Casino Chip of the Day

I note that the Maasdam has a dolphin sculpture at one of their pools. Perhaps the Zuiderdam has similar? Also, the cruise line promotes a "dolphin encounter" shore excursion in Mexico and the Carribean. Perhaps the image is a cross sell?

Of course it could be photos of, "animals we found stuck on the bow of the ship."

I only have photos of one pool sculpture from the Zuiderdam, and it's neither a dolphin nor a whale, unless I'm really mistaken about these mammals. Although the ladders are arranged differently, I think this sculpture is in the same position on the ship as the one Ayecarumba linked to.



Unfortunately, I didn't get a shot from the right angle to show "Junior" trying to push Papa into the pool. And no, I would not buy a ticket for an up close and personal encounter with a live one of these critters. Dolphins, maybe, but not Ursus maritimus.

Without seeing junior in the background, that REALLY looks like papa is about to pee on that dude. Just saying...

Category: Cruise Ships
Cruise Line: Monarch
Ship: Monarch Sun

Today's Casino Chip of the Day comes from the very first ship that my wife and I cruised on, the one that housed the very first casino that I played in way back in the late summer of 1976. I was not a chip collector then, or at least I didn't know I was, but I did keep one from that ship's casino as a souvenir of the trip. The ship itself had quite a convoluted history.

The ship first sailed as the Brasil (yes, they used the Portuguese spelling) in September 1958 for the Moore-McCormack Lines, running routes between New York and South America, stopping at islands along the way, until 1969. Then, the Brasil and sister ship Argentina were taken out of service "temporarily" for repairs. Corporate head William T. Moore stated that the ships could not be operated profitably, noting that the crew outnumbered passengers 3 to 2.

In 1972, Holland America purchased both ships, refurbished them, and renamed them the Volendam and Veendam, names that had been used on earlier ships. It only took a couple of years for Holland America to concur that the ships could not be operated profitably, particularly in light of their poor fuel economy and rapid oil price increases in that period. Holland America sold them (some sources say "leased" them) to a small company named Monarch Cruise Lines, which renamed them the Monarch Sun and Monarch Star.

Monarch operated the two ships on cruises from Miami to the Bahamas and Caribbean from 1975 to 1978, and that was the period when my wife and I sailed for four nights on the Monarch Sun, stopping in Freeport and Nassau.

To the surprise of most in the industry, Monarch ran the ships profitably. The folks at Holland America were so impressed, they bought the whole company in 1978, changing the ships' names back to Volendam and Veendam.

The Brasil/Volendam/Monarch Sun/Volendam was sold several more times over the next two decades, taking on the names Island Sun, Liberté, Canada Star, Queen of Bermuda, Enchanted Seas, and Universe Explorer. She was beached for salvage in December 2004 after sailing under charter to World Explorer Cruises from New Commodore Cruise Lines.

Ship history trivia of the day: While the Universe Explorer was en route from Juneau to Glacier Bay, Alaska, on July 27, 1996 carrying 732 passengers and 274 crewmembers, a fire started in the main laundry room. Five crewmembers on Aloha Deck died from smoke inhalation, and 55 crewmembers and 1 passenger sustained injuries. Damage was estimated at $1.5 million. The ship underwent repairs in Vancouver.

It is difficult for me to comprehend how a cruise ship that had been declared unprofitable to operate in 1969 could have continued to sail commercially for another 35 years.

I have found some 21st century references on the web to a Monarch Cruise Line sailing the Greek Isles and to a Monarch Cruise Line and Hospitality Training Center, which may exist in Bali, but I don't know whether either one has any connection to the company that operated the Monarch Sun.

When my wife and I sailed the ship in 1976, the casino was tiny and consisted of a few blackjack tables, one roulette table, and a single cashier's window, so far as I can remember. I played blackjack, knowing nothing about basic strategy or any other kind. I do recall that the table minimum was $2.

The entire staff of the casino was Korean, or at least Asian – I'm not astute enough to be able to recognize Asians by country. I asked one of the dealers about that makeup of the staff, and he said that they had all graduated from a dealers' school in Korea. In 1982, my wife and I were on our third cruise and our second trip with Carnival, that time on the Carnivale. One of the casino's pit supervisors was Asian and looked familiar, so I asked whether he had worked on the Monarch Sun. Yes, he had, and he got a little excited that someone remembered him. He pointed out another dealer and said she had also been on the Monarch Sun.

The gray Monarch Sun chip shown below is from the DIECARD mold and is hot stamped in gold with the ship's name, the denomination, and two sun emblems. With the low durability I have seen on other hot stamped labels, I am surprised that this one looks so good. I guess it may not have had very much play.

As for the chip's source, well, that's a little complicated and depends on whether you mean who manufactured it or who designed and sold it. I took the following quote on the history of Bud Jones – the man, his companies, and his products – from an article at this site:

Quote: David Spragg

Bernard "Bud" Jones was born in Kansas City in 1915. After working in the dice manufacturing industry for two decades he moved to Nevada with his family in the mid 1950's. He founded the Bud Jones Co. in 1965 and also traded as The Nevada Dice Co. until the mid 1970's when he put his name on that company also.

Bud designed the "NEVADA" mold in 1965 and the "DIECARD" mold in 1971. The Burt Co. had the molds made for BJ and then made chips to his orders. While BJ owned the molds they would have resided at the Burt Co. Bud Jones never actually made chips from the molds. It is believed the molds cost around $40,000 each to make at that time.

The DIECARD mold consists of 4 repetitions of the "four aces" separated by 4 repetitions of the "2 and 5 dice". Chips from this mold are coin aligned and therefore the same on both sides.

While I don't have any of my own photos of the Monarch Sun to offer today, there is a web page here that shows postcards of this ship under most of the names and paint styles that it bore over its lifetime.

I guess that is what $40K molds do for you, the dice impressions seem to be particularly crisp compared to lots of chips.

Quote: rdw4potus

Without seeing junior in the background, that REALLY looks like papa is about to pee on that dude. Just saying...

How do we know it's, "papa"?

And would "Mama" stand on two legs to pee on someone? Did you notice the stain on the tile right in front of Papa?

Category: Cruise Ships
Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean
Ship: Vision of the Seas

I have mentioned previously that my wife and I first learned of repositioning cruises when I started looking into Alaska cruises too late in the summer season of 2004. Our trip that September was on the Royal Caribbean Vision of the Seas, which had just finished a series of cruises out of Vancouver to Alaska. The ship was constructed for Royal Caribbean and first sailed in 1998. It is one of those ships I described before with the huge atriums that were all the rage at that time, this one extending from deck 4 to deck 8.

Royal Caribbean is corporately affiliated with Celebrity Cruises, though I haven't bothered to search the history of that. I thought we received the same fine level of service and amenities on the Vision of the Seas that we later learned to expect on Celebrity ships.

We spent twelve nights on board the ship, with the first half of the cruise being open water sailing on the way to Hawaii. My wife quickly began to wonder how the "Pacific" got its name, since the first two or three days of that cruise provided the roughest water we had ever encountered on a cruise. I couldn't blame that on the cruise line, and apparently it was a very unusual situation.

Most passengers were experiencing mal de mer to a very serious degree. The staff had distributed supplies of barf bags to convenient pick-up points all around the ship. We also heard from several staff members who had been at sea for years and were experiencing disabling effects of the motion for the very first time. Things finally calmed down, and we had a peaceful trip on into our 50th state.

One thing I noticed on that semi-trans-Pacific sailing that I had never paid attention to on previous cruises was the number of birds that took the trip with us. They lived on the upper decks and even in the "rafters" of the solarium. I don't have any idea where they originated – Vancouver, Alaska, or some port the ship had visited two years previously. Perhaps they were third or tenth-generation residents of the ship. Sometimes they would fly along side the ship for a while before coming back to ride once again. Seemed like a lazy bird's approach to migration, but then I wasn't rowing the route myself either.

Once we reached Hawaii, we spent our first two days on opposite sides of the Big Island, at Hilo and Kailua Kona. The third day we were in Nawiliwili on Kauai, where we took a river cruise and visited a lovely fern grotto. Rather than posting a photo of that, I'll offer as my travel snapshot of the island this view of the 151 ft. Opaeka'a Falls, which we viewed shortly before embarking on the river cruise to the grotto.


According to that most reliable of sources:

Quote: Wikipedia

The name Opaeka'a means "rolling shrimp," ʻopae being Hawaiian for "shrimp," and kaʻa for "rolling". The name dates back to days when the native freshwater shrimp Atyoida bisulcata were plentiful in the stream and were seen rolling and tumbling down the falls and into the churning waters at the fall's base.

After leaving Kauai, we headed to Lahaina on Maui, where we attended a tropical plantation luau, and a nice show of Hawaiian music and dance.

While I was sitting at the luau table, I was wearing a Georgia Tech cap. A thirty-something young lady, who was also attending the luau with the group from the ship, approached me and asked whether I had attended the school. When I confirmed that, she said she was also a Tech graduate and was taking the cruise with her parents.

I asked her a few questions about her graduation year and her major, and it took less than a minute for us to confirm that she had actually been a student in a class that I had taught some 15 years or so earlier. Of course, we had not recognized each other, but it's further proof of what a small world we live in. Zero degrees of separation for a chance encounter at a luau in Hawaii? Is that even possible?

Our final stop on that cruise was in Honolulu on the island of Oahu. We were there for a full day and night, flying home the next day. We took two tours in Honolulu, one covering natural highlights, like Diamond Head, and the other going to the USS Arizona Memorial.

I spent a good bit of time at the craps table on the ship during our cruise, but that was long before I started maintaining records of my gaming sessions – other than keeping a souvenir chip.

The chip shown below is a mostly-blue ceramic chip from Chipco International. The stylized anchor emblem in the 9 o'clock position is the Royal Caribbean logo, though the name of the line does not appear on the chip, only the name of the ship.

The two dominant items in the design appear to be drawn from that compilation of folk tales from Asia, "One Thousand and One Nights." The tales were tied together and published under the theme of having been told by Scheherazade to her husband, the Persian king, leaving him in suspense each night anticipating the ending. Thus, he did not execute her in the morning, as had been his practice with previous wives the morning after their marriage, to prevent their infidelity.

Both the story of Aladdin's lamp and the story of the magic flying carpet eventually were included in that collection. I can't recall having read the set of stories, but I don't remember the rider of the carpet being female.



This is the last of my cruise ship chips, until the next cruise, so tomorrow we will begin yet another category for this thread.

I have a couple of photos of the Vision of the Seas to offer here, but neither of them shows much other than the ship. I would have to go back and check just which islands I was standing on when I took these, and I don't think I'll bother.

Category: Europe
City: Funchal, Madiera, Portugal
Casino: Casino da Madeira

Today, we begin a new category – the 23rd category for this thread – to cover the very few European casinos that I have ever visited. In fact, my current collection – 346 chips from casinos I have visited and one chip that I received as a gift from a forum member – will be exhausted a little later this week.

The 21-night cruise that my wife and I took last October/November made its last European stop at the Portuguese island of Madeira, located 400 or 500 miles off the coast of Morocco and 250 or 300 miles north of the Canary Islands. The ship made port in the autonomous region's capital of Funchal.

My wife and I left the ship in mid-morning, planning to do a walking tour of the town. Just as we reached the bottom of the gangway and entered the building on the pier, the skies opened up and dumped a torrential storm on the area. We tried to wait it out, but it seemed to have plenty of endurance, so we just scampered back aboard the ship.

Several hours later, the torrent had changed to a mist, covered with a very dark cloud pack, but my wife said it still looked too threatening to warrant another venture out. I decided to try it alone and made the trek of about a mile each way just to check out the local casino. The casino and an adjoining hotel are at the top of a bluff overlooking the harbor, and the back of the hotel was visible from the ship. It was within direct line of sight, but I had to walk around the harbor and climb a fairly significant hill to get to the casino's front door on the opposite side.

The weather and the trek were both opposed to my taking my camera along, so I didn't get my own shot of the place, but I found this link to a page with someone else's photo. Have a look if you like. Note: that page sometimes takes a while to load.

Along with its display of chips from the casino, the MOGH catalog includes a history of the casino and gaming in Portugal. I don't know the source of this text, but it seems to be written by a non-native speaker of English, or perhaps it is a computer translation of a Portuguese document.

Quote: MOGH catalog

The game was legalized in Portugal in 1927, being allowed in Estoril, Madeira Island, Espinho, Curia, Sintra (never opened), Santa Luzia (never opened), Figueira da Foz and Praia da Rocha. Will be granted, for given period. The Madeira Island area is considered permanent (open all year). The gambling was awarded in 1928 to Companhia de Turismo da Madeira. Casino was installed in the Casino Vitoria, whose facilities were remodeled. In 1936, after the close of the gambling in the previous year, the gambling was awarded to Sociedade de Turismo 1936, which opens new installations at Quinta Vigia, the premises of the former Casino Pavão (peacock). Around 1970´s the casino was then installed in temporarily premises, settled when is today the Congress Center, until the opening of the current building in 1979.

That may not be as smooth a description of the history as I would like, but it is better than anything else I was likely to dig up. The only reference to this casino that I found on Wikipedia was the page listing the works of the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, who designed the building while on a 20-year, self-imposed exile related to a conflict between his leftist positions and the right-wing military dictatorship that existed in Brazil.

The very few European casinos that I have visited were using chips marked in Euros at the time of my visit, but I never saw a €1 chip anywhere. I kept a souvenir chip of the smallest denomination I encountered at each casino.

Today's chip, which I acquired while losing €50 at blackjack at the Casino da Madeira, is very different from any other chip in my collection. The MOGH catalog shows it on a page of "jetons" so perhaps that is the proper name. I think that is the French word and that it is "jetton" in English, so I'll use that spelling.

This green plastic €2,5 jetton from Funchal was made by Bourgogne-et-Grasset, which might justify the French spelling of the currency name, and the BG logo appears at about the 4 o'clock position. It has three pink edge inserts, if that's the proper term on a jetton, and it has a non-uniform thickness, as is evident in the second image.

The Gaming Partners International web site says that their "B&G plaques and jetons are the industry standard for European gaming currency because they combine aesthetic appeal, reliability, and security." Among the several security options that they list is serialization, and my chip does have its own engraved serial number on the perimeter, directly below the denomination mark. Though I'm not sure you can read the number completely in the photo, if you click on the small image to get the larger one, you should at least be able to see that there are figures engraved there.

Many casinos in Macau uses these jetons. I have also seen the same material at the El Dorado in Reno at the baccarat tables with plaques starting at $100 or $500 I think.

Category: Europe
City: Monte Carlo, Monaco
Casino: Casino de Monte-Carlo

The Principality of Monaco is a sovereign city-state on the Mediterranean coast of France. It has a total area of just 0.78 square miles. The principality has increased its size not by conquest or annexation but by land reclamation – building extensions into the sea. Such reclamation has increased the land area by 20%.

The most populous area of Monaco (itself the most densely populated country in the world) is Monte Carlo, or "Mount Charles", which is named for Charles III who ruled Monaco in the mid-19th century. The name refers to that piece of the Alps that extends right to the water at Monaco.

In 1191, Monaco was established as a colony of Genoa. It first came under control of the Italian House of Grimaldi in 1297, but they had to fight for centuries thereafter to retain/regain control. By the middle of the 19th century, many of the inhabitants objected to being taxed by the Grimaldis and declared the independence of their towns. That issue was resolved by Monaco ceding those portions of their territory to France in return for payment. Unfortunately, they ceded much of their tax base, causing continuing financial difficulties.

At that point, a very clever Princess Caroline came up with the idea of a casino to generate revenue and taxes, and after some false starts it saved them from bankruptcy.

Just as was the case with yesterday's casino, the MOGH catalog includes a clumsily-worded history of this venture. I don't know where they come up with this stuff.

Quote: MOGH catalog

Prince Charles III (1818-1889) in 1856 allowed the opening of a casino. After a first unsuccessful installation in 1862, the casino moved in 1863 to a modest house in the hill, being called François Blanc to organize the gambling. He founded SBM (Societé des Bains de Mer et du Cercle des Étrangers du Monaco), becoming the director and dealer of SBM in association with the Prince of Monaco. The new Casino de Monte Carlo was opened in July 1865. The casino contribute to the prosperity of this new resort, and ensured quick fortune to François Blanc and Prince Charles III. In 1878, Mary White, Blanc´s widow, asked the famous architect Charles Garnier to build the Opera the Monte Carlo and a new casino in baroque style, richly decorated. In 1904 opened the casino International Sporting Club. In 1975 opened a new casino associated to Loews. SBM owns today five casinos: Casino de Monte Carlo, Casino Café de Paris, Sun Casino, Monte Carlo Bay Casino (only slots) and The Gaming Area of La Rascasse (only slots).

I visited not just the Casino de Monte-Carlo but also that Casino Café de Paris, which is right next door. In spite of what it suggests in that paragraph above and in some other on-line resources, I could find no table games at all in that place.

When my wife and I visited Monaco as the second stop on our cruise last fall, we walked around much of the city – far too much, to hear my wife tell it. She still hasn't forgiven me for not hiring a taxi to take us around. We visited the palace courtyard, watched the changing of the guard (performed much less precisely than at Buckingham Palace), and then walked down one large hill and up another.

If you recall the photo of the Noordam at the port in Monaco, which I included near the bottom of my post with my chip from that ship, think of it this way: we walked from the ship up to the point from which I took that photo then down and across to the opposite side of the harbor and up to the casino. From there, we walked back down to the water-level street, and I earned some minor forgiveness by buying us passage on a water taxi to take us across the harbor to our ship.

I was very disappointed in the Casino de Monte-Carlo. I had read that it had several gaming salons, though when they finally opened the doors at 2 p.m., we could only see one. There, in spite of it being a nice size room, they only opened three tables, two with blackjack and one for roulette, even though perhaps a few hundred people had entered the casino. The rest of their tables were idle and unstaffed. All of the employees seemed arrogant to the point of being totally rude to the patrons.

That salon was called the American salon, perhaps because there was American (maybe -- I didn't look that closely) roulette offered there and an unstaffed craps table. Ordinarily, there is a fee charged to enter that salon, but since they were undergoing some kind of renovations, they did not charge an entrance fee for the construction zone.

I understood that there was another "European" salon to which admission could be gained by paying a fee — normally an additional fee – but no one was willing to say what games were offered there, how many tables were open, or what gaming limits were required. I might be willing to gamble a bit, but I am rather reluctant to buy a pig in a poke, so I did not pay to check out the other salon. I could just imagine paying a fee to see a bunch more unstaffed tables and arrogant employees.

Last week, I checked the casino's web site and found an interactive tour of the facility. The area that I did enter was called the European salon on that web tour, and the table layout is quite different from what I saw there. I can't explain that unless it is related to the renovation that they were performing last fall, and that wouldn't really explain the name change. This morning, I checked out the web site again, and apparently there is renovation going on there, too. The virtual tour is different, or maybe I just couldn't find the one I saw last week. This time I found a place where it says the American salon is slots only and confirms that the room I was in last fall is called the "Salle Europe." Maybe, perhaps even hopefully, what I saw six months ago was not representative of what the casino really is like in normal times.

At the blackjack table where I watched, people were playing two or three-deep, with standing players placing wagers behind those of the seated players and relying upon the decisions that the seated players made. And I couldn't even get close enough to the table to place a wager behind!

Eventually, there was an opening that allowed me to get closer, and to my complete surprise the seated player stood up and left, too, giving me the chance to grab the chair. By that time, I only had a few minutes to play before having to head back to the ship. The table minimum was €10, and the smallest chips in play were €5, so that is what I have as a souvenir. In my short session, I managed to win €50.

The souvenir shown below is a white injection molded (I think) chip and has three triple "edge inserts" in green and very dark blue (maybe black), plus three logos that I do not recognize. The center insert is a silver coin with a tiled pattern. It is marked with "jeux Americains" (American games, if I haven't completely forgotten the few lessons I took in French half a century ago), perhaps reflecting the American salon name and the table selection there. I have no idea who manufactured this chip, though B&G seems to be a likely candidate.



When I posted that photo of the Noordam in the harbor and tried to give directions to the casino's location in that snapshot, I said I might soon post a photo of the front entrance to the casino. Done:


For those still interested in the topic of the accuracy of street clocks, the time stamp on this photo is 1:17 UTC, which would have been 3:17 Monaco time.

Quote: Doc

The principality has increased its size not by conquest or annexation but by land reclamation –

I'm sorry, but that line is absolutely hilarious :) It just boggles the mind to think Monaco would conquer territory. Whose? I immediately got reminded of "The Mouse That Roared"

Very interesting Doc. I think the "logos" could be artistic representations of the goddess "Fortuna":
. photo from euseree.com

What is in the middle of the traffic circle in the casino photo? Is it a mirror?

Apparently, the casino is such a tourist attraction that the owners attempt to separate the players from the lookyloos by restricting the tourists to certain salons in the mornings. Perhaps that is why the staff was so surly, not taking the "boat" player's action seriously. Of course, it could be that they are just rude to everyone.

I think that's a crystal ball, but I'll have to check my other photos. There is also a fountain and a sculpture of a giant flower. I'm travelling this week and can't check the other photos from here -- having enough trouble just trying to post.

It isn't that they restrict tourists to certain salons in the morning -- the whole dang place is closed until 2 p.m.!

Quote: Doc

It isn't that they restrict tourists to certain salons in the morning -- the whole dang place is closed until 2 p.m.!

You are right. Games don't open until 2 pm, but tourist groups can now pay an admission fee to take a look around the public salons from 9 am - 12:30 pm, when the games are closed. Link to The Casino de Monte-Carlo website here.

Here is a screen shot of some original jetons and chips from the website celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Casino de Monte-Carlo. Apparently, B&G has been their supplier for a long time:



The casino is issuing limited edition chips celebrating the anniversary.

Check out the entire 150th anniversary site here.

Quote: Ayecarumba

You are right. Games don't open until 2 pm, but tourist groups can now pay an admission fee to take a look around the public salons from 9 am - 12:30 pm, when the games are closed. Link to The Casino de Monte-Carlo website here.

That's pretty odd for a small country best known for being the place where Grace Kelly lived after she got married :P

Category: Europe
City: Barcelona, Spain
Casino: Gran Casino de Barcelona

When my wife and I cruised on the Noordam last fall, we visited Barcelona the very next day after Monaco. I was already aware that I was not on good standing after having “forced” her to walk all over one small city, so I didn’t have in mind to make that same mistake a second day in a row – I try to either spread out my mistakes or at least change them up a bit.

Unfortunately, there are some parts of Barcelona that are just meant for walking, and we began our visit by rambling down the Ramblas, window shopping throughout. When we got to the end, or maybe to a mid-point that we declared to be the end for us, we caught a taxi over to the Gran Casino de Barcelona. No way I was stupid enough to suggest walking that leg. And I knew right up front that we would be taking another taxi from the casino back to the ship.

One resource I read states that the Casino de Barcelona opened July 8, 1979 in Saint Pere de Ribes, and moved in August 1999 to Barcelona Olympic Port. I don’t know when the “Gran” got added to the name. The casino is connected to a hotel, with the entrance to the gaming machines on the same level as the hotel lobby, but with the table games in a basement area.

There was a special procedure required for gaining access to the table games area. I described that in a post I made in a new thread shortly after we got home, and I asked for help understanding the receipt I had been given at the casino. I think the description that I gave in that post was better than anything I could generate new today, so I’m just going to refer everyone there. Oh, and that receipt doesn't have "Gran" on it the way the chip does, just "Casino de Barcelona", so I'm not totally sure what the name of the place really is.

I played blackjack, sorta. It was one of those tables where people are standing behind the seated players and placing bets behind theirs. I was not so lucky as I was in Monaco, and I was never able to get a seat. My notes say I was in the casino for an hour and a half, but I don’t really know how long I was playing stand-up blackjack. The game didn’t affect my personal finances noticeably. I cashed in for €1,25 more than I bought in for, and I kept a souvenir chip worth that much, too.

The chip is an extremely plain orange chip. It is the kind I would expect to see at very-low-end casinos in the US, perhaps with a hot-stamped label, or maybe as roulette chips at a lot of places. I have no idea who made it. The chip definitely struck me as less than I would have expected as the currency at a casino that otherwise seemed rather nice. There are no markings at all molded into the chip, and the center inlay looks like something that most any eight year old could generate on their home computer.



This is the last of my very limited set of European chips, and the last of the chips officially in my collection. Some years ago, I played at a few casinos in Cairo, and I would love to be able to post chips from an "Africa" category. Unfortunately, I was not collecting these souvenirs back then, so I don't have anything to show. I do have one final (for now) chip to post, though, and that will be coming tomorrow in a new category.

Category: Asia
City: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Casino: NagaWorld

Today's post begins another category of chips with the only one I will post from Asia. I have never been to Asia, though I thought I was going to get a trip there in 1969 courtesy of the U.S. Army, and I have never seen the casino that is the source of today's Casino Chip of the Day.

I received this chip as a gift from forum member teliot, aka Dr. Jacobson. When he first contacted me, he said he had some chips from Cambodia and noted, "One of them has your name on it." My brain must have been fried, because I thought that meant that "Doc" was a word in the Khmer language and was printed on the chip as part of a slogan or something. Doh!

Thanks again, Elliot! I don't count this chip as part of my collection, since I didn't go to the casino myself to collect it, but it certainly merits being included in this thread.

Phnom Penh is Cambodia's capital city with a population of roughly 2 million people of the country's total of 14 million. The city's population and economy have recovered significantly since the Khmer Rouge were driven out more than 30 years ago.

The NagaWorld casino was established in Phnom Penh in 1995. And the casino's web site describes the source of the name this way:

Quote:

NagaWorld® derived its name from the mythical fable of a 7-headed dragon or “Naga.” The majestic dragon was believed to be residing in the rivers and guarding the entrance to Phnom Penh. The tale revealed its only sighting during the appearance of a rainbow and was thus considered highly auspicious. Reminiscent of a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, NagaWorld® was thereafter likened to a promising symbol of new beginnings and prosperity.

Since I have never been to Asia, and certainly not to this casino, I can't provide any first hand info on the place to help fill this post. Fortunately, this forum has a diverse population of members, and our member NokTang has posted about several visits to NagaWorld. I'll leave it to all of you to check out his review of the casino. I hope that he will give us a follow-up, first-hand story right here in this thread. Other people have made posts here about NagaWorld, too – does anyone have other chips that they can post for us to see?

The NagaWorld web site also comments:

Quote:

The official currency in Cambodia is the Riel. However, US Dollars are widely accepted. In fact, many businesses set their prices in US Dollars. Nevertheless, it is wise to carry some Riel with you for smaller purchases. The current exchange rate for Riel to US Dollar is around 4000 riel = US$1.

I tried to verify that exchange rate, but my Android app doesn't even list the Cambodian Riel. One online resource lists the figure at 3984.85 this morning, so the casino's site seems to be reasonably reliable on this. As a typical stupid American, I have some difficulty comprehending such currencies. If a Riel is worth roughly 0.025 cents, what do you buy with a Riel? Why have a monetary system in such a tiny denomination unit? Does it really make someone feel like a millionaire if they have $250 worth of local money? I just don't understand.

The chip shown below is a rather plain pink plastic chip in the Clover mold of Bourgogne-et-Grasset. It has six clover icons impressed around the perimeter and a black hot-stamped center label of the denomination and the name "Naga Casino". I don't know whether this is an earlier name or an abbreviation. I understand that this mold design has been used worldwide for quite some time.



This concludes the chips that I have available to post now, and I'm dumping responsibility for this thread right into the lap of rdw4potus, who I think has enough other chips to keep the thread going for maybe another year. He is also continuing to expand his collection.

As I collect additional chips, I will look for appropriate opportunities to post them. In the near term, I plan to visit many (all?) of the remaining casinos in Colorado right after WoVCon ]I[, and I will have them available to post when my replacement gets to that point in his collection.

Good luck with carrying this forward, rdw!



Edit (7/25/18): Now, more than five years after I made this post of the NagaWorld chip, followers of this thread are enjoying an extended series of Casino Chip of the Day posts from forum member and chip collector PokerGrinder. On his visit to multiple countries in Asia earlier this year, he stopped in to play at the NagaWorld casino and collected his own souvenir chip. He posted the image here and told us more about the casino. If you stumble across this five-year-old post, you might want to check that link for some updated info.

As I attempted to add the Asia Category and the NagaWorld chip to the index in post #1 of this thread, I got an error messge:

Quote:

Your post is too long, please shorten it.

Since I expect the directory to get much longer than this over time, I'll send an PM to JB to ask how to handle that. Hopefully, post #1 can be split into two parts that will appear as posts #1 and #2 to keep them together at the beginning of the thread. I'll let you know how that will be resolved.

If the full directory simply cannot go all together at the beginning and has to be split into parts way down here on page six zillion of the thread, maybe I should ask rdw4potus to take over responsibility for maintaining the directory, too, though we haven't discussed whether he would be willing to take on that additional load. I'll pursue that possibility, too.

Thank you Doc for doing all the heavy lifting so far. I have enjoyed the journey so far, and look forward to future installments.

As for a casino in Vietnam using American dollars for their chips, am I the only one who feels a little weird about it? Is American currency that prevalent in South East Asia?

Quote: Ayecarumba

Thank you Doc for doing all the heavy lifting so far.

You (and everyone else too) are quite welcome. I've had a lot of fun with it.

Quote: Ayecarumba

As for a casino in Vietnam using American dollars for their chips....

BTW, this one is in Cambodia. ;-)

You have given me the opening for a little tale that it's probably best not to repeat to the Wizard:
In 1982, when I had a brief little job in Cyprus, the government there had declared their currency non-exchangeable outside of the country, because of the Turkish invasion that had captured the supplies at a number of banks. As I was headed to the country and was waiting in line at the airport in Athens, Greece, there were some folks who had just arrived in Athens from Cyprus. They did not know that they should have exchanged their Cypriot pounds to other currencies before leaving the country, and were asking folks headed to Cyprus to exchange currency with them.

They had an extended conversation with the folks in front of me who had some deutschmarks they were willing to exchange. The small group was trying to match sets of Cypriot bills with sets of German bills, and the entire conversation was in "dollars." I commented that none of them had any dollars to swap. They laughed and gave me a smile that silently said, "Yes, but you're just a stupid American", and went on with their transaction. Those folks had no problem at all in looking at various currencies and thinking entirely in terms of dollars. It wouldn't surprise me if it were much like that all over the world, though I'm not enough of a traveler to verify that.

Quote: Doc

... I'll send an PM to JB to ask how to handle that.

Man, it's nice to have a site admin/designer who understands the nuts and bolts of how this place runs!

The problem was a character limit on an individual post -- exceeding that limit would cause difficulties with the database. JB revised the post #1 index by changing (1) some of the formatting codes and (2) some urls linking to posts within the site to equivalent codes and urls that use fewer characters.

The result is that there is now about 40% free space in that post, and that should let the thread and index survive for another four to six months before straining at the seams again. That won't provide enough space even for all of rdw's remaining chips, and certainly not for whoever takes over after him, but maybe we will discover a long-term solution in the interim.

For now, the category of "Asia" appears after all of the state categories and before any of the other categories; i.e., states are alphabetized and followed by other categories that are alphabetized.

It's hard to belive the thread is only about 14 months old. You'd think it has always been here, like the Vorlons, since the inception of the site.

I hope you can all appreciate what Doc has accomplished. It's not often one sees a man's passion expressed concretely.

Let me add to the lists of thanks Doc. This thread is one of my first stops with my morning coffee, and I enjoy your travel photos/stories as much as the chips themselves. Thanks again.

Thank You for the tremendous amount of time you put into this thread Doc without ever asking for any special considerations or recognition. I will miss this expression of your passion. I look forward to the next posters expansion of this thread.

Quote: kenarman

Thank You for the tremendous amount of time you put into this thread Doc without ever asking for any special considerations or recognition. I will miss this expression of your passion. I look forward to the next posters expansion of this thread.

All the chips I had duplicates of where the same Doc posted :)

But I'll post a couple of chips, provided I can post one that isn't used by a casino. If not then only one.

Quote: Nareed

It's hard to belive the thread is only about 14 months old. You'd think it has always been here, like the Vorlons, since the inception of the site.

It seems like at least eons to me.

Quote: vendman1

I enjoy your travel photos/stories as much as the chips themselves.

Photography and chip collecting are the hobbies; blabbering on is just a tendency inherited from my father.

Quote: kenarman

Thank You for the tremendous amount of time you put into this thread Doc without ever asking for any special considerations or recognition.

Why bother asking for something you know you will never get? The reward was in being allowed to do it.

And I note my appreciation to those of you who have read and enjoyed this thread so far. Remember, this is the 5th most blocked thread in the forum, so not everyone cares to see this stuff get posted every day!

Quote: Doc

And I note my appreciation to those of you who have read and enjoyed this thread so far. Remember, this is the 5th most blocked thread in the forum, so not everyone cares to see this stuff get posted every day!

I would say this is one of the best threads on this forum. I haven't read through all the stories about the chips but am looking forward to doing so!

Quote: Ayecarumba

Is American currency that prevalent in South East Asia?

As far as I know and have experienced, the USD is only prevalent in Cambodia. The other countries have their own currency aka money. In Cambodia, the Reil is only used for purchases under apx. $10.usd and wages for the lowest paid or casual labor.

Quote: Doc

The chip shown below is a rather plain pink plastic chip in the Clover mold of Bourgogne-et-Grasset. It has six clover icons impressed around the perimeter and a black hot-stamped center label of the denomination and the name "Naga Casino". I don't know whether this is an earlier name or an abbreviation. I understand that this mold design has been used worldwide for quite some time.

Perhaps "Naga Casino" is an earlier name, I don't recall if they still use that particular chip. Most of my action was using the Rapid system as the table have a high minimum. Before the resort was built, the casino was on a barge much like those in the USA who go out to nowhere. This barge was large and stayed in the river, didn't go any place. Later at some point, they got the long lease and stipulation mentioned in the web site(exclusive area) and built the casino and hotel. Rumor or fact has it that the current long standing prime minister and his family are involved. Involved means of course, in getting the permits etc. and I assume the lease payments. The casino itself appears to be foreigner managed with some Filipino staff at the floor level with most if not all dealers being Cambodian. English communications is no problem, Cambodians are very good at English and most important, polite and want to learn more. If you were to visit and didn't want to pay the high hotel rates, there are many many nice reasonable hotels available near the casino and local transportation is also easy and cheap. Mostly motorcycles and tuk tuks but some taxi cars.

Thanks for the input to the thread, NokTang. I haven't really provided any serious casino reviews with the chips I've posted, but I have tried to say at least something about most of them. In the case of NagaWorld, I had absolutely no first hand information to offer, and it's really nice that the forum had someone who has been there and can tell us a bit about the place. Also, thanks for the input about the way the U.S. dollar is used in Cambodia.

So is it time for me to start badgering rdw4potus or time to worry whether everything is all right? He has only made one post since Monday, and this thread hasn't had a new chip posted in almost 62 hours. I remember getting notes from folks if I hadn't posted a new chip by noon!

I guess I should let the badgering wait until we see each other in Sin City in just a week. I've had so much hassle in my supposed-to-be-easy-going life in the past few weeks that I really am looking forward to this upcoming gathering, whether you call it WoVCon ]I[ or WoVCon ///.

During this temporary (4 days and 15 hours, thus far) absence of new chip postings, I thought I would provide this link to a lead on a potential new chip to be available some day in Las Vegas due to the renaming of a casino/hotel. I checked the NGC Chip and Token reports, and there is no info so far about new chips having been approved.

Quote: Doc

During this temporary (4 days and 15 hours, thus far) absence of new chip postings, I thought I would provide this link to a lead on a potential new chip to be available some day in Las Vegas due to the renaming of a casino/hotel. I checked the NGC Chip and Token reports, and there is no info so far about new chips having been approved.

What of the old "Terrible's" chips? As I understand it, public notice, and a redemption period are required before a chip design can be "retired", and no longer honored for conversion to cash, but what happens when a joint goes bankrupt (like Terrible's)?

I don't know, but I suspect that since the new owners of the casino continue(d) to operate under the old name (and license?), they probably took on liability for the old chips as part of their acquisition. If they decide to retire the Terrible's chips, I think they would need to make a public announcement and give some deadline for redemption. I'll keep my $1 chip anyway, and I'm just looking forward to getting a new souvenir when they become available.

On a separate topic, I understand that the posting of new chip images to this thread will resume shortly, and I think rdw4potus might have a tale to share about the cause for a gap in the thread.

What's the best method to wash chips? Can you dunk them in warm water and soap, or will that peel off the labeling?

Quote: djatc

What's the best method to wash chips? Can you dunk them in warm water and soap, or will that peel off the labeling?

I did that with just about all of my chips. If yours really do have paper labels, as opposed to printed plastic or imprinted clay, then I would dunk-but-not-soak the chips. I also cleaned most of my chips with acetone (nail polish remover) and cotton swabs. That worked very well, but you need to be careful there because the acetone will remove a small amount of the clay and that can cause color transference. I used about 1000 swabs to clean 500 chips, and I still didn't completely avoid color bleed. Also, I almost passed out a couple times - turns out that venting is required when working with acetone. Guess that's why we used it to kill bugs when I was a kid...

I use warm water, soap bar and toothbrush for all chips except the ones with hot stamping (letter/design printed with foil). Have not had a problem with any chips peeling/discoloring. Guess it's OK as long as you don't soak it. And promptly dry it after washing.

When I'm on a collecting trip, I wash chips with water and whatever kind of soap the hotel has. That gets most of the serious filth off them so that I can feel OK about putting the things in my luggage. When I get home, I use a household, general-purpose, spray cleaner, with either a scrub brush or just paper towels. I have not been willing to use any strong chemicals that would risk dissolving anything.

Quote: Doc

That gets most of the serious filth off them so that I can feel OK about putting the things in my luggage.

LOL! I feel that way, too. I have no trouble handling the things all day, but store them with my clothes at night? Hell no!

Quote: rdw4potus

... but store them with my clothes at night? Hell no!

Some casinos chips have got cooties.

State: New York
City: Hogansburg
Casino: Akwesasne Mohawk Casino

After an unintentional hiatus, the posting of daily chips in this thread resumes! I'm still a little hot about what happened to me for the past few days. Long story short, I was added to a business trip at the last minute. At the airport, I decided to make my carry-on as light as possible by adding my tablet and laptop to my checked bag. Then the airline lost my checked baggage. It took several days for my baggage and I to be reunited, mostly because of airline incompetence (the call-center told me it would be delivered to the hotel, the folks at the airport were waiting for me to pick up the bag.) It's funny - after I bought enough clothes to get me through the business part of the trip, I still felt strangely naked without my tech toys.

Today’s chip of the day comes from the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino in Hogansburg, NY. The casino was opened in 1999, and has been significantly updated and upgraded since then. The current incarnation of the property features 1560 gaming machines and 38 table and poker games. We recently discussed this property here.

I visited Akwesasne as part of a weekend respite from a business trip to NY, PA, and NJ. I think I griped about the scheduling of the business trip when we were discussing casinos in PA and WV. I wound up driving and flying a big figure 8 through NY, ON, NJ, PA, MD, and WV (I may also have been in OH and DE, but with no stops). Visiting Albany, Buffalo, Toronto, Ottawa, Philly, Pittsburgh, Erie, Baltimore, and Atlantic City in 5 days was fun, but visiting the cities in that order was just silly.

I was really impressed by this facility. It was much bigger and more upscale than I’d expected. Sort of like how Rama was much larger and nicer than expected. I’m really not sure where Akwesasne’s clientele come from. Maybe it’s just the locals. And I guess this is the closest US casino to Burlington, VT. Whatever the reason, the casino was packed when I visited (it WAS a Saturday night). I collected my chip playing 3 card poker, mostly because that’s where there was an open seat. Later, I also played some BJ while I waited for caffeine to kick in well enough to get me back to my hotel.

The MOGH indicates that this chip is a Bud Jones model. Absent a BJ marking on either side, I’m a bit skeptical. It does look like a BJ/B&G mold. I've got to say that these plastic chips hold up well. This chip was 11 years old when I collected it, and it looks and feels pretty much new.

Ahhh.... The train is now back on the tracks. Excellent!

Quote: rdw4potus

The MOGH indicates that this chip is a Bud Jones model. Absent a BJ marking on either side, I’m a bit skeptical.

Well, does your Akwesasne chip look anything like this image that I created from the options available at the Matsui "Design Your Chip" page? With Matsui offering this pattern, I think you are wise to be skeptical that your chip is from Bud Jones.




Edit 3/20/14: SkittleCar1 posted some additional Akwesasne chips here.

Edit 9/24/15: I finally got my own Akwesasne chip and posted it here.

State: New York
City: Salamanca
Casino: Seneca Gaming and Entertainment

Today’s chip of the day comes from the Seneca Gaming location in Salamanca, NY. The Seneca Gaming facility is a small 15,000 square foot slot barn up the street from the Seneca Allegany casino. It features 280 slot machines and a small poker room. I visited the casino between stops in Buffalo and Niagara Falls on my trip to NY, PA, ON, and NJ that I mentioned yesterday.

This facility is quite small, and much less flashy than the neighboring Seneca Allegany facility. There were very few slot machines that I’d ever seen before. I suspect that they’re VLTs or bingo-based games. At any rate, the games were unique.

I played through two rounds of blinds on a poker table to collect my chip, which I think is manufactured by Chipco. The MOGH doesn’t have an entry for this facility, and there’s no CI on the chip, but I think Chipco made this chip. The poker itself was pretty brutal. Tight players and bad cards made for absolutely no action. I think there was one showdown in the 18 hands that I played and I wasn’t even a part of it.

What does that "Keeper of the Western Door" mean/imply? Thank you.

Quote: NokTang

What does that "Keeper of the Western Door" mean/imply? Thank you.

Quote: Seneca Nation web page

With a proud and rich history, the Seneca were the largest of six Native American nations which comprised the Iroquois Confederacy or Six Nations, a democratic government that pre-dates the United States Constitution.

The Seneca Nation of Indians currently has a total enrolled population of nearly 8,000 citizens. The territories are generally rural, with several residential areas. Many Seneca citizens live off-territory, some are located across the country, as well as in other countries. Off-territory residents comprise nearly 1/2 of the citizenship.

The Seneca are also known as the "Keeper of the Western Door," for the Seneca are the westernmost of the Six Nations. At the time of the formation of the Iroquois League, the original five nations of the Iroquois League occupied large areas of land in the Northeast USA and Southeast Canada.

They are also known as the, "Great Hill People", but maybe that doesn't read so well on a casino chip...

Read more here: Seneca Nation web page

Quote: rdw4potus

State: New York
City: Salamanca
Casino: Seneca Gaming and Entertainment

If you are wondering about the black squiggily shapes, it is not a Rorscharch inkblot. The shapes represent the outlines of the three current Seneca territories. See more info here.

Community member Face should have something to add...

On Thursday, I picked up the souvenir chips I had in mind to gather on this visit to Las Vegas: Alamo, Aliante (non-Station), and Quad. Because of the bizarre situation with the person now in the lead role for this thread not being allowed to post for a few days, I thought I might post the Aliante and Quad chips. Unfortunately, I don't have a computer with me, and I haven't been able to upload images successfully to my hosting site from either my phone or my tablet. Seems there might be a conflict between my host's software and my Android Chrome browsers.

Just a little update for you web design geeks regarding my difficulty uploading the .jpg files from my phone and tablet:

Tech Support at my hosting service said that Flash must not be working on my Android mobile devices and that I need to install the latest version. I sent a reply quoting the Google FAQ page for developers. It said that the Android OS does not support Flash at all because Adobe stopped supporting Flash for mobile devices some years ago.

I haven't heard back from Tech Support again. Maybe later on Saturday.