Casino Chip of the Day
March 3rd, 2023 at 1:10:18 AM
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Quote: DocCategory: Caribbean Islands
City: Willemstad, Curaçao
Casino: San Marco
When my wife and I debarked our ship in Curaçao, we walked along the Sint Ana Bay waterfront in Otrabanda to the Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge. It was "open", i.e., closed to pedestrian traffic to let boats pass, so we rode the ponchi over to the Punda section of the city.
We walked a circuitous loop of that district, stopping in some of the shops and passing the Mikve Israel Emanuel Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in continuous use anywhere in the western hemisphere. We walked along the waterfront of a long inlet from Sint Ana Bay that extends well into Punda. The maps refer to that water as "Waaigat", but I have no idea what that means, and Google Translate was no help.
Along the Waaigat waterfront, they have a floating market, mostly fruits and vegetables. There is a whole line of docked boats, each having a small stand on the wharf, under a series of canvas awnings. I didn't shop there, but my impression was that the boats themselves are not for the customers to board. The floating parts are like the warehouse and office of each business, with the points of sale being the stands on the wharf.
From the floating market, we walked down a small crowded street to the San Marco Hotel and Casino. CasinoCity.com says that the San Marco Hotel has 82 rooms and that the casino has 223 gaming machines and five table and poker games. I played at one of the two blackjack tables and managed to win $20 (woo hoo!). This was the only chip I was able to collect in Punda – there is another casino in the area that I had hoped to get a chip from, since it was listed as opening at 2:00 p.m., but that turned out to mean only their machines.
This photo of my souvenir chip has a color shift. In reality, the base chip is mostly pink, rather than so orange, and the edge inserts and other molded markings are purple. The casino name and denomination in the center are hot stamped in black. The hot stamp markings were worn off essentially every chip in play. I picked out one on which the casino name was mostly legible, and I told the dealer and supervisor that I was taking it to add to my chip collection.
After I left the table but before I left the casino, the supervisor approached me and offered to exchange a better chip (this one) for my collection. I don't know whether she had found it in the rack or had retrieved it from some place. I thought that was a very nice gesture from a pit supervisor to a ten-minute player who was walking away with one of their chips.
I am almost certain that this plastic chip is from Bud Jones, because I think that split diamond is one of their old trademarks. This version is called the Right-on-Top diamond, with the mirror image being the Left-on-Top diamond. I don't think I have a Left-on-Top diamond on any of the chips in my collection, but I have seen images of several posted as examples.
The MOGH catalog describes the edge inserts on this chip as "3 sxs PU". I can figure out that this means that there are 3 sets of inserts and that they are purple – I have seen other chips listed as "3 sxs BL" and "3 sxs RD" when the inserts are blue or red. However, I don't know what the "sxs" means. I suspect the first "s" means "split", but I'm not sure. Does anyone know or have suggestions?
As a final image from the Punda district of Curaçao, I am posting yet another street clock. Contrast this clock with the sundial street clock I posted a couple of days ago. That sundial is just half a block away from this clock.
I think this clock is supposed to look like one of the high-end Breitling wristwatches. I don't know which model, since I'm not familiar with them – I think the entire product line is way out of my price range. The ones I found on Amazon.com run from about $3,000 to $10,000. However, I did find a web site that offers "Breitling replica watches" in the range of $100 to $150 with the Breitling logo and name clearly in place. I didn't realize that knockoff vendors advertised so openly, admitting to their infringements.
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The cruise also stopped in Curaçao so I was able to collect a few chips, one of them was from San Marco. When I went there the $1 chips were not the same as you posted Doc, they looked like Walmart chips that had a hot stamp that was completely worn off. This made it very simple to keep a $5 chip from this casino. It was the only chip I had left after they took my $100 buy in quicker than I could say blackjack. This is one of the few chips I have in my collected with the metal inlay, I’m a big fan of this old style chip.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
March 3rd, 2023 at 1:13:26 AM
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That’s it for the chips I collected that have been posted but with different chips. I collected about 10 chips that have already been posted with the same chip so I won’t bother with those. I now have 34 new chips to post starting with a new state.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
March 3rd, 2023 at 2:44:42 AM
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State: Kentucky
City: London
Casino: Royal
Today’s chip of the day is from the Royal Social Club in London, Kentucky. This is the first chip post we’ve had from Kentucky. There are 3 poker rooms in Kentucky that currently use the Texas style to get around the law of gambling being illegal. I recently saw on Twitter that Chris Moneymaker’s club had been shut down by the state but I’m not sure about the other two. I visited the Royal Social Club on my way to Texas to play cards for a couple weeks before heading to Vegas for the Super Bowl. When I pulled into the parking lot (unpaved gravel) and saw no lights and what looked like a trailer I decided I might get murdered that night. In reality I walked into a very nice 8 table poker room. There was a full Holdem table running and a short handed table of 5 guys playing Omaha bomb pots. I played the bomb pot game until a seat was available in the main game. I think I only played for a hour total and won $250. The owner was very nice and told me they were the first poker room in Kentucky when they opened almost a year ago.
The chip is white (chipco style) with 2 grey edge inserts. The chip is covered in a bunch of grey swirls. The club name is in mostly yellow across the middle of the chip, the denom is black and dark grey below that with a gold banner with a black crown on it above the club name.
City: London
Casino: Royal
Today’s chip of the day is from the Royal Social Club in London, Kentucky. This is the first chip post we’ve had from Kentucky. There are 3 poker rooms in Kentucky that currently use the Texas style to get around the law of gambling being illegal. I recently saw on Twitter that Chris Moneymaker’s club had been shut down by the state but I’m not sure about the other two. I visited the Royal Social Club on my way to Texas to play cards for a couple weeks before heading to Vegas for the Super Bowl. When I pulled into the parking lot (unpaved gravel) and saw no lights and what looked like a trailer I decided I might get murdered that night. In reality I walked into a very nice 8 table poker room. There was a full Holdem table running and a short handed table of 5 guys playing Omaha bomb pots. I played the bomb pot game until a seat was available in the main game. I think I only played for a hour total and won $250. The owner was very nice and told me they were the first poker room in Kentucky when they opened almost a year ago.
The chip is white (chipco style) with 2 grey edge inserts. The chip is covered in a bunch of grey swirls. The club name is in mostly yellow across the middle of the chip, the denom is black and dark grey below that with a gold banner with a black crown on it above the club name.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
March 3rd, 2023 at 3:17:29 PM
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I am so out of practice at updating the index thread that I stumbled about three times with this new CCotD post. The only thing that was supposed to be "special" was that it involved creating a new state/category in the index, but that's not supposed to be all that difficult. On the first attempt, I got an error message that seemed to imply that some "specialist" had been notified and would try to fix the problem. Second (or fourth or whatever) try seemed to work.
At times in the past, when someone has posted a new chip image for a casino that has already had a CCotD entry, I have (sometimes) tried to edit an old post of mine that appeared shortly after the CCotD post to point to the new image. While I appreaciate all those new chip images that you provided, PG, I don't think I am going to try to edit old posts to insert those pointers this time.
At times in the past, when someone has posted a new chip image for a casino that has already had a CCotD entry, I have (sometimes) tried to edit an old post of mine that appeared shortly after the CCotD post to point to the new image. While I appreaciate all those new chip images that you provided, PG, I don't think I am going to try to edit old posts to insert those pointers this time.
March 3rd, 2023 at 4:55:55 PM
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Ya I wouldn’t bother, I think it works as is.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
March 3rd, 2023 at 5:15:43 PM
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Quote: Doc
At times in the past, when someone has posted a new chip image for a casino that has already had a CCotD entry, I have (sometimes) tried to edit an old post of mine that appeared shortly after the CCotD post to point to the new image. While I appreaciate all those new chip images that you provided, PG, I don't think I am going to try to edit old posts to insert those pointers this time.
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It is probably (possibly?) easy to have the "current" post include a permalink to the historical entries.
No idea if it's too much hassle to adjust the index to point to the most recent entry, and allow particularly interested researchers to dig their way back.
May the cards fall in your favor.
March 3rd, 2023 at 10:58:16 PM
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Doc if you’d like I can do that but totally up to you.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
March 4th, 2023 at 6:11:34 AM
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Category: Canada
City: North Bay, Ontario
Casino: Cascades
Today’s chip of the day is from Cascades Casino in North Bay, Ontario. I drove across the country to Ottawa at the end of last year and filled in some blanks in my Ontario collection. The casino opened on April 21, 2022 with 300 slot machines and 10 table games. The casino is very cookie cutter and looks like all the other Cascades branded casinos in BC and Ontario. I spent about 45 minutes playing off some random plays on slot machines before playing a few hands of BJ to grab a chip. I broke even on the $15 table, I think it was a continuous shuffler if I remember correctly.
The chip is a white RHC with two maroon edge inserts. The centre inlay is white with the cascades logo in the middle. The logo looks like you’re looking down a through a tornado so if that’s what they were going for congrats to them! The casino name, location and the denom are all in black.
City: North Bay, Ontario
Casino: Cascades
Today’s chip of the day is from Cascades Casino in North Bay, Ontario. I drove across the country to Ottawa at the end of last year and filled in some blanks in my Ontario collection. The casino opened on April 21, 2022 with 300 slot machines and 10 table games. The casino is very cookie cutter and looks like all the other Cascades branded casinos in BC and Ontario. I spent about 45 minutes playing off some random plays on slot machines before playing a few hands of BJ to grab a chip. I broke even on the $15 table, I think it was a continuous shuffler if I remember correctly.
The chip is a white RHC with two maroon edge inserts. The centre inlay is white with the cascades logo in the middle. The logo looks like you’re looking down a through a tornado so if that’s what they were going for congrats to them! The casino name, location and the denom are all in black.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
March 5th, 2023 at 12:23:58 AM
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Category: Canada
City: Thunder Bay, Ontario
Casino: Gateway
Today’s chip of the day is from Gateway Casino in Thunder Bay, Ontario. This was my second visit to this rebranded casino but the first time in late 2021 the table games hadn’t reopened yet. Sadly they only have a few beatable machines among the 452 slots to go with the 8 table games and poker has been removed in favour of stadium gaming. I was hungry when I got to the casino after a long drive so I went to their restaurant. They had a fish and chips special for $11 and it was worth about 1/3 of that. I wasn’t a big fan of the frozen fish that was beyond greasy from over frying. I ate it cause I was hungry but that was McDonald’s level of quality. After my amazing dinner I played bj to grab my chip. It was a $15 table and I won some gas money before finding my hotel and calling it a night.
The chip is a white/beige RHC with 3 blue/orange/blue edge inserts. The centre inlay is half white and half dark blue with a gold trim. The casino name is blue, the location is black and the denom is white. The logo above the name looks similar to a fleur-de-lis but I’m not sure if that is what they were going for. There is a miniature logo below the denom as well.
City: Thunder Bay, Ontario
Casino: Gateway
Today’s chip of the day is from Gateway Casino in Thunder Bay, Ontario. This was my second visit to this rebranded casino but the first time in late 2021 the table games hadn’t reopened yet. Sadly they only have a few beatable machines among the 452 slots to go with the 8 table games and poker has been removed in favour of stadium gaming. I was hungry when I got to the casino after a long drive so I went to their restaurant. They had a fish and chips special for $11 and it was worth about 1/3 of that. I wasn’t a big fan of the frozen fish that was beyond greasy from over frying. I ate it cause I was hungry but that was McDonald’s level of quality. After my amazing dinner I played bj to grab my chip. It was a $15 table and I won some gas money before finding my hotel and calling it a night.
The chip is a white/beige RHC with 3 blue/orange/blue edge inserts. The centre inlay is half white and half dark blue with a gold trim. The casino name is blue, the location is black and the denom is white. The logo above the name looks similar to a fleur-de-lis but I’m not sure if that is what they were going for. There is a miniature logo below the denom as well.
Last edited by: PokerGrinder on Mar 6, 2023
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
March 5th, 2023 at 3:25:38 AM
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Quote: PokerGrinder<snip>They had a fish and chips special for $11 and it was worth about 1/3 of that. I wasn’t a big fan of the frozen fish that was beyond greasy from over frying. I ate it cause I was hungry but that was McDonald’s level of quality. After my amazing dinner I played bj to grab my chip. It was a $15 table and I won some gas money ...<snip>
PokerGrinder,
After that greasy fish and chips dinner I'm surprised you needed MORE gas! 😄
Dog Hand
March 5th, 2023 at 1:06:39 PM
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Haha I was honestly amazed that they served this fish like they did. I’ve never understood why restaurants aren’t embarrassed to serve low quality crap.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
March 6th, 2023 at 2:33:06 AM
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Quote: PokerGrinderHaha I was honestly amazed that they served this fish like they did. I’ve never understood why restaurants aren’t embarrassed to serve low quality crap carp.
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Fixed your typo 😄
Seriously, though, I agree that the quality of fish and chips varies widely, especially during Lent when lots of restaurants include F&C on the menu as a special item.
Furthermore, the quality vs. price is NOT a monotonically increasing function: I've had very tasty yet inexpensive F&C, and also pretty bad F&C for a pretty penny.
Dog Hand
March 6th, 2023 at 1:05:38 PM
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I’ve had the same experiences. I had amazing fish and chips in Victoria 18 months ago for a very reasonable price.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
March 6th, 2023 at 11:08:09 PM
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Category: Canada
City: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Casino: Gateway
Today’s chip of the day is from Gateway Casino in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Gateway Casino has 434 slots (that number seems too high but I didn’t count them) and 6 table games. I passed through the casino on NYE and didn’t plan on staying too long due to the festivities they had planned. I’ve never been big on NYE parties but I definitely didn’t have any interest in being in a casino by myself on NYE. I got there mid afternoon before the tables opened and played a few things while waiting for the bj tables to open at I believe 6. I was able to reserve a seat and played for a little bit at a full table when they opened.
The casino was doing random seat draws for $250 but I didn’t win any of them during the few hours I was at the casino. I asked about the dinner specials but they all sounded mediocre and overpriced. I didn’t feel like repeating the mistake from Thunder Bay and trying the $60 steak and lobster in the middle of Ontario. There was an Asian guy betting between $100-$1000 per round and tipping pretty heavily. I was very surprised every time he went out for a smoke that the dealers would openly talk about how much they disliked the player. Apparently his money comes from criminal activity and they weren’t a fan of his attitude. All I saw was a nice degen who tipped the dealers about $300 in less than a hour but who am I to judge.
The chip is a white/beige RHC with 3 black/mint/black edge inserts. The centre inlay is half white and half dark blue with a gold trim. The casino name is blue, the location is black and the denom is white. The logo above the name looks similar to a fleur-de-lis but I’m not sure if that is what they were going for. There is a miniature logo below the denom as well. (Yes I copy and pasted the description as it’s the same chip design).
City: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Casino: Gateway
Today’s chip of the day is from Gateway Casino in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Gateway Casino has 434 slots (that number seems too high but I didn’t count them) and 6 table games. I passed through the casino on NYE and didn’t plan on staying too long due to the festivities they had planned. I’ve never been big on NYE parties but I definitely didn’t have any interest in being in a casino by myself on NYE. I got there mid afternoon before the tables opened and played a few things while waiting for the bj tables to open at I believe 6. I was able to reserve a seat and played for a little bit at a full table when they opened.
The casino was doing random seat draws for $250 but I didn’t win any of them during the few hours I was at the casino. I asked about the dinner specials but they all sounded mediocre and overpriced. I didn’t feel like repeating the mistake from Thunder Bay and trying the $60 steak and lobster in the middle of Ontario. There was an Asian guy betting between $100-$1000 per round and tipping pretty heavily. I was very surprised every time he went out for a smoke that the dealers would openly talk about how much they disliked the player. Apparently his money comes from criminal activity and they weren’t a fan of his attitude. All I saw was a nice degen who tipped the dealers about $300 in less than a hour but who am I to judge.
The chip is a white/beige RHC with 3 black/mint/black edge inserts. The centre inlay is half white and half dark blue with a gold trim. The casino name is blue, the location is black and the denom is white. The logo above the name looks similar to a fleur-de-lis but I’m not sure if that is what they were going for. There is a miniature logo below the denom as well. (Yes I copy and pasted the description as it’s the same chip design).
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
March 7th, 2023 at 6:33:10 AM
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I may have asked this before, but my memory is unreliable these days. I am asking as just another stupid American. Is the first word in the name of that casino's city pronounced like "Sue"?
March 7th, 2023 at 6:37:14 AM
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Quote: DocI may have asked this before, but my memory is unreliable these days. I am asking as just another stupid American. Is the first word in the name of that casino's city pronounced like "Sue"?
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Doc,
Yes it is. In fact, the locals refer to the city as the "Soo", spelled just like that.
Dog Hand
March 7th, 2023 at 11:38:10 AM
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Dog Hand beat me to it but yes it Soo Saint Marie.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
March 12th, 2023 at 1:52:27 AM
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State: Nevada
City: Elko
Casino: Maverick
Today’s chip of the day is from Maverick Casino in Elko, Nevada. On June 3rd, 2019 Red Lion Casino was sold to Maverick Gaming who currently owns 31 casinos in Washington, Nevada and Colorado. The owner of Maverick Gaming is Eric Persson who you might have seen on various high stakes poker shows/streams. He likes to buy in for a million dollars (he is an huge whale) and is not shy about telling everyone how many casinos he owns. Despite the sale in 2019 the property didn’t change names until July 31, 2021.
I had been to Red Lion Casino 3 previous times and lost all 3 times. I was joking with friends that I guarantee I will lose when I visit Maverick because the property is cursed. I don’t believe that at all but I did lose again when I was there. I broke even playing BJ to get my chip but lost $150 on a slot vulture before leaving for the night. I think I should skip the property next time I pass through Elko, just kidding. The casino looked exactly the same as the last I was there before Covid. The casino has 350 slots and 5 table games.
The chip is white with 4 black edge inserts and 8 blue dots. The centre inlay is white the casino name, location and logo in black and the denom in blue. The logo is of a bandit. There is a “N” on the left side of the inlay which I assume is a manufacturers mark but I don’t know who the manufacturer is.
City: Elko
Casino: Maverick
Today’s chip of the day is from Maverick Casino in Elko, Nevada. On June 3rd, 2019 Red Lion Casino was sold to Maverick Gaming who currently owns 31 casinos in Washington, Nevada and Colorado. The owner of Maverick Gaming is Eric Persson who you might have seen on various high stakes poker shows/streams. He likes to buy in for a million dollars (he is an huge whale) and is not shy about telling everyone how many casinos he owns. Despite the sale in 2019 the property didn’t change names until July 31, 2021.
I had been to Red Lion Casino 3 previous times and lost all 3 times. I was joking with friends that I guarantee I will lose when I visit Maverick because the property is cursed. I don’t believe that at all but I did lose again when I was there. I broke even playing BJ to get my chip but lost $150 on a slot vulture before leaving for the night. I think I should skip the property next time I pass through Elko, just kidding. The casino looked exactly the same as the last I was there before Covid. The casino has 350 slots and 5 table games.
The chip is white with 4 black edge inserts and 8 blue dots. The centre inlay is white the casino name, location and logo in black and the denom in blue. The logo is of a bandit. There is a “N” on the left side of the inlay which I assume is a manufacturers mark but I don’t know who the manufacturer is.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
March 12th, 2023 at 6:41:12 AM
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PG, another nice addition to the thread (says the collector who has STILL never made his way to northern Nevada!) Well, yes, I have been to Reno, Tahoe, etc. but not to the I-80 spots like Elko, West Wendover, and such. Right now, I cannot even recall having been to Ely.
March 12th, 2023 at 7:19:54 AM
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PokerGrinder,
The isolated symbol on the Maverick chip might be a Z rather than an N.
Funny how you mentioned having a "cursed" casino...
Mine is the now-gone but unlamented Horizon in Vicksburg. While I didn't lose every time I was there, I did lose the vast majority of my numerous BJ sessions there. I kept playing there because I did so well against all the other Vicksburg casinos that I continued making the trip.
Even after they changed names (shortly before closing permanently) their winning streak against me continued, so apparently the name wasn't their lucky talisman.
Dog Hand
The isolated symbol on the Maverick chip might be a Z rather than an N.
Funny how you mentioned having a "cursed" casino...
Mine is the now-gone but unlamented Horizon in Vicksburg. While I didn't lose every time I was there, I did lose the vast majority of my numerous BJ sessions there. I kept playing there because I did so well against all the other Vicksburg casinos that I continued making the trip.
Even after they changed names (shortly before closing permanently) their winning streak against me continued, so apparently the name wasn't their lucky talisman.
Dog Hand
March 12th, 2023 at 6:32:12 PM
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Quote: DocPG, another nice addition to the thread (says the collector who has STILL never made his way to northern Nevada!) Well, yes, I have been to Reno, Tahoe, etc. but not to the I-80 spots like Elko, West Wendover, and such. Right now, I cannot even recall having been to Ely.
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You should it’s a lovely drive but do it during the warm months cause I’ve been caught in bad weather up there a few times.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
March 12th, 2023 at 6:34:15 PM
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Quote: DogHandPokerGrinder,
The isolated symbol on the Maverick chip might be a Z rather than an N.
Funny how you mentioned having a "cursed" casino...
Mine is the now-gone but unlamented Horizon in Vicksburg. While I didn't lose every time I was there, I did lose the vast majority of my numerous BJ sessions there. I kept playing there because I did so well against all the other Vicksburg casinos that I continued making the trip.
Even after they changed names (shortly before closing permanently) their winning streak against me continued, so apparently the name wasn't their lucky talisman.
Dog Hand
link to original post
I Zee what you Zee there 😂. Whether it’s a “Z” or a “N” I still don’t know what it stands for.
I’ve been to Vicksburg a handful of times but luckily (apparently hehe) I never made it the Horizon Casino.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
March 13th, 2023 at 2:59:12 AM
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State: Nevada
City: Lake Tahoe
Casino: Bally’s
Today’s chip of the day is from Bally’s Casino in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Bally’s Tahoe was formerly the Montbleu Casino but was sold in 2021 to Bally’s after Eldorado bought Caesar’s entertainment. I visited the Montbleu most likely in 2013 on my first trip through the Reno/Tahoe area. Not that my memory is ever very good but I won’t feel bad about not remembering anything about the layout of the casino since it was 10 years ago. Due to my lack of memory I really couldn’t tell you how much the casino has changed since changing ownership.
The casino has 542 slots and 28 table games although all but 5 were closed due to a lack of staff. I played single deck bj to get my chip and broke exactly even after about 30 minutes of play. All the shoe bj were 6-5 which is pretty sad but not surprising these days.
The chip is a blue RHC with 3 pink triangle inserts. The centre inlay is light blue with a white centre. The casino name is red, the location is blue and the denom is blue with a white border.
City: Lake Tahoe
Casino: Bally’s
Today’s chip of the day is from Bally’s Casino in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Bally’s Tahoe was formerly the Montbleu Casino but was sold in 2021 to Bally’s after Eldorado bought Caesar’s entertainment. I visited the Montbleu most likely in 2013 on my first trip through the Reno/Tahoe area. Not that my memory is ever very good but I won’t feel bad about not remembering anything about the layout of the casino since it was 10 years ago. Due to my lack of memory I really couldn’t tell you how much the casino has changed since changing ownership.
The casino has 542 slots and 28 table games although all but 5 were closed due to a lack of staff. I played single deck bj to get my chip and broke exactly even after about 30 minutes of play. All the shoe bj were 6-5 which is pretty sad but not surprising these days.
The chip is a blue RHC with 3 pink triangle inserts. The centre inlay is light blue with a white centre. The casino name is red, the location is blue and the denom is blue with a white border.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
March 24th, 2023 at 2:03:51 PM
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Quote: PokerGrinder...P.S Doc I’m sure you know but the anniversary is coming up mid March.
Quote: DocYes, I have that on my calendar.
Well, folks, those two quotes from PG and myself were from back on March 2. In spite of my having had the appropriate date marked on my calendar and in spite of PG's reminder two weeks in advance, I am just now posting the (alledged) annual post a full eight days behind schedule. Yes, I have plenty of excuses for why I am not keeping with my plans, but I will try not to repeat those and will just do what I can to generate the annual report now.
The Casino Chip of the Day (CCotD) thread was created in March 2012 as one of my whims and may have been slipping into some doldrums for a while. It now appears that the thread has very much come back to life in the past year, with PG and others having contributed almost as many new CCotD entries as we have had in any recent years. As I have mentioned before, once you get more than a thousand casinos represented in such a thread, it is very difficult to maintain such a pace of new entries.
The thread has, indeed, encountered a few difficulties along the way. More than two years ago, I reported that a number of chip images had disappeared, likely because of changes at the PhotoBucket web site, where many collectors/posters had stored their chip images. That problem still lingers. Much more recently, I learned that some members (though not all) could not see some of the chip images that I had recently posted myself. That problem seems to be related to the way I have my images stored at my own web site (hosted by GoDaddy) and that host's not-very-helpful support.
One problem that does seem to have now been resolved satisfactorily (I think) is the thread index, which used to appear at the very beginning of the thread. There were problems with that index having grown so large that it could not be managed in that location. With the help of some forum administrators, I have been able to create a new thread index (located here) that should survive for quite some time.
The table below is an expansion of the one I have used for the past half dozen years to summarize/compare the level of thread activity over time.
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total chips posted to date | 1,009 | 1,082 | 1,211 | 1,263 | 1,296 | 1,388 | 1,511 |
| Chips posted in past year | 93 | 73 | 129 | 52 | 33 | 92 | 123 |
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March 24th, 2023 at 3:30:54 PM
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Thanks again for the thread Doc. I’ve enjoyed it immensely over the last 8+ years for me as I came after the thread was created. I didn’t realize that this year is our biggest in the last 4 years and the second biggest since 2017. Hopefully this year we can break 100 again. I think I have about 35 to 40 chips to post right now that I’ve been lazy and haven’t done yet.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
March 24th, 2023 at 4:46:37 PM
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Doc, thank you for starting the thread — and enabling us to hear all the great casino stories that come with the chips!
April 2nd, 2023 at 4:19:12 AM
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State: Nevada
City: Sparks
Casino: Legends Bay
Well it’s been about 3 weeks since I last posted a chip of the day and I’ve got no excuses other than laziness and procrastination. I’ve been on the road but it takes no time to post so I can’t even use that as a legitimate excuse. Without further ado…
Today’s chip of the day is from Legends Bay Casino in Sparks, Nevada. Legends Bay Casino opened on August 30, 2022 in Sparks only 10 minutes outside of Reno. Legends Bay was the first new casino in northern Nevada in 20 years. I assume this means from the ground up as there have definitely been name changes in that time. The casino opened up with 760 slots and 14 table games. I played bj to get my chip and won a quick $100 or so on a CSM before continuing on. The casino had a few vulturables but I think someone had already been through to pick everything off as I didn’t find much. As I was arriving to the casino I thought my GPS had taken me astray as I was an area with a bunch of strip malls. At the end of the street amongst the stores was the casino, it just felt like an odd place for a casino.
The chip is white with 2 skinny and 2 fat gold inlays. “LB” is engraved 4 times around the edge of the chip. The centre inlay is brown with a white and gold checkered outline. The casino name, logo, location and chip denom are all listed in white.
See you all in 3 weeks… jk… or am I? Hehe
City: Sparks
Casino: Legends Bay
Well it’s been about 3 weeks since I last posted a chip of the day and I’ve got no excuses other than laziness and procrastination. I’ve been on the road but it takes no time to post so I can’t even use that as a legitimate excuse. Without further ado…
Today’s chip of the day is from Legends Bay Casino in Sparks, Nevada. Legends Bay Casino opened on August 30, 2022 in Sparks only 10 minutes outside of Reno. Legends Bay was the first new casino in northern Nevada in 20 years. I assume this means from the ground up as there have definitely been name changes in that time. The casino opened up with 760 slots and 14 table games. I played bj to get my chip and won a quick $100 or so on a CSM before continuing on. The casino had a few vulturables but I think someone had already been through to pick everything off as I didn’t find much. As I was arriving to the casino I thought my GPS had taken me astray as I was an area with a bunch of strip malls. At the end of the street amongst the stores was the casino, it just felt like an odd place for a casino.
The chip is white with 2 skinny and 2 fat gold inlays. “LB” is engraved 4 times around the edge of the chip. The centre inlay is brown with a white and gold checkered outline. The casino name, logo, location and chip denom are all listed in white.
See you all in 3 weeks… jk… or am I? Hehe
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
April 2nd, 2023 at 7:12:55 AM
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Quote: PokerGrinder... I’ve got no excuses other than laziness and procrastination.
So ... do you have your membership card in that club? I think I have mine around here somewhere.
April 2nd, 2023 at 9:51:31 AM
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Quote: DocQuote: PokerGrinder... I’ve got no excuses other than laziness and procrastination.
So ... do you have your membership card in that club? I think I have mine around here somewhere.
link to original post
We really ought to get around to scheduling our next meeting.
April 2nd, 2023 at 1:46:27 PM
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I have one, not sure where it is and I don’t feel like finding it right now. I’ll do it later…
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
April 3rd, 2023 at 12:17:22 AM
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Quote: DocQuote: PokerGrinder... I’ve got no excuses other than laziness and procrastination.
So ... do you have your membership card in that club? I think I have mine around here somewhere.
link to original post
Doc,
Not I... I haven't got around to joining that club yet. ;-)
Dog Hand
April 3rd, 2023 at 10:39:49 AM
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Thanks for the Legends Bay chip. A new place in the Reno area that I look forward to visiting!
April 3rd, 2023 at 11:53:50 AM
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Do they have the opportunity to become a member of their club? thought there only through an invitation/recommendation
April 3rd, 2023 at 12:46:45 PM
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Quote: vbnm4Do they have the opportunity to become a member of their club? thought there only through an invitation/recommendation
link to original post
They haven't invited you to join yet?
May the cards fall in your favor.
April 3rd, 2023 at 3:23:55 PM
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Quote: DieterQuote: vbnm4Do they have the opportunity to become a member of their club? thought there only through an invitation/recommendation
link to original post
They haven't invited you to join yet?
link to original post
Dieter
They haven't gotten to it yet... That's how you know they're not amateur-crastinators but instead world-class pro-crastinators
Dog Hand
April 4th, 2023 at 5:45:07 AM
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State: California
City: Bishop
Casino: Wanaaha
Today’s chip of the day is from Wanaaha Casino in Bishop, California. I previously visited this casino when it was still Paiute Palace. The casino changed names on 10/31/2020 for reasons that I do not know. This casino is close to the Nevada border but off the beaten path to visit going Vegas to Reno but it’s more out of the way coming from let’s say Los Angeles which is why both times that I’ve stopped here I’ve done it going from Vegas to Reno. This is a small casino with only 293 slot machines and 4 table games. I played BJ to get collect my chip and won a few shekels. There wasn’t much as far as vulturables but I did find a big play at $22.50 a spin that I hit in ten spins so when the bonus started I was expecting to win about $1500. Sadly 23 of the 26 free games were blank and I ended up only $90. I was more shocked than angry I’d say. Barring another name change I’d say two visits to Bishop, California should be good for a lifetime.
The chip is grey with a design of circles around its edge. The centre inlay is grey with white mountains. The casino name is dark red, red, orange and yellow. The giant arrow head is multi coloured with what looks like mountains and a stream. The location is red and the denom is black.
City: Bishop
Casino: Wanaaha
Today’s chip of the day is from Wanaaha Casino in Bishop, California. I previously visited this casino when it was still Paiute Palace. The casino changed names on 10/31/2020 for reasons that I do not know. This casino is close to the Nevada border but off the beaten path to visit going Vegas to Reno but it’s more out of the way coming from let’s say Los Angeles which is why both times that I’ve stopped here I’ve done it going from Vegas to Reno. This is a small casino with only 293 slot machines and 4 table games. I played BJ to get collect my chip and won a few shekels. There wasn’t much as far as vulturables but I did find a big play at $22.50 a spin that I hit in ten spins so when the bonus started I was expecting to win about $1500. Sadly 23 of the 26 free games were blank and I ended up only $90. I was more shocked than angry I’d say. Barring another name change I’d say two visits to Bishop, California should be good for a lifetime.
The chip is grey with a design of circles around its edge. The centre inlay is grey with white mountains. The casino name is dark red, red, orange and yellow. The giant arrow head is multi coloured with what looks like mountains and a stream. The location is red and the denom is black.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
April 4th, 2023 at 6:06:37 AM
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PokerGrinder,
As for the name change, perhaps they thought Paiute sounded a bit too much like peyote? Or maybe they wanted a name that sounds like "won"?
Dog Hand
As for the name change, perhaps they thought Paiute sounded a bit too much like peyote? Or maybe they wanted a name that sounds like "won"?
Dog Hand
April 4th, 2023 at 7:43:07 AM
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Or even "won a 'ha-ha' ".
April 4th, 2023 at 1:44:49 PM
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Doc,
I read it as "won, aha!"
Dog Hand
I read it as "won, aha!"
Dog Hand
April 9th, 2023 at 1:52:58 PM
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State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Horseshoe
Today’s chip of the day is from Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The casino’s current offerings are listed as 840 slots and 60 table games and poker tables. As everyone knows this is the former Ballys that was renamed Horseshoe last year. The actual name change happened late last year but it was announced early last year that the name change would be ready in time for the WSOP which it wasn’t. They had the felts and signage in the tournament rooms saying Horseshoe when the whole casino still said Ballys, classic Caesars in my opinion. I collected my chip from this property in I think October when I came to town for a few days. Not sure if you all remember Wizard posting about the Pai Gow progressive that was over 4 million but that’s what I played to collect the chip. I went with RS and MaxPen (both now inactive members on here) to play for a few hours. Sadly we didn’t hit the progressive but we did all turn a small profit each. A few days later they closed down the table games to change the carpet as part of the renovations for Horseshoe. A group of slots had been turned off the previous days as they were slowly replacing things without full shutting down the casino.
The chip is a white RHC with 2 peach edge inserts. The centre inlay is black with a gold border. The casino name, location and chip denom are all white. The horseshoe logo is to the left of the casino name in gold.
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Horseshoe
Today’s chip of the day is from Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The casino’s current offerings are listed as 840 slots and 60 table games and poker tables. As everyone knows this is the former Ballys that was renamed Horseshoe last year. The actual name change happened late last year but it was announced early last year that the name change would be ready in time for the WSOP which it wasn’t. They had the felts and signage in the tournament rooms saying Horseshoe when the whole casino still said Ballys, classic Caesars in my opinion. I collected my chip from this property in I think October when I came to town for a few days. Not sure if you all remember Wizard posting about the Pai Gow progressive that was over 4 million but that’s what I played to collect the chip. I went with RS and MaxPen (both now inactive members on here) to play for a few hours. Sadly we didn’t hit the progressive but we did all turn a small profit each. A few days later they closed down the table games to change the carpet as part of the renovations for Horseshoe. A group of slots had been turned off the previous days as they were slowly replacing things without full shutting down the casino.
The chip is a white RHC with 2 peach edge inserts. The centre inlay is black with a gold border. The casino name, location and chip denom are all white. The horseshoe logo is to the left of the casino name in gold.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
April 9th, 2023 at 6:46:22 PM
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Well, the thread index now includes two Nevada casinos named "Horseshoe" and a third one named "Horseshu". I have edited that index to refer to the first two as "(former Binion's)" and "(former Bally's)". Hope that provides adequate clarification.
April 11th, 2023 at 2:26:33 AM
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State: Pennsylvania
City: York
Casino: Hollywood
Today’s chip of the day is from Hollywood Casino in York, Pennsylvania. This is one of the “mini” casinos that the state granted licenses for a few years ago. Hollywood York opened on August 12, 2021 with 500 slot machines and 20 table games. I visited 3 Hollywood casinos in a matter of hours but can only remember 2 of them for some reason. Hollywood York is the one that I’m drawing a blank on. I looked for pictures online but nothing jogged my memory. Soooo that’s all I have for today I guess.
The chip is a white RHC with two edge inserts, one green and one red. The centre inlay is blue with white circles that look like flashing bulbs from a camera. The casino name, location and denom are all white.
City: York
Casino: Hollywood
Today’s chip of the day is from Hollywood Casino in York, Pennsylvania. This is one of the “mini” casinos that the state granted licenses for a few years ago. Hollywood York opened on August 12, 2021 with 500 slot machines and 20 table games. I visited 3 Hollywood casinos in a matter of hours but can only remember 2 of them for some reason. Hollywood York is the one that I’m drawing a blank on. I looked for pictures online but nothing jogged my memory. Soooo that’s all I have for today I guess.
The chip is a white RHC with two edge inserts, one green and one red. The centre inlay is blue with white circles that look like flashing bulbs from a camera. The casino name, location and denom are all white.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
April 11th, 2023 at 7:46:34 AM
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Quote: PokerGrinder... I visited 3 Hollywood casinos in a matter of hours but can only remember 2 of them for some reason. Hollywood York is the one that I’m drawing a blank on.
So Hollywood York was such an exciting casino experience that it completely blew your mind??? Maybe they will start citing your post in their promotional spots.
;-)
April 11th, 2023 at 11:40:05 AM
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So what happened is I visited about 8 casinos that day I think and 3 of them back to back to back were Hollywood Casinos. As I’m sure you’ve noticed from visiting Hollywood Casinos they all are built in the exact same “look” and that makes them hard to distinguish when going to 3 of them in 3 hours.
P.S also I’m just old and forgetful 🤷♂️
P.S also I’m just old and forgetful 🤷♂️
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
April 14th, 2023 at 2:32:48 AM
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State: Pennsylvania
City: Morgantown
Casino: Hollywood
Today’s chip of the day is from Hollywood Casino in Morgantown, Pennsylvania. This is another of the “mini” casino licenses that the state gave out a few years back. Hollywood Morgantown opened on December 22, 2021 with 750 slot machines and 30 table games. I spent about a hour here vulturing slot machines before I believe playing high card flush to collect my chip.
The chip is a white RHC with 3 edge inserts in blue, yellow and green. The centre inlay is orange with yellow circles that look like flashing bulbs from a camera. The casino name, location and denom are all white.
City: Morgantown
Casino: Hollywood
Today’s chip of the day is from Hollywood Casino in Morgantown, Pennsylvania. This is another of the “mini” casino licenses that the state gave out a few years back. Hollywood Morgantown opened on December 22, 2021 with 750 slot machines and 30 table games. I spent about a hour here vulturing slot machines before I believe playing high card flush to collect my chip.
The chip is a white RHC with 3 edge inserts in blue, yellow and green. The centre inlay is orange with yellow circles that look like flashing bulbs from a camera. The casino name, location and denom are all white.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
April 15th, 2023 at 8:29:14 AM
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State: Pennsylvania
City: Philadelphia
Casino: Rivers
Today’s chip of the day is from Rivers Casino in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I am proud to say I actually remember being in this casino! (Which I can’t say for tomorrow’s chip) Sadly I never got to collect a chip from the previous casino name that this casino had which was SugarHouse. I had been to Philadelphia twice previously, the first time was when I was 20 and I got hit and run by an ambulance 😬 and the second time was when I went to AC for the first time and didn’t make the effort to go to SugarHouse cause I figured I’d be back and I didn’t want to pay for a taxi both ways. Mistakes were made 🤷♂️ SugarHouse only opened in 2010 but in 2019 Rush Street Gaming decided to rebrand the casino to match their other 3 Rivers properties in Pittsburgh, Des Plaines and Schenectady.
Rivers Casino is quite large with 1697 slot machines and 161 table games. I was there very very late on a Tuesday night (early Wednesday morning actually) but there were still quite a few people gambling. It took me probably close to a hour to make my way through checking the whole casino floor for playable machines and I found a decent amount of action for not a great gaming time. I played bj with an angry degen to collect my chip, he wasn’t happy when I showed up and he was angrier when I left cause he just kept on losing.
The chip is a white LCV with only one hat and cane amongst 7 Rivers logos around the edge of the chip. The chip has two edge inserts in blue and orange. The centre inlay is white with grey wavy lines throughout it. The casino name, location, logo and chip denom are all black.
City: Philadelphia
Casino: Rivers
Today’s chip of the day is from Rivers Casino in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I am proud to say I actually remember being in this casino! (Which I can’t say for tomorrow’s chip) Sadly I never got to collect a chip from the previous casino name that this casino had which was SugarHouse. I had been to Philadelphia twice previously, the first time was when I was 20 and I got hit and run by an ambulance 😬 and the second time was when I went to AC for the first time and didn’t make the effort to go to SugarHouse cause I figured I’d be back and I didn’t want to pay for a taxi both ways. Mistakes were made 🤷♂️ SugarHouse only opened in 2010 but in 2019 Rush Street Gaming decided to rebrand the casino to match their other 3 Rivers properties in Pittsburgh, Des Plaines and Schenectady.
Rivers Casino is quite large with 1697 slot machines and 161 table games. I was there very very late on a Tuesday night (early Wednesday morning actually) but there were still quite a few people gambling. It took me probably close to a hour to make my way through checking the whole casino floor for playable machines and I found a decent amount of action for not a great gaming time. I played bj with an angry degen to collect my chip, he wasn’t happy when I showed up and he was angrier when I left cause he just kept on losing.
The chip is a white LCV with only one hat and cane amongst 7 Rivers logos around the edge of the chip. The chip has two edge inserts in blue and orange. The centre inlay is white with grey wavy lines throughout it. The casino name, location, logo and chip denom are all black.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
April 16th, 2023 at 12:18:52 AM
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State: Pennsylvania
City: Philadelphia
Casino: Live!
Today’s chip of the day is from Live! Casino in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Live! Philly opened on January 19, 2021 with 2100 slot machines and 179 table games and poker tables. Like I said yesterday despite looking at stock photos online of the casino I have no memories of this place. [insert your own interesting story here] Usually it’s the small places that I forget but I’m going to blame this one on sleep deprivation as it was late at night. There are currently two other Live! Casinos, one in Pittsburgh and the other near Baltimore.
The chip is a white RHC with 3 lavender edge inserts. The centre inlay is purple and blue with the casino name in red and black across the centre of the chip. The location is white with a black border and the denom is white with a purple border.
City: Philadelphia
Casino: Live!
Today’s chip of the day is from Live! Casino in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Live! Philly opened on January 19, 2021 with 2100 slot machines and 179 table games and poker tables. Like I said yesterday despite looking at stock photos online of the casino I have no memories of this place. [insert your own interesting story here] Usually it’s the small places that I forget but I’m going to blame this one on sleep deprivation as it was late at night. There are currently two other Live! Casinos, one in Pittsburgh and the other near Baltimore.
The chip is a white RHC with 3 lavender edge inserts. The centre inlay is purple and blue with the casino name in red and black across the centre of the chip. The location is white with a black border and the denom is white with a purple border.
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
April 16th, 2023 at 9:09:43 AM
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Quote: PokerGrinder... There are currently two other Live! Casinos, one in Pittsburgh and the other near Baltimore.
When we have multiple CCotD entries from casinos located in the same state and carrying the "same" casino name, I generally try to include the locations in the thread index as parenthetical entries below the casino names. In today's CCotD post, the previously-posted Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Live! casino entry is described as being "in Pittsburgh". However in that earlier post (from the same author), there is a comment that says, "The chip lists Westmoreland as the location even though the casino is definitely in Greensburg."
So just how should I describe the location of Live! "Pittsburgh" in the thread index? My inclination is to list it as Pittsburgh and ignore references (on the chip or otherwise) to Westmoreland and Greensburg. Is there a better solution?
Last edited by: Doc on Apr 16, 2023
April 16th, 2023 at 12:51:59 PM
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So Live! Pittsburgh is not in Pittsburgh at all, it’s 45 minutes drive from the centre of Pittsburgh. I assume they named it Live! Pittsburgh for marketing reasons. As far as the index I would use Greensburg as the location.
Btw you said Pennsylvania Live! but its Pittsburgh Live!
Btw you said Pennsylvania Live! but its Pittsburgh Live!
You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but you can skin it only once. — Amarillo Slim Preston
