What Color is a $1,000 Chip? The Yellow Chip Explained

When the stakes get serious, the chip colors change. The $1,000 chip is where casual players become spectators and serious money hits the felt. Here's everything you need to know about the yellow chip.

The $1,000 Chip: Yellow (Usually)

In most American casinos, the $1,000 chip is yellow. It's sometimes called a "banana" or "canary" by regulars. The bright yellow color makes it instantly recognizable, even in a stack of mixed denominations.

Yellow was chosen because it stands out dramatically from the lower denominations (white, red, green, black, purple). When a yellow chip hits the pot, everyone at the table notices.

Casino Variations

While yellow is the most common, some casinos march to their own drum:

• Las Vegas Strip: Mostly yellow, but some use light blue or gray
• Atlantic City: Yellow is standard
• Macau: Often uses different color schemes entirely
• European casinos: May use plaques instead of round chips for high values

The lack of universal standardization is intentional. Each casino wants its chips to be unique and difficult to counterfeit. A yellow chip from Caesars Palace looks different from a yellow chip from MGM Grand.

Standard Chip Color Progression

Here's the typical progression you'll see in most casinos:

• White: $1 (the "chip" in "chip and a chair")
• Red: $5 (the workhorse of low-stakes games)
• Green: $25 (where things start getting real)
• Black: $100 (the iconic high-value chip)
• Purple: $500 (also called "Barneys")
• Yellow: $1,000 (you're in the big leagues now)

Above $1,000, colors vary wildly. Orange, brown, gray, and custom colors appear for $5,000, $10,000, and higher denominations.

Setting Up Your Home Game

For most home games, you'll never need $1,000 chips. A typical $20 buy-in tournament might use:

• White = 25 points
• Red = 100 points
• Green = 500 points
• Black = 1,000 points

The actual dollar values don't matter—what matters is that everyone agrees on the system and the colors are distinct enough to prevent mistakes.

Better yet, go digital. A chip tracker eliminates color confusion entirely. Every player sees their exact stack on their phone, and the pot is calculated automatically.