Rio is now offering the “Repeaters” side bet at craps. I might not have the name quite right – I have never played the bet and don’t think I have even seen it before this trip. I expect there is a WoO write-up about it, but basically you can wager on any or all of the possible dice rolls except the 7. If that specific number is repeatedly rolled enough times before a 7, you win that bet. Two rolls are required for a 2 or 12 to win, three rolls for 3 or 11, and so on up to six rolls for the 6 or 8. The payouts range from 20-for-1 for wagers on 2 or 12 up to 90-for-1 for wagers on 6 or 8. I do not know the limits, but I saw wagers from $1 to $10 on individual numbers.
Near the end of my playing time, I was just a couple of dollars ahead for the session, and I was trying to play conservatively so that the dice could make their way around to me one more time. At that point, I think I was up $30, and that was all I wanted to place at risk on my final hand. It was a $10 minimum table. I placed a $10 pass wager, set a point of 10, played single odds and placed my “last available” $10 on the 4, just to be whimsical.
Then I started what might be considered a “monster” roll for just that one point. It took me at least a half hour before I finally made that point, and it might have been a good bit longer. After the fact, I wished I had checked the time and counted my rolls.
During that period, I hit the repeater bet on at least five of the numbers, and I hit the 8 at least twice, meaning I rolled 8 at least a dozen times even before I made the point of 10. There was one player at the other end of the table who had $10 on each possible number (overall a wager of $100) and he cleaned up – several $900 payouts (three, I think) and more $400 payouts. I have no idea what the total payout was to him or any of the other players. What I do know is that I didn’t roll the 4 a single time and finally got a $30 payout when I made the point. Up until then, it was as if I could roll any number except for the dreaded 7 and the two outside numbers I had bets on. The other players were going a bit wild. At least I got my exercise. I set a second point (don’t remember what it was), eventually rolled a 4 and out of frustration said to press it to a $25 buy bet. Soon afterward, I rolled that nasty odd number in the middle. The table was in bedlam, and it was as if I wasn’t a participant in the wagering except for being the one flinging the bones.
Really a surrealistic experience.
My wife and I will be heading home on a flight at 11:30 tonight, so our Nevada adventure is coming to an end.
Quote: AyecarumbaThanks Doc! Very interesting. Was the big player tipping on wins?
Going back to Virginia City, I hope you didn't miss out on exploring Carson City in your push south. I thought the State museum there was very interesting, but Mrs. Carumba got a little claustrophobic in the mine.
From my experience both dealing and the very little that I've played baccarat there are very few tips if any left for the dealer.
That's a heck of a roll you were on, (pun intended) too bad you weren't betting more. Sounds like you and Mrs Doc had a fun trip.
City: North Las Vegas
Casino: Texas Station Gambling Hall
This post contradicts what I stated in this thread a few days ago when I said my recent chip collecting would not lead to a new Casino Chip of the Day post because the casinos had all been covered before.
Way back in August 2012, when I posted my souvenir chip from the Texas Gambling Hall in North Las Vegas, I introduced the post with a long string of situations in which I might collect a chip from multiple casinos that had occupied the same site or a casino that had operated under multiple names, and I included examples. I specifically did that as a way of explaining that the Texas Gambling Hall had changed its name to the Texas Station Gambling Hall some years before I collected the souvenir, but they were still using chips with the old name. I pondered how I should handle that situation and eventually concluded that I would consider these to be two different casinos -- with and without the word "Station" in the name -- and I would cover the old version in that post. I suggested that whenever they started using new chips, one of us should post a new Casino Chip of the Day.
I have returned to the casino several times looking for a $1 chip with the new name. Well, more than five years after my earlier post and more than twenty years after the change in the casino's name, the great majority of the chips at that establishment, including all of their $1 chips, still do not show the new name of the casino. I think the only chips with the new name are a small variety of $3, $5, and $25 commemorative chips of various designs.
When I visited the casino last weekend, I decided to keep a souvenir $5 chip in order to bring to some conclusion my earlier suggestion. I saw several of the $5 commemorative chip designs in play, and I decided to keep what I thought was a commemorative chip for the "Grand Opening" of the casino under the new name. I was mistaken. It is a commemorative chip for the Grand Opening of the Martini Ranch, a bar that opened in 1999. I don't know the history at all, but according to the casino's web site, they now have a martini bar, but it doesn't operate under the name Martini Ranch. Anyway, I have a chip with the current name of the casino.
When I initially looked at this chip under UV light, I wasn’t certain whether anything was fluorescing or not. Yes, the entire outer rings seemed brighter, but I wasn’t sure whether that was fluorescence or just reflection of visible light coming from my UV bulb.
Upon much closer observation (after seeing that the MoGH chip guide attributed the source of this chip to Bud Jones), I noticed the fluorescing BJ logo just to the left of the word “Station” on the UV image of the first side of the chip shown below. Yes, it appears that MoGH got it right once again!
Also the Gila River Casinos (Arizona) are no longer all using the same chips. Each casino has their own chips now which I am happy with. I hate when multiple casinos use the same chips.
Quote: PokerGrinderThanks for the chip post Doc, I should get around to posting my new chips before I turn 50.
Also the Gila River Casinos (Arizona) are no longer all using the same chips. Each casino has their own chips now which I am happy with. I hate when multiple casinos use the same chips.
That makes you happy? Now I have to back to Phoenix. Phoenix is a crap hole.
Quote: rdw4potusThat makes you happy? Now I have to back to Phoenix. Phoenix is a crap hole.
I haven't done Arizona yet, I only have 2 chips from the state which includes the Gila River chip.
If you check that previous image post, it has a link to an earlier post, and by continuing in that manner you can review history back to when the count was just 216. I had worked my way up to 285 chips by the time I started this thread. Some of those earlier photos included some "extras" to the side of the array -- a few gift chips I have received as well as tokens from the same casinos as were represented by chips in the array. I still have those extras, but they are not included in this latest photo.
As with most of my chip photos, if you click on the image below, you should get a new tab or window in your browser with a larger version of the image -- that one has roughly six times as many pixels in each direction. (Warning for slow connections: that is a 13.5MB file.) If you click on that larger image (depending on your browser), you should see it full-size and be able to scroll around it. At that magnification, you can probably recognize the chips and identify the casinos, but the resolution still isn't good enough for examining individual chips. Providing individual images is a big part of what this thread is all about.
I just considered that one a souvenir from the ship, not part of a collection to come. The first step in collecting was the Bellagio chip -- centered vertically in the array but about three chips horizontally left of center. I think I told the story of that when I posted the chip image in this thread.
It is rare that the count of chips matches exactly with the array I have chosen, but it worked out just right this time. A few of my chips are a millimeter or so larger in diameter than the others, but I can never remember which ones. It isn't obvious at all when looking at them in the array, but it becomes quite obvious when I stack them to take them off the desk before rearranging the set. And, of course, the tokens are smaller in diameter than the chips.Quote: rdw4potusTo my naked eye, this array appears to be geometrically perfect. This raises two questions: 1. are these chips really all the same size? Some of mine are oversized. I guess I've been to WI and MI and you haven't (yet...).
As I have posted similar images in the past, I have often received responses to the effect, "You're going to need a bigger desk!" In the post (with a photo of 471 chips) from August 2016 that I linked with this latest photo (of 484 chips), I included a nerdy description of the plan for being able to fit 624 chips into the same black area of the desktop. That means there is still room for an additional 140 chips in the center. Around the perimeter (though not shown in the latest photo), I currently have five gift chips and 13 "extras" (12 tokens and 1 chip) from casinos also represented in the main array. If I ever exceed the 624 total, I can alter the use of that perimeter area.Quote: rdw4potus2. How many more chips can you fit? This current configuration appears to cover all of the center section of the desk.
Just a month before that August 2016 photo, I had posted not only the image with 461 chips, but also all nine of the previous images, so you really don't have to click back very far to see the full recorded history.
You will note that I have long had a habit of selecting arrays that have the chips in rows that are horizontal, vertical, and at roughly 45 degrees to horizontal. The current array is not quite closely-packed, with each chip touching the four chips around it, but it's starting to get close. An example of a closely-packed 45 degree array is illustrated below:
You can see in this illustration that even when the chips are touching each other, there is a fair amount of open space (unused desktop) between them. If I want to get the maximum number of chips onto the available area of the desk (without letting them overlap), they should be in a true closely-packed array with the diagonal rows at 30 degrees or 60 degrees to horizontal instead of 45 degrees. Each chip (except the ones on the perimeter) should touch six other chips instead of four. Take a look at the illustration below to see the impact on unused space. That's how I have in mind to get 624 chips onto the desktop, if I ever expand my collection to that point. Does this make it clearer how so many more can fit?
Quote: DocIt just occurred to me that there might be a better way to explain why it will/would be possible for me to fit so many more chips on my desktop than might seem possible when one looks at an image of my current collection. First, I will repeat here behind a spoiler button the smaller image of the current collection -- you can go back a page if you feel the urge to click to the hi-res/huge version.
You will note that I have long had a habit of selecting arrays that have the chips in rows that are horizontal, vertical, and at roughly 45 degrees to horizontal. The current array is not quite closely-packed, with each chip touching the four chips around it, but it's starting to get close. An example of a closely-packed 45 degree array is illustrated below:
You can see in this illustration that even when the chips are touching each other, there is a fair amount of open space (unused desktop) between them. If I want to get the maximum number of chips onto the available area of the desk (without letting them overlap), they should be in a true closely-packed array with the diagonal rows at 30 degrees or 60 degrees to horizontal instead of 45 degrees. Each chip (except the ones on the perimeter) should touch six other chips instead of four. Take a look at the illustration below to see the impact on unused space. That's how I have in mind to get 624 chips onto the desktop, if I ever expand my collection to that point. Does this make it clearer how so many more can fit?
I showed this to Molly. Her first reaction was to say "That's a lot more chips! He should go to Upper Michigan! There's a lot of casinos there!" It's a sign.......
Quote: rdw4potus...I showed this to Molly. Her first reaction was to say "That's a lot more chips! He should go to Upper Michigan! There's a lot of casinos there!" It's a sign.......
I think it's a directive...
Quote: rdw4potusI showed this to Molly. Her first reaction was to say "That's a lot more chips! He should go to Upper Michigan! There's a lot of casinos there!" It's a sign.......
It's beautiful up there this time of year!
Quote: rdw4potus (Attributed to the Mrs.)"He should go to Upper Michigan! There's a lot of casinos there!"
Quote: IbeatyouracesIt's beautiful up there this time of year!
Quote: rdw4potusI just want to clarify to Mrs. Doc that this idea came from Mrs RDW. There is no reason to smack Mr. RDW at any future date. Or at least, this is not that reason...
The Mrs. on this end suggests that this is the wrong time of year for this couple of southerners to be heading to Michigan.
On the other hand, we will be just as far north as part of Michigan (tho not the upper peninsula) in just two weeks, when we visit a little town known as Rome, Italy. Then, in very late November, we will visit Minnesota.
That last item refers just to a brief visit to the interior of facilities at MSP during a layover on our way back home from southern California. And that depends upon Delta providing more reliable service on flights as booked than they did for our recent trip to Nevada. For that trip, we did not get to fly on three of the four booked segments, and the fourth one was way behind schedule. And that's after I paid for first-class, round-trip tickets six weeks in advance, so I don't really know what to expect from them for a trip the last week of November.
Back to the topic allegedly suggested by Mrs. RDW, I think it would take one heck of a sales pitch for me to convince the Mrs. that a tour of MI, WI, MN, Dakotas, or such should be on our priority list. I don't know that we will even make it back to Detroit to replace that one chip I lost track of after playing in the casinos there.
Quote: KonbuState: Washington
City: Auburn
Casino: Muckleshoot Casino
The last chip I'm presenting is the one I remember the most about. Perhaps it was because I drove there on the night before my flight home, and it was raining really hard and made for a treacherous 20 mile drive. Or maybe it was the walmart-like atmosphere of the place. Going into the casino from the garage, there's a wide path/ramp that slopes down toward the casino. It felt like walking onto a river boat casino. Once inside, there are 6 long rows of table games, to include 6 or 8 craps tables. Their website states they have over 70 tables and 32 poker tables. It is also NON SMOKING!
As for the chip, there's Mt. Rainier in the center inside a dreamcatcher. I don't know why the name is Muckleshoot "II". The website states the casino was opened in 1995. Perhaps they expanded? But they make no mention of it. Maybe someone knows.
This is all I have for now. I also collected from Tulalip from WA, and Starlight, Fraser Downs, and River Rock from BC, which have already been covered. Fraser Down was doing remodeling when I was there in November. Starlight had a little posh feel to it with the red color. River Rock felt airy with the high ceiling, and the craps table was also lively with $5 CAD minimum which was right up my alley. The dimsum restaurant next to it, Sea Harbour, was excellent. It was as good if not better than the good ones in the San Francisco bay area.
I collected chips from both Muckleshoots since they are different licenses. Doc could you get either Konbu or Babs to change this post to Muckleshoot II as I will be posting the other Muckleshoot chip as a chip of the day?
City: St. Albert, Alberta
Casino: Century
Today's chip of the day is from the newly re-branded Century Casino in St. Albert, AB. This casino was formerly known as Apex Casino until it was bought by Century Casinos Inc. on June 30, 2016. The casino officially became Century Casino St. Albert on October 1, 2016. The casino is about a 20 minute drive from downtown Edmonton.
Century Casino has 388 slot machines and 11 table games. I visited once previously in 2014 the first time that I visited Edmonton. Obviously at the time it was known as Apex Casino. The layout of the casino is exactly the same although I could tell that they have definitely done some work making the interior much nicer. Eric and I stopped at Century before leaving Edmonton and heading north. We got there while they were still opening the tables so we walked around for a bit. Once the tables were open we played a couple hands of BJ, won $10 each and got out of there. I can say that I probably will never step foot in that casino again unless the name changes again as they don`t offer anything (poker) that would bring me in.
The chip is a blue Bud Jones (as per MoGH) with four edge inserts with smaller inserts below them. I wasn`t sure what to call them so that is what I am going with! The centre inlay is black with the Century logo on the top right of the inlay. The denomination, and the words Century and St. Albert are in white while Casino is in grey. Seems odd that they have a different colour for the words but it is a nice chip. I like the way the black inlay looks with the blue chip, very complimentary.
Quote: PokerGrinderQuote: KonbuState: Washington
City: Auburn
Casino: Muckleshoot Casino
The last chip I'm presenting is the one I remember the most about. Perhaps it was because I drove there on the night before my flight home, and it was raining really hard and made for a treacherous 20 mile drive. Or maybe it was the walmart-like atmosphere of the place. Going into the casino from the garage, there's a wide path/ramp that slopes down toward the casino. It felt like walking onto a river boat casino. Once inside, there are 6 long rows of table games, to include 6 or 8 craps tables. Their website states they have over 70 tables and 32 poker tables. It is also NON SMOKING!
As for the chip, there's Mt. Rainier in the center inside a dreamcatcher. I don't know why the name is Muckleshoot "II". The website states the casino was opened in 1995. Perhaps they expanded? But they make no mention of it. Maybe someone knows.
This is all I have for now. I also collected from Tulalip from WA, and Starlight, Fraser Downs, and River Rock from BC, which have already been covered. Fraser Down was doing remodeling when I was there in November. Starlight had a little posh feel to it with the red color. River Rock felt airy with the high ceiling, and the craps table was also lively with $5 CAD minimum which was right up my alley. The dimsum restaurant next to it, Sea Harbour, was excellent. It was as good if not better than the good ones in the San Francisco bay area.
I collected chips from both Muckleshoots since they are different licenses. Doc could you get either Konbu or Babs to change this post to Muckleshoot II as I will be posting the other Muckleshoot chip as a chip of the day?
I edited konbu's title to add the "II", made no other edits.
Doc will have to make the necessary changes to the index.
Did I understand your request correctly? I'm guessing you want to make a separate post for a different Muckleshoot chip, and a separate index listing for both, with the original title pointing to your chip, and a Muckleshoot II index to konbu's post.
Quote: PokerGrinderCategory: Canada
City: St. Albert, Alberta
Casino: Century
...The chip is a blue Bud Jones (as per MoGH) with four edge inserts with smaller inserts below them. I wasn`t sure what to call them so that is what I am going with! The centre inlay is black with the Century logo on the top right of the inlay. The denomination, and the words Century and St. Albert are in white while Casino is in grey. Seems odd that they have a different colour for the words but it is a nice chip. I like the way the black inlay looks with the blue chip, very complimentary.
Could this be a Matsui product? I like the blue/black combo too. Is there lettering (denomination) on the outer edge?
City: Fort St. John, British Columbia
Casino: Chances
Today's chip of the day is from the Chances Casino in Fort St. John. There are 10 Chances Casinos in B.C but this is the only one that currently has table games. The casino has 178 slot machines as listed on Casino city but the tables are so new that they don't them listed. From memory they had a poker room that wasn't open but I think they had 2-3 poker tables, I didn't go in so I don't know for sure. The Chances website doesn't list how many tables, just that they offer 3 card poker, BJ, roulette and UTH. My memory is foggy but I would say that they had between 8-12 tables all together. We played BJ and won $50 each. I then found something that I have never encountered and highly doubt that I ever will again. I went to cash out and I asked the cashier for 100's, her response was can I give you 50's I have no 100's... I said "you have no 100's in your entire cage?" to which you responded "correct". I laughed and took 50's, how does a casino which offers table games where you can bet hundreds of dollars per hand/spin not have 100 dollar bills lol?
The chip is the same style as yesterday's and is also listed on MoGH as a Bud Jones model. It is a blue chip with 8 small white edge inserts with alternating larger inserts and denominations under them. The centre inlay is white with the chances logo (not sure what it is supposed to be) on it. The casino name, location and the chip denomination are all in black.
City: Fort McMurray, Alberta
Casino: Boomtown
Today's chip of the day is from Boomtown Casino in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Fort Mac is known for being one of Canada's biggest oil hubs. I have always heard that Fort Mac has a lot of gambling, drugs, drinking and after hours entertainment. This is not surprising when you have mainly male workers who are away from their families and are making absurd amounts of money. Obviously there is much more to the city, these are just the things that I have been told about living up there from people who I have met that work up there. The casino started out as a roaming charity casino in 1978 before it found a permanent home in 1990. The casino has been in it's current location since 2000. Boomtown has 450 slot machines, 11 table games and 2 poker tables in a small but nice poker room.
We spent one night in Fort Mac in September and played poker for most of the night. The games were as good as we had been told, as well the poker room rules were as insane as we had been told. All told I think I was up about $700 on the night but sadly that was the last time that I would be up on the trip.
The chip is once again attributed to Bud Jones, does the chip guide just say that everything is made by BJ if they don't know who made the chip? Anyway, the chip is blue with 4 edge inserts that alternate in colour, brown/white/brown/white/brown. The centre inlay is slightly lower than the outside of the chip. It is hard to notice by looking at it but it is very noticeable by feeling the chip. The centre inlay is white with the casino name in red and the denomination in black. The chip doesn't list the location.
The rake was high but other than that I can't remember, sorry.
City: Quesnel, British Columbia
Casino: Billy Barker
Today's chip of the day is from the Billy Barker Casino in Quesnel, BC. The city name is pronounced kwe-NELL. Quesnel is a small town at only 10,000 people in Northern BC. The city is very nice with large murals painted across entire buildings and they paint all there fire hydrants to look like little people. Check it out here
The casino became Billy Barker Casino sometime between 1997 and 1999 after originally being the Royal Casino in the Billy Barker Inn. The casino is quite small having only 132 slots, 3 table games and a poker table. We played a little BJ midday and broke even. The casino building is made to look like an old cruise ship. It is really a neat building.
The chip is attributed to who would have guessed it, yes Bud Jones again! The chip is off-white with 6 light blue edge inserts with alternating denominations and larger rectangles underneath the inserts. The centre inlay is white with the casino logo, I am going to take a not so wild guess and say that is supposed to be Billy Barker. The casino name is in black and the denomination is over the logo in red.
Quote: AyecarumbaThe hydrants are hilarious. We have pretty strict laws around here regarding the color and paint on hydrants, probably because there are so many teens interested in tagging their moniker on them.
I love them, they are such a small town type of thing. You are in the LA area?
City: Surrey, British Columbia
Casino: Elements
Today's chip of the day is from the Elements Casino in Surrey, BC. I visited this casino once before when it was Fraser Downs Casino. The name was officially changed on December 17, 2015. The casino is part of the horse-track and features 469 slot machines and 22 table games. Eric and I each lost $30 playing Free Bet Blackjack, we didn't stay too long, just long enough to donate some money and for Eric to have a sandwich. The casino looks like it has had quite a few upgrades since my last visit in 2014. The new look is very nice and looks like a brand new casino.
The chip is off white and a Bud Jones model. The chip has three what I would call burnt orange layered edge inserts, although MoGH calls the colour rust. Between each set of inserts is the denomination. The centre inlay is white with the Elements logo (the red dots make a "E"). The casino name and denomination are in black and at the bottom is the casino slogan. I don't have many chips that have slogans like that on them.
City: Prince George, British Columbia
Casino: Treasure Cove
Today's chip of the day is from the Treasure Cove Casino in Prince George, BC. The casino opened in September of 2004 and has 501 slot machines, 6 table games and 2 poker tables. They don't have an actual poker room, instead the two poker tables are at the end of the table games pit. There is also a large bingo room in the casino.
We played poker during our one night in Prince George. The games were decent but nothing exceptional. They play 1/2 and there wasn't a single player with any abilities at either table. I wound up a small loser on the night due to losing 4 separate all ins pre-flop. (I didn't get it in bad on any of them)
The chip is a white Bud Jones with 4 black/pink/black edge inserts that each have a larger black rectangle under them. There is a "1" between each set of inserts. The centre inlay is sand coloured on the outside and white on the inside. The casino logo is in the middle, the denomination in green below that and the location in blue below that.
Was there a min/max buy-in for the 1/2?
Quote: AyecarumbaWhat is the white area behind the logo supposed to be? It reminds me of the mushrooms from Mario Brothers.
Was there a min/max buy-in for the 1/2?
I have no idea really but it is the same on both sets of chips they have used in the casino and for every denomination.
The buy in I think was 100/300 min and max.
Quote: PokerGrinder...The buy in I think was 100/300 min and max.
Wow, that surprises me for a small joint in the middle of nowhere.
City: Kamloops, British Columbia
Casino: Cascades
Today's chip of the day is from the Cascades Casino in Kamloops, BC. Cascades Casino opened on August 20, 2015 and replaced the Lake City Casino that closed when Cascades was ready to open. This is the second of three Cascades Casinos in BC. The first opened in Langley in 2005 and the third one opened in Penticton earlier this year but I will get to that one tomorrow. The casino has 508 slot machines and 25 table games/poker tables. If I remember correctly the poker room had 4-5 tables but the list was too long to bother sticking around and our hotel was in Penticton so we wanted to get back on the road. We played BJ and I think won $30 each but I could be wrong as it was late at night.
The chip is an off white Bud Jones model with 3 red/grey/red edge inserts. After a second look I think the Grey might actually be navy blue but it is really hard to tell. I put the chip under a very strong light and I am leaning towards it being navy blue. Each insert has a long red rectangle underneath it and the denomination between each set of inserts. The centre inlay is white with the Cascades logo taking up the majority of the inlay. The denomination and casino name are in black. I have noticed that all the BC chips that I have posted recently have an off white chip with a proper white inlay, I wonder why they use two different whites for the same chip.
I think I have everything spelled correctly and have the links working, but please feel free to check behind me.
City: Penticton , British Columbia
Casino: Cascades
Today's chip of the day is also from Cascades Casino but this one is in Penticton, BC. We made a quick visit to this version of Cascades as it was the end of an extremely long day and we wanted to find our hotel and grab some sleep. We broke even playing $5 double deck BJ, I won almost $100 on a few slots that I AP when I find them and then we headed out to grab some sleep. The casino is on the smaller side with 300 slot machines and 6 table games.
The chip is a white Bud Jones (I am guessing based on what the others like this were) with 4 sets of 3 black edge inserts, each with a black rectangle underneath. There is a "1" between each set of inserts. The centre inlay is white with the logo taking up most of it. The denomination and casino name are in black. This chip is very similar to yesterday's but with different colours. I really like this chip with the black and white. I have said before that I love chips that are all or mostly black and white as they play off each other well. This is one of my favorite chips in my collection.
A nice diversion for a couple of weeks. We flew to Rome and hopped a ship for Fort Lauderdale, with a few stops in between. Have a similar trip in the eastward direction booked for next spring.Quote: PokerGrinderHow was your trip and where did you and the mrs go?
Only picked up one new chip along the way -- from the casino on board the ship. I'll post it in six months or so after you get your current set completely posted. It's nice to have a regular stream of input to the thread once again.