"Coloring Up" players

Some casinos will pay your winnings in higher denomination chips than you placed your original bet with, to try to entice you into betting more. This is called being colored up, since the higher denomination chips are of a different color. You're supposed to think, "Hey, I'm winning, looking at these more expensive chips. I can afford to bet more now, and maybe win really big!

Here's an example. Let's say you're a $2 player and you win your first bet. You let your winnings ride so now you're betting $4. When you win that one, instead of giving you four $1 chips, the dealer gives you a single $5 chip, and takes one of the $1 chips off your stack of four. Ta-da: You've been colored up.

Of course, there's no law that says that just because you received bigger chips you have to bet them. If you run out of small chips you can ask the dealer to cash in your larger chips for smaller ones. Or better yet, when you notice that you're being colored up, ask the dealers to be paid with the same size chips you're betting.

It's to your advantage to use the rack so that your chip color is visible to the dealers. Players who hold their chips in their hands and conceal their chip color (either intentionally or because of nervousness) do themselves a disservice. A good dealer will watch your rack and make sure that you have the color that you need to implement your wager pattern or system. And, if you are a tipper, they will make doubly sure. There is only one known casino company with multiple properties that sets forth a policy of intentionally providing players with at least 20-30 working "units" for the players before Coloring them up, but it's not worth playing there because they don't offer good table odds anyway.

You would be amazed at how fast dealers can get rid of a player on a slow table, by simply coloring them up and moving the dice fast. This often happens at the end of a shift, especially if the dealers want an "Early Out" (i.e., to close down the table and leave early).