Theory of spots (1 Viewer)

JustDave

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I've noticed some sets the spots stay the same just the colors change between denominations.
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Sometimes they become busier at higher denominations:
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Sometimes they change at ever denomination without getting more 'interesting':
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I've also noticed that sometimes they change from thin to thick or go from 3 to 4.
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Most of the time with Pie you stay with pie, this doesn't change as much.
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So what's the rhyme or reason? What makes people think 'that works' or 'ugh, look at that spot progression'?
 
So what's the rhyme or reason? What makes people think 'that works' or 'ugh, look at that spot progression'?
As far as casinos go, the answer is easy. They don't really care about the spot configuration, unless it conflicts somehow with an existing chip.
The sad truth is, someone spent about a coffee break thinking about it
 
As far as casinos go, the answer is easy. They don't really care about the spot configuration, unless it conflicts somehow with an existing chip.
The sad truth is, someone spent about a coffee break thinking about it

It's really quite striking to me how many times I find myself going 'ewww, those look AWFUL'.

In the ultra controlled world of a las vegas casino you'd think they'd want the chips to look as good as possible.
 
The casinos care about security, both counterfeiting and being able to identify chips and read stacks with cameras. So chips get unique high contrast spots (inserts). Security matters more as the chips get more valuable which I think leads to the typical progression. I highly doubt they care much about aesthetics beyond that.

Wynn Las Vegas has super simple spots & progression but also RFID from $25 up... coincidence?
 
Also how did everyone learn that the colors were inserts rather than painted on? Many years ago I sacrificed a chip to find out for myself...
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The casino purpose for edge spots is so the eye in the sky can easily tell each chip apart on the camera.

A friend that is a casino dealer was telling me how a new dealer was written up because she aligned all the edge spots of the chips in the rack and security couldn’t tell how many were the rack.
 
The casino purpose for edge spots is so the eye in the sky can easily tell each chip apart on the camera.

A friend that is a casino dealer was telling me how a new dealer was written up because she aligned all the edge spots of the chips in the rack and security couldn’t tell how many were the rack.
Thank you for posting the correct answer. There is actually no such thing as 'spot progression', except as made up and loosely defined by/for some folks here in our tiny little chip universe.

They're called "inserts". They look like painted spots, but are really inserted pieces of different colored clay.View attachment 483610
^ okay, so @Mike Wells doesn't get it.....

Somebody please post the original thread link regarding side paint, along with Joe Hachem's recent message video to @Tommy.
 
The casino purpose for edge spots is so the eye in the sky can easily tell each chip apart on the camera.

A friend that is a casino dealer was telling me how a new dealer was written up because she aligned all the edge spots of the chips in the rack and security couldn’t tell how many were the rack.

That's really good to know, thanks for sharing.

And the reason for that is that the casino really doesn't care about tracking no-value chips (vs the relative importance of cash-value checks).

Also good to understand why they don't care.
 
A friend that is a casino dealer was telling me how a new dealer was written up because she aligned all the edge spots of the chips in the rack and security couldn’t tell how many were the rack.
I would bet that the dealer was actually written up for “playing” with chips in the tray. Surveillance would be focusing on that dealer the whole time they are fidgeting with chips in a tray.
 
I would bet that the dealer was actually written up for “playing” with chips in the tray. Surveillance would be focusing on that dealer the whole time they are fidgeting with chips in a tray.
100% true. Dealer should keep the tray well ordered, but playing with the money is a BIG no-no
 
The casino purpose for edge spots is so the eye in the sky can easily tell each chip apart on the camera.

This makes a lot of sense for the present day.

But what was the purpose of edgespots back before casinos had cameras (and monitors) of high enough quality to pick out spot patterns and count chips onscreen?
 
This makes a lot of sense for the present day.

But what was the purpose of edgespots back before casinos had cameras (and monitors) of high enough quality to pick out spot patterns and count chips onscreen?
Before that there were actual people walking on walkways above the tables and checking the situation.
Also just the fact that the uniqueness of the chip is better guaranteed. Not only for surveillance but also for the dealer. Uniqueness of chips have been a marketing factor since early days. And not least, counterfeiting a spotted chip is much harder than counterfeiting a solid chip.
 
Also just the fact that the uniqueness of the chip is better guaranteed. Not only for surveillance but also for the dealer. Uniqueness of chips have been a marketing factor since early days. And not least, counterfeiting a spotted chip is much harder than counterfeiting a solid chip.

That makes more sense.

I also still tend to believe that these have a function for dealers and players, to help avoid errors. Today’s casino owners may not know or care, and are just following convention or focused on security, but the purpose of their design and use is baked into the long evolution of chips.

Also not convinced every casino had a catwalk for watching all tables, pre-HD cameras, especially in poker rooms.
 
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I feel like there's a Dr. Seuss book to be made from this topic.
 
I'm color blind and I'm gonna have a set made. From the bottom to the top, denomination wise, they will have 1 of the spots on the edge (whatever yall wanna call them is fine by me), up the top denomination which will have 6. I don''t really care about any of the colors or patterns.
 

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