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The Chip Bounce

The chip bounce is a very visually appealing chip trick, that just takes a lot of practice and precision to perform. As far as I know, the only professional who does this chip trick is the great Dutch Boyd. I've witness him do this trick during a special section of the World Series of Poker and he makes it look awesome. To do this chip trick you will need at least 6 chips and a cushioned/bouncy table.


Setting Up and Prepping the Chip Trick
First, place 5 chips in a stack on your poker table. Then grasp the one chip you did not use in your chip stack by your thumb and index or middle finger. Hold the chip between your selected digits by the middle of the surface of the chip so that you are pinching the chip on the sides that are circles. Make sure the chip is at a height about twice the size of your chip stack. This would mean that if you are using 5 chips in the stack, that you will be holding the one chip at the height of about 10 chips. This height changes depending on the conditions of the table and how the cushion is. Also, it depends on if you drop the chip with or without force. If you choose to follow my recommendations of height, then you will need to drop the chip without force (again depends on table).


Making the Chip Trick Magic Happen
Now that you have the chip stack, your grip, and the height of you chip, you need to know the position at which you to drop it. This is probably the most important part of the trick and only time and practice will help you find the exact point. I recommend holding the chip at a 10-15 degree angle, but this is a very hard thing to measure out so I will give you a more realistic approach. Position the chip straight up, and then tilt it so that the bottom point of the chip faces away from you but is pointing diagonally down. You can view the pictures and they should help you a lot with this. You will, of course, need to keep experimenting with the angle. Practice is key and will help you find the exact point that makes the chip bounce back. Now with the chip positioned, drop the it and watch as it bounces back onto the chip stack. Don't expect to do this well within the first 25 or more tries, it's one of the hardest chip tricks to learn and perform consistently.


Problems and Solutions
Problem – Chip bounces but not as high as the stack.
Solution
1) Increase the height of the chip you drop.
2) Position the chip so that its point is angle more downwards towards the table.
3) Drop the chip with some force but not too much!
4) Try it on a better cushioned surface


Problem – Chip bounces over the stack.
Solution
1) Don't bounce the chip from as high of a height.
2) Try not to bounce the chip with force.


Problem – Chip bounces but falls short of the chip stack.


Solution
1) Start the chip closer to the chip stack. (Simple, I know)
2) Change the degree of incline to allow the chip to move farther.