Casino Chip of the Day
January 12th, 2022 at 2:36:14 AM
permalink
State: Texas
City: Dallas
Casino: Texas Card House
Today's chip of the day is from Texas Card House in Dallas, Texas. Texas Card House is the only real brand amongst all the poker rooms across Texas. They currently have 4 locations. Houston did have 52 Social and 52 Social South but then they sold the original and the Shuffle brand just opened up their second location in Dallas with their first being in Austin but for the most part each room is a one off to the best of my knowledge. Texas Card House unlike yesterday's chip is legally allowed to operate. I don't fully understand what the difference is between the two since technically all gambling in Texas is breaking the law but TCH's business is less illegal I guess is a good way to put it. Obviously this is mostly based on the info I get from players and workers at the clubs.
I waited a little bit to get a seat on the 2/5 game but the game was pretty solid. I played for 3 hours and the group of guys were amusing as they were having a very lively discussion about Gamestop as this was right after the Gamestop short squeeze. I ended up a few hundred dollars and then headed out as I am pretty sure that was the day I met up with a local friend to go see a Rangers game at the new ballpark.
The chip is white with 5 large and 9 small blue edge inserts. I am very confused why the odd number of small edge inserts, I was expecting an even number when I started counting them and realized they came in pairs until they didn't. The centre inlay is white with a blue border. There are 4 blue suits and they are all attached to the blue border which is also the poker room logo. I love that the location and a mini logo are inside of the club, this was easily the nicest of the chips from the 3 Texas Card House locations that I visited. The poker room name and the denom are in the middle of the chip in blue.
City: Dallas
Casino: Texas Card House
Today's chip of the day is from Texas Card House in Dallas, Texas. Texas Card House is the only real brand amongst all the poker rooms across Texas. They currently have 4 locations. Houston did have 52 Social and 52 Social South but then they sold the original and the Shuffle brand just opened up their second location in Dallas with their first being in Austin but for the most part each room is a one off to the best of my knowledge. Texas Card House unlike yesterday's chip is legally allowed to operate. I don't fully understand what the difference is between the two since technically all gambling in Texas is breaking the law but TCH's business is less illegal I guess is a good way to put it. Obviously this is mostly based on the info I get from players and workers at the clubs.
I waited a little bit to get a seat on the 2/5 game but the game was pretty solid. I played for 3 hours and the group of guys were amusing as they were having a very lively discussion about Gamestop as this was right after the Gamestop short squeeze. I ended up a few hundred dollars and then headed out as I am pretty sure that was the day I met up with a local friend to go see a Rangers game at the new ballpark.
The chip is white with 5 large and 9 small blue edge inserts. I am very confused why the odd number of small edge inserts, I was expecting an even number when I started counting them and realized they came in pairs until they didn't. The centre inlay is white with a blue border. There are 4 blue suits and they are all attached to the blue border which is also the poker room logo. I love that the location and a mini logo are inside of the club, this was easily the nicest of the chips from the 3 Texas Card House locations that I visited. The poker room name and the denom are in the middle of the chip in blue.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 13th, 2022 at 12:32:11 AM
permalink
State: Texas
City: Houston
Casino: Lonestar
Today's chip of the day is from Lonestar Card House in Houston, Texas. Texas is already getting interesting because poker rooms close and open so frequently there that the chips get moved around and also it is hard to find much info online about the poker rooms. I visited this poker room in Houston, Texas but the chip guide has this chip listed as being from Conroe, Texas 45 minutes north of Houston. That version of the club is listed as opening and closing in 2017. I visited the Lonestar Poker Club (not card house) earlier this year. I visited this club twice, the first time they were closed but it's escaping me as to the reason. The second time I showed up they were about 45 minutes from starting a game of 5/10 limit Omaha Hi/Lo which I am not a pro at but I can still hang in there with a bunch of old guys who are even less skilled than I am. I played for a few hours to collect a chip and had a really good time as it is a small family run poker room with 3 tables. They provided a home cooked meal to the players but it looked less than appealing so I obtained. I wish I had known about the history of this poker chip because I would have asked the owner for the story behind the chips and the club they came from originally.
The chip is white with 8 grey edge inserts, 4 small and 4 large OR it is a grey chip with 8 white edge inserts, either could be true. The center inlay is a shiny blue/grey colour with the poker room name and the chip denom in silver. The 4 suits on playing cards are above the name.
City: Houston
Casino: Lonestar
Today's chip of the day is from Lonestar Card House in Houston, Texas. Texas is already getting interesting because poker rooms close and open so frequently there that the chips get moved around and also it is hard to find much info online about the poker rooms. I visited this poker room in Houston, Texas but the chip guide has this chip listed as being from Conroe, Texas 45 minutes north of Houston. That version of the club is listed as opening and closing in 2017. I visited the Lonestar Poker Club (not card house) earlier this year. I visited this club twice, the first time they were closed but it's escaping me as to the reason. The second time I showed up they were about 45 minutes from starting a game of 5/10 limit Omaha Hi/Lo which I am not a pro at but I can still hang in there with a bunch of old guys who are even less skilled than I am. I played for a few hours to collect a chip and had a really good time as it is a small family run poker room with 3 tables. They provided a home cooked meal to the players but it looked less than appealing so I obtained. I wish I had known about the history of this poker chip because I would have asked the owner for the story behind the chips and the club they came from originally.
The chip is white with 8 grey edge inserts, 4 small and 4 large OR it is a grey chip with 8 white edge inserts, either could be true. The center inlay is a shiny blue/grey colour with the poker room name and the chip denom in silver. The 4 suits on playing cards are above the name.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 14th, 2022 at 1:21:33 AM
permalink
State: Texas
City: Houston
Casino: Star's
Today's chip of the day is from Star's Poker Club in Houston, Texas. I found out randomly while in Houston that this poker club called Star's that had shut down a year or two earlier was re-opening under new ownership on April 5. I wasn't able to find when the original Star's opened or closed but that is not uncommon with the poker market in Texas. Poker rooms in the bigger cities come and go every few months it seems as there are way too many rooms for them to all survive. I collected from 18 poker rooms in the general Houston area which is way too may even for a city of that size. I didn't go for any of the 10 am grand opening promotions as I like to sleep in more than I wanted a chance at the $100-$250 that they were offering the first table of players to show up.
I got there around 3 pm and there were 3 tables going. They waived my daily fee which I would say 30-40% of the rooms did when they found out I was visiting from Canada and at $5-$12 a poker room I probably saved almost $200.I bought chips at the cage and sat down at an open seat in a 1/3 game. I guess I should mention that Texas poker is slightly different than other places as they run a few styles of games. They sometimes but rarely offer straight holdem, the next and most popular I found is Holdem with a PLO bomb pot either every dealer change, every time the bomb pot button and the normal button reach the same player (around every 9 hands) or both. PLO bomb pots are when everyone antes $5 or whatever is agreed upon and then receives 4 cards to play PLO. The dealer then puts out 2 flops and then action starts as it does in a normal game after the flop. After betting is done the dealer puts a turn card for each board, another betting round and then a river to each board followed by one more betting round. Any remaining players table their hands and the pot is awarded to the winners of each board. So if one player wins one board and another wins the other board then the pot is chopped two ways. It gets messy when you have multiple people with the same hand on one of the boards but the dealers were good for the most part. Also if you have the best hand on both boards you just get the whole pot, I hope that made sense to non poker players. The third game offered is ROE or round of each where the table plays Holdem for orbit of the table (each player's button) and then PLO for an orbit and rinse and repeat. The fourth option is straight PLO and the last game that is offered is straight bomb pots meaning every hand is a bomb pot. The reason that people like and want to play bomb pots is because they create an insane amount of action. I even found one club that wouldn't allow us to play PLO bomb cause they didn't want their one table to break. I personally really enjoyed PLO and PLO bomb pots because although I am a better Holdem player than I am PLO the average player at these clubs were MUCH worse at PLO than they were at Holdem. One other thing I should mention about the clubs in Texas is that quite often drinks (non alcoholic) and small snacks were free. A few places offered them for very cheap.
Back to Star's I sat at the game where we were played Holdem with a bomb pot every orbit. The game was very friendly and as every game in Texas was, it was soft meaning the players were bad. Due to the legalities of poker in Texas all clubs are supposed to take a hourly rate from players not rake from the game as rake isn't legal but some of the clubs don't care and rake anyways. They do this because they make much more with rake and that is the only way for the small places to survive. The downside to this is that is how and why they get shutdown. Star's was taking a rake from each hand using the tip chips that were in play. The reason I am mentioning this is when I bought in they gave me 20 $1 tip chips to use for tip but also in the normal game. I was sad about this as I really didn't want to keep a tip chip as my collecting chip. Most clubs either had tip and normal chips or just let players tip using the normal chips, this was the only place I found that used the tip chips in game. Luckily when I sat down I noticed a few players had the odd white $1 chip which is an actual $1 chip meant for play. I was able to trade a player for his and that is the chip that kept.
This post got really long and I probably should have just made a post about Texas poker and the card rooms before I started posting the chip of the days. I already did it this way and I am too lazy to separate it so this is what you guys get lol. Hopefully it doesn't sound too rambly as it is 3:17 am and I am half asleep.
The chip is white with 4 dark blue triangles and 4 turquoise lines that go into the centre inlay. The centre inlay is grey with the casino name in turquoise, orange/yellow and then white in descending order. There are 5 yellow stars above the casino name and the denom is below it in black. One upside to them using tip chips in play is that the normal $1 chips were in pretty good condition due to lack of use.
City: Houston
Casino: Star's
Today's chip of the day is from Star's Poker Club in Houston, Texas. I found out randomly while in Houston that this poker club called Star's that had shut down a year or two earlier was re-opening under new ownership on April 5. I wasn't able to find when the original Star's opened or closed but that is not uncommon with the poker market in Texas. Poker rooms in the bigger cities come and go every few months it seems as there are way too many rooms for them to all survive. I collected from 18 poker rooms in the general Houston area which is way too may even for a city of that size. I didn't go for any of the 10 am grand opening promotions as I like to sleep in more than I wanted a chance at the $100-$250 that they were offering the first table of players to show up.
I got there around 3 pm and there were 3 tables going. They waived my daily fee which I would say 30-40% of the rooms did when they found out I was visiting from Canada and at $5-$12 a poker room I probably saved almost $200.I bought chips at the cage and sat down at an open seat in a 1/3 game. I guess I should mention that Texas poker is slightly different than other places as they run a few styles of games. They sometimes but rarely offer straight holdem, the next and most popular I found is Holdem with a PLO bomb pot either every dealer change, every time the bomb pot button and the normal button reach the same player (around every 9 hands) or both. PLO bomb pots are when everyone antes $5 or whatever is agreed upon and then receives 4 cards to play PLO. The dealer then puts out 2 flops and then action starts as it does in a normal game after the flop. After betting is done the dealer puts a turn card for each board, another betting round and then a river to each board followed by one more betting round. Any remaining players table their hands and the pot is awarded to the winners of each board. So if one player wins one board and another wins the other board then the pot is chopped two ways. It gets messy when you have multiple people with the same hand on one of the boards but the dealers were good for the most part. Also if you have the best hand on both boards you just get the whole pot, I hope that made sense to non poker players. The third game offered is ROE or round of each where the table plays Holdem for orbit of the table (each player's button) and then PLO for an orbit and rinse and repeat. The fourth option is straight PLO and the last game that is offered is straight bomb pots meaning every hand is a bomb pot. The reason that people like and want to play bomb pots is because they create an insane amount of action. I even found one club that wouldn't allow us to play PLO bomb cause they didn't want their one table to break. I personally really enjoyed PLO and PLO bomb pots because although I am a better Holdem player than I am PLO the average player at these clubs were MUCH worse at PLO than they were at Holdem. One other thing I should mention about the clubs in Texas is that quite often drinks (non alcoholic) and small snacks were free. A few places offered them for very cheap.
Back to Star's I sat at the game where we were played Holdem with a bomb pot every orbit. The game was very friendly and as every game in Texas was, it was soft meaning the players were bad. Due to the legalities of poker in Texas all clubs are supposed to take a hourly rate from players not rake from the game as rake isn't legal but some of the clubs don't care and rake anyways. They do this because they make much more with rake and that is the only way for the small places to survive. The downside to this is that is how and why they get shutdown. Star's was taking a rake from each hand using the tip chips that were in play. The reason I am mentioning this is when I bought in they gave me 20 $1 tip chips to use for tip but also in the normal game. I was sad about this as I really didn't want to keep a tip chip as my collecting chip. Most clubs either had tip and normal chips or just let players tip using the normal chips, this was the only place I found that used the tip chips in game. Luckily when I sat down I noticed a few players had the odd white $1 chip which is an actual $1 chip meant for play. I was able to trade a player for his and that is the chip that kept.
This post got really long and I probably should have just made a post about Texas poker and the card rooms before I started posting the chip of the days. I already did it this way and I am too lazy to separate it so this is what you guys get lol. Hopefully it doesn't sound too rambly as it is 3:17 am and I am half asleep.
The chip is white with 4 dark blue triangles and 4 turquoise lines that go into the centre inlay. The centre inlay is grey with the casino name in turquoise, orange/yellow and then white in descending order. There are 5 yellow stars above the casino name and the denom is below it in black. One upside to them using tip chips in play is that the normal $1 chips were in pretty good condition due to lack of use.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 14th, 2022 at 11:55:26 PM
permalink
State: Texas
City: Houston
Casino: Paramount
Today's chip of the day is from Paramount Social Club in Houston, Texas. This was an interesting club in that they actually tried to be a social club not just a poker room although the poker obviously dominates. They have pinball machines, pool tables, arcade games and a place to play gin or chess as well. There were 20+ poker tables including the tournament tables. I got to the club during their big monthly tournament on the first Saturday of the month so I had to come back later that night when the cash games were actually running. I played a few hours of Holdem with bomb pots but the table never got filled so we continually played shorthanded which annoyed the other players.
The chip is baby blue with 8 edge inserts, 4 blue and 4 white. The centre inlay is blue with the logo dominating the space. The middle of logo looks like a bull head and the horns come together to make a spade. 4 playing cards with suits are coming out the side of the bull. The chip denom is baby blue on the skull, the club name is white and black under the logo. It says cash twice above the logo to differentiate between cash and tournament chips.
City: Houston
Casino: Paramount
Today's chip of the day is from Paramount Social Club in Houston, Texas. This was an interesting club in that they actually tried to be a social club not just a poker room although the poker obviously dominates. They have pinball machines, pool tables, arcade games and a place to play gin or chess as well. There were 20+ poker tables including the tournament tables. I got to the club during their big monthly tournament on the first Saturday of the month so I had to come back later that night when the cash games were actually running. I played a few hours of Holdem with bomb pots but the table never got filled so we continually played shorthanded which annoyed the other players.
The chip is baby blue with 8 edge inserts, 4 blue and 4 white. The centre inlay is blue with the logo dominating the space. The middle of logo looks like a bull head and the horns come together to make a spade. 4 playing cards with suits are coming out the side of the bull. The chip denom is baby blue on the skull, the club name is white and black under the logo. It says cash twice above the logo to differentiate between cash and tournament chips.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 15th, 2022 at 9:37:44 PM
permalink
State: Texas
City: Houston
Casino: South Houston
Today's chip of the day is from the South Houston Poker Club in Houston, Texas. South Houston Poker Club opened in 2019 and is somehow still open. When I got to the club on Saturday at 2 they had no players even though they are supposed to have a game at noon. When I got there the owner was elbow deep into some crawfish outside talking to a player. I asked about the game and he said that it would start soon and that they had a bunch of players coming. The game didn't start for at least another hour but I was leaving Houston after the weekend and didn't want to chance not getting a chip. I pushed to start shorthanded as they clearly didn't have many players coming. We eventually got 3 players plus myself and started with 4 players. We got up to 6 or 7 players but it seemed like everyone only had one buy in so when they lost they left. I stayed for 2 hours and donated a couple hundred dollars to a terrible poker game but I got my chip so that's all that matters. I don't know how so many of these clubs survive when Saturday at 6 pm they have 4-5 players, the owner must be hemorrhaging money renting a space and filling it with 10 empty tables. Poker rooms are not cheap to start or to maintain but yet new ones keep popping up.
The chip is a white Chipco style with a black circle around the edge of the chip. The club name is around the centre inlay in black. The centre inlay is white with grey lines that look like sunshine to me. The club logo is the 4 suits with SOHO for SOuth HOuston.
City: Houston
Casino: South Houston
Today's chip of the day is from the South Houston Poker Club in Houston, Texas. South Houston Poker Club opened in 2019 and is somehow still open. When I got to the club on Saturday at 2 they had no players even though they are supposed to have a game at noon. When I got there the owner was elbow deep into some crawfish outside talking to a player. I asked about the game and he said that it would start soon and that they had a bunch of players coming. The game didn't start for at least another hour but I was leaving Houston after the weekend and didn't want to chance not getting a chip. I pushed to start shorthanded as they clearly didn't have many players coming. We eventually got 3 players plus myself and started with 4 players. We got up to 6 or 7 players but it seemed like everyone only had one buy in so when they lost they left. I stayed for 2 hours and donated a couple hundred dollars to a terrible poker game but I got my chip so that's all that matters. I don't know how so many of these clubs survive when Saturday at 6 pm they have 4-5 players, the owner must be hemorrhaging money renting a space and filling it with 10 empty tables. Poker rooms are not cheap to start or to maintain but yet new ones keep popping up.
The chip is a white Chipco style with a black circle around the edge of the chip. The club name is around the centre inlay in black. The centre inlay is white with grey lines that look like sunshine to me. The club logo is the 4 suits with SOHO for SOuth HOuston.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 16th, 2022 at 10:19:14 PM
permalink
State: Texas
City: Humble
Casino: Hangar
Today's chip of the day is from The Hangar Poker House in Humble, Texas. Hangar poker room is in Humble just north of Houston and has 5 poker tables. This was I think the only room in Texas that I played in more than once and I actually visited 3 times. As you guys know I prefer to collect $1 chips but when I went on Friday they were running only one game and it was 5/5 PLO. I sat down thinking I would get a $1 chip when they break chips for tips but this club made the players tip with actual bills. I played for one hour and took a $5 chip since they wouldn't give me a $1 chip. I left the room and figured if I had time after visiting other rooms the next day I would stop back and see if a 1/3 game was running so I could get a $1 chip. I came back the next night on Saturday to find the door locked, lights off and nobody around. I honestly thought that the club was shut down which is not uncommon in Texas. The next night I had some spare time and was in the general area of the poker room so I took one last shot at going. They were open like nothing happened and they were opening a 1/3 game!!! I was feeling a bit under the weather that night after eating at Pizza Hut (bad idea) but really wanted the $1 chip so I played for a hour and was able to exchange my $5 chip for a $1 chip out of my stack. The funny thing is that on Sunday they were now allowing players to tip with chips so if that was the case on the first night I could have just grabbed a $1 chip from the 5/5 game.
As far as the club goes there wasn't anything really different about it compared to others but the crowd was definitely a little bit rougher. I wasn't uncomfortable but I would say I was definitely more aware of my surroundings here vs other clubs. In reality I was probably just being silly as everyone seemed nice.
The chip is grey with 3 white rectangle edge inserts and 3 black triangle inserts. I'm not sure how long this chip was in play but it looks almost brand new. The centre inlay is grey with a propeller on maybe a casino chip?!? The casino name is white and the denom is white on black on both sides. The other side of the chip is almost the same except the inlay is white and the casino name is black. Also the denom is in in the middle of the propellers with with just a money sign where the denom is on the opposite side.
City: Humble
Casino: Hangar
Today's chip of the day is from The Hangar Poker House in Humble, Texas. Hangar poker room is in Humble just north of Houston and has 5 poker tables. This was I think the only room in Texas that I played in more than once and I actually visited 3 times. As you guys know I prefer to collect $1 chips but when I went on Friday they were running only one game and it was 5/5 PLO. I sat down thinking I would get a $1 chip when they break chips for tips but this club made the players tip with actual bills. I played for one hour and took a $5 chip since they wouldn't give me a $1 chip. I left the room and figured if I had time after visiting other rooms the next day I would stop back and see if a 1/3 game was running so I could get a $1 chip. I came back the next night on Saturday to find the door locked, lights off and nobody around. I honestly thought that the club was shut down which is not uncommon in Texas. The next night I had some spare time and was in the general area of the poker room so I took one last shot at going. They were open like nothing happened and they were opening a 1/3 game!!! I was feeling a bit under the weather that night after eating at Pizza Hut (bad idea) but really wanted the $1 chip so I played for a hour and was able to exchange my $5 chip for a $1 chip out of my stack. The funny thing is that on Sunday they were now allowing players to tip with chips so if that was the case on the first night I could have just grabbed a $1 chip from the 5/5 game.
As far as the club goes there wasn't anything really different about it compared to others but the crowd was definitely a little bit rougher. I wasn't uncomfortable but I would say I was definitely more aware of my surroundings here vs other clubs. In reality I was probably just being silly as everyone seemed nice.
The chip is grey with 3 white rectangle edge inserts and 3 black triangle inserts. I'm not sure how long this chip was in play but it looks almost brand new. The centre inlay is grey with a propeller on maybe a casino chip?!? The casino name is white and the denom is white on black on both sides. The other side of the chip is almost the same except the inlay is white and the casino name is black. Also the denom is in in the middle of the propellers with with just a money sign where the denom is on the opposite side.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 17th, 2022 at 2:34:09 PM
permalink
Are these Texas chips made differently than typical "clay" or ceramic casino chips? I played in some illegal rooms in Connecticut, and the chips were a soft-ish plastic. Not so soft that they bent, but I think you could poke/dig a hole with a metal nail without too much effort. I collected one for my collection, but there were a few rooms that used similar chips. Some of your posted Texas chips look like they might be similar.
January 18th, 2022 at 12:06:08 AM
permalink
No, all the ones that I have posted are casino quality chips. I have one chip that I will post eventually that is definitely lower quality but that is the only one I think. I did visit one club that was using a generic "dice" chip with nothing on them. I kept one but tossed it cause it was garbage with not even a denom on it.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 18th, 2022 at 12:28:09 AM
permalink
State: Texas
City: Cypress
Casino: Grinders
Today's chip of the day is from Grinders Poker Room in Cypress, Texas. Grinders is a 6 table room northwest of Houston that opened back in 2017. This club has my favourite chips of all the poker rooms that I visited in Texas but I will get to that later. When I got to this club the owner buzzed me in and seemed quite surprised that I had found them. I said I found them on google and was just there to kill a few hours. I never tell them I collect chips especially at the smaller clubs in case they aren't ok with me taking a chip, I don't want to start trouble. This is why some of the clubs find it weird when I make it so far away from the city "just looking for a game" when there are much closer clubs. Anyways the owner was very nice and told me they would be opening a second game soon if I wanted to wait. 20 minutes later they opened a 1/2 game and he put me on the list for the 2/5 game. I played for about 90 minutes with a bunch of old guys giving it away until a seat opened up in the juicy 2/5 game. The problem was that I took the whale's seat and the other big fish busted as I got there. The action was pretty much dead and half the table was trying to transfer to my original game. After the 2 hours I had paid for was I up I decided to cash out as the bigger game was dead at this point.
Now to the chips! Each of the chips has the front and back of their denomination of American Currency note. Obviously because in chips they use $25 chips not $20 like the bills they used the $20 still for the quarter chips. I couldn't get over how cool all of these chips looked and spent quite a bit of time taking pictures of them and chatting to a collector buddy of mine back home about the cool chips.
Front
Back
The chip that I kept was the $1 and it was even the colour of a $1 bill, not quite white. Not much to explain about the chip as it looks just like money. The chip is textured and has the poker room name at the bottom of the inlay.
City: Cypress
Casino: Grinders
Today's chip of the day is from Grinders Poker Room in Cypress, Texas. Grinders is a 6 table room northwest of Houston that opened back in 2017. This club has my favourite chips of all the poker rooms that I visited in Texas but I will get to that later. When I got to this club the owner buzzed me in and seemed quite surprised that I had found them. I said I found them on google and was just there to kill a few hours. I never tell them I collect chips especially at the smaller clubs in case they aren't ok with me taking a chip, I don't want to start trouble. This is why some of the clubs find it weird when I make it so far away from the city "just looking for a game" when there are much closer clubs. Anyways the owner was very nice and told me they would be opening a second game soon if I wanted to wait. 20 minutes later they opened a 1/2 game and he put me on the list for the 2/5 game. I played for about 90 minutes with a bunch of old guys giving it away until a seat opened up in the juicy 2/5 game. The problem was that I took the whale's seat and the other big fish busted as I got there. The action was pretty much dead and half the table was trying to transfer to my original game. After the 2 hours I had paid for was I up I decided to cash out as the bigger game was dead at this point.
Now to the chips! Each of the chips has the front and back of their denomination of American Currency note. Obviously because in chips they use $25 chips not $20 like the bills they used the $20 still for the quarter chips. I couldn't get over how cool all of these chips looked and spent quite a bit of time taking pictures of them and chatting to a collector buddy of mine back home about the cool chips.
Front
Back
The chip that I kept was the $1 and it was even the colour of a $1 bill, not quite white. Not much to explain about the chip as it looks just like money. The chip is textured and has the poker room name at the bottom of the inlay.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 18th, 2022 at 11:03:48 PM
permalink
Those chips are so cool. I wonder how high their chips go. McKinley purples? Cleveland yellows?
Casinos are not your friends, they want your money. But so does Disneyland.
And there is no chance in hell that you will go to Disneyland and come back with more money than you went with.
- AxelWolf and Mickeycrimm
January 19th, 2022 at 12:21:06 AM
permalink
I saw as high as $100’s, I assume they have at least $500 chips?!?
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 19th, 2022 at 3:17:24 AM
permalink
State: Texas
City: Houston
Casino: Mint
Today's chip of the day is from Mint Poker in Houston, Texas. Mint Poker club opened in 2017 and is touted as the first legal poker room in Texas. Mint has been closed down quite a few times over the last few years, including May, 2019 when the police raided them and other clubs, March, 2020 for Corona, the third time was between summer of 2020 and beginning of 2021 and the final time which seems to be permanent is September of 2021. I visited in April, 2021 a few days after they had reopened after an owner change. I stopped into this 12 table poker room late on a weekend night on my way back to Houston after visiting a poker club in Galveston. I stopped in around 3 am to find one game running and it was one of the drunker games I have ever seen. The owners were very nice and the players were friendly but speaking a lot of Spanish so I wasn't able to follow a lot of the conversation. I left after a few hours because the game was too drunk to function. The action was very slow and the players were too far gone. I guess I was lucky to be able to collect this chip as the club had just reopened and was about to close again not long after I left.
The chip is green with a black honeycomb centre inlay. The poker room name is green and white with the denom in green.
City: Houston
Casino: Mint
Today's chip of the day is from Mint Poker in Houston, Texas. Mint Poker club opened in 2017 and is touted as the first legal poker room in Texas. Mint has been closed down quite a few times over the last few years, including May, 2019 when the police raided them and other clubs, March, 2020 for Corona, the third time was between summer of 2020 and beginning of 2021 and the final time which seems to be permanent is September of 2021. I visited in April, 2021 a few days after they had reopened after an owner change. I stopped into this 12 table poker room late on a weekend night on my way back to Houston after visiting a poker club in Galveston. I stopped in around 3 am to find one game running and it was one of the drunker games I have ever seen. The owners were very nice and the players were friendly but speaking a lot of Spanish so I wasn't able to follow a lot of the conversation. I left after a few hours because the game was too drunk to function. The action was very slow and the players were too far gone. I guess I was lucky to be able to collect this chip as the club had just reopened and was about to close again not long after I left.
The chip is green with a black honeycomb centre inlay. The poker room name is green and white with the denom in green.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 20th, 2022 at 12:23:28 AM
permalink
State: Texas
City: Webster
Casino: Spades
Today's chip of the day is from Spades Poker House in Webster, Texas. This is another club that I hit on the way back to Houston from Galveston. Spades opened August, 2020 with 12 poker tables. I stopped in and played for 2 hours in a really juicy game and picked up a $700 profit. I wasn't a fan of the poker tables as they were the bowl style which are uncomfortable and awkward to play on. There is about a 6-12 dip in the table as you can see here.
I got a free hour for being new which a few clubs did and then they sell hours in different bundles. I had to talk to the manager into selling me a single hour as there was no point in me buying multiples hours as I will never be back at that club again.
The chip is a white Chipco style with the denom in black around the edges 4 times. The centre inlay is white with a grey border. The 4 aces with a spade between each card surround the Spades logo.
City: Webster
Casino: Spades
Today's chip of the day is from Spades Poker House in Webster, Texas. This is another club that I hit on the way back to Houston from Galveston. Spades opened August, 2020 with 12 poker tables. I stopped in and played for 2 hours in a really juicy game and picked up a $700 profit. I wasn't a fan of the poker tables as they were the bowl style which are uncomfortable and awkward to play on. There is about a 6-12 dip in the table as you can see here.
I got a free hour for being new which a few clubs did and then they sell hours in different bundles. I had to talk to the manager into selling me a single hour as there was no point in me buying multiples hours as I will never be back at that club again.
The chip is a white Chipco style with the denom in black around the edges 4 times. The centre inlay is white with a grey border. The 4 aces with a spade between each card surround the Spades logo.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 21st, 2022 at 12:09:45 AM
permalink
State: Texas
City: Houston
Casino: Fifty Two Social South
Today's chip of the day is from Fifty Two Social South in Houston, Texas. Fifty Two Social South has 20 tables and was opened in March, 2021 by the owners of Fifty Two Social. The original Fifty Two Social will be covered tomorrow so I won't go into any detail about that club today. I played here for a few hours in a 1/2 NL game and the table was interesting to say the least. Against my better judgement I got into a crypto/USA politics conversation that got quite heated as there were some very opiniated people at the table. After about 30 minutes I tried to end the conversation cause it was getting a little out of hand but one older gentlemen refused to give up. I eventually was able to put out the fire and I shook the old man's hand and said we aren't going to agree with each other so let's agree to disagree. After my two hours were done that I paid for I racked up and headed to the next place.
The chip is white with 3 sets of blue needle nose plier edge inserts. The centre inlay is black with a blue border and the club name and location in white around that border. The centre of the inlay also has the club name in white with the denom in black over a small blue patch.
City: Houston
Casino: Fifty Two Social South
Today's chip of the day is from Fifty Two Social South in Houston, Texas. Fifty Two Social South has 20 tables and was opened in March, 2021 by the owners of Fifty Two Social. The original Fifty Two Social will be covered tomorrow so I won't go into any detail about that club today. I played here for a few hours in a 1/2 NL game and the table was interesting to say the least. Against my better judgement I got into a crypto/USA politics conversation that got quite heated as there were some very opiniated people at the table. After about 30 minutes I tried to end the conversation cause it was getting a little out of hand but one older gentlemen refused to give up. I eventually was able to put out the fire and I shook the old man's hand and said we aren't going to agree with each other so let's agree to disagree. After my two hours were done that I paid for I racked up and headed to the next place.
The chip is white with 3 sets of blue needle nose plier edge inserts. The centre inlay is black with a blue border and the club name and location in white around that border. The centre of the inlay also has the club name in white with the denom in black over a small blue patch.
Last edited by: PokerGrinder on Jan 22, 2022
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 22nd, 2022 at 1:52:01 AM
permalink
State: Texas
City: Houston
Casino: Fifty Two Social
Today's chip of the day is from Fifty Two Social in Houston, Texas. This is the original 52 Social that opened in 2020 and closed in July, 2021 for a rebranding. Shortly after opening 52 Social South the owners sold 52 Social to a group that Included 2-time WSOP Main Event Champion Johnny Chan. The club would be rebranded as Johnny Chan's 88 Social but very quickly started having money problems. In late 2020 the club maxed cash outs to $2000 a day which told people there were major cash flow problems and business dropped off drastically. The club under the new name would close on December 3, 2020 without notice, the doors were just locked one day. The club ended up being bought shortly after by an avid player from the 101 Poker Club in Katy Texas. He has decided to rename this club 101 Poker as well even though there is no partnership between the two clubs and the fact that Katy, Texas is only 21 miles from the former 52 Social. Texas poker is weird, what can I say?
The chip is blue with 3 sets of maroon needle nose plier edge inserts. The centre inlay is black with a maroon border and the club name and location in white around that border. The centre of the inlay also has the club name in white with the denom in black over a small red patch.
City: Houston
Casino: Fifty Two Social
Today's chip of the day is from Fifty Two Social in Houston, Texas. This is the original 52 Social that opened in 2020 and closed in July, 2021 for a rebranding. Shortly after opening 52 Social South the owners sold 52 Social to a group that Included 2-time WSOP Main Event Champion Johnny Chan. The club would be rebranded as Johnny Chan's 88 Social but very quickly started having money problems. In late 2020 the club maxed cash outs to $2000 a day which told people there were major cash flow problems and business dropped off drastically. The club under the new name would close on December 3, 2020 without notice, the doors were just locked one day. The club ended up being bought shortly after by an avid player from the 101 Poker Club in Katy Texas. He has decided to rename this club 101 Poker as well even though there is no partnership between the two clubs and the fact that Katy, Texas is only 21 miles from the former 52 Social. Texas poker is weird, what can I say?
The chip is blue with 3 sets of maroon needle nose plier edge inserts. The centre inlay is black with a maroon border and the club name and location in white around that border. The centre of the inlay also has the club name in white with the denom in black over a small red patch.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 22nd, 2022 at 11:36:36 AM
permalink
While updating this thread's index to include the latest chip posting from Texas (thanks again, PG), I let my eyes wander two states higher on the page, where two Rhode Island casinos are listed -- a Tiverton Casino chip posted by PG last August and the Twin River casino chip that I posted myself back in 2014. I started to wonder just where the Tiverton casino is located in that state and whether I might ever get back up that way to add one more chip to my collection. Well, I discovered two things (or perhaps 3 or 4) through a Google Maps search:
Discovery #1: The Google Maps satellite view of the Tiverton Casino location shows just a broad swath of forest, with a faint slash of a pathway where a road might be constructed some day. It does, however, offer street view images of the casino, the hotel, and a number of photos of the interior of the establishment. It just looks as if Google has never bothered to update the satellite images that they use for this area.
Discovery #2: The Tiverton Casino no longer exists, at least not under that name. It is now called Bally's Tiverton. I have no idea when that change took place. All of Google's street view images still show signs referring to the Tiverton Casino, but there is a location icon for the renamed casino and a link to the casino's web site. That site also informs me that the Twin River casino over in Lincoln, RI is now known as Bally's Twin River and that chips from either place are specific to each property. You can exchange one kind of chip for the other at the cage, but you can only wager with local chips. Those caveats on a Bally's web page suggest to me that both places are now using chips that say "Bally's".
Looks to me as if there are two opportunities for a New England-based member (or a traveler/collector) to add a couple of chip images to this thread and tell us what the places are like now!
Discovery #1: The Google Maps satellite view of the Tiverton Casino location shows just a broad swath of forest, with a faint slash of a pathway where a road might be constructed some day. It does, however, offer street view images of the casino, the hotel, and a number of photos of the interior of the establishment. It just looks as if Google has never bothered to update the satellite images that they use for this area.
Discovery #2: The Tiverton Casino no longer exists, at least not under that name. It is now called Bally's Tiverton. I have no idea when that change took place. All of Google's street view images still show signs referring to the Tiverton Casino, but there is a location icon for the renamed casino and a link to the casino's web site. That site also informs me that the Twin River casino over in Lincoln, RI is now known as Bally's Twin River and that chips from either place are specific to each property. You can exchange one kind of chip for the other at the cage, but you can only wager with local chips. Those caveats on a Bally's web page suggest to me that both places are now using chips that say "Bally's".
Looks to me as if there are two opportunities for a New England-based member (or a traveler/collector) to add a couple of chip images to this thread and tell us what the places are like now!
January 22nd, 2022 at 5:05:48 PM
permalink
Those two places are actually on my list along with all the other new Bally’s rebranded locations. I will be stopping at Bally’s Quad Cities and Bally’s Evansville next week. I also plan on hitting up a few of the other Bally’s casinos later in the year including Vicksburg abs KC.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 22nd, 2022 at 5:29:13 PM
permalink
Quote: PokerGrinderState: Texas
City: Houston
Casino: Fifty Two Social South
<snip>The chip is white with 3 sets of blue need nose plier edge inserts.<snip>
PokerGrinder,
I think you meant "needle".
Dog Hand
January 22nd, 2022 at 7:07:44 PM
permalink
Quote: DogHandQuote: PokerGrinderState: Texas
City: Houston
Casino: Fifty Two Social South
<snip>The chip is white with 3 sets of blue need nose plier edge inserts.<snip>
PokerGrinder,
I think you meant "needle".
Dog Hand
link to original post
Indeed I did sir
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 22nd, 2022 at 7:45:17 PM
permalink
Quote: PokerGrinderQuote: DogHand
I think you meant "needle".
Indeed I did sir
I’ve always described that style of edge insert as looking like the tip of slip-joint pliers (which are stubby-nosed) rather than needle-nose pliers, which are more pointed (uh, perhaps a bit like a needle). ;-)
January 23rd, 2022 at 12:34:16 AM
permalink
Quote: DocQuote: PokerGrinderQuote: DogHand
I think you meant "needle".
Indeed I did sir
I’ve always described that style of edge insert as looking like the tip of slip-joint pliers (which are stubby-nosed) rather than needle-nose pliers, which are more pointed (uh, perhaps a bit like a needle). ;-)
link to original post
I think I’ve always said needle lol. 7 years later you finally correct me!
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 23rd, 2022 at 2:13:54 AM
permalink
State: Texas
City: Katy
Casino: 101
Today's chip of the day is from 101 Poker Club in Katy, Texas. Katy, Texas is only a few miles west of Houston. 101 Poker has 12 tables set up around an enormous bar in a horseshoe shape. When I arrived there was a PLO game and a Holdem game running so I hopped into the Holdem. The owner of the club was super friendly and wanted to make sure that my first visit to his club was amazing. The owner, servers and dealers were all beyond on the ball, they seemed like veterans of the industry. About a hour into being there the owner sent his son to pick up Whataburger for all the players and staff on him. Things like that are what sets businesses apart in such a competitive market like Houston. If I did live in Houston this would be a club that I would frequent. The Holdem game broke around 2 am so I sat in the PLO game until my paid time ran out and I racked up to call it a night.
The chip is white with 4 sets of small yellow edge inserts and 4 pairs of bent diagonal yellow inserts. All the chips had a black serial code, this chip is number 0421. The centre inlay is white with a gold circle that says poker club twice in black. Inside the gold circle is the denom in black and 101 with mirrored yellow and white "1's" and a tiger in place of the "0".Overall a very cool looking chip.
City: Katy
Casino: 101
Today's chip of the day is from 101 Poker Club in Katy, Texas. Katy, Texas is only a few miles west of Houston. 101 Poker has 12 tables set up around an enormous bar in a horseshoe shape. When I arrived there was a PLO game and a Holdem game running so I hopped into the Holdem. The owner of the club was super friendly and wanted to make sure that my first visit to his club was amazing. The owner, servers and dealers were all beyond on the ball, they seemed like veterans of the industry. About a hour into being there the owner sent his son to pick up Whataburger for all the players and staff on him. Things like that are what sets businesses apart in such a competitive market like Houston. If I did live in Houston this would be a club that I would frequent. The Holdem game broke around 2 am so I sat in the PLO game until my paid time ran out and I racked up to call it a night.
The chip is white with 4 sets of small yellow edge inserts and 4 pairs of bent diagonal yellow inserts. All the chips had a black serial code, this chip is number 0421. The centre inlay is white with a gold circle that says poker club twice in black. Inside the gold circle is the denom in black and 101 with mirrored yellow and white "1's" and a tiger in place of the "0".Overall a very cool looking chip.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 23rd, 2022 at 2:13:59 AM
permalink
State: Texas
City: Houston
Casino: Champions
Today's chip of day is from Champions Social in Houston, Texas. Champions Social was a smaller club that closed about a month after I visited early last year. I played for two hours and there were only 2 games running when I was there. Only interesting thing about this club was most of the players at the table didn't have any of the special tip chips and would tip with normal chips. There was a player with a rack of 100 $1 tip chips and every time the dealer got a tip he would trade his tip for a tip chip that he was allowed to accept. When the player got low on tip chips in his rack he bought another rack from the cage to continue to assist the dealers.
The chip is grey with 8 edge inserts, 4 dark grey and 4 white. The centre inlay is black with the denom twice and cash 4 times all in white. Casino name is white with the 4 suits.
City: Houston
Casino: Champions
Today's chip of day is from Champions Social in Houston, Texas. Champions Social was a smaller club that closed about a month after I visited early last year. I played for two hours and there were only 2 games running when I was there. Only interesting thing about this club was most of the players at the table didn't have any of the special tip chips and would tip with normal chips. There was a player with a rack of 100 $1 tip chips and every time the dealer got a tip he would trade his tip for a tip chip that he was allowed to accept. When the player got low on tip chips in his rack he bought another rack from the cage to continue to assist the dealers.
The chip is grey with 8 edge inserts, 4 dark grey and 4 white. The centre inlay is black with the denom twice and cash 4 times all in white. Casino name is white with the 4 suits.
Last edited by: PokerGrinder on Jan 25, 2022
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 23rd, 2022 at 8:59:56 AM
permalink
Quote: PokerGrinderI think I’ve always said needle lol. 7 years later you finally correct me!Quote: DocI’ve always described that style of edge insert as looking like the tip of slip-joint pliers (which are stubby-nosed) rather than needle-nose pliers, which are more pointed (uh, perhaps a bit like a needle). ;-)
link to original post
Well, I have at least tried before. There are (at least) two edge-insert designs that look (to me) a bit like tips of slip-joint pliers, with one design being a bit longer and the other design just showing the very tips. Here is a post I made back in 2015 about your Rosebud chip that has the longer-tip version of the edge insert, and here is a post from 2016 about your Osage chip with the shorter-tip version. At least I have tried for the past half-dozen years or so. ;-)
BTW, in that second linked post, I included a link to another web site that (I think) had images of slip-joint pliers, just to illustrate what I was talking about. Now I get a warning message about that site if I click on the link, so I don't know whether there is anything wrong there. I don't want to send anyone to a dangerous web site.
January 23rd, 2022 at 1:55:05 PM
permalink
Hey at least I’m consistent and make the same mistake each time. I think it probably comes down to the fact that I don’t know tools well but I know what needle nose pliers are. Each time this comes up with a chip that is my default.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 23rd, 2022 at 3:07:36 PM
permalink
Quote: PokerGrinderHey at least I’m consistent and make the same mistake each time. I think it probably comes down to the fact that I don’t know tools well but I know what needle nose pliers are. Each time this comes up with a chip that is my default.
link to original post
Well done you.
Most people confuse needle nose and long nose.
May the cards fall in your favor.
January 23rd, 2022 at 3:58:34 PM
permalink
Quote: PokerGrinderState: Texas
City: Dallas
Casino: Texas Card House
Today's chip of the day is from Texas Card House in Dallas, Texas. Texas Card House is the only real brand amongst all the poker rooms across Texas. They currently have 4 locations. Houston did have 52 Social and 52 Social South but then they sold the original and the Shuffle brand just opened up their second location in Dallas with their first being in Austin but for the most part each room is a one off to the best of my knowledge. Texas Card House unlike yesterday's chip is legally allowed to operate. I don't fully understand what the difference is between the two since technically all gambling in Texas is breaking the law but TCH's business is less illegal I guess is a good way to put it. Obviously this is mostly based on the info I get from players and workers at the clubs.
I waited a little bit to get a seat on the 2/5 game but the game was pretty solid. I played for 3 hours and the group of guys were amusing as they were having a very lively discussion about Gamestop as this was right after the Gamestop short squeeze. I ended up a few hundred dollars and then headed out as I am pretty sure that was the day I met up with a local friend to go see a Rangers game at the new ballpark.
The chip is white with 5 large and 9 small blue edge inserts. I am very confused why the odd number of small edge inserts, I was expecting an even number when I started counting them and realized they came in pairs until they didn't. The centre inlay is white with a blue border. There are 4 blue suits and they are all attached to the blue border which is also the poker room logo. I love that the location and a mini logo are inside of the club, this was easily the nicest of the chips from the 3 Texas Card House locations that I visited. The poker room name and the denom are in the middle of the chip in blue.
link to original post
I don't visit these but just read online that Dallas revoked the permit for this location just recently. Texas is so lame when it comes to gambling, that is why Winstar just across the border in Oklahoma is the largest in the world. 98% of all the license plates in their lot are Texas
January 23rd, 2022 at 5:32:36 PM
permalink
I just found the article and although they lost their permit they aren’t shutting down. They have been open for years without an official permit so I don’t think they care much.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 23rd, 2022 at 9:21:44 PM
permalink
State: Texas
City: Katy
Casino: Freerolls
Today's chip of the day is from Freerolls Poker Clubs in Katy, Texas. Freerolls is a beautiful poker club with 19 tables and a bar for snacks and drinks and hosted a WPT series so you know it is a higher quality club. When I got to the club they had two PLO games running, 2/5 and 10/25, sadly no Holdem. I was 2nd on the waitlist but still ended up waiting over a hour to get a seat at the table. I stuck around here waiting for a seat because I was running out of days and while Katy isn't far from Houston I didn't feel like trekking out here again another day when I had so many clubs that I wanted to visit. When I finally got a seat in the PLO game I don't even think I stayed the whole hour that I paid for as everyone was straddling and the game was getting potted at least once per hand preflop. Basically in non poker terms the game was enormous and I don't feel comfortable enough with PLO to play that big. The chips were a disaster, they were rounded and looked like a dog had been chewing on them. I got a stack of 20 and kept the least bad one I could find.
The chip is is beige with 8 white edge inserts. The centre inlay is made to look like a metal door I think?!? There is a copper rectangle across the inlay with the poker room name in white. The denom is printed twice in white above and below the poker room name. The top of the inlay has "FR" graffitied or spray painted on the dark metal colour.
City: Katy
Casino: Freerolls
Today's chip of the day is from Freerolls Poker Clubs in Katy, Texas. Freerolls is a beautiful poker club with 19 tables and a bar for snacks and drinks and hosted a WPT series so you know it is a higher quality club. When I got to the club they had two PLO games running, 2/5 and 10/25, sadly no Holdem. I was 2nd on the waitlist but still ended up waiting over a hour to get a seat at the table. I stuck around here waiting for a seat because I was running out of days and while Katy isn't far from Houston I didn't feel like trekking out here again another day when I had so many clubs that I wanted to visit. When I finally got a seat in the PLO game I don't even think I stayed the whole hour that I paid for as everyone was straddling and the game was getting potted at least once per hand preflop. Basically in non poker terms the game was enormous and I don't feel comfortable enough with PLO to play that big. The chips were a disaster, they were rounded and looked like a dog had been chewing on them. I got a stack of 20 and kept the least bad one I could find.
The chip is is beige with 8 white edge inserts. The centre inlay is made to look like a metal door I think?!? There is a copper rectangle across the inlay with the poker room name in white. The denom is printed twice in white above and below the poker room name. The top of the inlay has "FR" graffitied or spray painted on the dark metal colour.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 24th, 2022 at 1:11:16 AM
permalink
Quote: JohnzimboTexas is so lame when it comes to gambling, that is why Winstar just across the border in Oklahoma is the largest in the world. 98% of all the license plates in their lot are Texas
link to original post
Choctaw Durant isn't exactly tiny, in case someone finds themself heading north across the Red River on the other highway out of Dallas. I can honestly see Buc-ee's in Melissa steering some people toward Durant instead of Thackerville.
My recollection is that Choctaw Grant (across the border from Paris, TX) is about what I consider normally sized for a casino resort, and the casinos across the border from Fort Smith and Joplin are rather small.
Sorry for hijacking; I know this is supposed to be chips and not the fascinating world of bordertowns.
May the cards fall in your favor.
January 24th, 2022 at 1:30:50 AM
permalink
Quote: DieterQuote: JohnzimboTexas is so lame when it comes to gambling, that is why Winstar just across the border in Oklahoma is the largest in the world. 98% of all the license plates in their lot are Texas
link to original post
Choctaw Durant isn't exactly tiny, in case someone finds themself heading north across the Red River on the other highway out of Dallas. I can honestly see Buc-ee's in Melissa steering some people toward Durant instead of Thackerville.
My recollection is that Choctaw Grant (across the border from Paris, TX) is about what I consider normally sized for a casino resort, and the casinos across the border from Fort Smith and Joplin are rather small.
Sorry for hijacking; I know this is supposed to be chips and not the fascinating world of bordertowns.
link to original post
Border towns have casinos, casinos have chips, this is a chip thread. I see no problem 🤷♂️
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 25th, 2022 at 12:16:32 AM
permalink
Quote: PokerGrinderState: Texas
City: Houston
Casino: Champions
Today's chip of day is from Champions Social in Houston, Texas. Champions Social was a smaller club that closed about a month after I visited early last year. I played for two hours and there were only 2 games running when I was there. Only interesting thing about this club was most of the players at the table didn't have any of the special tip chips and would tip with normal chips. There was a player with a rack of 100 $1 tip chips and every time the dealer got a tip he would trade his tip for a tip chip that he was allowed to accept. When the player got low on tip chips in his rack he bought another rack from the cage to continue to assist the dealers.
The chip is grey with 8 edge inserts, 4 dark grey and 4 white. The centre inlay is black with the denom twice and cash 4 times all in white. Casino name is white with the 4 suits.
link to original post
Doc this is the chip that I filled the double post with.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 25th, 2022 at 7:28:49 AM
permalink
Quote: PokerGrinderDoc this is the chip that I filled the double post with.
Thanks! Without that prompt it might have taken quite a while before I looked back a page to find that chip post. It's now in the index.
January 25th, 2022 at 8:16:41 AM
permalink
Is the 002275 marking specific to that chip, or all $1's, or present on all chips?
May the cards fall in your favor.
January 25th, 2022 at 12:05:28 PM
permalink
Yes that is a serial number that is different for every chip. Seems pretty pointless for $1 chips.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 25th, 2022 at 6:28:37 PM
permalink
State: Texas
City: Houston
Casino: Empire
Today's chip of the day is from Empire Poker in Houston, Texas. I really enjoyed my time at this club and it wasn't even because I made money. They had two tables running when I got there, PLO and ROE (round of each) with bomb pots. I hadn't eaten yet so I went to the Thai restaurant next door and got some chicken panang to go to eat at the poker table. I sat down at the ROE game and quickly realized everyone there was there to gamble and wasn't very good at it. I played on the tighter side because everyone was pushing chips around like crazy people. I basically just waited to make hands and let people go insane. The table banter between the players was very amusing, they were taunting each other and everyone was enjoying it. I played about 3 hours until the game died when too many people busted. This was one of the few clubs where I bought more time after my initial time purchase was up.
The chip is beige with a black centre inlay. The poker room name is around the centre inlay 3 times and the denom is in the middle all in white.
City: Houston
Casino: Empire
Today's chip of the day is from Empire Poker in Houston, Texas. I really enjoyed my time at this club and it wasn't even because I made money. They had two tables running when I got there, PLO and ROE (round of each) with bomb pots. I hadn't eaten yet so I went to the Thai restaurant next door and got some chicken panang to go to eat at the poker table. I sat down at the ROE game and quickly realized everyone there was there to gamble and wasn't very good at it. I played on the tighter side because everyone was pushing chips around like crazy people. I basically just waited to make hands and let people go insane. The table banter between the players was very amusing, they were taunting each other and everyone was enjoying it. I played about 3 hours until the game died when too many people busted. This was one of the few clubs where I bought more time after my initial time purchase was up.
The chip is beige with a black centre inlay. The poker room name is around the centre inlay 3 times and the denom is in the middle all in white.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 26th, 2022 at 2:28:29 AM
permalink
Hey so I will be posting chips on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday but I will be on the road Saturday to Monday so I will be taking 3 days off. If I remember correctly Konbu said he had some chips to post so Konbu if you want to post while I am busy that could work well. Also Konbu if you have more than 3 days worth of chips I'd be happy to have you post all your chips and then I can start again after you're done. I have 32 chips left to post and then 10 new ones that I will be collecting this weekend.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 26th, 2022 at 5:45:15 AM
permalink
I have spent the last 5 hours cleaning the last 70 chips I hadn't done yet and then placing all my new chips in the proper order as per my list. When I finished I found that I had 5 chips that I forgot to catalog so I actually have 1017 casinos not 1012 which means when I collected my 1000th chip at Casino Halifax it was actually my 1005th and my 1000th chip was actually Shorelines Thousand Islands,,, oops.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 26th, 2022 at 6:04:50 AM
permalink
Quote: PokerGrinderI have spent the last 5 hours cleaning the last 70 chips I hadn't done yet and then placing all my new chips in the proper order as per my list.
link to original post
I'm sure it's been asked and I simply don't remember...
How are you cleaning your chips?
It seems like it must be somewhat more complicated than my method of "dropping them in a bucket of warm soapy water for 15 minutes and swishing, drain, rinse, and lay out on a bath towel", but I can also believe your method may be less prone to damage the chips.
May the cards fall in your favor.
January 26th, 2022 at 7:00:02 AM
permalink
Quote: DieterQuote: PokerGrinderI have spent the last 5 hours cleaning the last 70 chips I hadn't done yet and then placing all my new chips in the proper order as per my list.
link to original post
I'm sure it's been asked and I simply don't remember...
How are you cleaning your chips?
It seems like it must be somewhat more complicated than my method of "dropping them in a bucket of warm soapy water for 15 minutes and swishing, drain, rinse, and lay out on a bath towel", but I can also believe your method may be less prone to damage the chips.
link to original post
Yes I don’t do that cause I assume that would damage the chips. I use windex on a cloth and clean the chip using my thumb. My hands cramp up after about 40 chips. After windex I use a wet cloth to get the windex off and then I use a dry towel.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 26th, 2022 at 7:46:08 AM
permalink
Quote: PokerGrinder<snip>... my 1000th chip was actually Shorelines Thousand Islands,,, oops.
link to original post
PokerGrinder,
So your 1000th chip came from a casino with "Thousand" in the name? How apropos!
Dog Hand
January 26th, 2022 at 8:08:34 AM
permalink
Quote: PokerGrinderQuote: Dieter
It seems like it must be somewhat more complicated than my method of "dropping them in a bucket of warm soapy water for 15 minutes and swishing, drain, rinse, and lay out on a bath towel", but I can also believe your method may be less prone to damage the chips.
link to original post
Yes I don’t do that cause I assume that would damage the chips. I use windex on a cloth and clean the chip using my thumb. My hands cramp up after about 40 chips. After windex I use a wet cloth to get the windex off and then I use a dry towel.
link to original post
Thanks!
I think I saw a few dealers basically follow my procedure to clean their rack after a spill caused the table to close. I expect that I don't mind a little extra unique character on each example, as my chips aren't artifacts going into the display case.
May the cards fall in your favor.
January 26th, 2022 at 9:35:40 AM
permalink
Quote: DogHandQuote: PokerGrinder<snip>... my 1000th chip was actually Shorelines Thousand Islands,,, oops.
link to original post
PokerGrinder,
So your 1000th chip came from a casino with "Thousand" in the name? How apropos!
Dog Hand
link to original post
Lol I didn’t notice that
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 26th, 2022 at 9:36:31 AM
permalink
Quote: DieterQuote: PokerGrinderQuote: Dieter
It seems like it must be somewhat more complicated than my method of "dropping them in a bucket of warm soapy water for 15 minutes and swishing, drain, rinse, and lay out on a bath towel", but I can also believe your method may be less prone to damage the chips.
link to original post
Yes I don’t do that cause I assume that would damage the chips. I use windex on a cloth and clean the chip using my thumb. My hands cramp up after about 40 chips. After windex I use a wet cloth to get the windex off and then I use a dry towel.
link to original post
Thanks!
I think I saw a few dealers basically follow my procedure to clean their rack after a spill caused the table to close. I expect that I don't mind a little extra unique character on each example, as my chips aren't artifacts going into the display case.
link to original post
Local casino soaked their chips like you said and they lost their colour. It was very obvious which batch of chips were washed and which were not.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 26th, 2022 at 5:03:34 PM
permalink
Bally’s Las Vegas is rebranding to the Horseshoe brand. I assume it has something to do with the casino company Bally’s opening up 10 Bally’s casinos this year.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 27th, 2022 at 2:23:35 AM
permalink
Quote: PokerGrinder
Local casino soaked their chips like you said and they lost their colour. It was very obvious which batch of chips were washed and which were not.
link to original post
I seem to recall the smell of chlorine bleach, which would make sense if the goal is to disinfect rather than simply dissolve grime.
I possibly lost some color; I definitely lost a lot of accumulated grime. The wash water after a few minutes is notably greyish brown.
May the cards fall in your favor.
January 27th, 2022 at 3:18:30 AM
permalink
Quote: DieterQuote: PokerGrinder
Local casino soaked their chips like you said and they lost their colour. It was very obvious which batch of chips were washed and which were not.
link to original post
I seem to recall the smell of chlorine bleach, which would make sense if the goal is to disinfect rather than simply dissolve grime.
I possibly lost some color; I definitely lost a lot of accumulated grime. The wash water after a few minutes is notably greyish brown.
link to original post
The windex on a cloth works well but it ends with blisters on my thumb and very sore hands from hand scrubbing the grime off of each chip.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 27th, 2022 at 3:42:46 AM
permalink
State: Texas
City: Houston
Casino: Kings and Cards
Today's chip of the day is from Kings and Cards Poker Club in Houston, Texas. This one is going to be short and sweet because despite looking at pictures online I have no recollection of this place. I was able to find online that they opened in 2017 with 7 tables.
The chip is white 3 yellow/blue edge inserts. The middle of the chip has the club name and the denom in black. The 4 suits and a crown are present around the poker club name.
City: Houston
Casino: Kings and Cards
Today's chip of the day is from Kings and Cards Poker Club in Houston, Texas. This one is going to be short and sweet because despite looking at pictures online I have no recollection of this place. I was able to find online that they opened in 2017 with 7 tables.
The chip is white 3 yellow/blue edge inserts. The middle of the chip has the club name and the denom in black. The 4 suits and a crown are present around the poker club name.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 27th, 2022 at 6:23:15 AM
permalink
Quote: PokerGrinderI have cross checked the index again and it is up to date to Fiesta Casino and 1223 chips once Doc updates the index tomorrow.
link to original post
I checked the thread posts against the index again and found one error. On December 1st I posted a chip from Ace Casino in Calgary, Alberta that never made it into the index (page 839).Once that is added the total chips in the thread should be 1380 and we will be up to date.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
January 27th, 2022 at 2:02:46 PM
permalink
Jimeenez, PG! First of all, thanks for finding this omission and letting me know about it. (Fixed, now.) Second, it strikes me that it must have taken a significant effort on your part to find this -- does this mean that your life in this age of the pandemic is really that boring? I am rather confident that I would never have discovered this without your search, so my "Thanks!" is quite genuine.
Third, it is plausible to me that I might actually have an excuse for that oversight. I indexed the chip that smoothgrh posted earlier that day (at 2 a.m. EST), but missed yours. Why would that be?
Well it turns out that I had a computer disaster that (I think) arose on 12/1/21 that has caused me extended grief and distraction since then and I am still working to get straightened out. That day (at least some day in very early December) I got a pop-up notice from Apple saying that a new version of the Mac operating system was available and suggesting that I update from macOS 11.6.something to 12.0.1.
I did that, and immediately began experiencing agony. There were several things that would no longer function properly on my computer, and over the next two weeks I had multiple help cases created with Apple's Tech Support folks. In spite of their sincere efforts, the problems weren't fixed. I finally decided that even though I had been screen sharing with their reps, I might need to have support from someone who was right there with the computer and seeing what was going on.
I made an appointment with the "Genius Bar" at a local Apple Store, took my computer in, and wound up spending hours there. Eventually, when they couldn't figure out what was going on, they suggested I reinstall macOS 11.6 to see whether that fixed the problem. They had the old system instilled on a drive that they could hook up to my computer and do the re-install for me, so I said OK. Unfortunately, while the specific problems I had been fighting with seemed to be resolved, they did not tell me that in the process of going back to an older OS, a whole bunch of stuff would disappear from my computer: applications, folders of email archives, documents, etc.
I asked them whether I could restore that stuff from the Time Machine backups I had been saving on an external drive. They recommended against that, saying that if I restored stuff, I might accidentally restore whatever had been causing my problems. The remainder of December was a computer nightmare for me.
In early January, I got guidance from Apple Tech Support on updating once again to OS 12, which by then had been revised to version 12.1 That seemed to work fine, except for all of the missing information. Earlier this week, I started working with Tech Support again, trying to recover some very important stuff from my Time Machine drive, and I have made significant progress on that. I think I am still missing some stuff, but I think I will survive.
Third, it is plausible to me that I might actually have an excuse for that oversight. I indexed the chip that smoothgrh posted earlier that day (at 2 a.m. EST), but missed yours. Why would that be?
Well it turns out that I had a computer disaster that (I think) arose on 12/1/21 that has caused me extended grief and distraction since then and I am still working to get straightened out. That day (at least some day in very early December) I got a pop-up notice from Apple saying that a new version of the Mac operating system was available and suggesting that I update from macOS 11.6.something to 12.0.1.
I did that, and immediately began experiencing agony. There were several things that would no longer function properly on my computer, and over the next two weeks I had multiple help cases created with Apple's Tech Support folks. In spite of their sincere efforts, the problems weren't fixed. I finally decided that even though I had been screen sharing with their reps, I might need to have support from someone who was right there with the computer and seeing what was going on.
I made an appointment with the "Genius Bar" at a local Apple Store, took my computer in, and wound up spending hours there. Eventually, when they couldn't figure out what was going on, they suggested I reinstall macOS 11.6 to see whether that fixed the problem. They had the old system instilled on a drive that they could hook up to my computer and do the re-install for me, so I said OK. Unfortunately, while the specific problems I had been fighting with seemed to be resolved, they did not tell me that in the process of going back to an older OS, a whole bunch of stuff would disappear from my computer: applications, folders of email archives, documents, etc.
I asked them whether I could restore that stuff from the Time Machine backups I had been saving on an external drive. They recommended against that, saying that if I restored stuff, I might accidentally restore whatever had been causing my problems. The remainder of December was a computer nightmare for me.
In early January, I got guidance from Apple Tech Support on updating once again to OS 12, which by then had been revised to version 12.1 That seemed to work fine, except for all of the missing information. Earlier this week, I started working with Tech Support again, trying to recover some very important stuff from my Time Machine drive, and I have made significant progress on that. I think I am still missing some stuff, but I think I will survive.
