Chip Gallery

The 2025 chip theme, chosen by 2024 Main Event winner Tim Showalter, is “Nuts”. The reverse sides of the chips depict a variety of nuts, more or less. This is the second chipset with denominations. The first was 2023. BARGE chips have traditionally eschewed them. They were included at Tim’s belligerent, tiresome insistence. Prototype black chips in a stack. The edge design, stacked neatly, makes a repeating nut pattern. (See Caro’s Book of Poker Tells, tell #1, “When I was a boy, I liked to play with blocks.”) This was inspired by the 2019 chip set. ...

Jessie Capps, 2002 Main Event winner, has had a fondness for Rubber Ducks for some time. He often brings them to the tournament poker table. It seems like a good idea for a theme for his chips. This set was designed by Patrick Milligan with input from Jesse. This set includes ducks for Independence Day, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Mardi Gras, Halloween, and Summer Vacation. Chronologically, these are the first BARGE chips to feature denominations. ...

Context: Russ Fox was the first BARGEr to win the Main Event twice. However, his second win was in 2020 when the event was held online. Because of this, his win merits an Asterisk. This, Russ’ second set, highlights major sporting events that merit an Asterisk. His first chip set, back in 2002, used the theme of “Rocks”. References Russ provided these explanations for the images on his chips: Roger Maris hit 61 home runs in 1961 to set the record, but it was in a 162-game season when the previous record was set in a 156-game season; the record had an asterisk. ...

Our 2020 chips were designed by 2019 Main Event winner Scott “Scottro” Harker with help from Patrick Milligan and Michael Brennan. Scott’s chips were not produced until the 2025 batch, but Scott had a design in mind dating back to 2020. From his comments about these chips (heavily edited): My theme was just me. I wanted two palm trees, each one bending inward, and a pair of 7s rising like the sun in the background. The WOW and the bee are personal. It’s more of a desert sunrise. ...

On behalf of our 2018 champion, Don “BINGO” Rieck, I’m pleased to announce the 2019 BARGE Chip Set. This year’s theme is ADB BINGO featuring a cocktail for each letter. There is also an Easter egg on the sides. I invite you to order your sample chipsets and accept a challenge: drink the chipset at BARGE! Ribbons will be waiting! Of course, these chips look especially great stacked up! Photo by Ken Kubey ...

(Most of this text was likely from Michael Brennan, and it was liberated from a snapshot of bargechips.org held by the Internet Archive. Some small edits have been made to make it match the rest of this site.) Introducing the 2018 BARGE Chips This was a tough year. The head designer of the BARGE Chip Committee had to veto Chris’s first two suggestions of Non-mastery of Music (Sitar, Key-tar, bagpipes, concertina, moog, didgeridoo, theremin, kazzo and Tibetan throat singing) and a full checkers set of just two chips – red and black. Thankfully, the ghost of Tom Bayes spoke to Chris in a dream or a bar (he is not sure which) and inspired his theme of “The Poker Curriculum” – coming to a university lecture hall near you soon! ...

From the 2017 announcement that made the sampler sets available: The 2017 set was designed by 2016 BARGE Main Event Champion Bex Lynn showcasing her mastery of music.

From the 2016 message that announced the sampler sets were available: The 2016 set was designed by 2015 BARGE Main Event Champion Jennifer Shahade who also happens to be a two-time American Women’s Chess Champion. This chess set is also available in 34 pieces so you have a complete chess set.

From the 2015 annoucement for the sampler sets: In everyone’s life there is a first time. The 2014 BARGE Main Event winner, Andreas “Andy” Wolfram, was inspired by his first time in Las Vegas and made the BARGE Virgin Experience his 2015 BARGE Chip Collection theme. Ron invited Andy to BARGE. Artist Mike McBride captured the iconic moment featuring Ron in a dress ensuring Ron remains a virgin forever at least in Andy’s mind. Andy had a fabulous sushi dinner represented by the tuna roll chip. Other fun virgin activities include playing the Sex in the City slots with a group of traveling positive EV nuns who were staying at the Queens, drinking Shirley Temple’s while other players were downing shots of tequila, trying to find the Virgo constellation while under the laser show in downtown Vegas, and finally losing his shirt while on the very funny craps tour across multiple casinos. We invite you to share Andy’s BARGE Virgin Experience by purchasing your own sampler set of the 2015 BARGE Chip Collection. ...

(This text was recovered from a previous Barge chip site and has been lightly edited, if at all.) THE THEME: The theme for the 2014 BARGE Chipset comes from the luckiest (for me) outcome of a hand in the 2013 BARGE No-Limit Tournament. It was fairly late in the tournament, 4 tables left I believe, and I was in middle position with an M of about 10 when I looked at Ah5h. It was folded to me and I decided that this might be a good time for an all-in steal so I jammed. Uh oh, I got called by AA and figured that it was the end for me. But as Chic is my witness I flopped one wheel card and made a bicycle on the last two runners. From there I went on to win the tournament and that was the only time my tournament life was on the line with me an extreme underdog. There is a little more to it than that. I am also a dedicated cyclist; I logged around 3500 miles on my bikes last year. So this year’s theme is The Wheel. I am grateful to a number of people especially the members of the BARGE chip committee for making the 2014 chips a reality. I hope you like the design; in later posts I will tell the story of each chip in the collection and highlight the contributions of these friends. ...

From the announcement for the 2013 chips: This year’s set, designed by 2012 Champ Paul McMullin, and created by Michael Brennan commemorates truly unlikely events. How else can you explain a victory by Paul other than Pigs must be Flying? What next? Nolan getting religion? QB finding some gamble? Interstellar ARG events? Elvis playing Barge? Foldem drinking nonalcoholic beverages? Scottro accepting a deal? (really…like he could ever get that close) ...

From the announcement for the 2012 chips: The 2011 BARGE NLHE Champion, Rich “Omaholic” Bremer, worked with a graphic designer to develop a very unique set of chips. Each chip describes one step towards achieving true BARGE enlightenment. Step 1. Meditation Step 2. Seeking New Experiences Step 3. Concentration & Reflection Step 4. Generosity Step 5. Contribution To The Greater Good Step 6. Mindfulness of Others Step 7. Socialization Step 8. True Enlightenment Step 9. Achieve Nirvana (on the special purple chip) These were the last BARGE chips produced by Chipco International. ...

This year, the theme is “Reindeer Games.” Each chip in the chip set has a common obverse showing a reindeer in a sleigh being pulled by a set of cards. Standard chip colors are used. The BARGE 2010 NLHE Champion, Chuck Humphrey, came up with the theme. This year’s chip set pays homage to the wide variety of poker games that are played during BARGE. Saturday night after the banquet is the prime time to sign up for these games, but they are often in play throughout BARGE week. ...

This year, the theme is “Poker Archetypes.” Each chip in the chip set has a common obverse showing the scales of justice weighing Presto! against Aces. Standard chip colors are used. The BARGE 2009 NLHE Champion, David “Heldar” Heller, came up with the theme. In David’s opinion, the poker world has three types of players: Donkey/Hosers, Pokermaticians, and Lawyers. The Donkey/Hosers are those who call a preflop raise with 72o and then flop a full house. ...

This year, the theme is “IRC Poker.” Each chip in the chip set has a common obverse with a different r00lbot saying on the reverse (“tails”) side. Standard chip colors are used. The r00lbot sayings used are: “Man this game just keeps getting better.” “Bet more win more!” “ATM is ————–> that way.” “Call this if you don’t like money.” “I didn’t hear what you said. Busy stacking chips.” “It’s about time the cards started to recognize the talent!” “BUHWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” “If you re-raise me I might fold.”

This year, the theme is “Pickle Magic.” Each chip in the chip set has a common obverse with a different image of some form of “Pickle Magic” for each face. Standard chip colors are used.

This year, the theme is “Presto in Everyday Life.” Each chip in the chip set has a common obverse with a different image of some form of “55” for each face. Standard chip colors are used.

The first five chips in this set are dedicated to recently departed BARGErs. The remaining three chips show Don “TryThat” Perry in a variety of historic settings. The pink chip was given as a party favor for attendees Chris and Amy’s wedding, held at BARGE.

This year, the theme is Las Vegas Neon. Each chip in the chip set has a common obverse (BARGE XV and the Canadian or Maple Leaf Presto!) with a different Las Vegas neon sign for each face. Standard chip colors are used. Development Notes The BCC came up with the Neon design on its own, among a few other concepts. Patrick Milligan found a couple of those artifacts: Canadian coins and Names of Hands. ...

This year, the theme is BARGE Memories. Each chip in the chip set has a common obverse (BARGE XIV and dice) with a different BARGE memory for each face. Standard chip colors are used. A copy of the plugs posted to RGP are available here.

These chips were created by BARGE 2002 NLHE Champion Mike “Howler” McBride, with the graphic design help of Patrick Milligan and the support and feedback of the BARGE Chip Committee. All chips have a common obverse (a photographic version of the “Welcome to Fabulous BARGE” sign) with a different example of Presto! in Art and History for each face. Standard chips colors are used.

These chips were created by BARGE 2001 NLHE Champion Russell Fox, with the graphic design help of Patrick Milligan and the support and feedback of the BARGE Chip Committee. All chips in the Rocks set have a common obverse (the “Welcome to Fabulous BARGE” sign) with a different “rock” sample for each face. The colors used are the standard “Southern California” set. Development Notes Images of the proofs for these chips are available: part 1 and part 2. ...

All chips in the 2001: A Poker Odyssey set have a common obverse (Buzz Aldrin holding Presto) with a different scene for each face featuring a space scene and a “Prestolith” (our version of a monolith). Notice also that there are 2 forms of the Prestolith. Development Notes Much consideration was given to switching back to Chipco International for these chips. Patrick sent this message to interested parties with a link to this image as to how chips would change from the original Paul-son design. ...

The chips in the 2000: The Year of RGP set celebrate two RGPers winning major poker tournaments. Spencer “Zorak” Sun won the 2000 Tournament of Champions at the Orleans Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Chris “Jesus” Ferguson won the No-Limit Hold’em championship in the 2000 World Series of Poker at Binion’s Horeshoe in Las Vegas, Nevada. All 8 chips have a common obverse. There are 4 chips with Chris and 4 chips with Spencer on the face. ...

This set was created by Ken Kubey, using the artwork from the BARGE 2000 lapel pin. When it became clear that there would be no BARGE 2000 chips coming from the 1999 NLHE Champ John Harkness, Ken bought some cheap plastic poker chips and applied stickers to make up this set. Some argue that this limited edition set is the “official” BARGE 2000 chip set, and the BCC set is the “make up” set. ...

This set was created by Lee Jones, the 1998 NLHE winner. The fish photographs were acquired from Norbert Wu Productions. They include a clownfish, three different angelfish, a moray eel, an oceanic whitetip shark, and a humpback whale. The whale is on the special purple chip. The common obverse shows an “Art Deco” style magician presenting aces. The Presto! codeword is hidden on the magician’s collar. Chip images provided from the collection of Tom Sims. ...

This set was designed by Tom Sims, acting on behalf of the 1997 NLHE winner, Steve Brecher. Steve’s winning hand, 7 3 offsuit, was celebrated on the reverse side of the chip. The obverse side displays a “No Suck Outs” graphic. Chip images provided from the collection of Tom Sims.

This set was designed by Mike Zimmers. Since Mike forgot to order enough chips for the 300 chip prize for the 1997 NLHE winner, the BARGE chip tradition changed. Steve Brecher became the first BARGE NLHE winner to get the right to design his own chips, for distribution at BARGE 1998. Chip images provided from the collection of Tom Sims.

This set was designed by Tom Sims. A 300 chip home set of these chips was presented to the 1996 BARGE NLHE Champ, Mike Zimmers. There were some issues with this chipset, which Tom would periodically enumerate on rec.gambling.poker. Chip images provided from the collection of Tom Sims.

This set was designed by Dave Hughes. A 300 chip home set of these chips was presented to the 1995 BARGE NLHE Champ, Tom Sims. Chip images provided from the collection of Tom Sims.

This set was designed by Roy Hashimoto. A 300 chip home set of these chips was presented to the 1994 BARGE NLHE Champ, Dave Hughes. There were four chips sold in the sample set: blue, red, green, and black. Purple chips were given out for special reasons. We also have a white chip pictured below, but this wasn’t part of the original set. In 2025, Roy told us this: Your white BARGE 1994 chip is a bit of a mystery. […] There was someone who ordered a full usable set of several hundred chips. My best guess is that I allowed them to choose whatever colors they wanted and the chip you have somehow comes from that set. ...

The first chip set. Picture provided by Roy Hashimoto. This was the very first BARGE chip set, created by Steve Jacobs. A 300 chip home set of these chips was presented to the 1993 BARGE NLHE Champ, Roy Hashimoto. Each attendee at BARGE 1993 also received a purple chip. A few of the chips came in the form of refrigerator magnets or on key chains. In addition, Michael “kidZee” Zimmers used the artwork to produce decks of playing cards. ...