WSOP Chip Usage History – Main Events (1 Viewer)

Zmasterben

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WSOP Chip Usage History – Main Events

The following is a timeline of the chips used at the WSOP Main Events since its introduction in 1970.

For information on all WSOP chips used, especially a comprehensive guide of chips used since the WSOP moved to the Rio, see the links below. I created this post for those who want to know about the Main Event chips without sifting through the full chip usage guides to try and determine which chips appeared in the Main Event and when.

WSOP Chip Usage - Binion's Horseshoe
WSOP Chip Usage - 2005 Rio Primary Bud Jones
WSOP Chip Usage - 2007 Rio Primary Paulson set
WSOP Chip Usage - 2007 Rio Secondary Paulson Set
WSOP Chip Usage - 2012 Rio Secondary Bud Jones
WSOP Chip Usage - 2022 Paris/Bally's Primary Paulsons
WSOP Chip Usage - 2022 Paris/Bally's Secondary Paulsons
WSOP Chip Usage - 2022 Paris/Bally's Tertiary Paulsons
WSOP Chip Usage History - 2022 Paris/Bally's Paulsons - Side Events


DISCLAIMER: Some assumptions and educated guesses were made for chips used in the 1970s through the 1990s based on scarce photos and grainy videos. Information from year to year may not be 100% accurate. All chip information from 2004 – present should be accurate.

NOTE: I know a lot of the pictures below are not the best. I am always looking for better WSOP chip pictures if you have them!

1970 – 1978

Binion’s Horseshoe Club

311065


25 – Green Binions
100 – Black Binions
500 – Gray Binions

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

1970 – 7 (1)
1971 – 6 (1)
1972 – 12 (1)
1973 – 13 (1)
1974 – 16 (1)
1975 – 21 (1)
1976 – 22 (1)
1977 – 34 (1)
1978 – 42 (5)

Introduced for the original WSOP cash event, these were continued to be used at the Main Event tournaments from 1971 - 1978. These chips were actually “Cash Value” and players were given $10,000 in live casino chips to play with in the freezeout tournaments.

1979 – 1986

Binion’s Horseshoe Club and Horseshoe Building


311100


25 – Gray-Green Horseshoe Building
100 – Black Binions
500 – Gray Binions
1,000 – Red Horseshoe Building (.25 value chips)

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

1979 – 54 (5)
1980 – 73 (5)
1981 – 75 (9)
1982 – 104 (9)
1983 – 108 (9)
1984 – 132 (9)
1985 – 140 (9)
1986 – 141 (36)

The late 70s and early 80s saw a large increase in Main Event entries and the addition of the first 1,000 chip. The 1k chips is technically the first true “NCV” chip at the WSOP, being worth only a quarter. The 25 – 500 chips were again live cash chips.

1987 – 1990

Binion’s Horseshoe Paulson


311074


25 – Green Paulson
100 – Black Paulson
500 – Gray Paulson
1,000 – Gold Paulson
5,000 – Brown Paulson

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

1987 – 152 (36)
1988 – 167 (36)
1989 – 178 (36)
1990 – 194 (36)

Introduced in 1987, these were both the first Paulson chip set and the first full NCV set used at the WSOP. 1990 was the last time Paulson chips were used exclusively at the Main Event until 2007.

1991 – 1992

Binion’s Horseshoe Paulson and Bud Jones

311075


25 – Green Paulson
100 – Black Paulson
500 – Gray Paulson
1,000 – Gold Paulson
5,000 – Purple Bud Jones
10,000 – Bright Orange Bud Jones

Changes – Brown 5,000 Paulson chip discontinued at ME and replaced by the Purple 5,000 Bud Jones chip. Bright Orange 10,000 Bud Jones chip added, making it the first 10k chip in WSOP Main Event history.

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

1991 – 215 (36)
1992 – 201 (36)

1991 was the first of many years that the WSOP made the unfortunate decision of mixing Paulson and Bud Jones chips in their tournaments.

1993 – 1996

Binion’s Horseshoe Paulson and Bud Jones


311076


25 – Green Paulson
100 – Black Paulson
500 – Yellow Bud Jones
1,000 – Blue Bud Jones
5,000 – Purple Bud Jones
10,000 – Bright Orange Bud Jones

Changes – Gray 500 Paulson chip discontinued at ME and replaced by the Yellow 500 Bud Jones chip. Gold 1,000 Paulson chip discontinued at ME and replaced by the Blue 1,000 Bud Jones chip.

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

1993 – 231 (27)
1994 – 268 (27)
1995 – 273 (27)
1996 – 295 (27)

The mid 1990s saw even larger fields and even more Paulsons replaced by Bud Jones chips. The Main Event final table in 1993 was the first to feature only Bud Jones chips in WSOP history.

1997 – 1999

Binion’s Horseshoe Paulson and Bud Jones

311077


25 – Green Paulson
100 – Black Paulson
500 – Yellow Bud Jones
1,000 – Blue Bud Jones
5,000 – Purple Bud Jones
10,000 – Bright Orange Bud Jones

Changes – Bright Orange 10,000 Bud Jones chip discontinued at ME and replaced by the Warm Red 10,000 Bud Jones chip.

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

1997 – 312 (27)
1998 – 350 (27)
1999 – 393 (36)

The WSOP inexplicably decided to change the 10k chip in 1997, the first year the Main Event surpassed 300 entrants.

2000 – 2003

Binion’s Horseshoe Paulson and Bud Jones


311078


25 – Green Paulson
100 – Black Paulson
500 – Ivory Bud Jones
1,000 – Blue Bud Jones
5,000 – Bright Orange Bud Jones
10,000 – Hot Pink Bud Jones
25,000 – Lavender Bud Jones

Changes – Yellow 500 Bud Jones chip discontinued at ME and replaced by the Ivory 500 Bud Jones chip. Purple 5,000 Bud Jones chip discontinued at ME and replaced by the Bright Orange 5,000 Bud Jones chip. Warm Red 10,000 Bud Jones chip discontinued at ME and replaced by the Hot Pink 10,000 Bud Jones chip. Lavender 25,000 Bud Jones chip added, making it the first 25k chip used in WSOP Main Event history.

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

2000 – 512 (45)
2001 – 613 (45)
2002 – 631 (45)
2003 – 839 (63)

These were used in the early 2000s and were handled by Chris Moneymaker during the infamous 2003 Main Event that changed poker forever.

2004

Binion’s Bud Jones S2

311079


25 – Army Green
100 – Violet
500 – Hot Pink
1,000 – Canary Yellow
5,000 – Black
10,000 – Lavender
25,000 – Red

Changes – Brand new chips for all denominations. No new denominations introduced.

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

2004 – 2,576 (225)

The WSOP introduced their first ever all Bud Jones set in 2004 in the wake of the poker boom that saw an increase of over three times the Main Event entrants from 2003. These chips were short lived however, only being used one year before the WSOP was sold to Harrah’s and moved to the Rio.

2005

Rio Bud Jones S2

311080


25 – Army Green
100 – Black
500 – Hot Pink
1,000 – Canary Yellow
5,000 – Lavender
10,000 – Black
50,000 – Tan

Changes – Brand new chips for all denominations for the Rio but many chips were variations of the Binion’s chips used the year before. The Black 10,000 chips were the last 10k chips used at the Main Event. The Tan 50,000 chips were the first 50k chips used at the Main Event.

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

2005 – 5,619 (560)

The first WSOP at the Rio saw the Main Event tournament field more than double from the year prior. Despite the Rio being the official host of the WSOP the final two days of the Main Event were actually held at the Binion’s Horseshoe but used the new Rio chips.

2006

Rio Bud Jones S2


311085


25 – Army Green
100 – Black
500 – Hot Pink
1,000 – Canary Yellow
5,000 – Bright Orange
25,000 – Fire Red
100,000 – Leaf Green

Changes – Lavender 5,000 Bud Jones chip discontinued at ME and replaced by the 5,000 Bright Orange Bud Jones chip. The Black 10,000 chips were discontinued at the Main Event. The Fire Red 25,000 chips were introduced. The Tan 50,000 were discontinued at the Main Event. The Leaf Green 100,000 chips were added, making them the first 100k chips used at the WSOP Main Event.

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

2006 – 8,773 (873)

The 2006 WSOP Main Event was the last to use the Bud Jones chips. Paulsons would be the only chips in play moving forward. Jamie Gold won the record breaking $12,000,000 first place prize that remains the highest payout of a non-High Roller event in poker history.

2007

Rio Paulson

311086


25 – Day Green
100 – Black
500 – Desert Flower
1,000 – Canary Yellow
5,000 – Blaze Orange
25,000 – Peach
50,000 – Hot Pink
100,000 – Hawaii Flower
250,000 – Almond

Changes – Brand new chips for all denominations. The Hot Pink 50,000 chips were the last 50k chips used at the WSOP Main Event. The Almond 250,000 chips were the first 250k chips used at the WSOP Main Event.

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

2007 – 6,358 (621)

The 2007 WSOP was the first year to use the iconic Rio Paulson primary chips we all know and love. The Main Event was marred with never ending complaints as players could not distinguish between the 5k, 25k, and 50k chips which all looked extremely similar in stacks.

2008 – 2009

Rio Paulson

311088


25 – Day Green
100 – Black
500 – Desert Flower
1,000 – Canary Yellow
5,000 – Blaze Orange
25,000 – Forest Green
100,000 – Hawaii Flower
250,000 – Almond

Changes – Peach 25,000 chips discontinued at ME and replaced by the Forest Green 25,000 chips. The Hot Pink 50,000 chips were discontinued at the Main Event.

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

2008 – 6,844 (666)
2009 – 6,494 (648)

2008 was the first year the Forest Green 25k chips were used and have been used at every Main Event since.

2010 – 2014

Rio Paulson

311089


25 – Day Green
100 – Black
500 – Desert Flower
1,000 – Canary Yellow
5,000 – Blaze Orange
25,000 – Forest Green
100,000 – Hawaii Flower
250,000 – Almond
500,000 – Red

Changes – The Red 500,000 chips were introduced and were the first 500k chips used at the Main Event. The Almond 250,000 chips were the last 250k chips used at the WSOP Main Event.

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

2010 – 7,319 (747)
2011 – 6,865 (693)
2012 – 6,598 (666)
2013 – 6,352 (648)
2014 – 6,683 (695)

The 50mm 8V Red chips introduced in 2010 were the first ever oversized chip used at the WSOP Main Event.

2015

Rio Paulson

311090


25 – Day Green
100 – Black
500 – Desert Flower
1,000 – Canary Yellow
5,000 – Blaze Orange
25,000 – Forest Green
100,000 – Hawaii Flower
500,000 – Red

Changes – The Almond 250,000 chip was discontinued at the Main Event.

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

2015 – 6,420 (1,000)

Chip usage remained pretty much par for the course with the exception of the Almond 250k chips being deemed unnecessary and not used in the Main Event in 2015.

2016 – 2017

Rio Paulson

311091


25 – Day Green
100 – Black
500 – Desert Flower
1,000 – Canary Yellow
5,000 – Blaze Orange
25,000 – Forest Green
100,000 – Hawaii Flower
500,000 – Red
1,000,000 – Canary Yellow

Changes – The Canary Yellow 1,000,000 chips were introduced and were the first 1M chips used at the WSOP Main Event.

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

2016 – 6,737 (1,011)
2017 – 7,221 (1,084)

All lower denominations remained the same and a T1,000,000 50mm Canary Yellow chip was added.

2018

Rio Paulson


ME 2016-17.png

311093


25 – Day Green
100 – Black
500 – Desert Flower
1,000 – Canary Yellow
5,000 – Blaze Orange
25,000 – Forest Green
100,000 – Hawaii Flower
500,000 – Red
1,000,000 – Canary Yellow
25,000 – Forest Green RFID Final Table
100,000 – Hawaii Flower RFID Final Table
500,000 – Red RFID Final Table
1,000,000 – Canary Yellow RFID Final Table

Changes – All chips remained the same from the following years until the Final Table. New RFID enabled chips were introduced for the final table.

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

2018 – 7,874 (1,182)

At the final table, the WSOP busted out some new 50mm 412 edgespot chips featuring the same base colors as their normal counterparts but with simplified edgespots. These unique chips had “WSOP” written in the edgespot on the sides of the chips.

2019

Rio Paulson

311158


100 – Black
500 – Desert Flower
1,000 – Canary Yellow
5,000 – Blaze Orange
25,000 – Forest Green
100,000 – Hawaii Flower
500,000 – Red
1,000,000 – Canary Yellow RFID
5,000,000 – Blurple

Changes – The Day Green 25 was discontinued at the Main Event due to structure changes. The Canary Yellow 1,000,000 RFID chips were exclusively used as opposed to the 1M 8V chips. The other RFID chips were not used at all however for unknown reasons. The 50mm Blurple 5,000,000 chip was introduced and were the first 5M chips used at the Main Event.

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

2019 – 8,569 (1,286)

2020

Rio Paulson

ME 2020.png


500 – Desert Flower
1,000 – Canary Yellow
5,000 – Blaze Orange
25,000 – Forest Green RFID

Changes - Due to COVID restrictions, the WSOP was moved online in 2020. However, they had two satellite tournaments that led to a live heads up Main Event showdown using only the four denominations above.

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

2020 - 2 (1)

2021

Rio Paulson

ME 2021.png


100 – Black
500 – Desert Flower
1,000 – Canary Yellow
5,000 – Blaze Orange
25,000 – Forest Green
100,000 – Hawaii Flower
1,000,000 – Canary Yellow RFID
5,000,000 – Blurple

Changes - Returning to a full live schedule, the Main Event featured a similar lineup to 2019 but dropped the red 500k chips.

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

2021 - 6,650 (1,000)

2022 - 2023

Bally's and Paris (Caesar's Entertainment) Paulson
Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris (Caesar's Entertainment) Paulson


ME 2022.png


100 - Black
500 - Purple
1,000 - Yellow
5,000 - Red Version 1
25,000 - Green Version 1
100,000 - Blue Version 1
500,000 - Dark Brown
1,000,000 - Orange Version 1
5,000,000 - Silver Version 1

Changes - After a long run at the Rio, the WSOP was moved to Bally's and Paris. All new chip sets were ordered, and these primaries were used for the Main Event.

Year – Entrants (Places Paid)

2022 - 8,663 (1,302)
2023 - 10,043 (1,507)
 
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Very nice write-up, sir. :tup:


2007
25 – Day Green
100 – Black
500 – Desert Flower
1,000 – Canary Yellow

5,000 – Blaze Orange
25,000 – Peach
50,000 – Hot Pink

100,000 – Hawaii Flower
250,000 – Almond
Changes – Brand new chips for all denominations.
Worst chip design/purchase decision in history.
 
My fav is the Hawaii flower, but not the final table RFID version. I wish CPC had that light of an lavender color available.
 
I'm mean, just look at those Hawaii flower chips
 

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Worst chip design/purchase decision in history.

@BGinGA in principle I agree with you about those 2007 upper denoms, but then im still recovering from the shock of having to use these for my first and likely only WSOP experience. They were deeply upsetting to play with lol
Screenshot_20190721_092358.jpg
 
Worst chip design/purchase decision in history.

@BGinGA in principle I agree with you about those 2007 upper denoms, but then im still recovering from the shock of having to use these for my first and likely only WSOP experience. They were deeply upsetting to play with lol
View attachment 313037
I'm actually a fan of the design of these chips. I am a crazy person that likes them more than the Paulson Primary set, even after they fixed the Peach and Pink issue. My fav is the Paulson Secondary. Though I have never laid my hands on Bud Jones chips before. So maybe I would hate them. Who knows?
 
Worst chip design/purchase decision in history.

@BGinGA in principle I agree with you about those 2007 upper denoms, but then im still recovering from the shock of having to use these for my first and likely only WSOP experience. They were deeply upsetting to play with lol
screenshot_20190721_092358-jpg.313037
Not a big fan of BJ chips (S2 or otherwise), but I came very close on several occasions to making a ceramic tribute set nearly identical to that set (but using the 2005 T10K chip as the T100, and the 2005 T50K as the T100K).

I like the specific designs and colors..... just not how actual BJ chips feel and play. To this day, that orange/grey T5000 chip still speaks to me.


Is there any way to purchase those wsop chips at some point?
Never say never, but realistically, probably not.
 
Not a big fan of BJ chips (S2 or otherwise), but I came very close on several occasions to making a ceramic tribute set nearly identical to that set (but using the 2005 T10K chip as the T100, and the 2005 T50K as the T100K).

I like the specific designs and colors..... just not how actual BJ chips feel and play. To this day, that orange/grey T5000 chip still speaks to me.


Most of my issue was the slipperiness, and the dirty stacks when you have the 5k and 25k together. As you can see from this photo, they don't stand out from one another.
IMG_20190601_000132.jpg


I like the 25, 500, 1000, 5k and 100k but the 100 is just crap. Overall though the set has too much black for my liking.
 
Worst chip design/purchase decision in history.

@BGinGA in principle I agree with you about those 2007 upper denoms, but then im still recovering from the shock of having to use these for my first and likely only WSOP experience. They were deeply upsetting to play with lol
View attachment 313037

Whaaaaaaaaa?????? o_O That might be my favorite WSOP set. It will definitely be a focus of mine to get a tribute set of these made on Sunfly’s before the end of the year.
 
Worst chip design/purchase decision in history.
Whaaaaaaaaa?????? o_O That might be my favorite WSOP set.
Just the original choices of orange T5000, peach T25000 and pink T50000 chips (very hard to tell 'em apart), along with the dirty stack issues of the T100/T500 chips (T500 should have been hawaii flower, not desert flower). They later got part of it right, changing the 25K to forest green and ditching the 50K altogether.
 
Just the original choices of orange T5000, peach T25000 and pink T50000 chips (very hard to tell 'em apart), along with the dirty stack issues of the T100/T500 chips (T500 should have been hawaii flower, not desert flower). They later got part of it right, changing the 25K to forest green and ditching the 50K altogether.

Ahhhhhh, I was referring to the Bud Jones chips. The only issue I have is how close the 5K and 25K are....tribute set will definitely have a different 25K. Because I agree, that 5K is a great chip!
 
Whaaaaaaaaa?????? o_O That might be my favorite WSOP set. It will definitely be a focus of mine to get a tribute set of these made on Sunfly’s before the end of the year.
My real complaint, other than the dirty stack issue and overuse of black, was really just how slick they were.

I just printed a giant photo of them to stick on the wall in my poker room, so I obviously don't hate them that much lol
IMG_20190723_174702.jpg
 
Thank you for this info, great job! I wish they release WSOP Rio Paulson chips to public to buy, once they move WSOP series from Rio :)
 
Thank you for this info, great job! I wish they release WSOP Rio Paulson chips to public to buy, once they move WSOP series from Rio :)
Well Said. I wonder where all those chips end up?
 
@Zmasterben great thread of history. Thanks for taking the time and making this. The Paulson/Bud Jones debacle is mind blowing. I wonder if it was like a time constraint thing when they realized how many players were going to register? GPI couldn't make what they needed in time and Bud Jones was able to fill the order? All guessing on my part here obviously.
 
Whaaaaaaaaa?????? o_O That might be my favorite WSOP set. It will definitely be a focus of mine to get a tribute set of these made on Sunfly’s before the end of the year.
I'm brand new to the forum so forgive my lack of chip knowledge haha but what is Sunfly? I'm really trying to bring a better quality experience to our home games and I want to get started with a great quality chip set. Any advice? I really am in love with the 2006 Bud Jones S2, but the super crisp look and edge labeling of the 2018 Rio Paulson chips are incredible as well! Any advice on finding a great set that might replicate one of these? Also, best advice on weight and material? Thanks so much in advance!
 
I'm brand new to the forum so forgive my lack of chip knowledge haha but what is Sunfly? I'm really trying to bring a better quality experience to our home games and I want to get started with a great quality chip set. Any advice? I really am in love with the 2006 Bud Jones S2, but the super crisp look and edge labeling of the 2018 Rio Paulson chips are incredible as well! Any advice on finding a great set that might replicate one of these? Also, best advice on weight and material? Thanks so much in advance!
Sunfly is a ceramic hybrid chip maker from China.
my suggestion would be time, patience, samples and more time. What you like will change 10 times over your first year here.
 
Sunfly is a ceramic hybrid chip maker from China.
my suggestion would be time, patience, samples and more time. What you like will change 10 times over your first year here.
Thanks for the advice! What's your best advice on where to look at buying samples?
 
Here is a vid showing some of the chips in use at the 2003 main event. Kinda grainy, but surprised the video hasn't been taken down. I miss these type of video's that use to run during the ME. If you pause the video at 18 seconds you can see they used both the non-white ring and white ring 1k BJ's at the same time. Anyone know which chips Dutch is using when he does the "chip roll"? "Buy in" chips maybe? RIP Jim Meehan.

 
Here is a vid showing some of the chips in use at the 2003 main event. Kinda grainy, but surprised the video hasn't been taken down. I miss these type of video's that use to run during the ME. If you pause the video at 18 seconds you can see they used both the non-white ring and white ring 1k BJ's at the same time. Anyone know which chips Dutch is using when he does the "chip roll"? "Buy in" chips maybe? RIP Jim Meehan.

Love watching the old vids from wsop is there more
 
Here is a vid showing some of the chips in use at the 2003 main event. Kinda grainy, but surprised the video hasn't been taken down. I miss these type of video's that use to run during the ME. If you pause the video at 18 seconds you can see they used both the non-white ring and white ring 1k BJ's at the same time. Anyone know which chips Dutch is using when he does the "chip roll"? "Buy in" chips maybe? RIP Jim Meehan.


whitering1.png


Very, very weird. I was thinking I was straight up wrong about the 1Ks in my above info and only the white ring ones were used. I guess they mixed them?
 
View attachment 460940

Very, very weird. I was thinking I was straight up wrong about the 1Ks in my above info and only the white ring ones were used. I guess they mixed them?

Look's like it. The picture of Noel Furlong winning the ME shows only white ring 1k's. I'm guessing the non-white ring 1k's were an "add on" some time after '99
 

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