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Q: Where is the Key West Resort & Casino located?
A: The Key West Resort & Casino never existed. It's a fictional place, and the name was created to use on the casino chips in around 2004. Since then, the casino chips have been sold around the world and the "casino" is well known, despite the fact that it never really existed. Q: Why are chips used in a casino instead of money? A: First, for security. Many casino chips are more secure than cash, and can't be easily counterfeited. Even their weight is so standard that casinos can "count" chips simply by weighing them, and trained dealers quickly recognize fakes. Second, chips speed the pace of the game, as they can be counted quicker than cash. Third, studies have shown that people risk (and lose) more with a "replacement currency," like a casino chip, and would likely wager less if they had to take cash from their wallets and purses. Q: What is the real weight of a casino chip? I've seen chips that weight 12 and even 14.5 grams. A: Key West casino chips have an average weight of 9 grams, with some variance due to the color. Many states with legalized gambling have laws that regulate the size and even the colors of chips used by licensed casinos, but the weight is not regulated. In Las Vegas, from the 1930s to the 1980s, most table chips weighed 9 grams or 10 grams, depending on the producer. (The company that is called "Classic Poker Chips" today made most of the chips in Vegas from 1931 through the 1980s, and their weight was 9 grams.) Those 12 and 14.5 gram chips are mostly plastic chips which contain "slugs," or metal coins to add weight. Real casino chips are "compression molded" using high temperatures and pressures to create the chip. Q: Are Key West and other "real clay" casino chips actually made of clay? A: They contain clay. When you pick up a real table chip at a casino or a Key West chip, about 30 percent of what you're holding is (really) clay. The remaining 70 percent of the chip is a collection of "secret ingredients" that bind the chip and give it its color. Each manufacturer developed their recipe and the process used to make their chips, and keep the information a closely held secret. At the same time, many manufacturers are making inexpensive plastic chips and calling them "clay." They're not. Q: How long will these chips last? A: Professional casino chips, like the Key West Resort & Casino chips, are made to last five years in a casino, where they can be handled, shuffled, racked, stacked, and generally abused, 24 hours a day. That's over 43,000 hours. At home, you can expect these chips will last a lifetime, and likely much longer. Q: Are Key West chips "real" casino chips? A: Key West Resort & Casino chips are as real as they get. The manufacturer has been making chips for licensed casino clients for over 100 years under one name or another, and they use the same recipe and process -- called compression molding -- to make these chips. (Changing the recipe, machinery or process would be too expensive.) They even make these chips using the "H" mold, the same casino chip mold they've used since the 1930s to press out chips for casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. Q: What is the difference between a "chip" and a "cheque?" A: There is none. Both names refer to a replacement currency. The term "cheque" is used by casino professionals to refer to a casino chip inside the casino that has a "real money" value attached to it and can be cashed at any time. Poker players commonly call them chips, and they don't always represent their face value, such as in a tournament. |
Q: Do casinos really pay that much for chips?
A: Yes. Licensed casinos can order up to 1 million chips at a time, and pay top dollar for them for two reasons: For security, to keep people from counterfeiting the chips and bringing their own to the tables; and because they last. Real casino chips are made for an expected "casino life" of five years or more -- and that's five years of constant play and abuse, 24 hours a day. A casino can recoup the cost of the chips within a few days, and sometimes even faster. One major manufacturer estimated that a casino can make 400 percent profit on their casino chip order by doing nothing, as casino chip collectors will pay real cash for a certain number of their chips and carry them out of the casino, never to return. (This is why most "commemorative chips" are $5 chips. They cost much less than $5 to produce, and the casino knows people will take them home and likely never cash them.) Q: I've heard that real casino chips contain lead, and are dangerous. Do these chips contain lead? A: No. Classic Poker Chips and its predecessor companies never used lead to make casino chips. Instead, they use a brass powder to add weight to the chips. In November, 2008, a Phoenix television station tested some much older casino chips from another manufacturer and found they contained large amounts of lead, which the other company used to add weight to the chips "back in the day." Even that company has stopped using lead in modern casino chips. Q: Do I need to oil these chips? A: The chips don't need to be oiled. It's a personal preference, for appearance only. Casinos "oil" their chips the easy way -- they put them in play. The oils in the players' hands do the rest, making the colors look dark and rich. So if you're not running a casino with hundreds of nervous players who will constantly handle your chips for you, you can add a tiny (really tiny) amount of light mineral oil to the darker colors. Actually, casinos go to great lengths to remove excess oils from the chips, as it causes dirt to build up on the chips. Q: What is an "NCV" chip, and how is it used? A: "NCV" stands for "No Cash Value," a designation used to identify chips for "points-only" tournaments, where the chips are not exchanged for cash. You can use Key West Resort & Casino's imperial blue NCV chip as any denomination you'd like that may not be in the set -- such as 50 cents. It can also be used as a "bounty" chip in a tournament where each player buys one for a fixed amount, and wins it from another player when they win the hand that eliminates that player. NCV chips can also be used as souvenirs, or assigned a fun value, like a "free drink" or prize. Q: Are Key West's chips redeemable for real money? On May 22, 2014, we issued our first "live" casino chip -- a blue $1 chip with yellow edge spots. Those chips are "face value" chips which you can buy for $1. Our company will cash these chips for $1. Other denominations -- including the white $1 chip -- are not redeemable for cash. Q: How many chips would a casino buy to open? A: Up to 2 million. Q: What is the difference between "fantasy" chips and a chip from a closed casino? A: Fantasy chips are made for home use, and are usually new. Closed casino chips can be mint, but they more often have "casino grunge" on them from dirt, food, sweat, and general handling before they "retired." Chips from a casino that was planned, but never opened, will usually be in mint condition. |
Q: So what does the "H" on this chip stand for?
A: The H is for "Harry." The mold was made by The Burt Co., a predecessor to today's Classic Poker Chips, for the H.C. Edwards Company of New York, a distributor of poker chips. The company only made chips using two molds -- the H mold and a mold with two broken circles around the rim, so the "H" clearly represented the owner's first name. Finding the name would be the challenge, and even some industry experts weren't sure.
In January, 2015, our company began searching for the first name of H.C. Edwards. We found records of a prominent New York artist, illustrator and sometimes-actor named Harry C. Edwards (1868 - 1922). He signed his works "H.C. Edwards," and lived near the company's address in New York City, but we could not be certain that the artist was the same man who came up with the H mold.
Enter David Spragg of Classic Poker Chips, the current incarnation of the Burt Company and current owners of the H mold. David was confident we were on the right track, as an early H.C. Edwards catalog contained detailed illustrations of their products. Armed with the potential first name, he scoured the internet. In the archives of the University of Pennsylvania, he found a collection of books containing the works of Harry C. Edwards. One of the books was published by Alonzo Burt, founder of the Burt Company, which made the mold.
The mystery was solved. The H mold was drawn up by American artist Harry C. Edwards.
A: The H is for "Harry." The mold was made by The Burt Co., a predecessor to today's Classic Poker Chips, for the H.C. Edwards Company of New York, a distributor of poker chips. The company only made chips using two molds -- the H mold and a mold with two broken circles around the rim, so the "H" clearly represented the owner's first name. Finding the name would be the challenge, and even some industry experts weren't sure.
In January, 2015, our company began searching for the first name of H.C. Edwards. We found records of a prominent New York artist, illustrator and sometimes-actor named Harry C. Edwards (1868 - 1922). He signed his works "H.C. Edwards," and lived near the company's address in New York City, but we could not be certain that the artist was the same man who came up with the H mold.
Enter David Spragg of Classic Poker Chips, the current incarnation of the Burt Company and current owners of the H mold. David was confident we were on the right track, as an early H.C. Edwards catalog contained detailed illustrations of their products. Armed with the potential first name, he scoured the internet. In the archives of the University of Pennsylvania, he found a collection of books containing the works of Harry C. Edwards. One of the books was published by Alonzo Burt, founder of the Burt Company, which made the mold.
The mystery was solved. The H mold was drawn up by American artist Harry C. Edwards.
Q: What makes a playing card a "casino card?"
A: Casino cards are printed with custom back designs, usually with the name of the casino on it, like our Key West Resort & Casino decks. This is done so cheaters can't bring their own cards to the casino, or to your home game.
Q: Why do I always see playing cards printed in two back colors, like Key West's Imperial Blue and Red?
A: People who play cards very often like to speed the pace of play, and gathering the cards, shuffling and dealing can slow things down. A set of two decks is called a "setup," and both decks are used together at a table. While one deck is dealt to the players, the second deck can be shuffled, cut and ready to deal for the next hand. The back colors are different to prevent the two decks from being mixed together.
Q: Why do I always see playing cards printed in two back colors, like Key West's Imperial Blue and Red?
A: People who play cards very often like to speed the pace of play, and gathering the cards, shuffling and dealing can slow things down. A set of two decks is called a "setup," and both decks are used together at a table. While one deck is dealt to the players, the second deck can be shuffled, cut and ready to deal for the next hand. The back colors are different to prevent the two decks from being mixed together.
Q: Why is a dealer button used?
A: Many U.S. states allow people to play cards for money in their homes, but only if the game is "fair," and does not offer an advantage to a particular player or to a "house." Texas Hold 'em is a popular form of poker that is considered fair if the deal rotates around the table -- that is, players take turns dealing -- because being the last person to act can have some advantage. But if you have one skilled dealer in a group of people who are all thumbs, that dealer can handle the cards and move a "dealer" button around the table, giving each person the dealer position in turn and dealing the cards accordingly.
Q: Why is a "cut card" used?
A: To prevent the bottom card in a deck from being exposed to the players. The cut card is inserted into the shuffled deck, and becomes the bottom card. A cut card can also be inserted into a shoe of cards at random to indicate when the shoe will be reshuffled.
Q: Why is a "cut card" used?
A: To prevent the bottom card in a deck from being exposed to the players. The cut card is inserted into the shuffled deck, and becomes the bottom card. A cut card can also be inserted into a shoe of cards at random to indicate when the shoe will be reshuffled.
The Key West Resort & Casino is not a real casino, and does not operate any gaming operation, on the web or elsewhere. It's a line of fine gaming equipment made by casino industry manufacturers for Continental Games, LLC, Wilmington, Delaware. The Key West Resort & Casino logo is is a trademark of Continental Games, and is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. The Continental Card & Game Co. complies with the requirements of 15 USC § 1173. Click to visit Key West's Responsible Gaming page.
