2025 Batch

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. ...

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. ...

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. ...

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. ...