Quote: DocPerhaps this is an appropriate place to ask the question: What's the deal with "locals" casinos having hotels? Other than the Wizard doing a review, do folks regularly need hotel rooms in the town where they live?
It's just part of the regulations. You need a nonrestricted gaming license to operate >15 slot machines or any table games, and there are requirements for who can get a nonrestricted license:
NRS 463.1605 Limitation on approval of nonrestricted license in county whose population is 100,000 or more; additional local regulation of resort hotels permissible.
1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, the Commission shall not approve a nonrestricted license, other than for the operation of a mobile gaming system, race book or sports pool at an establishment which holds a nonrestricted license to operate both gaming devices and a gambling game, for an establishment in a county whose population is 100,000 or more unless the establishment is a resort hotel.
NRS 463.01865 Resort hotel defined. Resort hotel means any building or group of buildings that is maintained as and held out to the public to be a hotel where sleeping accommodations are furnished to the transient public and that has:
1. More than 200 rooms available for sleeping accommodations;
2. At least one bar with permanent seating capacity for more than 30 patrons that serves alcoholic beverages sold by the drink for consumption on the premises;
3. At least one restaurant with permanent seating capacity for more than 60 patrons that is open to the public 24 hours each day and 7 days each week; and
4. A gaming area within the building or group of buildings.
N.B. This also explains why every casino hotel has a 24/7 coffeeshop. Who knew?
Not that I expect it to be a viable, commercial option, but does this mean that some Carrie Nation fan could not establish a "dry" casino with table games?
Quote: Wizard... In my estimation it has the worst air quality of any casino in Las Vegas. ...
At first, I thought that underlined "worst" meant a link to one of your air quality surveys. Alas, it's just an underline.
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Arizona Charlie's East
Alphabetizing this list of casino chips for presentation gets a bit more complicated when I start having trouble figuring out the real name of the casino. This chip itself clearly refers to "Arizona Charlie's East," while almost every text reference I can find on the web calls the casino "Arizona Charlie's Boulder." Alphabetizing by that name would have put it ahead of yesterday's Casino Chip of the Day. Moreover, according to the image on Google Maps Street View, the sign out front just says "Arizona Charlie's Hotel Casino." Well, hey, I'm going with what it says on my chip, regardless of what they call the place now.
Of course, that raises the question of whether they now have chips that say "Arizona Charlie's Boulder," in which case I might eventually feel the compulsion to go back out there to get another souvenir. I have done that a number of times when casinos have changed names, but I'm not sure of the official naming history on this place. Maybe it changed names somewhere in the bankruptcy and change of ownership. Anyone know?
In any case, the casino is located on Boulder Highway, waaaayyy east across town from Arizona Charlie's Decatur, giving some justification to any of the name variations.
This chip illustrates a different design and manufacturing technique than the previous chips I have shown. This one has no mold impressions at all and is smooth all over the surface, as if it were coated in some manner. There is printing of the casino name (including "East") on the very edge of the chip.
At first glance, the chip seems thinner than the others, which might cause some difficulty in cutting a stack of mixed chips accurately, if that were really the case. Closer examination reveals that it is the same thickness as the chip from the west-side affiliate (as close as my eye can judge) but that the edges (corners?) are rounded rather than sharp.
If any member of this forum has knowledge of chip manufacturing techniques, I will appreciate their contributions as I note the different chip designs. I have some background in manufacturing processes, but I know nothing about casino chip manufacturing. I will have some comments about the vendor/supplier of tomorrow's Casino Chip of the Day.
So has anyone been to the Boulder Highway version of this casino recently, and can you tell me what their chips say on them now? East? Boulder? No location/franchise distinction?
Edit 4/4/12: Chip manufacturer identified as Chipco and chip finish as Satin.
Edit 3/28/12: I have just received from rdw4potus the links to some images of his chips from casinos that I have already passed in this thread. Thanks, rdw! I am editing my posts to include his images, such as this one:
My poker league has two sets of chips.Quote: DocAt first glance, the chip seems thinner than the others...
20 tournament chips fit very tightly in each section of a standard plastic chip tray. The everyday chips fit loosly, but you can't jam 21 in a section.
So it's obvious the difference is less than 1/20th of the overall thickness.
And yet, people notice the difference.
Excellent question! Keep that attention to detail coming!Quote: zippyboyHow did we bypass the Aladdin?
I obtained my souvenir chip from that casino during the changeover: the chip says both "Planet Hollywood" and "Aladdin." I just use it to represent both incarnations of the casino/hotel. The "Aladdin" is molded into the chip around the perimeter so it's white-on-white and a little difficult to see. The center insert has the "Planet Hollywood" logo in bright colors, very easy to read, so I have my chip positioned (both on display and in my list) between Pioneer and Plaza.
Your question brings up the point about when/where other folks should be displaying images of their alternate chip designs. I have indicated that if you have a different design from the same casino, it would be great to post it when I have posted mine so we can compare. I probably didn't say it clearly, but I have been thinking that folks who have chips from casinos that I don't have represented in my collection should post those photos when my supply runs dry.
However, since you have mentioned it, if anyone has a chip older than mine that just says "Aladdin" without saying "Planet Hollywood," I would not mind at all having it posted at this point in the thread. Or you can wait until I post the Aladdin/Planet Hollywood one. Again, let's not go searching image libraries for photos of chips that none of us own.
I hardly ever make it to the Boulder Highway casinos. The last time I did was to take pictures of them for this site. A security guard at AZB was very rude to me about taking photos. I wrote about it in an old thread. So, I am still harboring a grudge against the place.
As I recall it was an unremarkable casino, and I can't see ever returning. They do have some of the most reasonable rates in town for weekends.
Edit: Uh, oh. Doc ... better put ACB on your list for next trip:
Quote: teddysAccording to the NVGCB, the name on the license is "Arizona Charlie's Boulder." So that is what it should say on the chips.
Uh, oh. Doc ... better put ACB on your list for next trip
Excellent contribution, teddys! I am confident that my compulsions will grow strong enough that I have to go back out there for another souvenir when I am in town for WoVCon][. I have added it to my list along with Margaritaville, Las Vegas Hotel, and D. I guess that makes one new casino (within Flamingo) and three name changes (if the D is fully implemented by then).
FrGamble, I'm glad you like the thread. Please continue to join the discussions.
As I stated when I posted the "East" chip this morning, I don't really know about chip manufacturing processes. I think that "clay" is a bit of a misnomer for modern chips, or at least the modern ones are different from the very old "clay" chips. I don't really know what "plastic" means in this context. I think there are several manufacturing processes and materials in use. I have a couple of chips in my collection that are from real casinos, but the chips seem to be of even lower quality than the home-use chips I bought at a local discount store.
I definitely prefer the "clay" chips that have some surface texture and leave the impression of being of cast ceramic (somewhat like a flowerpot) instead of the slick-surfaced chips that I would consider "plasticky." As an example, I like the Arizona Charlie's Decatur chip that I posted better than the Arizona Charlie's East chip. On the other hand, I kinda like look of the chips with a metallic center insert, and I'm not sure that any of the chips in my collection have both the metallic insert and the "clay" feel. I have them all back under glass right now, so it's a little awkward to check out the feel of the chips.
Most folks who have been following this thread have probably not bothered to look back and notice this, but I have been updating the original post to maintain a directory of the chip photos I have posted, along with links to those posts. Right now, there are just five links in a row, but as more photos are posted, this will be a table of links. I am hoping that the table doesn't eventually make that one post too long to fit on one page.
The question comes to mind about linking to posts with images contributed by others. It seems reasonable (perhaps) for me to add an Arizona Charlie's Boulder cell to the table with a link to teddys's post with that image. On the other hand, I don't think there is any reason to include links to every image of an alternate chip design with the same casino name. And there would be the added complexity of keeping up with all the future images that people may post after I no longer have anything to show myself.
So what do you think? Should my index just be for chip images I have posted myself, or is there something else warranted?
I'd like to see your images (and those from others) organized into a nifty little "guide". Maybe DJteddybear could incorporate your chip images into the next generation of maps, where clicking on one would take you to the review page.. the possibilities are many.
Hmmmm.....Quote: AyecarumbaMaybe DJteddybear could incorporate your chip images into the next generation of maps, where clicking on one would take you to the review page.. the possibilities are many.
I like where you're going with this. That may be beyond my html expertise, but it sure has my wheels turning...
Quote: DJTeddyBearHmmmm.....Quote: AyecarumbaMaybe DJteddybear could incorporate your chip images into the next generation of maps....
I like where you're going with this. That may be beyond my html expertise, but it sure has my wheels turning...
You are, of course, welcome to use my photos for such an undertaking. The copyrights, trademarks, etc. presumably belong to the casinos, and I'm willing to waive to you any rights I might have over the photos.
I don't know html at all, so I don't know what a map function means. If it suggests linking to my images where I have them stored (like this forum does), I'm not sure that's the best idea. Any change I might make later could screw up your product. I think you should just get my files and work with them.
If you quote one of my posts with a chip image, you can see the links to two levels of photo resolution for each chip, 180x180 pixels and 600x600 pixels. I don't yet have all of my images scaled to those sizes and uploaded to my host's server, but I will eventually. If you undertake this, let me know, and I will give you a list of the .jpg file names. That should make it a little easier. If you have any use/need of higher resolution, the originals (after cropping to the square layout) are about 1800x1800 pixels. Those aren't loaded on the internet at all, but I could get them to you.
Quote: DocHow many members of the forum have ever been out to play at Aliante Station?
One of my high school friends lives about a mile from Aliante, so I've been there twice. I agree it is very nice, and I didn't get any flak for not being a local. I did have a need to get back to the main Vegas strip from Aliante late on a Thursday night (around 1am I think). Security called a cab company for me, and it was literally an hour before the cab even got there, then the trip back which was a $70 or $80 trip (including tip) if I remember correctly. Not the best planning on that one...
Quote: AcesAndEightsSecurity called a cab company for me, and it was literally an hour before the cab even got there, then the trip back which was a $70 or $80 trip
It took so long because the dispatcher isn't going
to send the cab till a driver is in that area. Too
often the fare is already gone and that would be
one pissed off driver if he had to go a long distance
for what we call a 'no go' in the biz.
Quote: DocI probably didn't say it clearly, but I have been thinking that folks who have chips from casinos that I don't have represented in my collection should post those photos when my supply runs dry.
I don't really collect casino chips, but I happen to have 2 - one from an international casino that I know isn't in your collection, unsure about the other one. And man, I can't wait to post those pictures! I'll try to restrain myself but 280ish days is a long time...
Thanks very much for the offer, but one of my criteria for my collection is that I play at the casino myself to get the chip. The only three exceptions involved casinos I traveled to that wound up having all of their tables closed and no plans to have them open at a time I was likely to be back, so I bought a chip from the cashier in each of those cases. In the case of the D, I'm sure I'll be back in Las Vegas enough to pick one up.Quote: NicksGamingStuffNo D chips yet, but when they are put in I will get one for you.
What I would really appreciate is your letting me know when the new chips are in play. Do you anticipate that they will be on the tables in time for my next visit for WoVCon][ in mid May? My guess is that will be too soon. Do you deal craps? If so, maybe I'll make it to your table when I do come for that chip. Otherwise, maybe we can work it out to be on the same side of the table then.
Quote: AcesAndEightsI happen to have 2 - one from an international casino that I know isn't in your collection ...
We can probably be certain of that without even knowing the casino. Canada, the Bahamas, and Caribbean Islands are the only sources of international chips in my collection. I played at a few casinos in Egypt back in the 80s, but I wasn't collecting chips then.
Quote: Doc
What I would really appreciate is your letting me know when the new chips are in play. Do you anticipate that they will be on the tables in time for my next visit for WoVCon][ in mid May? My guess is that will be too soon. Do you deal craps? If so, maybe I'll make it to your table when I do come for that chip. Otherwise, maybe we can work it out to be on the same side of the table then.
I will join you for that chip grab... I'm kind of looking forward to this trip. My hope is to get chips from all the outer casinos, including Aliante.
The day I got my chip from Aliante Station it seemed as if it took me about three hours to drive out there and back. I think trying to get all the "outer" casinos on one trip sounds like an ambitious undertaking unless you are going to be in town for more than a week. That assumes that you plan to play at least a little and not just make a buy-and-run at the cashier. My wife gets annoyed at me when I make one of those runs trying to get five or six chips in one day; we hit ten casinos in one day in Reno/Sparks, and I'll let you guess just how pleased she was.Quote: TiltpoulI will join you for that chip grab... I'm kind of looking forward to this trip. My hope is to get chips from all the outer casinos, including Aliante.
If the D chips are in play by WoVCon][, I think we should try to play a little there that afternoon, since we will already be in the immediate vicinity. I don't remember whether any decision has been made yet about group gaming as part of WoVCon][.
Quote: DocThe day I got my chip from Aliante Station it seemed as if it took me about three hours to drive out there and back. I think trying to get all the "outer" casinos on one trip sounds like an ambitious undertaking unless you are going to be in town for more than a week. That assumes that you plan to play at least a little and not just make a buy-and-run at the cashier. My wife gets annoyed at me when I make one of those runs trying to get five or six chips in one day; we hit ten casinos in one day in Reno/Sparks, and I'll let you guess just how pleased she was.
Understood... actually, I've been to Vegas a few times, so my plan is all day Friday to do a run. I'm not going to try to hit ALL of them, but I want to hit some of the majors I've missed, mainly M, South Point, and the casinos out in Summerlin. I'd also like to get the Station collection and Orleans. I have a lot from Henderson, so I won't need to travel there. I'll try to find a craps table or PGP table or BJ table, play a few rounds, get my dollar, tip a dollar, and leave. I try not to spend more than $100 on such a trip. My experience is I usually leave as soon as I get up a little. It will also be a good way to spend a day, without getting hammered by the Strip.
Quote: JohnzimboI'll be posting pics later...but haven't done so before. I have them loaded on Photobucket, is that an easy way to post them here?
Read through this thread where klimate10 was trying to learn how to post images that he had stored at photobucket. You'll see the difficulty he had, some suggestions I made, and his eventual success. Maybe that will guide you through the learning process with a little less pain.
Sorry, I don't know how to reduce the file size to match the others but please feel free to use the image and alter it if that is possible.
I have a collection of about 60 chips & 20 coins. I love the idea of this thread and will contribute when I can.
I wish I had played at the Aladdin when they were using a chip like that. There are other casinos that were in operation in Las Vegas when I first started visiting in 2003 but which closed before I played in them and collected souvenir chips, including Westward Ho, Bourbon Street, San Remo, Key Largo, and probably more. There were plenty of iconic casinos that were demolished before I ever made it to the town.
Quote: Lucyjr<aladdin chip>
Sorry, I don't know how to reduce the file size to match the others but please feel free to use the image and alter it if that is possible.
I have a collection of about 60 chips & 20 coins. I love the idea of this thread and will contribute when I can.
Nice contribution! A vaguely off-topic question, was the Aladdin casino owned by Harrah's/Caesar's as is PH, or were they independent or owned by a different conglomerate? Before my gambling time...
Quote: WikiCaesars officially acquired the property on February 19, 2010. Caesars began its process of taking over the property in December 2009 by purchasing some of the resort's debt.
By that time, it already had the Planet Hollywood name.
and some dice:
Quote: zippyboy
How did you end up with 4 dice? Dice usually come in sets of 5, in my experience. Although I've never been to such an event, a changing of the guard I suppose.
Quote: zippyboyHere's some commemorative chips I got at the chip show at the Aladdin in 1996.
I never made it to the "old" Aladdin. Most commemorative chips seem to be of the $5 variety, like yours, though some are higher. Only a very few of the $1 chips in my collection appear to be commemorative of anything.
Quote: zippyboyand some dice:
ROUND edge dice? Do these have serial numbers? Very odd....
Quote: DocIOnly a very few of the $1 chips in my collection appear to be commemorative of anything.
It costs the same to manufacture, so you know they're gonna use the higher priced chips for souveniers. If the casino thought that people would take commemorative $25 chips out of circulation, they'd make them.
On a side note, Sands PA had commemorative opening day $5 chips. Except they weren't in the casino. They were in the gift shop. With an $8 price tag! Only after close to a year did they give up on that idea and put them on the casino floor.
Those are a bit like your Sands opening-day chips. I am confident that zippyboy's Aladdin Hotel dice are from the gift shop and never were used on a real casino table.Quote: DJTeddyBearROUND edge dice? Do these have serial numbers? Very odd....
Quote: DocRead through this thread where klimate10 was trying to learn how to post images that he had stored at photobucket. You'll see the difficulty he had, some suggestions I made, and his eventual success. Maybe that will guide you through the learning process with a little less pain.
OK I tried this and when I hit "preview" I only see a link, not a picture. If I then hit "post" will it post a pic or just the link?
City: Reno
Casino: Atlantis
Maybe I'm getting too wordy in my commentary on these chips, but I think if you can wade through this post you might pick up some interesting info you didn't know before. :-)
After spending the past few days in the land of Las Vegas casino chips, we now wander to the northwestern Mecca of Nevada gaming, and the lovely Atlantis casino in Reno.
I really haven't seen a very large portion of Nevada. Ever. I have a very good friend who has attended the Burning Man festivities several times, though that's not only too bizarre for my tastes but also just a little too much out in the wide open spaces for me.
From my visits to Las Vegas, I have collected chips from all (I think) of the operating (and some of the closed) table-games casinos in Clark County, or at least those that were open as of my last visit nine months ago, and I have all of the ones from Pahrump. However, I have not ventured to such destinations as West Wendover, Elko, Winnemucca, and Beatty, and I have serious doubts that I ever will make it to those places.
Nevertheless, last fall my wife and I finally made our first visit to the Reno/Sparks/Carson City/Lake Tahoe area, and I posted a few comments and a photo on this site. I planned to hit all of the casinos in the area to collect the chips, and I think I accomplished that. I had in mind adding a particular number of chips, since that would result in a nice total number of chips to arrange in an array for display under the glass on my desktop. (I think I posted a photo of that array after that trip.) Unfortunately, one of the casinos on my list had removed their table games, so I was going to be one chip short. I used that as my justification to drive on down to Minden and visit the casino there.
Atlantis was the second casino that I visited on that trip, shortly after driving away from the Reno airport. I hit the Peppermill and Atlantis before heading down to our hotel in State Line, NV, on the south end of Lake Tahoe. Later that week we drove back to visit the other casinos in Reno and Sparks.
My gambling results at Atlantis were a net negative $10 at craps, including what was likely about that amount of tokes during my play, so it wasn't a painful experience for my wallet. Certainly not when compared to some of the other establishments I visited on that trip.
This chip has a little something that lets me talk more about chips rather than just about the casino. You probably can't see this in the small image below, but click on that so that you can see my "medium" image of this chip. Look just above the "N" in Nevada.
There you will see a small, stylized "BJ". In this case, that does not stand for either a table game or a sex act. That "BJ" is the logo for the chip manufacturer and stands for the owner's name: Bernard "Bud" Jones. I have plagiarized and revised the following information about him from this article.
Bud Jones owned several companies that supplied the gaming industry with dice, chips, furniture, and other supplies. He was responsible for the design of several of the chips that he sold, but even though he manufactured the dice and other materials, for years he left the manufacturing of his chips to another company. Eventually, he started manufacturing chips, but he had limited success due to some negative marketing by his gorilla-in-the-room competitor, Paulson (which the article lists as "Paul-Son Gaming," though I had not seen that previously).
When Bud Jones died in 2001, his company was sold to B&G, which eventually was merged with competitor Paulson. The name was changed to Gaming Partners International, and the web site for that company lists lines of chips including B&G, Paulson, and Bud Jones. I don't see the BJ logo on any of the Bud Jones chip patterns on their site, so I don't know whether it is still in active use. Perhaps they continue to include it on designs used by long-term Bud Jones customers but don't offer it for new configurations. At least it was on the chips still being used by the Atlantis casino as of last fall.
Keep an eye out for the "BJ" logo on chips you encounter in your collection or in play and in the images I post. If you find one of those chips in a casino, you can point out the "BJ" to folks and tell them any explanation/story you like. Can't you see the possibilities in this? I will try to remember to point it out in future images I post, but this logo is not nearly so common as the top hat and cane mark, which is one of the iconic Paulson designs.
Edit 3/28/12: I have just received from rdw4potus the links to some images of his chips from casinos that I have already passed in this thread. Thanks, rdw! I am editing my posts to include his images, such as this one:
Quote: JohnzimboOK I tried this and when I hit "preview" I only see a link, not a picture. If I then hit "post" will it post a pic or just the link?
Link.
"Preview" is exactly that - the option to see a post, before actually posting it. It's much more useful that using "Edit" to fix mistakes. By using "Preview" you can see the mistakes and fix them before anyone else sees them.
In your case, you can see that you didn't get the picture right, giving you the opportunity to figure out what went wrong before posting it.
For what it's worth, below the box where you type the post, there is a link for Click here for formatting codes. Did you read thru that? Are you using the correct codes? I suspect that you are using LINK codes when you should be using IMG codes.
You should be able to see the image when you do a preview. To post a photo, you should be using the [img=http://.....] formatting code and not the [link=http://...] code.Quote: JohnzimboOK I tried this and when I hit "preview" I only see a link, not a picture. If I then hit "post" will it post a pic or just the link?
If you continue to have difficulty, may I suggest that you make an exact copy of the lines where you have composed the reference to the image and send that to me by Private Message? I'll take a look at it and see whether I can make any suggestion, as I did for klimate10. I would like to help and would like to be able to see your images, but I don't think I want to distract this thread too far onto the topic of how to post photos.
Edit: Slow typing once again; the answer was already given.
OK! Fuzzy but I got it! TYTY Doc!
Close-up images are difficult to get in focus unless you have a close-up lens. I bought a set specifically to get photos of my chips.
Quote: DocThose are a bit like your Sands opening-day chips. I am confident that zippyboy's Aladdin Hotel dice are from the gift shop and never were used on a real casino table.
I thought the dice for sale at the gift shop were those no longer used at the tables.
Usually they are. But the Alladin dice in the photo are round edge. That's why I asked if they also have serial numbers. Only dice used in the casino would have numbers, but they are usually square edge.Quote: NareedI thought the dice for sale at the gift shop were those no longer used at the tables.
Quote: DJTeddyBearUsually they are. But the Alladin dice in the photo are round edge. That's why I asked if they also have serial numbers. Only dice used in the casino would have numbers, but they are usually square edge.
These resemble the novelty dice found in many hotel gift shops. You can even get a set with your name if it is common enough.
There is also the remote possibility that these are Pai Gow dice (which have rounded edges and are smaller than Craps dice), but I would put long odds on that.
Quote: DocKeep an eye out for the "BJ" logo on chips you encounter in your collection or in play and in the images I post. If you find one of those chips in a casino, you can point out the "BJ" to folks and tell them any explanation/story you like. Can't you see the possibilities in this? I will try to remember to point it out in future images I post, but this logo is not nearly so common as the top hat and cane mark, which is one of the iconic Paulson designs.
Very interesting Doc. I note on the larger image that the quality of graphic seems of poorer quality than the others (the edges of the colors are not sharp, and the shell seems hand drawn). I wonder if this is a security measure rather than a manufacturing defect.
I don't recall seeing the radiating lines on other chips, but I also don't recall having any BJ products in my small collection. Is this design feature common for BJ chips?