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In 1895 Alonzo Burt founder of the Portland Billiard Ball Corporation made his pool
balls in a factory near Morrill's Corner in Portland, Maine. For years a few times each week he could be seen leading a horse
drawn carriage down to the waterfront to ship cases of his pool balls to distributors all around the country by either rail or ship.
During the 1960's and 70's plastics became the new rage in manufacturing materials. Injection molding was the new manufacturing method and compression molding with steam generated hydraulic presses proved to be uneconomical. The pool ball orders shifted to England and Belgium for the premium plastic phenolic resin balls and Taiwan for the cheap imitation plastic syrene pool balls. The BURT Company could not compete, so it gave up this product line and concentrated on just the American style poker chip. But during the 1970's two of the BURT Company distributors began their own poker chip manufacturing. Bud Jones invented a new plastic injection molded chip, and the largest BURT Company distributor, Paulson & Son in Las Vegas began making the exact same clay compression molded chip and selling it directly to the casinos along with other gaming equipment. By the 1980's the BURT Company had fallen on hard times. It had only one product: poker chips, two of its largest distributors had gotten into the business to compete against it (one with the identical product) and both were selling directly to the casinos not using distributors. In 1985 the third generation of the founding BURT family put the company up for sale. It was losing about $30,000 per month, and the owner did not see any reason why they should continue to pump $30,000 of good money into a 90 year old business that employed 54 people in primarily manual labor positions just to lose another $30,000 the next month.
John M. Kendall purchased the assets of the Burt Company in June of 1985. A native Maine businessman with venture capital backed business turn-around experience he thought he could fix this manufacturing company even though he had never been in a casino, or run a manufacturing company previously. Once he understood these specific industry challenges Mr. Kendall realized that the gaming industry had only ever had one new product innovation ever (the Bud Jones plastic injection molded chip in the 1970's). Perhaps the gaming industry would support a second new product innovation. But in order to learn what the new product must be Kendall traveled to speak with casino operators in the US and Europe for new poker chip product specifications.  Here's Debbie and I with John Kendall when we visited the Chipco plant in Raymond, Maine in June of 2007 Once these new product specifications had been outlined, his mission was to figure out how to make such a product with these 12 specific benefits and still sell them at a profit at the current gaming chip market sale price. A collaboration effort with GE Plastics lead to some truly innovative developments at both GE Plastics and CHIPCO International (the new name of Kendall's gaming chip manufacturing company still located at Morrill's Corner in Portland). 18 months later, and 1.5 million dollars in R & D costs the ProTech® gaming chip was launched.
The full face graphics of the ProTech® Series gaming chip proved to be a big attraction to players. After enjoying the table games with "lady luck" either winning or losing with these decorative chips an incredible number of players began taking a souvenir chip home with them. Chip collecting as an industry began in 1987 with the El San Juan $1.00 chip. In less than 30 days after the initial order was placed on their tables this casino ordered another 10,000 chips. 4 months later they ordered another 20,000 chips because so many people had taken them home as a souvenir of their vacation to this resort casino in Puerto Rico.  The $1 El San Juan chip that started it all... Casino managers at casinos all over the country began to realize the economic benefits from offering full face graphics on gaming chips to promote their resort. Many featured the current month's entertainer picture on the "collector" chips to drive attendance toward their profitable showroom venue. Other casinos featured their Anniversary Celebration, an expansion event or holiday celebration with custom graphics on each side of the gaming chip and descriptive words around the edge. Chip Collector Associations began to spring up around the world and trading collector chips on the internet is a daily activity today. Annual meetings of these chip collectors include awards for "Chip of the Year" and a trade journal that is dedicated to this chip collector activity almost exclusively.
CHIPCO International has had the honor of winning the prestigious CC>CC (Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collector's Club) Chip Of The Year Award SIX times since 1990!
In 1988 a casino asked if it was possible to put an RFID inlay inside a gaming chip. Harrah's casinos wanted to prevent counterfeit chips, stop employee theft of chips, automate some of the table game functions (fills and credit requests and to monitor dealer mix-pays) and develop a player tracking technology that would allow them to track a players bet both passively and covertly in real time at the tables. Texas Instruments (TI) began supplying CHIPCO with RFID inlays for encapulation inside gaming chips in 1988. All during the 1990's and until 2003 the RFID technology continued to develop (inlays and reader technology as well as industry standards evolved to lower the technology costs). CHIPCO demonstrated RFID technology for years that provided some of these 5 solutions until the FCC authorized a new RF channel (13.56 MHz) and increased the power allowance to 8 watts for this new approved radio frequency. In 2005 CHIPCO offered its first RFID system to the gaming industry that delivered on all 5 gaming applications in a cost-effective manner. With the new product development CHIPCO changed from a mundane "unit" (just chips) supplier to an inegrated system technology company (RFID encapsulated gaming chips, sensors for the tables, doorways, cashier stations, employee badges and chip trays). The global market in gaming requires this advanced technology to stay ahead of individuals that develop methods to cheat the "house" out from its natural advantage on table games. This type of technology adoption when fully installed will provide the "alerts" the casino operator needs to maintain theur natural house advantage in table games, measure employee performance, prevent counterfeit chips, stop employee theift of chips, automate credits and fill requests, track players bets afor a more targeted player loyalty program (comps) and provide an unmatched level of data acquisition leading to more realtime table game management for the enjoyment of both player and host casino.
And It Will Never Be The Same Again CHIPCO International is a leading supplier of gaming chip technology to the expanding global gaming industry. What began with Alonzo Burt in the early 1920's has eveolved to the adoption of RFID technology to meet the demands of the player and host casino.
CHIPCO is pleased to announce the addition of our "Platinum Series" gaming chip product line. This new product line features solid colors in the rim areas and full face graphics for customization on the face and edge of each chip. All of the benefits from the established Pro-Tech® Series are retained with these new products on our Platinum Series. The Platinum Series has a full complement of Value chip (39mm and 44mm) and Roulette chip design options.
 RFID technology will revolutionize the table gaming operation. Gaming chips with RFID technology allows the casino operator to monitor all activity (and maintain their natural "house advantage") on the table games automatically. Greater efficiency and better audit and control procedures are possible with RFID deployed across several areas in your casino. Your Player Loyalty "Comps" program gains accountability and validation when tracking player's bets. No counterfeit chips can be cashed in when you use the RFID cashier stations at the cash desk. Dealer "mistakes" are recorded when you install an RDIF enable chip tray, no employee theft of chips can pass through the staff door once sensor panels are installed. Various functions at the tables (credit and fill requests) can be monitored and automated along with improved vault security.
In 1985 CHIPCO International identified a unique process that revolutionized the role fo the gaming chip. After extensive research and development CHIPCO proudly announced the Pro-Tech® chip. Instantly the gaming chip was transormed from an overlooked token to an attractive and dynamic piece, integral to the gaming experience. Since it's introduction, the Pro-Tech® chip has been continuously improved for greater quality and faster delivery which ultimately results in lower prices.
Over 100 million CHIPCO chips can be found from Sydney Australia to Moscow, Russia and at thousands of respected gaming establishments across the globe.
CHIPCO International maintains a state of the art manufacturing facility and development lab in Raymond, Maine USA. Our in-house engineering and design servies allow us to intimately control the extensive product development process. We continuously upgrade our technology and resources with the goal of producing the highest quality products possible.
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| The chips did arrive today, the 16th, as you expected. I appreciate your attentiveness to my order even while away from your office on vacation. Like many of your customers, I had searched for weeks looking for the “right” custom poker chip. My journey led me all over the internet to countless vendors selling “custom” poker chips. I feel fortunate my journey eventually took me to your website. The chip designs on your site helped me to further refine the picture I had in my mind concerning my own custom chips. Your product was the only one I could find which offered this high level of customization and quality. The design possibilities are nearly limitless. I enjoyed working with your artist as he took my ideas and logo, blended them with his artistic expertise, and created a unique design with the corporate identity I desired. After the design phase I was of course anxious to see the final product, and my expectations continued to soar. The chips arrived ahead of schedule, and beyond my standards. I am certain they will be used for years with the pride that comes from owning a quality product. Thanks again.
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