I ask because my friend asked me about an urban legend he heard about a guy going to the cage and grabbing 5k chips and adding them to his stack in an uncapped game, and proceeding to win a massive pot against a player that didnt notice the 5k chips.

If you grab a 5k chip and go play in an uncapped game will the chip play if its in clear view of the table?

The short answer is yes assuming it was added before the hand, is in clear view and the game is uncapped

Sounds like an angleshooters wet dream, Im surprised this crap is allowed.

it's not like low limits are usually uncapped, and if the game is 5/10+ you're used to seeing 1k+ chips and asking the dealer if there are any big chips in places where it will matter.

In a 1-2 game? A $5k chip usually doesn't play.

I can see a room making a rule that certain chips must be colored down in order to play. Not sure if any do.

Too easy to sneak one chip in/out of play. Say a $5K chip when you only have $1K in smaller denominations.

this. and also, if it is within table max, if there is a max.

Playing in The Vic the other week, guy sits down at my £1/£1 table after getting his chips with a couple of hundred in chips comprised of £100 in £5's and a single £100 chip.
No idea why he was given a £100, as opposed to the usual 4 £25 chips you usually get. So it does occasionally happen, for whatever reason.

right, but im talking >100 chips for angle shooting. imagine you are sitting deep with 500bb HU against a short stack of 10 or 20bb. A lot of times you just shove top pair to get it in with him. Now if you are across the table from him you probably didnt notice that white 5k chip he had.

Are you playing 1/2 or 100/200?

I play 2/5. My friend was at the Golden Nugget which is uncapped and there were a couple 750bb stacks on the table that night, just seems really exploitable anyone can go in with what appears to be a short stack but deceptively have everyone covered.

I know in some places that bigger chips don't play. I only know of a few uncapped games in the country (you mentioned one of them).

I recommend not worrying about it. Don't do it yourself. When someone goes all-in and hasn't declared a number, ask for a count. Or just ask if there are any bigger chips in the stack. They're supposed to be on top or in front anyway.

Now you're protected. It's a non-issue.

It's almost like there should be a rule saying large chips should be clearly displayed and when someone shoves there should be a rule saying you can ask what the amount is.

In case no one gets it, the rules in many poker rooms state this.

If you're playing in an uncapped game and you can potentially get caught by this, you shouldn't be playing in an uncapped game.

It's fairly common to see people auto-call when they glance at a short stack. Some people drink, some play long sessions, and some are just not paying attention.

I'm not worried about it personally I just thought it was an interesting angle.

It's probably because he went and bought from the cage, and likely was waiting on a higher level table to open up. When I played at the Vice I would ask for higher denomination chips from the cage so I could keep them in a pocket without it weighing a couple kilos and then I could rebuy immediately if I needed to. As far as I remember they didn't have chip runners, but I haven't played there in a year...

Yeah if you're waiting for a bigger game they give you high denominations.

This was only mentioned briefly before, but the local rooms here only allow one level above the "working" chip in the game to play. You can't, for example, play hundreds in the 1-2 game. 1's, 5's, and you can color to green. No bills, no blacks.

i was piss drunk 1 time with a black in the middle of a stack of ~150 in reds and got doubled up and the guy tried saying he didnt see it. dealer said it was in the middle of my stack and the floor told the kid to ead

If it is uncapped yes, I mean usually the dealer is going call out the player because you cannot "hide" chips.

Even in a capped buyin game, players who've built up big stacks will occasionally color up their chips from the dealer's rack, the cage or their own pockets, and this is allowed in most rooms (IME).
So it is uncommon, but not unheard of, for someone to have some $500 (or even $1000) chips in play in a 1/2 or 2/5 game, etc.
Chips must be in plain view, but I have seen players miss a purple $500 chip in someone else's stack.

First time I've heard this. In Vegas, A.C., and other places I've played in, all chips play - regardless of color. True, it is very rare to see anything higher than a $100 chip in a 1/2 game, and not common for that - but it happens.

Beyond that - what gobbo and venice10 both said.

For that matter - what's the difference between someone playing with $100+ chips, and someone playing with $100 bills? A stack of those is often hard to read as to just how many there are!

Lee

I find bills better than $100 chips, in that I think they're almost plaque-like visible, the same way flags are more obvious in huge games.


Here in AZ, you can't use chips larger than one color-up in a game. I assume that rule is a result of the casinos here meeting some local gaming commission rule.. *shrug* Green chips don't play in 3-6 limit, black chips don't play in 1-2 and 2-5 NL. [NL is actually SL here, but who's counting...]

All chips play regardless of color. You can only buy-in for the max though, and if your winnings exceed that buy-in and through "chipping up" you acquire a purple or orange on a 1/2 game, then by all means it plays. On uncapped games, you can buy-in for whatever and they will play. In vegas, only $100 bills play, but they play regardless of chips.

As far as the "large chip" rule goes, it is common knowledge that you should keep all large denomination chips out front or up top for easy visibility. Dealers are required to enforce this rule, and most do, so opponents can get a clear stack count.

I've seen purple and orange chips at lower limits, and they are not as rare as you may think. Often a large stack winning player will make change for the dealer to keep a game going and avoid depleating the rack. Hope this helps.

Like most things, it's room dependent. Pretty sure that MGM Grand in Vegas did not allow large chips to play at 1/2. Even relatively small chips - I'm not even sure a $25 chip was allowed.

At capped buy-in games it'd be very difficult for large chips to even enter the play. They won't be in the dealer's tray so you'd only see them if a player colored up with a chip runner or possibly if someone bought chips from a player who'd built his stack.

I'd think it'd be exceedingly rare though for an uncapped game to exclude large denomination chips.