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What regulators require on a casino chip

Published 2026-10-27

Short answer: casino chips are approved jurisdiction by jurisdiction. In Nevada the casino, or a chip maker it authorizes, files for approval. New Jersey wants design drawings and sample chips before the chips go into play. In these jurisdictions approved chips carry set markings and must stay readable on surveillance cameras. Back-up and reserve set rules vary by jurisdiction.

Diagram of a casino chip showing base color, edge spots, inlaid color, label and center magnet

Who files for approval

In Nevada, a casino "shall not issue any chips or tokens" until the regulator has approved them in writing. Only the licensee, or "the manufacturer authorized by these licensees", may apply. The chip maker must also swear it has a written system of internal control covering the manufacture, storage and shipment of the chips (Nevada Regulation).

What gets submitted

New Jersey asks for three things before a chip goes into play (general rules):

  1. Design specifications with a detailed schematic showing actual size and the location of each marking, approved before manufacture
  2. A sample stack of 20 gaming chips made to the approved design
  3. A surveillance check confirming the markings are visible on the casino's camera system

For value chips sold to its casinos, Pennsylvania adds that each maker submits sample color disks showing the primary and secondary colors (table game equipment).

What the chip must show

Nevada's rules are a good example (Regulation):

The casino's nameon each side, and its city and state on at least one side
The maker's name or markon at least one side
A denomination readable in a stackon closed-circuit, black-and-white television
Counterfeit resistance"to the extent reasonably possible"

Rules differ even on the same point. Nevada wants a maker's mark on every chip; Pennsylvania asks for a mark unique to the maker on higher denominations. Check the rule where the chips will be used.

Primary, back-up and reserve sets

The rules below use the terms "back-up set" and "reserve set".

Pennsylvaniarequires an approved back-up set for the $100 and $500 value chips in active use within 120 days of the start of table games, with secondary colors different from the set in play. It separately requires a reserve set of roulette chips for each color with a different design insert or symbol. Casinos using RFID chips can petition to waive these back-up and reserve set requirements (table game equipment).
New Jerseyputs an approved back-up set into play whenever an active set is removed, and gives each approved set its own letter designation (general rules).
NevadaIts chip and token regulation itself has no back-up set clause.

Where a back-up set is required, plan both sets in one design round, so the second set differs where the rule says it must.

Designs do not travel

New Jersey bars chips with the same edge spot and design approved for Atlantic City from being made for casinos outside Atlantic City (general rules). When you take a design to a new jurisdiction, check its approval rules and any limits on reuse.

The definition of a chip is moving too. Singapore's new regulations, in force since September, prescribe electronic credits as casino chips (Singapore).

Is there a global standard?

Check the rules where the chips will be used. The gaming industry's standards association publishes standards for gaming machines and system communication; none on its published list covers physical chips.

Working with us

Send your approved artwork and specifications for value chips, roulette chips and plaques, and we confirm which of them we can build. See non-RFID casino chips and RFID casino chips.