FPL chips explained (and exactly when they reset)
Four types, two of each, one per gameweek. The table below is the official rules laid out side by side, including which chips you can take back and which are gone the moment you confirm. Then DraftIcon PL, which has no chips at all, because there is nothing to ration.
A fresh squad, every gameweek.
Six cards land with a timer on them, you keep one, the next set follows. After eleven of those the squad is done and the weekend takes over.
There are four chips in Fantasy Premier League and you get two of each, so eight in a season. Only one can be played in any single gameweek, which rules out every clever combination people try to plan.
They come in two sets. The first runs until the Gameweek 19 deadline and anything unused there is lost. The second unlocks immediately afterwards and lasts until May. Bench Boost and Triple Captain can be cancelled before the deadline; Wildcard and Free Hit cannot, because they are played the moment you confirm transfers.
What each chip actually does
The effects are quoted from the official rules. The two columns on the right are where most of the confusion lives.
| Chip | What it does | Take it back? | First one available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wildcard | All transfers that gameweek are free, including any already made and paid for. | No, final on confirm | After your first gameweek |
| Free Hit | Unlimited free transfers, but only for that round. Your previous squad comes back at the following deadline. | No, final on confirm | After your first gameweek |
| Bench Boost | The points your bench scores that gameweek are added to your total. | Yes, until the deadline | From the start of your season |
| Triple Captain | Your captain scores triple instead of double for that gameweek. | Yes, until the deadline | From the start of your season |
Effects and availability from the official Fantasy Premier League rules, read on 11 September 2026. Chips belong to the Classic game; FPL Draft has none.
Two of each means eight chips across a season, and the practical consequence is that you will finish most seasons having wasted at least one. That is normal, and it is the design working as intended.
Three rules that catch everybody once
Only one chip per gameweek
The plan everybody makes in August is a Bench Boost on a double gameweek with a Triple Captain on top. It is not allowed. One chip, one gameweek, no exceptions, so every double is a choice between them rather than a combination.
Two chips cannot be played in Gameweek 1
Bench Boost and Triple Captain are available from the start of your season. The Wildcard and Free Hit only become available after your first gameweek has been played, which surprises people who wanted to rebuild after a bad opening weekend.
Free Hits cannot be back to back
The second Free Hit cannot follow the first in the next gameweek. Play one in Gameweek 19 and the earliest the other can go is Gameweek 21, which matters when a blank and a double land close together.
One more worth knowing, because it looks like a loss and is not: playing a Wildcard or a Free Hit does not consume your banked free transfers. Two saved before the chip are still two saved the gameweek after.
When do the chips reset?
They do not reset in the sense of coming back after use. There are simply two sets, and the changeover is a single moment in the calendar rather than a rolling refresh.
The first set runs from the start of the season to the Gameweek 19 deadline. Everything still in your hand at that deadline expires and is worth nothing, which is why every January the forums fill with people who saved a chip for the perfect week that never came. The second set unlocks straight after that deadline and stays available until the end of the season, and the rules tie the second Wildcard to the January window opening.
So the honest planning advice is short. The first half is the one with a deadline on it, and a chip played at eighty per cent of its ideal moment beats a chip that expires unused. The Wildcard in detail covers both windows and the refund rule that comes with it.
Why a weekly game needs none of this
Step back from the individual rules and look at what chips are for. A season game hands you one squad in August and then has to sell you occasional escapes from it: a rebuild, a one-week holiday, a bigger captain, your bench counting for once. All eight are exceptions to a system that otherwise locks you in.
DraftIcon PL has no system to escape from. Since no squad is ever yours, a new set of packs arrives each round, the weekend scores whatever you took, and Monday wipes it. Nothing accumulates, nothing expires in January, and no round ends with you wishing a chip were still in hand.
Chips in a season there, and most managers waste at least one of them.
Decision here, every week: which eleven cards you keep.
Things that expire, so nothing can be held too long.
No charge to enter and no shop inside it. A manager arriving in March opens the same packs on the same terms as one who has played since the opening weekend.
Your three best gameweeks
With no chips to time, the table ranks on the average of your three strongest rounds, and the highest single score breaks a tie. A quiet week is not a setback, it simply does not count.
- Three standings at once: friends, your country, the world
- Nothing charged at the door and nothing sold within
- The coach bot drafts against you before you register
Chips are a good mechanic, not a flaw
The planning is a genuine pleasure. Mapping a Bench Boost onto a double gameweek in April, holding a Free Hit for a blank you can see coming in December, arguing about it in the group chat for a month beforehand: that is a real layer of the game and it exists because the chips are scarce. Remove the scarcity and the layer goes with it.
A season also gives those decisions consequences that last. A chip played well in October is still paying in February, and nothing in a weekly game compounds like that.
Where we fit is the half of the season after the chips are gone and the squad is stuck. The Wildcard is the one worth reading in full, redrafts are the official way to restart a mini-league, and the weekly question comes at all of this from the opposite direction.
Quick answers
How many chips do you get in FPL?
Eight in a season: two each of Wildcard, Free Hit, Bench Boost and Triple Captain. Only one of them can be played in any single gameweek.
What does each chip do?
The Wildcard makes every transfer that gameweek free, the Free Hit gives unlimited transfers for one gameweek before the squad reverts, the Bench Boost adds your bench points to your total, and the Triple Captain triples your captain instead of doubling him.
When do FPL chips reset?
They do not come back after use. There are two sets, and the second unlocks at the Gameweek 19 deadline. Anything unused from the first set expires at that moment and is worth nothing.
Can you play two chips in the same gameweek?
No. One chip per gameweek is a hard rule, so a Bench Boost and a Triple Captain cannot be stacked on the same double gameweek however well it would work.
Can you use a chip in Gameweek 1?
Bench Boost and Triple Captain, yes, since both are available from the start of your season. The Wildcard and Free Hit only become available after your first gameweek has been played.
Which chips can be cancelled?
The two team-sheet ones. Bench Boost and Triple Captain stay reversible right up to the deadline, while the two transfer ones are locked in as soon as you press confirm.
Can you play the Triple Captain twice?
Yes, once in each half of the season. The first is available until the Gameweek 19 deadline and the second from that point until May.
Can two Free Hits be played in consecutive gameweeks?
No. If the first is played in Gameweek 19, the second cannot be activated until Gameweek 21 at the earliest.
Do chips use up your free transfers?
No. Playing a Wildcard or a Free Hit leaves your banked free transfers untouched, so two saved beforehand are still two saved the following gameweek.
Does FPL Draft have chips?
None at all, because chips are a Classic-game idea. In Draft each player belongs to exactly one manager, and squads move through the waiver round and trades. DraftIcon PL has none either, for a different reason: nothing in it is scarce enough to ration.
Eight chips a season there. None needed here.
Costs nothing, runs in a tab, deals a fresh eleven each round. No deadline in January takes anything away from you.