(This information was taken from an archive of PokerArt.com and has been edited, which is why it is biased towards the period of time pokerart.com existed. It has been updated, but not well.)

For twenty BARGE events, the BARGE Chip Committee ensured there were commemorative chips available for attendees, and that the winner of the Main Event got a chip set to take home for their home game.

(bargechips.org isn’t the BCC. We have plans, aspirations, and the best of intentions, but we can’t speak for them.)

In March 2001, the BCC was formed. At that time, it appeared that the BARGE 2000 NLHE champion was unlikely to participate in the creation of BARGE chips, so a group of RGPers took the reigns and formed the BCC. The founding members were Randy Collack, Scott Harker, Andy Hughes, David Lawful, Patrick Milligan, Tom Sims and Paul Stine. The BCC ensured that chip sets were produced consistently from 2001 until 2019.

The BCC mission in 2001 was to get the process back on track and to make sure that a set of BARGE chips is produced every year, with or without participation from the current NLHE champion. They created, marketed, and distributed the chips sets for 2000 and 2001.

Tom Sims left the BCC shortly after the initial chip designs were completed in late April 2001. During his short time as a member, he provided the perspective on how the BARGE chips were made in the early years. He was replaced by Tim Stine as a member.

In 2002, Russell Fox (BARGE 2001 NLHE champion) took an active role in the creation of the BARGE chips (theme: Rocks), so the BCC played a supporting role in the design, sale, and distribution of the BARGE 2002 chips. Russell joined the BCC after working with them on his chip set.

In 2003, Mike “Howler” McBride (BARGE 2002 NLHE champion) also got involved in the creation of the BARGE chips. In addition to choosing the basic theme, Presto! in Art and History, he created the original artwork for the purple chip. Again, the BCC supported his efforts. After completing his design, Mike also joined the BCC.

In 2004, Paul Person (BARGE 2003 NLHE champion) selected the theme, BARGE Memories, and helped choose the photographs for the chip set. Paul created the photograph showing Presto. Again, the BCC is providing design, production, sales, and distribution support.

In 2005, Gavin Smith (BARGE 2004 NLHE champion) handed over the reins to the BCC. In honor of his Canadian origins, we created a “Maple-leaf Presto!” for the common “heads” side of the chips, and used different examples of Las Vegas neon lights for the “tails” side.

In 2006, Don Perry (BARGE 2005 NLHE champion) wanted to honor his recently departed friend, Big Al Weber. We ended up with five memorial chips and three chips that showed Don in various historic settings (such as the Last Supper).

In 2007, Mordecai Schwartz (BARGE 2006 NLHE champion) worked with the BCC to produce a set based on the theme of “Presto! in Everyday Life.” For the common side of each chip, a new BARGE logo was created, inspired by the new “VEGAS” signage on Fremont Street.

In 2008, John “da pickle” Pickels (BARGE 2007 NLHE champion) worked with the BCC to produce a set based on the theme of “Pickle Magic .” For the common side of each chip, the new BARGE logo was combined with an example of “Presto Magic.” At the end of BARGE 2008, Kevin Un became a new BCC member.

In 2009, Dan Chevrie (BARGE 2008 NLHE champion) worked with the BCC to produce a set based on the theme of “IRC Poker.”

In 2010, David “Heldar” Heller worked with the BCC to produce a chipset with a theme of “Poker Archetypes” featuring, among several images, well-known players who were BARGErs.

In 2011, the theme was Reindeer Games, from an idea from Chuck Humphrey.

In 2012, Patrick Milligan stepped down as designer and Michael Brennan took over most of that responsibility. Michael hosted content on a couple sites, one of which was a previous incarnation of bargechips.org.

Chips were produced from 2013 to 2018. Those are discussed here.

The BCC was initially chaired by Randy Collack, who was succeeded by David Lawful.

Around 2020, due to a variety of factors, the BCC no longer produced chip sets.

Chip Links

Casino Chips & Gaming Tokens Collectors Club
Nevada Casino Chips (Andy Hughes)