Gambling terms, explained straight

Advantage Play & Game Integrity

Chip dumping

Chip dumping is when a player intentionally loses chips to another player, for example by folding a strong hand or calling a bet with a weak one.

Applies to
Poker, especially tournaments, and other betting contexts where chips can be transferred intentionally12
Status
Treated as collusion when done by agreement between two players1

Key points

  • One player acts to lose chips on purpose, moving value to another player.12
  • Coordinated chip dumping is a form of collusion and is prohibited in poker rooms.1

Common questions

What is chip dumping in poker?

In poker, chip dumping is when a player intentionally loses chips to another player, often by folding strong hands or calling with weak ones. If two players agree to do this, it is considered collusion and is banned.1

Where this term is used

Advantage play Chip dumping poker Explains the same concept with a focus on poker-specific rules and detection. Casino games Poker chips Covers the physical tokens used in poker games. Casino games Casino chips Describes the tokens used across all casino table games. Casino games Casino gambling chips General overview of chips used for gambling in casinos. Advantage play Courtsiding An advantage-play technique using live event delays to place bets. Advantage play Card counting A strategy to track cards in blackjack for an edge.

Sources

  1. Glossary of poker terms en.wikipedia.org Defines chip dumping as deliberate chip transfer and classifies it as collusion.
  2. Betting in poker en.wikipedia.org Confirms the term applies to poker and other betting contexts.

Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.

Written and maintained by Ellis Warrender, writer and maintainer.

Last updated 28 July 2026. Spotted an error? Tell me and it gets fixed and logged on the corrections page.