To help you better, here is a simplified guide on how you can get started.
Step 1: Define the Purpose of Your Custom Poker Chips
The first step in designing custom poker chips is defining their function. Where and how will they be incorporated? These will be the key considerations that will inform most of your designs.
Specifically, defining the purpose will help to determine quantity as well as the design elements required.
a. Home Poker Games
To spice up home game nights, you may use personalized chips.
b. Business Promotions
Design chips with the image of your company—to advertise your firm.
c. Events or weddings
Customize chips as fun giveaways or to signify table numbers at a special occasion.
d. Casinos or tournaments
Create small, high-quality chips for professional, serious poker players, or for large events.
Step 2: Choose the Type of Poker Chip
It is crucial to understand distinctions between the types of custom poker chips in order to make an appropriate decision based on material characteristics and cost.
a. Plastic Chips
Cheaper than most types of chips, plastic chips are best for practice sessions or casual games with few or many people involved.
b. Composite Chips
Made from both clay and plastic, composite chips provide professional look and feel at a relatively low cost.
c. Clay Chips
These chips have a high tactile feel and are popular in all levels of casinos, including professional ones.
d. Ceramic Chips
Ceramic chips are the highest quality and are able to accommodate detailed designs that need to be printed in full color.
Step 3: Decide on the Design Elements
When deciding on the custom poker chips design there are a few features that have to be taken into consideration: color, text and graphics.
a. Color
Poker chips are distinguished with the use of different colors for various denominations. You may use the default color coding, such as white $1, red $5, green $25, etc., or you can choose your own. When it is intended to be used privately, it is advisable to use colors very close to a specific theme or even brand.
b. Text
Inserted text is one of the easiest things that can be incorporated into poker chips. You can include denominations, your name or your company’s name, event specifics (wedding date, company event name, and the like), etc. But make sure that the text is readable; more so if you are using a small font or adding several lines of text.
c. Graphics and Logos
To ensure the poker chips are as unique as possible, you can make custom graphics or logos and incorporate them into the poker chips. Whether it is your company’s logo, initials, or an illustration, make sure the figure is clear and identifiable after it has been printed on the poker chips.
Step 4: Select the Denominations
If you are using poker chips for games, you must assign values to the chips. Decide how many of these chip values will be present and make sure that all of them have unique colors.
a. $1 – White
b. $5 – Red
c. $25 – Green
d. $100 – Black
e. $500 – Purple
f. $1,000 – Yellow
While the above are standard, as we mentioned earlier, the denominations can be modified depending on the game or the event that you want to hold. However, if for instance you are using poker chips for giveaways or for free gifts, then it may not be applicable to label the chips with denominations.
Step 5: Use a Design Tool or Template
It is important to note that most custom poker chip makers give information on how to make your own design using templates. These tools let you:
a. Select the color and design of your chips;
b. Upload custom images and logos;
c. Insert new text with different fonts and sizes;
d. Preview your end product before placing an order.
Step 6: Place Your Order
After you agree on the ultimate design, then you are ready to place your order. With most companies, you will be provided with the opportunity of making bulk orders and there is often a discount when you do so. It is however important to read the specifics of the order, for instance the minimum quantity that you can order and the time that it will take for delivery.
Tips for Ordering
a. Order samples first
A big order may need a sample so that you get to see how the final customized order looks and feels physically, before ordering it.
b. Double-check the design
Make sure all text is spelled correctly, and your logo or graphics are placed appropriately.
c. Consider storage
Depending on the amount of chips that you are intending to order, you may need to think about how you will store your chips and probably order chip cases.
Conclusion
The use of personalized poker chips can add excitement to your poker games, advertise your business, or simply be used to celebrate a certain occasion. Follow these steps above and you will be able to make chips that are not only utilitarian but artistic and communicative. Start designing today and make the next poker night or event one to remember.
