Quote: PokerGrinderI40 like in Cali? I’d prefer to put together a schedule to complete all of NM and AR, I’ve already been to Phoenix and ABQ in 2012 on a baseball trip.
FWIW, since I couldn't get all the provincial mail codes right, Arizona is AZ. AR is Arkansas.
Quote: beachbumbabsFWIW, since I couldn't get all the provincial mail codes right, Arizona is AZ. AR is Arkansas.
Oops, I’m going to use the Canadian excuse this time.
And, fwiw, there are two casinos in southwestern Colorado that are probably most convenient to get on this trip.
First is my chip from Alhambra Casino in Aruba. This casino has been posted twice before so here is the third chip. I believe based on the condition of my chip that they recently got a new set.
Next up is the Crystal Casino in Aruba that is now owned by Wind Creek who owns the Alabama casinos and Wa She Shu Casino in Nevada. They are still called Crystal but they now use chips bearing the companies name.
Rockn' Jazz (Colombia) which Konbu posted with a $1000 chip, I collected a $5000 chip.
Rio (Colombia) which Konbu posted a $2500 chip, I collected a $5000 chip.
Luckia (Colombia) which Konbu posted a $1000 chip, I collected a $5000 chip.
This next one is a bit tricky. Konbu posted a chip from both Casino Havana and Casino Caribe. I visited both, Caribe no longer has tables and Havana uses Caribe's chips in a casino that is is called Casino Broadway on the door. I haven't quite figured out how I am going to list it for my own records but it will be from either Casino Broadway or Casino Havana for me. (Colombia)
The last chip is from Enjoy Casino Vina Del Mar in Chile. I collected a $2000 jeton that wasn't posted on the chip of the day.
And now we are seeing the images, so thanks for that, PG. I assume that means you are back somewhere with working wi-fi, but I'm not clear on whether that means you are home or just found travel lodging with technology included.Quote: PokerGrinderMy thumb is raw but my South America chips are clean! I am about to figure out which ones have previously been posted and then I will take photos of the remaining ones.
I'll try to find suitable spots in the thread to post links to this recent string of chip images. (Done! I added comments to my posts about the Alhambra and Crystal casinos and to a post I made in the midst of Konbu's posts of Colombian chips.)
Btw not sure if anyone cares but the reason I’m no longer doing NM and AZ collecting this trip is because Desert Diamond won’t have table games for another 6 months and I don’t want to make a return trip for one chip.
Quote: PokerGrinderI got back to Canada about a week ago, I’m just now getting organized with everything. I plan on doing my trip report soon too. I just finished uploading my pictures from Europe last September to Facebook yesterday. It’s not just with chips that I fall behind. My plan was upload South America pictures today, and then start writing my TR.
Btw not sure if anyone cares but the reason I’m no longer doing NM and AZ collecting this trip is because Desert Diamond won’t have table games for another 6 months and I don’t want to make a return trip for one chip.
When I visited, the Desert Diamonds in Tucson and Sahuarita used the same chips. The one in West Valley will use a different set? Damnation.....
City: Mostazal, Chile
Casino: Sun Monticello Casino
Today's chip of the day is from Sun Monticello Casino in Mostazal, Chile. Sun Monticello was formerly called Monticello Grand Casino. The casino currently has 1982 slot machines and 82 table games. The casino closed for 5 months following the 2010 Chile earthquake that caused 10 million in damages.
Chilean casinos are not allowed to be in Santiago so both of the casinos are about 45 minutes outside of the city, one to the north (Enjoy) and one to the south (Monticello). Sun Monticello has a shuttle pick up that will drive you to the casino for 10,000 pesos (each way) which is roughly $15 USD. I got the hostel worker to make the reservation as my Spanish is crap at best. He made the reservation for 6 pm the next day. The next day I took an Uber to where I was supposed to meet the shuttle but it never showed up. Eventually I got sick of waiting and took an Uber back to the hostel. A different hostel worker called for me and found out that they were having trouble with the shuttle and they had tried to call me to let me know. He booked me a spot on the 9 pm shuttle and this time it actually showed up to the meeting spot. It was me and a lady in a van for 42 minutes, they (the driver and the lady) spoke Spanish the whole way, they tried to include me but I couldn't keep up with the conversation.
We arrived at the casino and I paid 1,000 pesos to enter the casino. I walked around the giant casino, got lost and then found my way back to the BJ tables. I waited about 15 minutes for a spot at the 5,000 peso minimum table and then I proceeded to lose 60,000 pesos which is roughly 90 USD. I took the shuttle back to the city around midnight and we were crammed into that van like sardines. The driver originally tried to put me in the third row but my feet wouldn't fit (the joy of size 16 feet) with the seat down so I got to sit in the middle row. We got back to the city and I grabbed an Uber back to my hostel.
The chip is baby blue with 12 burnt orange edge inserts. The denomination appears around the chip 4 times with two triangles between each denomination. The centre inlay is white with the casino name in black, the "M" is shaped like mountains. The casino logo is above the name and the denomination is below it in red.
Quote: AyecarumbaIt's interesting to me that the denomination has a dollar sign. Is that common in Chile?
That was the basis for my discussion of the "big" chip l kept from the casino in Arica.
Quote: PokerGrinderOn the bright side you also have to go back because the Gila River casinos each have their own chips now too lol.
Yeah, I need the Flagstaff one and the one between there and ABQ that's right on the highway, too. I suppose I'll have to test out the new I-11 and drive down to AZ on some future trip to Vegas.
Quote: AyecarumbaIt's interesting to me that the denomination has a dollar sign. Is that common in Chile? Is the casino open 24/7?
Yes it is common and I am not sure about the hours. The google listing says it closes at 6 pm lol so I am going to say that is wrong.
City: Calama, Chile
Casino: Marina Del Sol
Today's chip of the day is from Marina Del Sol Casino in Calama, Chile. Marina Del Sol has 404 slot machines and 21 table games. The entry cost to enter was 3,300 pesos. At the hotel in Calama I was checking where the casino was and found the google listing saying the casino closed at 7. Seeing as the only reason I was staying in Calama for a night before flying to Santiago was to visit the casino I went to make sure I got in even though I couldn't see it closing that early. It wasn't closing and now I had 2.5 hours to kill before the tables opened. Looking back I wish I had went back to the hotel and just paid the entry fee a second time but at the time I thought that was stupid.
I had dinner at the restaurant, I walked around, I vultured some slots and then I walked around some more. At one point I was walking down the giant staircase from the slot area upstairs and fell flat on my face. The bottom stair was twice the size of the other stairs which caused me to face plant. A couple checked if I was ok, I was more embarrassed than hurt lol. The BJ table was supposed to open at 7 but the first hand wasn't dealt until 8:10, nothing happens on time in South America. After vulturing and playing 10,000 minimum BJ I won a whopping 5,000 pesos!
(If this post is terribly written I apologize, I'm currently having trouble keeping my eyes open lol)
The chip is blue with pink marks around the edge of the chip. The fake centre inlay is white with the casino name and logo taking up the majority of the "inlay". The denomination is black.
Nah, they're still clean. It's your money, so I'm all for spending plenty of it.Quote: PokerGrinder...I’m pretty sure Doc sh*t his pants at thought of keeping a chip this expensive lol.
;-)
Quote: PokerGrinderI'm chatting with myself at almost 3 am local time. I want to visit Wa She Shu Casino to collect a chip but 14 hours round trip seems silly for one casino so I have decided to make it more insane to make it less insane, that makes sense right? My plan is to visit 32 California Casinos over 3 days and then Wa She Shu on the last day from Reno to Las Vegas.
I was cross checking the California casinos that I’ll be visiting against the index and I was surprised that there were quite a few that RDW hasn’t visited yet. I thought you had done almost all of California on a few different trips? 13 of the 32 will be new (3 name changes) and then one from Nevada.
Quote: PokerGrinderI was cross checking the California casinos that I’ll be visiting against the index and I was surprised that there were quite a few that RDW hasn’t visited yet. I thought you had done almost all of California on a few different trips? 13 of the 32 will be new (3 name changes) and then one from Nevada.
For about two seconds I had every open casino in the southern 2/3 of the state covered. Then there were openings and name changes & I haven't gone back. It's such a big state & it's hard to make a route that isn't just silly. I guess I could do LA/SD separate from the middle of the state & worry about the north later. So, 3 trips. I need a bunch from northern NV now, too, I think.
On that $127 chip, just buy it without playing. That makes it cheaper than many of the chips we've collected.
Quote: rdw4potus...On that $127 chip, just buy it without playing. That makes it cheaper than many of the chips we've collected.
The silly part of it is that right after PG acquires it, the property will put out their branded $2 chips...
Quote: rdw4potusFor about two seconds I had every open casino in the southern 2/3 of the state covered. Then there were openings and name changes & I haven't gone back. It's such a big state & it's hard to make a route that isn't just silly. I guess I could do LA/SD separate from the middle of the state & worry about the north later. So, 3 trips. I need a bunch from northern NV now, too, I think.
On that $127 chip, just buy it without playing. That makes it cheaper than many of the chips we've collected.
Makes sense, this time around I’m doing a loop of Las Vegas to Bakersfield and then north until I hit almost even with Reno in California at which point I will drive to Reno.
I think I have all of Southern California from the border to Los Angeles except for the casino name change in Jamul near San Diego.
As far as Nevada after I collect Wa She Shu and Terrible’s in Jean my Nevada will be complete for the 3rd straight year.
The $127 chip would be far from the most expensive chip lol. I know exactly which is my most expensive, a certain $1 chip in Wyoming 5 years ago cost me many times the value of the chip lol. I’ll probably just try and win the chip and when I lose a bunch I’ll say eff it what’s another $127 on top of my loss or on the off chance I win then the chip was “free”.
Quote: AyecarumbaHehe... so the $127 chip could potentially cost $500?
Only $500? I’d consider that a win lol.
Quote: PokerGrinderOnly $500? I’d consider that a win lol.
Today's word of the day:
Balla!
I guess you must have talked about this before and I just don't remember the details. I know that I can see the Wa She Shu chips on the MoGH Chip Guide page, but I cannot find anything on the casino's own page that indicates that Wa She Shu even has any table games at all. What's the story again?Quote: PokerGrinderAs far as Nevada after I collect Wa She Shu and ....
City: Rinconada de Los Andes, Chile
Casino: Enjoy Casino
Today's chip of the day is from Enjoy Casino in Rinconada de Los Andes, Chile. Both Casino City and the casino site say that they have 1300+ slots and 50 table games, both these numbers seem quite high but who am I to argue it? I had decided to not go to this casino for two reasons, they don't have a shuttle and I had a feeling that they would be using the same chips as the Enjoy in Vina Del Mar. After visiting the casino in Vina Del Mar and they weren't using Enjoy chips I thought I would probably see if I could find a way to the casino.
My last full day in Chile I took a bus back to Santiago from Valparaiso and checked back into the hostel. I found a bus that goes to a town called Los Andes which is 20 minutes away from the casino which is literally off of the main highway in the middle of nowhere. I took the metro to the bus station, then ditched the ticket line because I wouldn't have made it in time for the bus leaving in 5 minutes. I went straight to the bus figuring maybe I could buy a ticket there, I was right! The bus was 90 minutes to Los Andes and then I ordered an Uber to the casino.
The entry to the casino was 3,300 pesos, I wonder how they decide on these random entry fees. I put my name on the poker list but sadly never got a seat at the table. I vultured a few slots and played 3 hands of BJ winning 27,000 pesos. I left and found out you can't get an Uber to the casino as it's in the middle of nowhere. The service desk said they couldn't call me a cab but I could use the phone to call. I told them I don't speak much Spanish and they pity called me a taxi. The cab was just some random guy in his own car, he got me to the bus station and didn't charge me too much which he could have since I didn't have any other options. I got on a bus going back to Santiago, got off about 15 minutes before the bus station because of a massive traffic jam and Ubered back to the hostel. I survived!
The chip is blue with 3 dark blue/yellow/dark blue edge inserts. The centre inlay is white with the casino name and logo . The denomination is under the name and logo in black.
;-)
With that snide remark out of the way ... Today marks the seventh anniversary of the creation of this thread. A year ago today I noted that I have the intent to commemorate this event each year but that for a long time I have not followed through on that intent with good implementation. I guess I just want to give a little annual update on where we stand in documenting the casinos of the world.
Here are a few recent statistics of this thread, with each year's data up to the anniversary date:
2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
---|---|---|---|
Total chips posted to date | 1,009 | 1,082 | 1,211 |
Chips posted in past year | 93 | 73 | 129 |
Total posts to date | ? | 7,014 | 7,576 |
Thread page | 648 | 698 | 754 |
Total views to date | >1.1 million | 1,249,229 | 1,456,947 |
We still have a total of zero serious arguments or suspensions resulting from this thread, and I hope that continues. In recent years, for a "Chip of the Day" thread, we haven't been getting anywhere close to 365 chips/year. If we could just convince PG to take a break from collecting and just post those duffle bags of chips he already has in hand, maybe we would come closer.
Quote: PokerGrinderCategory: South America
City: Rinconada de Los Andes, Chile
Casino: Enjoy Casino
Today's chip of the day is from Enjoy Casino in Rinconada de Los Andes, Chile. Both Casino City and the casino site say that they have 1300+ slots and 50 table games...
Where do all the people at this casino in the middle of nowhere come from, and how do they get there?
I thought about the same questions when I visited some of the more remote casinos in Nevada. Do people commute 40 miles each way every day to clean ashtrays?
City: Bogota, Colombia
Casino: Crown Palatino
Today's chip of the day is from Crown Casino in Bogota, Colombia. Crown Casino Palatino has 130 slot machines and 14 table games. This was the 3rd Crown casino I went to in Bogota trying to get a chip. The beginning of my trip we flew into Bogota and I tried to go to Crown Casino in Zona T that Konbu went to but it was closed. At the end of my trip when I was back in Bogota I went to Crown Casino in Unicentro Mall but the tables were closed although I won $195,000 pesos vulturing. My third attempt was a success! I went to the Crown Casino in the Palatino Mall and they actually had tables! I played 5,000 minimum BJ and vultured a few machines for a $120,000 profit. The dealer didn't speak much English but I enjoyed her personality.
The chip is grey with 8 white edge inserts and 4 white egg shapes around the chip. The centre inlay is white with the Codere name and logo. If you go to Crown Palatino's website they have the companies logo on the site, I'm not sure if they own the casino or what. I clicked on the logo but it goes to a dead site. The chip has the mall name, the country and the denomination in black.
The casinocity.com site lists four Crown casinos in Bogota: Palatino, San Rafael, Unicentro, and Zona T. If I start with casinocity's page for that last one and take the link from there to the casino's site, it does list the other three, but then further links seem to identify additional casinos. Unfortunately, I don't know Spanish at all, and I can't read the casino's site. Because of the language barrier for me, I will go with PokerGrinder's suggestion at least for now. If Konbu or anyone else has a different suggestion, let me hear it.
City: Cartagena, Colombia
Casino: Masters Royale Casino
Today's chip of every couple of days is from Masters Royale Casino in Cartagena, Colombia. I took a taxi to Master Royale Casino in the Bocagrande area of Cartagena. Masters Royale was formerly Atlantis Casino and the casino was still using the old chips for the 5,000 and 25,000 chips. My options for a Masters Royale chip was 2,500 or 100,000, I chose the cheaper option. I played 10,000 minimum BJ and lost 97,500 of my 100,000 buy in. Masters Royale isn't listed on Casino City so I will just say the casino was small.
The chip is blue with 4 yellow edge inserts. The centre inlay is black with the casino logo and the denomination in the middle circle. The casino name and the location are on the outer circle, all the writing is white. The chip has a few chips out of it, one on each side.
Quote: AyecarumbaLooks like a Swedish flag.
Good catch, it really does!
City: Medellin, Colombia
Casino: San Fernando Casino
No comment on my funny joke in my last chip of the day? Last time I try to spice things up :P
Today's chip of the day is from the San Fernando Casino in Medellin, Colombia. San Fernando Casino was formerly Blue Space Casino and unfortunately they still use the chips from the old casino. This is one of the casinos that I didn't know existed until I arrived in Medellin, it was pointed out to me by my friend and his wife that live locally in Medellin. Casino City doesn't list this casino but it was on the smaller side, a few hundred slots and a dozen table games or so. They also had a poker table that was running short handed when I arrived there late at night. I vultured a few slot machines and played a few hands of BJ for a whopping win of 500 pesos.
The chip is red with 6 yellow/green/yellow edge inserts. There are 6 crescent moons around the centre inlay. The centre inlay is white with the casino name, logo and the denomination all in red.
The chip is a lighter red than the picture shows. This is the downside to using my Iphone to take the pictures.
Quote: AyecarumbaThose are some odd names for casinos. Are there any other casinos named after Saints? And “Blue Space”? Maybe it sounds cool in spanish, but to anyone in the USA, it’s where the cars with disabled person placards get to park.
I just laughed out loud when I read the blue space comment. Love it!
Which casinos are named after saints?
San Manuel
San Pablo
Santa Ynez
Augustine
Maybe there’s more than I thought, but in a predominantly Catholic country like Colombia, I thought they would be more sensitive to causing offense.
This is one of those cases where I would normally list this chip differently than you have done it. I would have posted this chip as coming from the Blue Space Casino and noted that the name (but not the chips) had changed to San Fernando. Then, if you or someone else were to visit the casino in the future and found that they had finally gotten new chips, we could have both the Blue Space Casino and the San Fernando Casino represented in the thread.Quote: PokerGrinderSan Fernando Casino was formerly Blue Space Casino and unfortunately they still use the chips from the old casino.
I spent quite a while trying to get both Texas Gambling Hall and Texas Station Gambling Hall included in the thread. And take a look at my post for the Kura Hulanda casino in Curaçao.
For now at least, I have this indexed the way you posted it, in spite of what the chip says.
Oh, and was there a funny joke included with your previous chip post?
;-)
I thought it was a funny joke lol.
City: Medellin, Colombia
Casino: Hollywood Casino
Today's chip of the day is from Hollywood Casino in Medellin, Colombia. This is another casino that I didn't know existed in Medellin and I'm not surprised as Casino City and MoGH both don't know that the casino exists. Hollywood Casino was newer looking and nicer than the other casinos. They had 300 or so slots (that's my story and I'm sticking to it) and 20+ table games. I didn't write down the table minimum but I think I played 5,000 minimum as I lost 2,500 so that makes sense.
The chip is light green with 18 pink edge inserts. The centre inlay is beige with an unidentifiable design behind the casino name and logo. The denomination and location are both black.