Chip Race
A chip race is a tournament procedure that removes small denomination chips from play when the blinds have risen.
The simple explanation
As the blinds go up, the smallest chips are no longer needed, so the tournament takes them out of play. Players exchange their small chips for chips of higher value. Whatever cannot be exchanged evenly is decided by a chip race, in which cards are dealt and the highest card wins a chip of the higher value. You usually only need to follow the instructions of the tournament staff, who tell you when and how it takes place.
A closer look
Chip races are usually done at a break so that staff can handle them in an orderly way. Each player first exchanges as many of the removed chips as possible for higher chips. The leftover chips from all players are combined, and the highest card wins a higher chip. Under the Tournament Directors Association rules, a player cannot be eliminated in a chip race: a player who would otherwise end up with nothing receives one chip of the lowest denomination still in play. The total chip count is preserved apart from the small amounts decided by the race.
A practical example
The 5-chips are removed at the break. A player with seventeen 5-chips exchanges fifteen of them for three 25-chips. The two 5-chips left over go into the chip race.
Full explanation
A chip race is a tournament procedure that removes small denomination chips from play when the blinds have risen.
A chip race is the part of coloring up in which low-value chips are taken out of the tournament. It happens when the blinds have risen to a level at which the smallest chips are no longer useful.
Players give their chips of the denomination being removed to the staff, who exchange them for higher-value chips. Remainders that cannot be exchanged evenly are decided by the race, in which cards are dealt and the highest card wins a higher-value chip.
A chip race is not allowed to eliminate a player. If a player has only small chips and loses the race, the staff give them one chip of the lowest denomination that stays in play.
The race keeps the chip count fair and the process orderly. It usually takes place during a break so that it does not interrupt play.