Editing Betting in poker (section)

===Cash and chips===
[[File:Set of Poker Chips in Case.jpg|thumb|Chips are available in many denominations]]
Making change out of the pot is allowed in most games; to avoid confusion, the player should announce their intentions first. Then, if opening or cold calling, the player may exchange a large chip for its full equivalent value out of the pot before placing their bet, or if over-calling may place the chip (announcing that they are calling or raising a lesser amount) and remove the change from their own bet for the round. Normally, if a player places one oversized chip in the pot without explicitly voicing intention while facing a bet, the action is automatically deemed a call whether or not the chip is large enough to otherwise qualify as a raise. In most casinos players are prohibited from handling chips once they are placed in the pot, although a player removing their own previous bet in the current round from the pot for the purpose of calling a raise (or re-raising) is usually tolerated. Otherwise, the dealer is expected to make change when required.

Making change should, in general, be done between hands whenever possible, when a player sees they are running low of an oft-used value. The house dealer at most casinos maintains a chip bank and can usually make change for a large amount of chips. In informal games, players can make change with each other or with unused chips in the set. While this can prevent delays while players figure out change for a bet, casinos generally frown on or outright prohibit such practices to prevent players from surreptitiously "ratholing" (taking away and securing part of the stakes for personal use) and/or circumventing buy-in limits. Similarly, buying in for an additional amount must be done between hands (or, at least, done after a player has folded during the current hand) since players are not allowed to add to their stack during a hand. If buy-ins cannot and/or are not expected to be handled by the dealer it can take two or three hands for an attendant to bring another tray to the table. As described below, some casinos alleviate this issue by allowing cash to be deemed temporarily "in play" while staff fetches chips. Players who wish to always play with at least the buy-in limit will often carry additional chips in their pocket so that whenever they lose a pot they can quickly "top up" without inconveniencing the dealer or delaying the game.

While having players buy chips directly from the dealer is seen as a convenience by some players, and can help deter players from exceeding buy-in limits, many players dislike this system because it slows down the game, especially if the dealer is expected to count large numbers of small denominations of chips. Also, many jurisdictions require all such purchases (or, at least, all larger transactions) to be confirmed (primarily to ensure accuracy) by a supervisor or other staff member, potentially causing further delay. To speed up play (and, by extension, increase the number of hands dealt and rake earned by the casino), many casinos require players to buy chips from a cashier—to assist players, some establishments employ chip runners to bring cash and chips to and from the tables. Many casinos have a dedicated cashier station located in or very near the poker room, although in some (usually, smaller venues) the same cashier station that handles other transactions will also handle poker-related purchases. In addition, if the casino uses the same chips for poker as for other games then it is often possible to bring chips from such games to the poker table.

Touching another player's chips without permission is a serious breach of protocol and can result in the player being barred from the casino.

Most tournaments and many cash games require that larger denomination chips be stacked in front (i.e., closer to the center of the table, or closer to the pot) of the player's lesser denomination chips, or at least stacked in such a manner that they can be easily seen by all opponents. This rule is employed to discourage attempts to conceal stack size. Some casinos discourage, prohibit or simply refrain from circulating larger chip denominations to prevent them from being used in lower-stakes cash games, although the drawback is that larger stacks won during play will become more difficult to handle and manage as a result.

Some informal games allow a bet to be made by placing the amount of cash on the table without converting it to chips, as this speeds up play. However, table stakes rules strictly prohibit this from being done while a hand is in progress. Other drawbacks to using cash include the ease with which cash can be "ratholed", which is normally disallowed, in addition to the security risk of leaving cash on the table. As a result, many games and virtually all casinos require a formal "buy-in" when a player wishes to increase their stake, or at least require any cash placed on the table to be converted into chips as quickly as possible.

Players in home games typically have both cash and chips available; thus, if money for expenses other than bets is needed, such as food, drinks and fresh decks of cards, many players typically pay out of pocket. Some players (especially professionals) loathe removing any part of their stack from play for any reason, especially once their stacks exceed the initial buy-in limit. In casinos and public cardrooms, however, the use of cash is occasionally restricted or discouraged, so players often establish a small cache of chips called the "kitty", used to pay for such things. Players contribute a chip of lowest value towards the kitty when they win a pot, and it pays for expenses other than bets such as tipping the dealer as well as (where applicable) to pay for "rent" (formally known as time fees) and/or buying fresh decks of cards (while many public cardrooms include such costs in the "rake" or other fees, some charge separately for such things as playing cards and "rent"), and similar costs.

At a casino, dealers who exchange cash for chips are expected to immediately secure any cash by placing it into a locked box near their station. This means that regardless of how chips are purchased, when cashing them in it is typically not possible to sell them back to the dealer since they have no access to any cash. Poker chips must therefore be taken to the cashier to be exchanged for cash. Dealers who handle buy-ins will often be willing (and sometimes encourage) departing players to "color up" their stacks by exchanging them for the highest-available denominations, both for the convenience of the player and to minimize the number of times casino staff must deliver fresh chips to the poker table—a time-consuming process. On the other hand, casinos that expect players to buy chips from the cashier will usually furnish players with chip trays (typically designed to handle 100 chips each) to ease the handling of large numbers of chips.

Chips given by players or otherwise retained by the dealer for tips, rake and other fees (where applicable) are usually placed in separate locked boxes by the dealer, although in some casinos the rake is kept in a separate row in the dealer's tray.