Casino Chip of the Day
Quote: PokerGrinderState: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Vegas World
This will be my last chip post as we have reached the end of my collection.
Thank you for your contributions PokerGrinder! I enjoyed them very much, and learned some new things.
I was just at Caesars Windsor and changed $100 USD into $130 CDN. I had a favorable rate with my Seven Stars card. Normally it was $128. The spot rate currently is $132 so it was a very fine rate. I don't remember what the conversion back was.
Quote: DocYes, I exchanged US to CA at my first casino stop. I was so delighted to be receiving more raw $ in that exchange, that I didn't really focus on the rate. As with several other such places, they offered to fill out a form about the exchange and allow me to convert the opposite direction for the same amount at the reverse rate within 24 hours. It's a customer service thing. I didn't bother, because I knew I would be needing CA$ for other things during the visit. Most of those CA$ will probably vanish at the tables.
Don't think like that, you need to think hey I will have so much CDN money that I will have to figure out how to exchange it back!
Quote: beachbumbabsIt was very uncommon at the time: early 80's that I started to notice the ads. They were in the Sunday Parade magazine (came with most/all Sunday newspapers back then), a full-page ad claiming an all-inclusive vacation for 4 for $397 or some small amount like that, 2-3 nights in the hotel, meals, free play, etc. Stuff for the kids to do. Stupak's picture in a circle at the top left or right..."Bob Stupak's...Vegas World!"
I'm sure he advertised other places, but I also recall when the ads started appearing there was a fair amount of commentary about the changing face of Vegas, whether it was appropriate to market to families, etc.
Edit: Found some historical info on that advertising and the controversy that's pretty interesting. From
http://barronmarketingsolutions.com/the-untold-story-of-bob-stupak/
Very interesting article, thanks for posting it babs. Sounds like Bob knew a thing or two, ingenious marketing methods.
Quote: AyecarumbaThank you for your contributions PokerGrinder! I enjoyed them very much, and learned some new things.
I am really glad that you enjoyed reading them, not as wordy as Doc's ccotd posts but I try to include anecdotes when I had them.
I can't believe the traffic that this thread has gotten over the last day! Now all we need to do is find someone to post new chips! Btw this is my 200th post on this site and I think about 194 of them are on this thread lol.
Quote: PokerGrinder... not as wordy as Doc....
I've been getting criticism on that topic for close to seven decades. I'm not likely to change now....
Quote: DocI've been getting criticism on that topic for close to seven decades. I'm not likely to change now....
Haha I wasn't criticizing Doc.
Quote: teddysThe CheapoVegas guys had a great story of scamming the Vegas World vacation packages. They really took it to a whole 'nother level. Worth a read if it is still up on their site.
I was just at Caesars Windsor and changed $100 USD into $130 CDN. I had a favorable rate with my Seven Stars card. Normally it was $128. The spot rate currently is $132 so it was a very fine rate. I don't remember what the conversion back was.
If you converted back at the casino cage, it should have been the same rate. They do that for me, anyway, and my card is less fancy than yours:-)
Quote: rdw4potusIf you converted back at the casino cage, it should have been the same rate. They do that for me, anyway, and my card is less fancy than yours:-)
I haven't been to Windsor since 9/11 but there was always a 4-6¢ discrepancy in the exchange rate. Now this was before the TR program and when it was still called Casino Windsor and the players card was called "Players Prestige"
Quote: DocQuote: PokerGrinderAlso Doc I have 2 more chips to post and then I am done so you could talk to Kenarman about posting his Aladdin chip and Aluisio about reposting his chip from Chile.
I sent a PM to Aluisio yesterday, but he hasn't read it yet. I'll send a reminder note to Kenarman now. I'm getting ready to head out of town for two weeks, so I won't be doing much follow up on who is posting when.
I sent that note to Aluisio on 9/4, and he read it on 9/8. So far, he has not replied to me regarding any interest in re-posting his chip from Chile and has not edited his 3-year-old post that we discussed earlier this month. Kenarman indicated by PM that he has a chip from a new-to-the-thread casino that he will try to get set up to post and then will look at re-posting his Aladdin chip.
Quote: DocI sent that note to Aluisio on 9/4, and he read it on 9/8. So far, he has not replied to me regarding any interest in re-posting his chip from Chile and has not edited his 3-year-old post that we discussed earlier this month. Kenarman indicated by PM that he has a chip from a new-to-the-thread casino that he will try to get set up to post and then will look at re-posting his Aladdin chip.
Any thoughts on asking Johnzimbo if he has any to contribute, He seems to have a lot of old ones.
Alusisio mentioned in his trip report that he is getting married in October, so he may be quite busy right now.Quote: DocI sent that note to Aluisio on 9/4, and he read it on 9/8. So far, he has not replied to me regarding any interest in re-posting his chip from Chile and has not edited his 3-year-old post that we discussed earlier this month. Kenarman indicated by PM that he has a chip from a new-to-the-thread casino that he will try to get set up to post and then will look at re-posting his Aladdin chip.
I am curious if it is possible to take a tour of GPI's (or other chip maker's) manufacturing plant? I imagine the security would be pretty tight, but the public relations would be good. I estimate it as 3-1 against, since security usually trumps PR.
Quote: AyecarumbaAlusisio mentioned in his trip report that he is getting married in October, so he may be quite busy right now.
I am curious if it is possible to take a tour of GPI's (or other chip maker's) manufacturing plant? I imagine the security would be pretty tight, but the public relations would be good. I estimate it as 3-1 against, since security usually trumps PR.
Aye that would be a pretty cool field trip!
Also Doc I assume this won't turn into anything but Tropicana Laughlin has a new set of chips ordered from July, I assume they are the same Tropicana Express chips not a name change but I know you go to Lauglin here and there,
Thanks for the info on the Max in Carson City. I've added that one to my list of chips to get. As for the Tropicana Laughlin, did you see that info on the NGC page or somewhere that showed the new chips? With the change in ownership a few years back, the name of the casino changed, but they never came up with new chips to match. Maybe they will this time.
Back in this post I made more than two weeks ago while traveling, I said of the Thousand Islands Casino (by whichever name) in Gananoque, ON:
Quote: DocThe blackjack dealer (they no longer have a craps table) informed me that the casino is being sold and will change names again, since it will no longer be part of OLG. The employees are supposed to find out tomorrow who the purchaser is. Guess that means we'll be making a trip back to Gananoque some day.
Well, the OLG web page for the casino still has no mention of this sale, but I found this news article out of Ontario which gives some info. A core piece of the story is:
The article also says that their priority is to build the new casino and have it finished by 3rd quarter 2017. That puts a new casino on my list for a couple of years from now, in addition to the Gananoque casino after a name change.Quote: cited articleThe Ontario Gaming East Limited Partnership paid $50.4 million to acquire all of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation’s assets in the Eastern Gaming Bundle, including the casino at Gananoque, the slot machines at the leased premises at Kawartha Downs and the right to build a new casino in Belleville or the Quinte West area. The deal includes an agreement giving the partnership the right to run gambling in the Eastern Gaming Bundle for the next 20 years.
The majority shareholder in the partnership, at 50.1%, is the B.C.-based Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, which owns and runs 16 gaming properties in British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Washington state.
I picked up new chips from a couple of casinos not yet covered in this thread, and I will be posting those soon. I also have chips to post from a few casinos already covered. In some cases these are different chips, and in some cases I just want to show how they look under UV light, which hasn't been shown before.
I have been thinking about whether 1000 Islands Charity Casino and OLG Casino Thousand Islands should both be listed in the index. Not settled in my mind just yet, but I'm leaning in that direction, particularly since we may some day have chips from the place under a third name. PokerGrinder pointed out that none of us seem to have played there while it had the original name, but some of us do have the older chips in our collection and gathered them while playing in the casino.
Akwesasne Mohawk Casino, Hogansburg, NY.
SkittleCar1 posted this same chip here, but his image looked a little out of focus, and I wanted to show what this chip looks like under UV light. The $5 chip was posted by rdw4potus as the CCotD back here.
Turning Stone Casino, Verona, NY.
Again, rdw4potus posted the $5 chip as the CCotD here.
Casino de Mont-Tremblant, Mont-Tremblant, QC.
PokerGrinder posted the $1 chip as the CCotD here. That clover mold chip looks so plain that, while I did keep one, I picked up a $5 chip, too, as an extra. While rdw4potus claimed that he had a $5 chip from there that he would photograph and post for us, he later reneged and said, "I seem to be missing 1/3 of my chips, including these new ones. I'm thinking my future father in law put them in a "convenient" location when he helped me move last month. Now, I wonder where that would be..."
Casino de Montreal, Montreal, QC.
When Tomspur posted the same $1 chip as the CCotD, he described it as "Quite boring and may be the most plain chip I have ever collected." I agree, and I am only posting it again here to show that the center graphic shows up gold under visible light and red under UV light.
1000 Islands Charity Casino, Gananoque, ON.
When rdw4potus posted the $5 chip as the CCotD, he noted the two names that the casino has held thus far. When I visited, chips were in play with both names, and I kept one of each. When I commented earlier about that, PokerGrinder initially said he had noticed the same thing but only kept one. Later, he edited his post and said, "I actually have both of the chips, I am not sure why I didn't post both." Well, in a quick scan of recent posts in this thread, I can't find where he posted either of them, so here is the one with the old name. As I noted above, I am thinking/planning/pondering posting the one with the new name as a separate CCotD.
I also picked up my own chip from the Casino du Lac-Leamy, but it is identical to the one posted by PokerGrinder.
Quote: DocGot home late Monday night from 14 nights on the road (10 different beds), and I'm still trying to get my brain and affairs in order.
Thanks for the info on the Max in Carson City. I've added that one to my list of chips to get. As for the Tropicana Laughlin, did you see that info on the NGC page or somewhere that showed the new chips? With the change in ownership a few years back, the name of the casino changed, but they never came up with new chips to match. Maybe they will this time.
I did see it on the NGC page but I haven't seen the pictures of the chips yet. MoGH has the chip listed with no image yet. I feel like since they ordered a whole new set of every denomination there is a good chance that the chip will be with the new casino name.
Quote: DocBack in this post I made more than two weeks ago while traveling, I said of the Thousand Islands Casino (by whichever name) in Gananoque, ON:
Well, the OLG web page for the casino still has no mention of this sale, but I found this news article out of Ontario which gives some info. A core piece of the story is:
The article also says that their priority is to build the new casino and have it finished by 3rd quarter 2017. That puts a new casino on my list for a couple of years from now, in addition to the Gananoque casino after a name change.
Yes I have been reading some articles about the possible sites for the new casino. Interesting the article that I read about the BC company buying the casino didn't mention that they didn't buy 100% of it. I guess it doesn't matter much as long as they change the casino name and get new chips I will be happy.
Quote: DocI picked up new chips from a couple of casinos not yet covered in this thread, and I will be posting those soon. I also have chips to post from a few casinos already covered. In some cases these are different chips, and in some cases I just want to show how they look under UV light, which hasn't been shown before.
Yay new chip of the days!
Quote: DocI have been thinking about whether 1000 Islands Charity Casino and OLG Casino Thousand Islands should both be listed in the index. Not settled in my mind just yet, but I'm leaning in that direction, particularly since we may some day have chips from the place under a third name. PokerGrinder pointed out that none of us seem to have played there while it had the original name, but some of us do have the older chips in our collection and gathered them while playing in the casino.
My only argument against this is if you got both chips in the same casino at the same time then isn't it only one casino visited? The way I look at it is if you went to the Linq and got a chip but had never been to the Quad. There happen to be some Quad chips still in the tray and you got one of those as well. Well the way that I look at it you would have the Quad chip but had never been to the Quad. Just my thoughts.
Edit: I just realized that the old one was the one that Rdw posted originally so then the OLG one that you picked up is a "new" casino. I though he had posted the new one. My bad sorry.
Quote: DocSo here are a few of my new chips from casinos previously covered in this thread:
Very nice chips, I collected all of those as well during my recent trip to and from Ottawa.
Are you going to have a new chip of the day tomorrow for us Doc?
Quote: PokerGrinderAre you going to have a new chip of the day tomorrow for us Doc?
I'm at intermission at a concert right now. I'll post a new CCotD either tomorrow or possibly later tonight, if I can get my act together.
Quote: DocI'm at intermission at a concert right now. I'll post a new CCotD either tomorrow or possibly later tonight, if I can get my act together.
Get your "act" together... is that supposed to be a bad pun or a happy coincidence?
Also, for my winter break trip I hope to visit a new country to collect a few chips, the location of which will be decided by costs and of course heavily influenced by how many chips I can collect that have not yet been presented here.
City: Gananoque, Ontario
Casino: OLG Casino Thousand Islands
Well the concert I mentioned above is over, but I didn't quite finish composing this post by midnight Eastern time. Hey, this is a Vegas forum, so I'm going to consider this CCotD to be for Thursday 9/24/15, and I will try to get another one posted on Friday.
I'm presenting this casino and chip first of my new ones, since we have already talked about the name change from the original "1000 Islands Charity Casino" to "OLG Casino Thousand Islands" as well as the expected next name change as the Ontario Gaming East Limited Partnership begins to exhibit their new ownership of the place.
Since I am now listing a casino with the "OLG" name, I suppose I should go back and edit the index entries for a few other casinos that are properly listed that way. Maybe some time on Friday. I seem to create a lot of busy work for myself.
The original edition of the Gananoque casino opened in June 2002, and rdw4potus presented that Casino Chip of the Day in May 2013, noting that the name had already changed. Unfortunately, I cannot figure out just when the name change took place. OLG has a history page on their web site, showing a lot of stuff from January 2000 to the present, but not what I was looking for. That page does refer to OLG Casino Thousand Islands but only for events after rdw4potus had already verified that the name had changed.
I have only been to the casino one time, and I reported on it that same evening, noting that details of the sale of the casino were to be announced to employees the following day. What I didn't bother to mention was that I came out exactly even on a one-hour session at a $5-minimum blackjack table.
About that same point in this thread, there was some discussion initiated by Ayecarumba's question of currency in use at the Canadian casinos and currency exchange practices. I commented:
Quote: DocYes, I exchanged US to CA at my first casino stop. I was so delighted to be receiving more raw $ in that exchange, that I didn't really focus on the rate. As with several other such places, they offered to fill out a form about the exchange and allow me to convert the opposite direction for the same amount at the reverse rate within 24 hours. It's a customer service thing. I didn't bother, because I knew I would be needing CA$ for other things during the visit. Most of those CA$ will probably vanish at the tables.
It turned out that overall I actually won money during the eight sessions I played in Canadian casinos on this trip. Unfortunately, I lost in all three of the U.S. casinos we visited. Late in the trip, I noticed I was exactly even in nominal dollars, and I considered quitting right then. However, I realized that each Canadian dollar was currently only worth $0.75 U.S., so I was still behind in reality. I played one more session at a Canadian casino, won $30CA and figured that left me just a couple of bucks ahead for real.
As we returned to the states, from New Brunswick into Maine, I expected to convert my remaining cash to U.S. currency after crossing the border. Turns out that at the extreme north end of I-95 there is absolutely nothing on the U.S. side! I could have converted currency on the Canadian side, but I didn't know that I needed to do that until I was talking to the CBP officer.
That night, we stayed in Bangor, and I decided to go to the Hollywood casino there to exchange my currency and have one last evening of entertainment. Yeah, you can all see this coming -- they happily exchanged the currency, then kept $200 in return for amusing me at the craps table. Overall loss for the trip. Bummer.
The souvenir chip is the familiar white RHC Paulson, with two triangular edge inserts in pink/peach and green. The center inlay has only the denomination and the casino name/logo. UV light reveals the hidden Paulson hat and cane logo in the center.
Quote: DocSince I am now listing a casino with the "OLG" name, I suppose I should go back and edit the index entries for a few other casinos that are properly listed that way.
The thread index now shows both versions of the Thousand Islands casino and has the Brantford and Thunder Bay establishments listed properly under "OLG".
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation web site indicates that the current names of their other three OLG casinos are "Great Blue Heron Casino", "OLG Casino Point Edward", and "OLG Casino Sault Ste. Marie". Here's how each of those is currently handled in this thread:
The index says "Great Blue Heron" while rdw4potus posted it as "Great Blue Heron Charity Casino" even though the chip he showed does not include the word "charity." The MoGH site shows chips both with and without the "charity" designation, and I assume those without are the later ones after a name revision. If anyone here ever comes up with a chip that includes "charity" (mine does not), we could post that to represent the "old" casino and ask rdw4potus to delete "charity" from the casino name in his post, making the appropriate adjustments in the index.
The index says "Point Edward Charity", which just deletes the final word "casino" from rdw4potus's post title and the chip he showed us. The MoGH site does not show any chips with "OLG" on them or without "Charity", so I don't know what chips they are using now. If anyone comes up with an "OLG Casino Point Edward" chip, we can post that as a "new" casino.
The index says "Casino Sault Ste. Marie", and that is what rdw4potus's chip says (in addition to "Charity Casino de Beinfaisance"), though in the post header he spelled out "Sainte". The MoGH site, again, does not show any chips saying "OLG", so I don't know whether they exist and offer potential for us to add that "new" casino to the thread some day in the future.
You should know to never tempt the gambling G-ds they will get you every time! Still not a bad loss for a two week trip though.
I find it amusing how the index keeps evolving to accommodate the needs of the thread.
City: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Casino: Red Shores
A bit over a year ago, after I had returned home from Maine, posted my new chips from the casinos there, and commented on Canadian casinos that I had considered visiting on that trip, ChipmanSpiff commented, “There's also a casino at the Red Shores Racetrack in Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island.” I had never heard of that casino before, even though I had visited Charlottetown twice and been within rock-throwing distance (for a better arm than mine) of the casino on each occasion. I immediately added the place to my list of chips to get, and made it there just a year later.
The Charlottetown Driving Park (i.e., a harness-racing horse track) opened in 1889. Its original judge's stand still stands on the inner field, having been restored in 1999. Faced with declining revenues from race wagering, they added gaming facilities, making it a “racino”, and changed the name to Charlottetown Driving Park and Entertainment Center in 2005.
I don’t know what games they had at that time, but the MoGH catalog does show $1 and $5 chips with the name abbreviated as “CDPEC” on the center inlay, so it wasn’t just a slot parlor. (Yes, this means there is an opportunity for someone with one of those chips to add another “old” casino to this thread.)
They changed the place’s name to Red Shores Racetrack and Casino in 2009. That was after my first visit to the city in 2006, so if I had known about the place, I could have stopped by on that first visit and picked up a CDPEC chip myself. Then I could have picked up a souvenir from the “new” casino on my second visit in 2010. Instead, we are left until 2015 for me to get a souvenir and post it. I’m blaming ChipmanSpiff for failing to get the info to me in a timely manner!
The small casino is mostly slot machines, which I didn’t check out at all, with a small table games area. They have five poker tables that were all idle when I visited early on a Monday evening. Their web site describes the games offered as Texas Hold’em and Omaha, with limits, minimum buy-in, and rake described here.
They also have four other tables for players-vs.-the-dealer card games. The web site describes these as blackjack tables, but they have at least one other game that is dealt. When I arrived, only two of those tables were staffed: a $5-minimum blackjack game and what I vaguely remember as a Let-it-ride game. I wasn’t interested in that one, and apparently no one else was either – a dealer with no customers.
They did have a busy table for blackjack, and one player left just as I arrived. Later, more customers arrived for blackjack, and the Let-it-ride dealer closed her table and opened another table for them. I played for just half an hour, and came out $25 ahead. Almost everyone at the table was making minimum bets, with the exception of one player who was betting two to three spots for $100 to $300 each. He looked out of place but didn’t seem to mind his low-roller neighbors. There was a side bet offered, but I didn’t play it and don’t remember what it was.
The chip is a plastic injection molded type in white with pink markings on the outer ring. I’m fairly sure this one is from Bud Jones (and of course the MoGH guide claims that it is), as it is very similar to the chip I posted from the Great Blue Heron Casino, and that one had a BJ logo that was revealed by UV light. Unfortunately, the Red Shores chip has nothing at all that fluoresces. On the center inlay, the denomination is in gold, and the casino name in dark red is repeated three times in a ring, with the repetitions separated by wavy lines that I assume are to invoke images of water at the shore.
Quote: DocNope. I only have one more to post. Three of the casinos that I visited on this trip were casinos from which I have already posted chips: Hollywood Bangor, Nova Scotia - Halifax, and New Brunswick - Moncton. Someone else will need to start posting new chips to get us into the 900s.
Well I might be able to get us there mid October, I'm thinking of taking a last road trip before winter. I would be closing out my IA, IL, SD and ND chips and I think it would leave me with around 7 or 8 chips not in the thread yet. Sadly almost all of the IA chips are posted already.
Quote: PokerGrinderSadly almost all of the IA chips are posted already.
Yes, rdw4potus covered most of them a couple of years ago. So far as this thread goes, I think the sentiment should be "fortunately", not "sadly", even though it limits the number of new casinos/chips you can add to our index this fall. My feeling is that it's nice that we already have them covered!
Now of course, if you haven't been to those casinos before, you can go, play, collect at each of them a different souvenir chip than the one rdw4potus posted, and share those with us when you get home, just not as new CCotD entries.
Quote: DocYes, rdw4potus covered most of them a couple of years ago. So far as this thread goes, I think the sentiment should be "fortunately", not "sadly", even though it limits the number of new casinos/chips you can add to our index this fall. My feeling is that it's nice that we already have them covered!
Now of course, if you haven't been to those casinos before, you can go, play, collect at each of them a different souvenir chip than the one rdw4potus posted, and share those with us when you get home, just not as new CCotD entries.
Haha I meant more in that they won't be able to be added to the already impressive total shared in this thread. I'm not sure if you have made your way to Iowa at all Doc but there is a new Wild Rose casino that opened a couple months ago. I'm not sure if Rdw4potus heard but hopefully he will see it here.
Quote: PokerGrinderI'm not sure if you have made your way to Iowa at all Doc but ....
I've only been to the State of Iowa once in my entire life. In the summer of 1997, I took a long driving trip with my wife and younger son to take him to a H.S. forensics competition in Minneapolis. We lived in GA at the time and took the opportunity to see some sights along the way. After the meet, we headed south on I-35 through Iowa down to Kansas City then east to St. Louis and on toward home.
That was before I started collecting chips (other that the one I had saved from a cruise ship back in 1976), so casinos were not on the agenda for that trip. I suspect I will never collect any chips from the entire mid-west region beyond those I have picked up in MO and IL.
City: La Malbaie, Quebec
Casino: Casino de Charlevoix
I had planned to start this post off by mentioning that this is the last new chip I have to offer to the thread for now, but we seem to have covered that topic a bit earlier today. I’m hoping to add one more chip in the fall and perhaps two new ones in January. Other than that, I’ll be looking to see what chips and casinos other members can show us and tell stories about.
Way back in March 2014, I made a post that discussed several trips I had in mind during which I would be collecting casino chips. One of my comments was:
Quote: DocFinally of relevance to this point in the thread, we have tentative plans for another driving trip in late August during which I hope to get a chip from Casino de Montréal. The real purpose of that trip will be to visit relatives in New Jersey and Massachusetts, but we have in mind to extend the drive to the new casino in Rhode Island and the two in Maine. Then we will hop over into Canada to visit Montreal, Mont Tremblant, and Ottawa. I haven't convinced myself just yet that it's worth the drive all the way up to La Malbai for the Casino de Charlevoix, since it seems the other Quebec casinos to the east don't have real table games with chips.
On the drive home from Ottawa, I think we will do multiple border crossings to hit the casinos in Hogansburg then Gananoque then Verona. I think (not sure) that makes more sense than going to Gananoque first then back up to Hogansburg and down to Verona -- a lot more driving but only one border crossing instead of three that day.
We did take that trip in August of last year, but it didn’t turn out quite as described above. As I noted in my post yesterday with the chip from Red Shores, upon my return home from Maine last year, I made a post that mentioned Canadian casinos that I had considered visiting but did not:
Quote: DocMy original plan for this trip was to head from Maine northwest across the upper tips of NH and VT to visit the casinos in Ottawa and Montreal (and maybe even as far up as Mont Tremblant) to collect chips, heading south from there with stops in Gananoque and (when again south of the border) Hogansburg and Verona. My wife hit the delete button on that idea.
Almost due north from Oxford, there is even a casino with table games at La Malbaie, some 75 miles or so NE of Quebec City.
Yes, it seems that I didn’t have definite plans on the sequence of casino visits, but that didn’t matter, since my wife exercised managerial prerogative to wipe out most of that trip anyway, or at least delay it until this year. What is rather clear from those 2014 comments is that I understood that the Casino de Charlevoix was well off my path to other destinations and perhaps not worth the drive.
Nevertheless, when I had the opportunity this year, I once again did the lunatic-chip-collector thing. After departing Montreal and slipping back into the states to visit our son and daughter-in-law in MA, we headed north again, all the way back up to Quebec City, then east to La Malbaie and the “remote” casino before heading southward once more to Prince Edward Island and the Red Shores casino. It really is amazing how much my wife can put up with.
We stayed at a nice little inn in La Malbaie called La Remontée. It is supposedly within walking distance of the casino, but we didn’t arrive until after dark, and if I was going to risk getting lost in the darkness on the way to the casino, I wanted to be in my vehicle.
After checking in and dropping off our gear at our room, I drove the few blocks over to the casino and discovered that the only parking lots I could find either required some sort of pass card (likely for “preferred” customers) or were completely full. I begrudgingly accepted my wife’s recommendation to take advantage of the you-have-to-pay-for-it valet parking. What that turned out to consist of was the valet moving a cone out of the way so that I could park in one of the spaces right in front of the building. I assumed that he would be moving it to some other lot when he had the chance, but no, it was still parked right there when I came back for it.
Perhaps the parking issue was related to this all happening on a Saturday night. The whole casino seemed to be in a party mood and rather crowded. We were hungry from our drive and started our visit by grabbing a bite in one of the bars. Really wasn’t too bad. Then I went in search of the tables.
I found one seat available at the “cheap” $15-minimum blackjack table (Remember those $5 tables I mentioned at OLG Thousand Islands and Red Shores?), played for half an hour, found myself 20 bucks ahead, and called it a night. We had to get out of our hotel early in the morning to drive up to Saint-Siméon to catch the morning ferry across the St. Lawrence River (or Le Fleuve Saint-Laurent, for those of you who want to get into the local culture) and on toward the south.
My souvenir chip is about as plain as they get, other than those hot-stamped chips. I have no idea who the manufacturer is, and the MoGH catalog doesn’t even make a guess. You will note that (other than the center inlay) it is exactly the same as the Casino de Montréal chip that Tomspur posted and that I recently duplicated. It seems those Quebecers don’t waste money or froufrou on their 1$ cheque designs. I included the image of the chip under UV light to show that once again the background image changes from gold to red. At least the two casinos didn't use the same building for their cheque's background image.
Quote: DocI've only been to the State of Iowa once in my entire life. In the summer of 1997, I took a long driving trip with my wife and younger son to take him to a H.S. forensics competition in Minneapolis. We lived in GA at the time and took the opportunity to see some sights along the way. After the meet, we headed south on I-35 through Iowa down to Kansas City then east to St. Louis and on toward home.
That was before I started collecting chips (other that the one I had saved from a cruise ship back in 1976), so casinos were not on the agenda for that trip. I suspect I will never collect any chips from the entire mid-west region beyond those I have picked up in MO and IL.
There are so many things to do in the Midwest. Mount Rushmore, Deadwood is an amazing little town, Badlands National Park, Wyoming is a beautiful drive and Montana might be the most beautiful place I have ever driven in, which is saying something since I have driven through every state (not Hawaii or Alaska) and most of Canada. Not to mention think of all the casinos :)
Quote: DocCategory: Canada
City: La Malbaie, Quebec
Casino: Casino de Charlevoix
I was definitely surprised by this one, you made it sound like Mrs. Doc wasn't willing to do this chip trip. How much was the ferry, I am assuming you took your car on it? Was the money spent worth saving the 4 hours of driving? I think I know the answer to that one.
Quote: DocI had planned to start this post off by mentioning that this is the last new chip I have to offer to the thread for now, but we seem to have covered that topic a bit earlier today. I’m hoping to add one more chip in the fall and perhaps two new ones in January. Other than that, I’ll be looking to see what chips and casinos other members can show us and tell stories about.
Judging by where you live I am going to venture a guess that the one more chip this fall will be the new Harrahs Cherokee Valley River. As for the 2 in the new year my guess is Scarlet Pearl and the Rotate Black in Gulfport (is that actually the casino name?).
Quote: DocThe fare for the San-Siméon to Rivière-du-Loup ferry, for the vehicle and two senior-citizen passengers, was 79.40CA$, charged to my Visa credit card and converted by my bank to $60.05 U.S. before adding a $1.80 "international transaction fee." That's one more reason I prefer not to use Visa -- my Amex card doesn't penalize me for conducting business out of the country. Unfortunately, some places, such as that ferry, don't accept Amex, so I keep the Visa card on hand.
That isn't horrible priced, I guess I will have to decide when I eventually make that trip.
Odd that Visa charges you to use your card in Canada, I use my Visa in the states all the time and never have been charged a penny (sounds funny saying that since Canada no longer has the penny).
On the other hand, you missed on 100% of your guesses for January. I do have the Scarlet Pearl on my list as scheduled to open in December, but I don't think I had even heard of the Rotate Black in Gulfport. A search revealed this article, from last March which projected a fall 2016 opening and suggested that the place might be called the Hemingway casino resort. I'll need to add that one to my list also.
Edit: Found another article dated just this week that suggests the Gulfport casino might not happen.
Quote: excerpt from cited articleGULFPORT -- The city might be back to square one on a casino for its showcase harbor.
Rotate Black, the company with state site approval for Hemingway Resort and Casino, owes the city $375,000 in back rent.
The City Council wants it collected. The city's urban renewal agency, the Gulfport Redevelopment Commission, has asked for new development proposals for its 3-acre portion of the casino site. GRC terminated Rotate Black's lease almost a year ago because of the overdue rent.
Quote: DocYou are correct that I hope/plan to make it to the new Cherokee casino this fall. It is supposed to open tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. I posted a suggestion that we could have a WoV gathering there maybe in October (I'm not really into hitting the grand opening crowd), but I didn't generate any positive responses. If no one shows interest in that, I'll probably make a one-night, mid-week run up that way with my wife and collect a souvenir before they show much wear.
On the other hand, you missed on 100% of your guesses for January. I do have the Scarlet Pearl on my list as scheduled to open in December, but I don't think I had even heard of the Rotate Black in Gulfport. A search revealed this article, from last March which projected a fall 2016 opening and suggested that the place might be called the Hemingway casino resort. I'll need to add that one to my list also.
Edit: Found another article dated just this week that suggests the Gulfport casino might not happen.
Here I thought I was so smart in figuring them out. So what were the other 2 you plan on hitting?
The cruise is on Carnival, our least-favorite cruise line, but it is going to ports we have never visited. Today I got around to skimming the cruise ticket contract (which I haven't yet clicked off that I accept), and was caught slightly by surprise at one of the paragraphs:
Quote: Carnival Cruise Lines ticket contract, Paragraph 4d(d) It is stipulated and agreed that the aggregate value of Guest’s property, does not exceed $50 USD per guest or bag with a maximum value of $100 USD per stateroom regardless of the number of occupants or bags and any liability of Carnival for any cause whatsoever with respect to said property shall not exceed such sum, unless the Guest shall in writing, delivered to Carnival, prior to embarkation, declare the true value thereof and pay to Carnival prior to embarkation a sum equal to 5% of the excess of such value. If Carnival shall be held liable for the loss of or damage to Guest’s baggage or property it is agreed that such liability shall not exceed the lesser of: (1) the actual cash value, or (2) value declared in the manner above provided (up to U.S. $100 USD if no such declaration has been made). Declared value amounts to be proportionately reduced in any case where less than all of Guest’s baggage or property is lost, delayed or rendered unusable due to damage. In no event shall Carnival be liable to pay any compensation if the nature or value of the property has been misrepresented.
Can you imagine anyone going on a cruise and taking less than $50 worth of personal belongings with them? That's not enough to cover a pair of shoes! Not to mention a full wardrobe, cell phones, jewelry, camera, maybe a notebook computer, etc. Now suppose you wanted to follow their option of declaring that your possessions are worth more than $50. You then have to pay them 5% of that value, just for bringing such tremendous wealth on board with you.
They do have a casino on board. Suppose you wanted to take, say, $1,000 to play in the casino. If you told them up front that your $1,000 bankroll was worth more than the "stipulated" $50, then you would have to give them $50 up front with that declaration. And that's before the normal house edge is even imposed. And that's the kind of contract terms that Carnival imposes on everyone who sails with them.
Did I mention that Carnival is my least-favorite cruise line?
I guess I never really had a shot at guessing those 2 casino chips. Too bad you don't collect from poker clubs because there sure are a bunch of those in Florida.
Quote: DocYou are correct that I hope/plan to make it to the new Cherokee casino this fall. It is supposed to open tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. I posted a suggestion that we could have a WoV gathering there maybe in October (I'm not really into hitting the grand opening crowd), but I didn't generate any positive responses. If no one shows interest in that, I'll probably make a one-night, mid-week run up that way with my wife and collect a souvenir before they show much wear.
Ok, at the time you suggested it, I was going to Vegas. Now, unfortunately, I'm not. But I would be up for an October gathering if you still want to start something. I'd come up for anything not spanning a Tuesday.
Quote: DocI just booked a cruise out of Miami, planning to drive to and from the port. On the way home, if I can work it out, I will stop by the casino day boat out of Jacksonville. I had planned to get that chip when I was in FL this summer, but they changed schedules without checking with me first, and they had no sailings at all on the Monday we were passing through Jacksonville.
Wow nice I didn't know Victory got another boat in JAX. It's overdue, really. People there had to choose between Brunswick GA or Pt. Canaveral for their gambling fix.
City: The Pas
Casino: Aseneskak
I wasn't planning on having anymore chips to post until at least late October but an impromptu trip changed that.
I have taken some extreme and crazy chip collecting trips in the past but there have always been two trips that I knew were quite nuts on a whole other level. Both trips involve collecting from a very out of the way obscure casino. The first one is Diamond Tooth Gertie's Casino in Dawson City, Yukon which involves about a 25 hour drive from Vancouver or a not so cheap flight. The second and much less crazy is Aseneskak Casino in The Pas, Manitoba. The Pas is an Indian reserve in northern Manitoba about a 6.5 hour drive from Winnipeg (where I live). It is about 628 Km each way or 390 miles each way for Americans.
Well yesterday I randomly decided to make this trip. Twice a year Winnipeg holds a poker tournament series for 4 days Wednesday-Saturday, great earning potential for poker pros for the week. However it also means there is absolutely no games worth playing on Monday and Tuesday since your average players are saving their money for the upcoming 4 days. With this in mind I had absolutely nothing to do all of Tuesday, so why not drive 13 hours round trip to feed a hobby? Makes perfect sense right? I think so.
The drive down (technically up since I was going north) was actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I thought that the one lane each way highway would be worn out and bumpy but it was actually quite well taken care of. All the trees have transitioned into fall mode up here and the scenery lining the highways was beautiful. The trees were a mix of orange, yellow, multiple greens and reddish hues. I tried to take some pictures with my iPhone but none of them showed the foliage colours very well.
I got to the casino which from the outside looks like broken down old warehouse with a tipi in front of it (picture available on google images). I was not expecting much after my first impression. I was wrong! The inside of the casino is really nice. The casino slogan is "The Best Little Casino in Canada" and it really might be! The casino opened in March, 2002 but doesn't look more than 3-4 years old. They must take very good care of the place. The casino has 160 slot machines, 2 BJ tables, I want to say a Let it Ride table and 3 poker tables. The casino is owned by the Opaskwayak Cree Nation.
I signed up for a club card when I got there and the girl gave me the card and said you get $10 for signing up today and $25 for being a new member. I didn't quite understand the difference between these two things but who am I to argue with free play. I found a jacks or better machine and won $63.75 off of the free play including hitting quad 4's. I played it down to $60 and cashed out. The BJ table was still being opened so I went to the restaurant and had dinner. Very basic restaurant, food was good and the service was good. Club card gave me 10% off, I am starting to like this card!
By the time I was done the BJ was open so I bought in and within 20 minutes was up $40 and had my 3 chips I keep (one for me, and two buddies who collect but have less strict rules on their collection than me). I tipped the $2.50 extra I had to the dealer and headed out up $100. The drive back was quite easy, pitch black out so no great scenery on the way back. I think the reason that I am able to make these really long drives no problem is because of my sports radio on XM radio, that thing is a life saver.
My expenses for the trip were $94 for gas, gas is more expensive up here, roughly $4.07 a gallon but with the exchange right now that is only $3.06 USD. Also spent around $34 on food and coffees but part of that I would have spent in the city anyways. So total I spent $128, won $100 so -$28, not too bad I think.
I think this is easily my longest chip of the day post, definitely easier when you have just been there and only visited one casino on the trip.
Edit: I forgot to describe the chip. It is an off white Bud Jones chip. The chip has 4 tan edge inserts and 4 tan oval shapes around the chip. The centre inlay has a picture depicting a nature scene. This inlay is very accurate as to what the area in The Pas looks like. I love the look of this chip. The casino name is in black and the denomination in dark red. The chip doesn't have a location on it.
I like the art on the chip. Looks very "Flintsonesque"
Quote: PokerGrinderWith this in mind I had absolutely nothing to do all of Tuesday, so why not drive 13 hours round trip to feed a hobby? Makes perfect sense right? I think so.
Check with rdw4potus -- I think he'll agree so long as his fiancée isn't within earshot.
BTW, nice addition to the thread.
Quote: AyecarumbaWere there a lot of other players there PG? Where do they come from?
I like the art on the chip. Looks very "Flintsonesque"
The BJ table had 4 other players and the let it ride had 3 players. I didn't count but probably 40-50 slot players and the restaurant was packed. The Pas has a population of 5500 and Thompson, MB is only 90 minutes away I believe.
Yes I forgot to mention the artwork of the chip, I will edit that when I get home. One of my new favourites in my collection, it is a very nice looking chip.
Quote: DocProper pronunciation of "Aseneskak"?
Check with rdw4potus -- I think he'll agree so long as his fiancée isn't within earshot.
BTW, nice addition to the thread.
I am actually not sure, I didn't ask and I didn't hear anyone pronounce it while I was there.
I am glad to have the chip but that was a really long day for one chip lol.
As is usually the case with my chip photos, you can see a higher-resolution image by clicking on the one above. If you click on that image (perhaps depending upon your browser), it displays full-size allowing you to scroll the image. Even the "full-size" resolution is marginal for examining individual chips, though it is better than the ones I have posted in the past. All of these chips have been posted individually somewhere in this thread.
The array of my collection now contains 450 chips, with four additional chips received as gifts from forum members shown to the upper right and four "extra" tokens and one "extra" chip to the lower right that are from casinos represented by other chips in the main array.
Some of the old images of this collection are provided below behind spoiler buttons, so you can see the progression if you are interested. Some, but not all of these, have higher-resolution images available if you click on them.
Quote: PokerGrinderThe BJ table had 4 other players and the let it ride had 3 players. I didn't count but probably 40-50 slot players and the restaurant was packed. The Pas has a population of 5500 and Thompson, MB is only 90 minutes away I believe.
Yes I forgot to mention the artwork of the chip, I will edit that when I get home. One of my new favourites in my collection, it is a very nice looking chip.
Just by coincidence, the Flintstones debuted on ABC on September 30, 1960.
Doc the arrangement looks really good. Any idea how many more you can fit? Ideas on what you will do when you have too many? I have trouble looking at the close up of your display cause my OCD says that the chips should all be turned the same way lol.
Ayecarumba that is a funny conincidence.
I am having minor back surgery tomorrow to fix a fracture (short recovery time) so it looks like I should be able to take that chip collecting trip I had planned for mid to late October.
