How Do Casinos Clean Their Gambling Chips?

I saw a pic last week of dealers cleaning chips on the tables. It seems crazy to me! How can they possibly clean all the chips in the place like that? Can't they just run them through a dishwasher? What would that do to RFID properties? When they do it on a towel on a table, some liquid must get through so doesn't that hurt the green felt? Have they always cleaned chips this way or is cleaning chips something new with COVID?

[Editor's Note: As is our wont, we handed this one off to our man behind the tables, Andrew Uyal.]

Chip-cleaning procedures have evolved, sometimes to the point of extinction, over the years. It used to be fairly common for a casino to clean chips up to once a week. Then it started to kind of go away, whether rightly on wrongly. The bottom line is before March 2020, chip cleaning was rare, if existent at all.

We live in a different world now, as we all know. Even since the grand reopening of casinos in June, things have changed. For example, many casinos had to clean the chips every day! To our knowledge, that’s mostly been reduced to around once a week, depending on the casino.

As for the actual process, it’s a little more complicated than some might think. Every chip in the rack on every table has to be accounted for and they all have to be in view of the cameras at all times. So that rules out taking them back to the kitchen and running them through a dishwasher. Dedicated chip-cleaning machines have come around over the years, but they're expensive and cumbersome and simply not cost effective.

The picture you refer to in your question likely refers to the agreed-upon procedure of hand cleaning the chips on the tables. This is also likely more complicated than you might think. Surveillance has to be called to observe the whole process. The entire rack must be counted, down to the last dollar! Each tube of chips is spread across a large towel on the layout, sprayed with cleaning solution, and vigorously washed by the dealer. When every piece has been cleaned, it must be counted again, to ensure the before-and-after totals match.

To answer your question about the felt, we haven’t noticed any damaging effects to the felts from the cleaning solutions. However, some adverse effects have been noticed on other surfaces. For instance, a lot of electronics are attached to the tables these days, so we have to take care not to spray the liquid onto those. Also, some of the wooden surfaces, especially the crap tables, have been noticed to dry, crack, and splinter, presumably from the solution, which does seem to have a drying effect.

I’m not a chemist, however. I’m just a guy in a tie, standing around, noticing things. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

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O2bnVegas Feb-28-2021

FWIW

A dealer at Harrah's Laughlin said their tables close at midnight (or 1 am, or maybe 2am).  He said all chips from every table are put in a chip washing machine.  Tables open in the morning, something like 8am or so.  Damn my memory is getting worse!

Whether or not this is fact, I can't swear to it.

Candy

Ray Feb-28-2021

To Candy's observation

What you were told makes sense, especially at places that shut down the table games overnight. Based on the above answer, they can count all the chips before and then after going into the washer. This brings up another question. I haven't paid much attention to table games during the pandemic, but how are the chips handled during play...before the overnight cleaning?

O2bnVegas Feb-28-2021

To Ray

I've played tables several times, several different casinos.  No change in chip handling by player or dealer that I noticed.  I can't even imagine how chips would be cleaned during play.  One thing they all do is wipe down the area when a player leaves a table before another player can sit down in that spot.  The dealer puts a plastic sign or something there and calls for someone in the pit to clean the spot, the rail, etc.  They are very fast in getting that done, too.  I suppose they don't want a lot of time to pass before getting the next player's money.  LOL

Candy

Dave Feb-28-2021

Cleaning machine

A few years back, I saw a machine at G2E. Chips get put into a special rack that has slots on the bottom. The rack is lowered into a tub of blue juice and ultrasonic to clean them. Kinda like what they do at a jewelers. Afterwards, the tray is put on a drain plate which also has a vacuum to suck all the liquid. 

When done, the chips look brand new - just without the sharp edges that new chips have. 

The entire unit was on a rolling cart that could easily be rolled into the pits to do the work where surveillance could easily watch. 

I don’t remember the price, but I was thinking that it was definitely something that could fit in a typical casino’s budget.

Kevin Lewis Feb-28-2021

We don't need no steenkin' chips!

I wouldn't play table games right now, because how many people have just handled the chips that are paid to you? Dozens in the past few hours?

I was wondering whether there is a way to simply make chips obsolete. One could have a display and counter in front of one's seat, not dissimilar to what's already on a slot machine. You could make your bets by pressing one or two buttons. The dealer would lock down the betting after a few seconds. You could receive a printout, like a slot ticket, when you're done--or you could have the credits loaded back onto your casino card.

I expect some people would say that taking away the tactile experience of handling chips lessens the experience, but that's exactly what they said when slots went coinless. The tech is there--some table poker-derived carny games have a credit meter that's used just for making one of those progressive side bets like you have to get a thirteen-card sequential flush dealt by a left-handed albino dealer on a Tuesday.

Adam Cohen Feb-28-2021

COVID will pass but not the memory

I mentioned this a few days ago. COVID will pass the Vaccines are working (I even got my first shot) If the casinos do not nickel and dime us to death we will be back. But the memories will not fade as fast and there will be fall out. We still have security that came about after 9/11. As Kevin said maybe no more chips. I bet for at least a few years people will wash hands more and think about what they touch. Casinos just want us to play.  I wonder if we might see a new chip. There are materials out there that are easier to clean or resistant to germs and viruses could that be the next chip. What about dice. Could we go the way Kevin way and move more to an electronic game system.  I am not sure but change is coming and hotels and casinos will start to push their cleaning practices along with their other perks. I have been locked up since March I just want out and a trip to Vegas this summer would be awesome.

Calder Feb-28-2021

Approaching a tipping point?

I think taking away chips substantially changes the gambling experience.  After all, it's not like dirty chips were invented in 2020; they've always been a reality, through all manner of flus, bacteria, and viruses.  What has changed is the government's response, and perhaps the public's expectations of safety going forward. 

The tech obviously exists to eliminate chips in the casino, witness Roll to Win and 'bubble' craps, automated roulette wheels, stadium variants of baccarat and BJ.  What those setups also lack is a breathing dealer.  

Watch people playing those games.  No dealer banter, no player interaction, no cheers or congratulations when a dealer slides a tower of chips to a player hitting a long shot.

Younger generations may be satisfied with an automated gaming experience, but one doesn't need to fly to Las Vegas to get it; everyone has a smart phone.  If Las Vegas stops offering a Las Vegas experience, why go?

dblund Feb-28-2021

An easy formula

Most of the places I've played poker since the re-open have been pretty strict in making sure the players all use the hand sanitizer whenever they sit down.  I follow up with being sure to sanitize again when I leave.  As far as going electronic, how am I supposed to concentrate on the game if I don't have chips to shuffle?

Jackie Feb-28-2021

Changes

Electronic games that replace table games are on a trial basis because an electronic game is cheaper to operate than a live one and if the public accepts them (thanks to covid-19) then the casinos make more money.

Personally I don't trust electronic games including electronic slots replacing the mechanical ones as I know all of the shortcomings of electronics.  I was even asked recently why I don't play on line poker.  Two reasons (1) you don't know if you are playing a person or a computer (2) No face to face interaction, poker is a skill game based upon tells and knowing people.  You can't get either of those reasons satisfied playing on line.

The gaming commission would have to change the rules for what defines a chip in order to make "cleaner" ones and table meters would slow a game down due to many variables and issues like running out of credits in the middle of a game.

Vegas is never going to be the same!!!!

Llew Feb-28-2021

Chips

When I dealt poker at the Taj, the joke was that if the chip wasn’t dirty and sticky, we knew it was counterfeit.  😆

Ray Mar-01-2021

chip thoughts

I play electronic BJ in the area here because I get points on my players card, just as if I was playing a slot. I don't have to rely on a pit boss saying "he didn't play long enough" or "he only played $x per hand. Don't give him any comp value". I also thought tha if the casino had a way to track your bets at the table and electronically add points (at a live game) many of the empty tables would be populated by gamblers like me, who love BJ but can't get by the fact that you really get no points if you're not a bigger player than I am.

Question of the Day - 28 February 2021

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