Regarding the decimal point and denoms...
Before I saw BG Dave's post, I was going to make the same suggestion regarding the decimal point and denoms. I've used $100, $500, $1000, etc. casino chips for $1, $5, $10, etc. in small cash games numerous times without any complaints or confusion among players. To be fair, though, I haven't gone back and forth between cash game and tournament with the SAME set of chips, so I can't comment on that. I'm still a relative noob compared to guys like Dave, and I haven't come across the well-documented problems of a dual purpose set, but I trust that Dave is correct. However, I also admit to feeling a bit dense right now... I know I must be missing something obvious, but I can't think of the big financial trouble it might cause, unless it came from someone accidentally betting 100 times more than intended during a tourney.
Regarding the "busy-ness" that numerous people have commented upon...
Some of this is obviously a matter of personal taste. However, one potential problem that is NOT a matter of personal taste is when we look at large high resolution graphics mockups of things that are going to be printed much smaller in real life (not just a problem with poker chip graphics). So, I'm not going to comment as to whether *I* thinks it's too busy, but I strongly recommend that you view your artwork multiple times for extended periods AT ACTUAL SIZE on screen or in print, i.e. at 7/8" diameter (or whatever your inlay size is). Sometimes we think a graphic looks awesome in the large mockup, only to find that in real life it looks too busy, and/or that it loses its pizazz when the tiny detail is lost when printed/viewed in actual size (physically smaller than the big mockups we've been viewing). I hope that makes sense the way I worded it.
Regarding the two mockups, and the dollar sign and the FDL...
Overall, I much prefer your second mockup. One thing you might consider: Given that you use a dollar sign in "EA$Y MONEY", perhaps you could re-capture some local Louisiana flavor by replacing the big dollar sign behind the denom with a large fleur de lis. If preferred, you could also replace the red asterisks on the second mock up with dollar signs. I only lived there for 7+ years, but IN LOUISIANA, I think the fleur de lis would be a stronger tie to your "Easy Money" name, and would be a bigger hit with your local crowd. You might even want to change the name to "Big Easy Money"!
Of course, Hank Hill over here in Texas (where I am now) wouldn't understand a bit of that!
For even more local flavor, perhaps you should replace the black of the outer ring with K&B purple! (OK, so it's "Rite Aid" now... whatever.)