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Value vs non-value chips: what each table needs

Published 2026-10-27

Short answer: a value chip shows its denomination on its faces. A non-value chip, usually a roulette chip, shows none; its worth is set at the table when the player buys in. In the rules quoted below, roulette chips must look different from value chips, so plan the two as separate series.

Casino chips in a value series, each denomination with its own base color and edge spots

Value chips (cheques)

Casino chips are also called "cheques", as in roulette cheques. Regulations say "chips". A value chip carries a stated denomination, so its face carries required fields, not free artwork. In Maryland, for example, the value chip rule asks each face to show:

The denominationin numbers, visible on the surveillance system
The casinoits name, logo or another approved mark
The locationthe state letters and the city or county

Where a jurisdiction prescribes denomination colors, those rules decide, not an industry chart. Michigan and Missouri assign some of the same denominations to different colors, so a color plan made for one state may not work in another. For security rules, see what regulators require on a casino chip.

Non-value chips (roulette chips)

Maryland defines a roulette chip as "a nonvalue chip which does not contain a denomination on either face" (definitions). Instead of a value, it carries what tells one player's chips apart from everyone else's (roulette chip rule):

A table marka design, insert or symbol that separates one table's set from every other table's
The word "Roulette"on the chip
A distinct color and design per playerno two players at the same table share a color and design, and roulette chips must remain visually distinct from value chips
A readable edgesurveillance must tell whose chip it is when only the edge shows in a stack

A roulette chip's value is assigned at buy-in rather than printed on the chip. When a player buys in, a marker button sets what each chip of that color is worth for that session (Pennsylvania's example).

Roulette chips are not the only non-value chips. Maryland requires tournament chips to read "No Cash Value" and keeps them distinct from both roulette and value chips (tournament chips).

Planning both series for one casino

  1. Start with the value chips. Where the regulator assigns their colors, fix them first.
  2. Build the roulette colors around them, following the rule on keeping the two apart.
  3. Check the edges, not only the faces. Stack mixed chips and look at the edges on a camera image, the way surveillance will.
  4. Plan per casino. In Kansas, a casino may not knowingly accept chips issued by another (Kansas), so give each casino's chips identification that cannot be confused with another's.

How we lay out both series

Send your specifications for both series. Sizes, materials and table marks are on non-RFID casino chips. For chips that read on your table system, see RFID casino chips.