Roulette Chips and Buying In

Why color chips exist

Six people betting redbetRedEven-money bet on the 18 red numbers. French: rouge.Read full → with identical casino chipsmoneyChipA token representing a fixed amount, placed on the layout to make a bet. Also: check.Read full → cannot be paid without an argument. Roulette solved this in the 19th century by giving each player at a table a color: your chips are yours, wherever they sit on the layoutequipmentLayoutThe printed betting grid on the table. Also: table, felt, cloth.Read full →. The color chipstableColor chipsRoulette-only chips in a color unique to each player at the table, with a value set at buy-in. Also: wheel checks.Read full → have no printed value; a small marker on the wheel rim (a “lammer”) records what your color is worth tonight. In American casinos the color chips are also called roulette checks or wheel chips, and a letter or number on them says which table they belong to.

Buying in

Between spins, place cash or casino chips flat on the felt and say the denomination you want (“ones”, “fives”). The dealer counts it in view of the camera, pushes you stacks of a color and places the lammer. The value per chip is yours to choose: $50 can be fifty $1 chips, a hundred 50-cent chips or ten $5 chips. Do not hand money to the dealer; the camera must see it on the table. Buy-instableBuy-inExchanging cash for chips at the table. Done between spins, with the cash placed on the layout rather than handed to the dealer.Read full → are refused while the ballequipmentBallThe small ball launched along the track against the rotor. Modern balls are ivorine or Teflon, 18–21 mm.Read full → is in the air.

Cash chips on the layout

Ordinary casino chips with printed values are accepted on outside betsbetOutside betA bet on the boxes surrounding the grid: dozens, columns and even-money bets.Read full →, where there is room and the owner is obvious, and sometimes on inside betsbetInside betAny bet placed on or between the numbers of the grid: straight up, split, street, corner, six line.Read full → at quiet tables. The dealer will ask whose they are if two players place the same denomination. PayoutsmoneyPayoutWhat a winning bet returns, quoted as “X to 1” on top of the returned stake.Read full → on cash chips are made in cash chips. Color chips are simpler; use them.

Leaving the table

Color chips are worthless at the cage and at any other table. Before you leave, push them to the dealer and say “color” or “cash me out”; the dealer converts them to casino chips at the lammer value. Forgotten color chips are a small, regular source of casino profit.

Online

Your balance is the chip stack. You select a chip denomination (often $0.10 to $500) and tap the layout; each tap adds a chip. Many interfaces let you set a custom chip value, repeat the last bet, double all bets or undo. There are no colors because there is no confusion: the layout is yours alone. Live tables show the total of all players’ bets to the dealer, not the individuals.

• Rebet: repeat last round’s chips.
• Double: double every chip on the layout (watch the table maximum).
• Undo: remove the last chip placed.
• Clear: remove everything before the window closes.
• Favorites: save a layout, including call betstableCall betA bet announced to the dealer rather than placed by hand, usually a wheel-sector bet such as voisins or tiers. Also “announced bet”.Read full →, to place in one tap.

Questions