Forgers attempt to mimic the high-grade materials used in authentic casino chips, such as clay, ceramics, or high-quality plastic composites. However, counterfeit chips often employ cheaper, low-quality materials, which can result in differences in feel, texture, or sound when compared to genuine chips.

Many casinos now embed Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags in their chips. These tags allow for quick and accurate verification of the chip's authenticity, denomination and location within the casino. Using RFID chips makes poker chips impossible to counterfeit because of a central monitoring server.