So you've decided to start collecting casino chips... GREAT!  Welcome to one of the best hobbies around.  You're in for a ton of fun and about to meet some of the greatest people in the world.

The first thing you need to come to grips with is that there is NO WAY to collect it all.  There are far too many casinos, card rooms, cruise ships and river boats both still open and closed who in their collective history have released WAY TOO many chips to try to get everything. To do so, you'd need a fortune, an incredible amount of time, a whole lot of luck and a small warehouse to hold it all.

So the first thing to decide is to figure out WHAT you are going to collect.  Since it's impossible to have it all you need to put some constraints around your target chips to collect.  Here are a few ideas to get you thinking in the right direction.

Collect by chip denomination - There are lots of chip collectors that only collect chips of a specific denomination.  It could be $1 chips, $2.50 chips, $5 chips or fractional chips (10¢, 25¢ or 50¢).  To these collectors it doesn't matter where the casino is located, they only care about the denomination printed on the face of the chip.   

Collect by geographical region - There are chip collectors that only collect chips from Las Vegas or Atlantic City or from rural Nevada.  There are so many gaming jurisdictions in the world, and for each area there are chip collectors that want chips in their collection from that area.  They don't care about the denomination or the type of chip they only care about the location printed on the face of the chip.

Collect from a particular casino - Many chip collectors pick their favorite casino and collect everything they can from that casino.  Not just chips but tokens, ashtrays, matchbooks, room keys, marketing literature... as long as the casino name is on the piece, they want that piece in their collection.

Collect by chip type - There are lots of different types of chips:  there are obsolete house chips, current house chips, limited edition chips, roulette chips, tournament chips and no-cash-value chips.  Lots of collectors have picked a certain type of chip to collect and that is what they go after to grow their collection.

Collect by manufacturer/mold - Even though today there are only a small handful of present day manufacturers, in the past there have been many manufacturers.  Each manufacturer had a specific mold and there are chip collectors out there that only collect chip made by a certain manufacturer or chips that have a certain mold.

Collect by chip theme - Over the years I've met collectors that only collect chips that feature a certain image.  I met a lady that only collects chips with rabbits on them, another guy who wants any chip that has an elephant on it.  I have a friend that wants any chip that features an airplane.  To this type of collector it doesn't matter the denomination or where the chip is from they want every chip that features their chosen theme.

Hopefully this has given you a few ideas of ways to curtail your collection.  Remember this is a decision that you must quickly make otherwise you will easily go broke with this very addicting new hobby you have embraced.

Take a look at some of our other guides to learn more about the exciting hobby of casino chip collecting.

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Dave and Debbie Harber
Cheques in the Mail, Inc.

We've been collecting chips since 1986, selling them since 1995, on eBay since 1998 and working with Chipco International to make custom chips since '98 as well.  If you have any questions about casino chips, custom chips or eBay feel free to contact me through our About Me page.