Part III: Business & Regulation · Banking, Chips & Financial Operations

4. House Chip

Chips

A house chip is a chip that the casino uses for internal operational purposes rather than for player wagering. House chips include tournament chips (which have no cash value and cannot be redeemed), promotional chips or non-negotiable chips (used for player rewards and marketing incentives), and reserve chips maintained in alternate designs for security contingencies. All jurisdictions require casinos to maintain a reserve set of chips with alternate markings to permit immediate replacement of the primary chip set in the event of theft, counterfeiting, or other security compromises. House chips must be clearly distinguishable from active cash-equivalent chips to prevent unauthorized redemption.

In practice

Tournament chips are typically a different color shade or have “NO CASH VALUE” printed prominently. Reserve chip sets are stored in the vault and their existence is kept confidential as a security measure.

One entry from the Casino Industry Glossary — 1,157 terms written for surveillance, compliance and operations professionals rather than for players. Definitions describe industry usage; where a term carries a regulatory meaning, verify against the instrument that governs your jurisdiction.