Quote: PokerGrinderYou guys are so picky.
It's not exactly that we are picky. It's more that you provide us with the motivation, the opportunity, and the ammo with which to razz you!
But thanks for the new image, PG. I have now added Ho Wah Genting to the thread index.
City: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Casino: Riverking
Today's chip of the day is from Riverking Poker room in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This poker room is small with only 4 tables but it is run really well. I played there 4 or 5 times over my time in Phnom Penh. They have an attached hotel where players can stay for $10 a night which I did for one night when I came back from Sihanoukville. All food and drinks (alcohol included) are free while you are playing and they have a cage where you can safely keep money if you are there for an extended period of time (casinos do this in Vegas too). The poker room isn't legal but at the same time it isn't illegal. The owner of the room is "connected" and cops aren't allowed to bother him at all. All the guys running the room are originally from North America with local dealers and servers. The room also runs hourly promotions like high hands, splash pots and other giveaways. The games were really soft when I was there, I don't know if I would stay for a long time though as I think I would get bored of Phnom Penh eventually.
The chip is white with 12 black edge inserts. "$1" and spades alternate around the chip in black. The centre inlay has a green laurel wreath with the denomination in red and "poker" in black in the middle of the wreath.
City: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Casino: Riverking 2
Today's chip of the day is from Riverking Poker room in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This poker room is small with only 4 tables but it is run really well. I played there 4 or 5 times over my time in Phnom Penh.
I guess I shouldn't just reuse the previous chip post because of the names being the same (almost).
Today's chip of the day is from Riverking 2 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This poker room is not owned by the same people as the original Riverking. Basically it was opened a few months ago by one of the former owners as a f*ck you to the original RK. I didn't get the whole story but basically there was a fight that ended with one of the owners getting booted to the curb. Said owner (who is a billionaire) opened a new room to screw over the original RK and he even named it the same thing. He runs better promotions and offers 5 star food for free at his poker room. I was told that he doesn't care if the room loses money, he just wants it to be better than the other one. I played 2 sessions at RK2 and won almost $1000 including $400 off the owner.
The chip is white with 6 sets of 2 baby blue edge inserts. There are 3 crowns between the sets of edge inserts. The centre inlay is white with a crown that has the casino name in it. "RK' is on either side of the crown in grey and the denomination is in red.
Quote: PokerGrinderI’m thinking I’m going to drive down to Vegas for spring fling next year. I was looking into it and I have one Minnesota chip, 2 Iowa, the new Kansas Casino, 5 or 6 new Oklahoma Casinos, Poker club in Houston, Kickapoo lucky eagle in Texas and then I would do all of New Mexico and Arizona on my way to Vegas. Now here is where I have to decide how stupid I want to get. On the way back I can drive north through California and do anywhere up to 100 casinos which is insane plus Oregon and Washington that I haven’t done yet. The other option which is more sane but less fun is to head home through Colorado where I could grab 2 chips. Most likely going to be Cali/Oregon but I have to decide how stupid I want to be. I feel like I should pick a section of California to do. So many stupid choices so little time.
Oh, good lord. That is an epic itinerary. OK to Houston to Eagle Pass to Albuquerque has gotta be 30 hours of driving for 2 chips (2 chips more than just driving from OK to ABQ). If you do the Cali trip & you don't drive a loop, you kind of need to pick between the I-5 and US 101. I have a soft spot for the card clubs along 101, but the collecting is probably easier along I-5.
Quote: DocMy wife complains about the chip-chasing trips that I drag her on, so I had to read PG's post to her -- just to let her know how much worse life could be. She just shook her head.
Yep, compared to that trip, the drive around lake Michigan sounds perfectly sane! almost...doable:-)
RDW adding the 2 Texas chips on the way from Oklahoma to New Mexico only adds 12 hours not 30 lol. My reasoning is when will I be back in that part of the county? It’s not like I make a point of visiting Texas very often. I haven’t been to Texas since 2012.
For the California part I actually have it mapped out where I could do a path going north that hits all of the California rooms north of LA. I very likely won’t hit all 100 or so because that is absolutely nuts but I’ve done nuts before so... who knows?
Aye I’ve actually done a trip through all of California with my dad back in 2012 so I’ve seen a ton of the state. Is there anything in California that you would suggest I visit? I’ve been to all the major cities except San Jose and I’ve been to Palm Springs.
Doc you’re welcome. See Pat your husband isn’t so bad.
Rdw Pat is going to have to hit you again for bringing up Michigan.
Quote: DocPG it has been 3 days since we last had a chip posted, are you taking another break?
Doc can you get off my back already? I have been busy making money to pay the bills, these trips don't pay for themselves.
(This obviously isn't a real quote but I assume it is what Doc was thinking)
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: Bao Mai
Today`s chip of the day is from Bao Mai Casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Sihanoukville is a beach town that has been overrun with casinos that are being built by the Chinese. The first casino I stopped at was the Bao Mai Casino where the Riverking poker room from Phnom Penh would be opening their new poker room the next day. I played $10 baccarat and all the staff at the Chinese casino were very amused by the white guy playing baccarat. They were even more amused that I knew all the rules to the game, not that the rules are difficult. After I played a few hands the dealer gave me a $10 free play but said it had to bet on banker for some reason. Luckily the next hand was banker so I won the free play hand. I left after winning $45 plus a chip.
When the poker room opened the next day they were using the same chips that they use in the poker room in Phnom Penh so that made it easy for me to decide which chip to collect. Since I left the poker room was sold to the casino and they now use different Bao Mai chips for poker than they do in the casino. If I ever return to Sihanoukville which is very possible I will have to figure out what to do about that.
The chip is white with 6 brown edge inserts and "BM" between the inserts 3 times. The centre inlay is green with... well I'm not really sure what that orange blob is. Part of it looks like a crown but I'm not sure what the crown is on. The denomination is over top of the mystery blob. There is a bar code on the bottom of the inlay which is weird for a casino chip, especially of such a low denomination. I wonder why they would bother to put it there?
Quote: PokerGrinderDoc can you get off my back already? I have been busy making money to pay the bills, these trips don't pay for themselves.Quote: DocPG it has been 3 days since we last had a chip posted, are you taking another break?
(This obviously isn't a real quote but I assume it is what Doc was thinking)
Now why would I have been thinking that (i.e. that "it has been 3 days...."? I don't feel as though I would think thoughts like that unless they were true. And the truth is that at the time PG made that FakeNews quote attributed to me, there had been a gap of more than four days and ten hours since his most recent chip post. If I were going to hassle PG, I would use the full ammo available to me.
;-)
Quote: PokerGrinderCategory: Asia
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: Bao Mai
...The chip is white with 6 brown edge inserts and "BM" between the inserts 3 times. The centre inlay is green with... well I'm not really sure what that orange blob is. Part of it looks like a crown but I'm not sure what the crown is on. The denomination is over top of the mystery blob. There is a bar code on the bottom of the inlay which is weird for a casino chip, especially of such a low denomination. I wonder why they would bother to put it there?
Is the “blob” supposed to be half a globe with a crown on top of it?
If I put barcodes on my chips, I would use them to speed up their sorting and counting in the back, as well as tracking the drop in the front. A scanner in the chute would rack and report real time numbers to security and the management. Of course this means every chip would need a code, even the smallest denomination.
Quote: PokerGrinder
...Aye I’ve actually done a trip through all of California with my dad back in 2012 so I’ve seen a ton of the state. Is there anything in California that you would suggest I visit? I’ve been to all the major cities except San Jose and I’ve been to Palm Springs...
There are some really neat things in California:
-- The oldest living thing in the world - A Bristlecone Pine tree that is almost 5,000 years old.
-- The highest point in the "Lower 48" United States - Mt. Whitney
-- The lowest point in North America - Badwater Basin
-- The tallest tree in the world:
-- Hearst Castle - But I understand you don't enjoy museums.
-- The original Tommy's, home of the best chili cheeseburger in the world.
-- El Tepeyac, home of the 5+ pound "Manuel's Special" burrito.
-- Big Mama's and Papa's Pizzaria - They have a 54"x 54" pizza that they will deliver. They also offer a $1000 usd prize for an eating challenge.
-- According to Cardplayer.com, the three largest poker rooms in the world: Commerce, Bicycle and Hawaiian Gardens.
Quote: PokerGrinderI’m thinking I’m going to drive down to Vegas for spring fling next year. I was looking into it and I have one Minnesota chip, 2 Iowa, the new Kansas Casino, 5 or 6 new Oklahoma Casinos, Poker club in Houston, Kickapoo lucky eagle in Texas and then I would do all of New Mexico and Arizona on my way to Vegas. Now here is where I have to decide how stupid I want to get. On the way back I can drive north through California and do anywhere up to 100 casinos which is insane plus Oregon and Washington that I haven’t done yet. The other option which is more sane but less fun is to head home through Colorado where I could grab 2 chips. Most likely going to be Cali/Oregon but I have to decide how stupid I want to be. I feel like I should pick a section of California to do. So many stupid choices so little time.
Lucky Eagle is in the middle of nowhere. I can take the bus for $25 and get $20 in free play. But then I get bored after a few hours especially if I lose. Then I'm stuck there having no fun. :(
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: The New Macau
Today's chip of the day is from The New Macau Casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The New Macau casino was next door to where I was staying so I paid them a visit on my way back to the hotel. I played $10 baccarat and won $9. The tables were so large that the dealers had these giant paddles to bring in and push out chips after each hand. It seems like it way make a lot more sense to just make the tables smaller but what do I know?
The chip is white with a bunch of yellow designs around the outside of the chip, possibly a diamond? The centre inlay is shiny silver with the casino logo and name in black. There is also some Chinese (I assume) writing that I assume says the casino name. The denomination and "cash" are in gold.
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: Golden Sands
Today's chip of the day is from the Golden Sands Casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. This is the casino hotel that we stayed at while we were in Sihanoukville. It was relatively cheap and the room was nice but small. I only went to the casino at the hotel once and that was to collect a chip. I played $10 baccarat and won $8.50 in my short visit. The casino was on the smaller side and it was quite empty during the day when I was there. There was a poker room on the second floor of the hotel but the day that I tried to get into a game they were having trouble starting a table so I played elsewhere.
The chip is one of the nicer ones that I collected in Sihanoukville. The chip is blue with 6 white edge inserts that connect to the centre inlay that gives it a really cool look. The centre inlay is black and blue with the orange Golden Sands logo and the denomination in white.
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: Ya Duo Li
Today's chip of the day is from Ya Duo Li (Ya-Dol-Ee) (I also saw signs spelling it Yadoli) Casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. I played 1/1 no limit poker for a really boring 30 minutes. I don't know how these guys were possibly having fun, they might as well have been playing limit poker. I won $10 and racked up. This poker room and casino was in the same building as tomorrow's chip of the day. It was kind of odd having two competing casinos in the same building and if they aren't competing why make them separate casinos? There are no rules on how many tables or slots you can have in Sihanoukville.
The chip is light blue with 3 sets of 2 white edge inserts. There are 8 white crowns (I assume?) around the centre inlay. The centre inlay is purple with the casino name and logo taking up the top half of the chip. The logo has some Chinese letters that I obviously can't read, where is Konbu when you need him? The denomination is in red on the bottom half of the inlay.
You can see on the edges of the chip it is quite chewed up. It looks like someone or something was chewing on it.
Quote: AyecarumbaThese are neat. A refreshing change from the usual dice or card suits. I wonder why crowns are such a popular motif? Is royalty a big thing in Cambodia?
They have a king but I don't know if that would matter when they are catering to the Chinese population.
Quote: PokerGrinderThey have a king but I don't know if that would matter when they are catering to the Chinese population.
I don't think the Royal family is quite the same as other countries. Certainly not as revered. The country, Cambodia, is run by the I guess the just re-elected Prime Minister including the casino licenses. Some friends are in Snooky now so I'll get an update next week.
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: Bao Long
Today's chip of the day is from the Bao Long Casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. I visited this casino right after playing poker at Ya Duo Li Casino as they are in the same building, I'm not sure why. I took the escalator upstairs to Bao Long and played $10 baccarat. Again I had an audience since I was the white guy playing baccarat. The pit boss and dealer were amused by me and were very happy to entertain me during my short visit to their casino. I won $33.50 and headed on my way.
The chip is pink with 4 small white edge inserts and 4 large white inserts. The centre inlay is purple with a white wreath (that's what it looks like to me at least) around the inlay. There is some Chinese writing between the wreath halves and the casino logo in the middle. The denomination is yellow and the $ sign is red. The chip's edges are chewed up like Ya Duo Li and a few others that I will post later on. I don't know what could be causing what looks like teeth marks on chips.
Quote: PokerGrinderCategory: Asia
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: Bao Mai
I came across this image of a sign from the Bao Mai casino:
"No Durians" is enough of a problem to merit a call out? Is it a problem there? Did you try eating Durian PG?.
Quote: Ayecarumba
"No Durians" is enough of a problem to merit a call out? Is it a problem there? Did you try eating Durian PG?.
Durian apparently spoils fast and is actually prohibited in many hotels, all airlines, etc.. As for hats, even baseball type of caps, I ran into this prohibition in Phnom Penh as well. I plead I had bad eyes and the glare bothered me to no avail. You might notice no mention of "no smoking". Amazing how many Chinese smoke including in elevators and casino's.
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: Lion city Casino
Today's chip of the day is from Lion City Casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. My first night in Sihanoukville my buddy Eric texted me and told me there was a decent poker game at Lion City last time he was in Snooky so I walked over to check it out. All the table games were closed and I found that weird, until the casino ended up closing 7 days later and the next time I played poker there all the slot machines were gone. Even with the slot machines being gone the poker boss still insisted the casino wasn't closing, he was wrong! I played poker for a few hours, ran terrible and managed to only lose $300.
The chip is brown with the suits around the chip twice. The centre inlay is silver with the Lion City name and logo with the denomination and cash below it in black. The edges of the chip are a little chewed up but not as bad as some of the others I collected in Snooky. I really want to know what causes these marks on the edges of the chips, they look like they have been jammed in something.
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: Ri Yue Xin Casino
Today's chip of the day is from the Ri Yue Xin Casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The casino is right next door to Lion City Casino so I stopped in late at night after my poker session. I play 3 hands of $20 Baccarat, won $28 and headed back to my hotel. The casino was almost empty as it was the middle of the night, I'm surprised that it is worth it for them to stay open 24/7.
The chip is purple and the same make as the Ya Duo Li chip that I posted a few days ago. The chip has 3 sets of white edge inserts and 8 crowns around the chip. The centre inlay is multi coloured with the casino logo taking up most of the inlay. The denomination is in white with a red border. The casino name isn't on the chip in English or any other language which is very odd to me.
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: New Mei Gao Mei Casino (New MGM)
Today's chip of the day is from the New Mei Gao Mei Casino AKA New MGM Casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The official name of the casino is New Mei Gao Mei but all the signage inside of the casino and the chips just say New MGM. As well the casino uses the MGM lion logo, they have no connection to the MGM casinos in the US and Macau. I played $10 baccarat and won $9, I don't remember the inside of the casino at all. The joys of hitting and running when I'm mass collecting chips.
The chip is a very neat one. The chip is blue with 4 sets of white and yellow edge inserts. At the bottom of the chip is the serial number "U0774", this seems very odd for a $1 chip. The centre inlay is white with a partially green border. The casino name and logo is on the top half and the bottom half has the denomination in black. Now the part of the chip that I think makes this chip very neat is the part around the inlay. It is clear plastic (or whatever the chip is made of) that you can see right through the chip. You can even see the pieces that hold the inlay to the outside of the chip. The chip isn't overly heavy but from what I can see the inlay is at least partially a metal slug. The edges of the inlay inside of the plastic have a copper look to it.
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: White Sand Palace
Today's chip of the day is from the White Sands Palace in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. I made a very short visit to this casino. I played $20 baccarat and lost $91. Most of the tables were $50 minimums or higher and they even had a high stakes area that I was told that I wasn't allowed to go into. This casino hotel was more of a resort style casino hotel than the rest of Snooky.
The chip is light green with 4 sets of black edge inserts. The bottom of the chip has the number "0460" etched into it. The centre inlay is a couple of different colours, starting blue then shifting to pink with white in the middle. The casino logo is very tiny, so small in fact that it is almost impossible to read. The denomination is black under the logo.
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: Oriental Palace Casino
Today's chip of the day is from the Oriental Palace Casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. I stopped at this casino after a drunk night out on the town following the Riverking poker room pool party. I figured that I would knock one more off my list before sleeping off the alcohol. I played $10 baccarat and left up $45, if I remember correctly I played until I lost a hand and then cashed out. Not surprisingly I don't remember much about the casino, I wonder why...
The chip is brown with 4 white edge inserts with 2 orange lines on each. The centre inlay has a white rim around it that looks like a gear. The centre inlay has a picture of male and female lion statues. The crest above the black denomination is most likely the casino logo/crest. The writing on the bottom of the inlay is the casino name in English and most likely Chinese. These casinos make the writing on their chips so small that it's impossible to read it.
Quote: PokerGrinderCategory: Asia
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: White Sand Casino
...they even had a high stakes area that I was told that I wasn't allowed to go into...
Was a reason for the prohibition provided? Las Vegas gambling areas have to allow access to the public or have special monitoring set ups for gaming officials. I doubt Cambodia would have the same rules, but could be wrong.
Maybe they weren’t fans of the team on your jersey?
Quote: PokerGrinderCategory: Asia
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: Oriental Palace Casino
Today's chip of the day is from the Oriental Palace Casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. I stopped at this casino after a drunk night out on the town following the Riverking poker room pool party. I figured that I would knock one more off my list before sleeping off the alcohol. I played $10 baccarat and left up $45, if I remember correctly I played until I lost a hand and then cashed out. Not surprisingly I don't remember much about the casino, I wonder why...
The chip is brown with 4 white edge inserts with 2 orange lines on each. The centre inlay has a white rim around it that looks like a gear. The centre inlay has a picture of male and female lion statues. The crest above the black denomination is most likely the casino logo/crest. The writing on the bottom of the inlay is the casino name in English and most likely Chinese. These casinos make the writing on their chips so small that it's impossible to read it.
Who picked the Cleveland Browns colors for their chips? Don’t they know they are cursed?
Are the lion statues in the picture in Cambodia? Singapore has a lion creature as their national mascot.
Edit: The statues are in Cambodia:
Quote: Traveltriangle.comLocally known as Vimean Tao Meas, the Golden Lion statue in Sihanoukville, was constructed in 1966. The statue consists of two shiny golden lions. The lion stands proud with his mouth wide open, while the lioness looks calm, composed and compassionate. Local people believe that, this statue represents the political scenario of Cambodia. The dominating lion represent the vehemence that affected the country over the years while the calm and serene one symbolises Khmer’s inner tranquillity and content. Located at the traffic circle, between Sokha and Ochheuteal beaches, Golden Lion is one of the most important monuments in Cambodia.
As far as the high limit gaming area. It was on the main floor with no indication that it was private, ie being roped off or anything. A security guard asked me to not go any further when I kept walking.
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: La Vogue Casino
Today's chip of the day is from La Vogue Casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. This was one of the casinos I didn't know existed but I found as I explored every street in the area to find all the casinos. Some of the streets that I walked didn't produce anything but this one did luckily. La Vogue is built around all the backpacker hostels down by the docks. It looks quite new and it's on the fancier side. I think they are catering more to the Western travelers as they had BJ and there limits were all very low. I played $2 BJ and won $20. I visited this place again a couple of days later with Eric so that he could collect a chip.
The chip is one of the nicer ones from Asia. The chip is light blue and the same style as the Chipco brand. There are 3 orange diamonds and some darker blue lines and bubbles around the chip. I call them bubbles because the chip makes me think of water and waves. The centre "inlay" is grey with the casino logo taking up the majority of the chip. The casino name and denomination are black.
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: Fortuna Casino
Today's chip of the day is from the Fortuna Casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. I played poker at this casino and walked away up $250 after a hour. The game was really good as it was filled with these South Koreans that had no idea what they were doing. The problem was that the rake was capped at $20 per hand which is basically unbeatable when the guys were all buying in for $100-$150 each time. If their was a North American style rake I would have played that game all night.
The chip is a 12 suits mold in white and has 3 purple edge inserts. The casino name and logo takes up the majority of the inlay. The denomination is red and there is a black "C" that I assume means this is the 3rd set of chips? Or not, who really knows.
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: WM Casino
I tried to post this chip yesterday but my internet crapped out and I wanted to go to bed.
Today's chip of the day is from the WM Casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The WM Casino is brand new and extremely nice looking from both the inside and outside. I played outsides on roulette and lost a couple of dollars. The poker games looked good but they didn't have any seats open and the 2/5 rake was complete insanity. I decided to continue on with my night of collecting instead.
The chip is light brown and is either a brick wall or a brick road, you can decide. The chip has 4 "1's" on the corners of the centre inlay (yes I know that a circle doesn't have corners). The top 2/3 of the centre inlay is black with the casino logo on it. The bottom 1/3 of the inlay is metal gears I think with the denomination in white. It is a pretty neat cheap if only because it is different. The chip is completely smooth and the "inlay" is just for show.
Any clues as to what “WM” stands for?
“Wild Monkeys”?
“Washing Machine”?
“West of Macau”?
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: Kompong Som City Casino
Today's chip of the day is from Kompong Som City Casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. I left the new and beautiful WM Casino and walked over to the old, dingy, dark and sad Kompong Som City Casino. The casino looked like it had it been there for quite a while. It is one of the few casinos that MoGH has a page for in Sihanoukville which I think proves how long it has been there. I played $10 baccarat at Kompong Som City and I lost $41. Despite how dingy the casino is they were quite busy when I was there.
The chip is quite faded but I think it was originally a redish brown but it also looks a bit orange. The chip has 8 grey edge inserts. I have seen this chip before, heck I probably have one of these but I don't feel like looking through 740 chips. The centre inlay is white with the casino logo and name taking up the majority of the inlay. Cash is in black and the denomination is red.
Also aren’t you impressed how often I have been actually posting chips? Me too!
Yes, you have been keeping me busy updating the index. I have been having some difficulty with the index because there seems to be some kind of problem with the edit/save function of forum software not really performing properly. I encountered the problem over a month ago and have only observed it in the long posts of this thread's index. I reported it and followed up as the "complaint" got relayed to other people, but still there has been no fix. Guess I need to follow up again.Quote: PokerGrinderAlso aren’t you impressed how often I have been actually posting chips? Me too!
Quote: PokerGrinderCategory: Asia
City: Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Casino: Kompong Som City Casino
Today's chip of the day is from Kompong Som City Casino in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. I left the new and beautiful WM Casino and walked over to the old, dingy, dark and sad Kompong Som City Casino. ...
For some reason, I really like this chip. My imagination is sparked thinking about the life stories of all the hands it has passed through; many happy, and some sad.