Casino Chip of the Day

Quote: rdw4potus

I know what you mean, and this raises a question I've been meaning to ask: where is the line in North Las Vegas between the very rough area (think Poker Palace) and the pretty nice part (Cannery, Aliante Station)?

It's somewhere a bit north of Lucky Club. It was at a gas station near there where I felt safe, and when I found Lucky Club, I suddenly felt unsafe.

I don't have any tokens or chips from the Fitz but I did collect these:



LOL. I got the pennies probably 10+ years ago and never included them as part of my chip collection and had forgotten about them. I found them about a week ago while cleaning out a "junk drawer".

Thanks for posting those tokens, Lucyjr. One of the interesting things I find about tokens is trying to find a mint mark and identify the manufacturer.

Your Harrah's token shows a mint mark of "CT" on the front. That stands for Casino Tokens Inc., which used to be a Las Vegas company. I mentioned it when I posted my chip from the Barcelona, noting that it had been sold some years ago to another mint.

The back of your Flamingo token shows a mint mark of "LM". I believe that stands for Lombardi Mint. I have not found any detailed information about that mint, because most every search result seems to be about some item related to Vince Lombardi that is supposedly in mint condition.

Edit: I posted more info on the "LM" mint mark in this post.

I am having some difficulty reading the worn mint mark on the back of your Imperial Palace token, right below the "Nevada". I think it says "NCM". If that is correct, it stands for Nevada Coin Mint. I have at least one token from that mint, but I haven't yet gotten to it in this thread.

Ditto. Thanks Lucy.

You reminded me that when I posted my Hooter's chip a couple days ago, I saw a bunch of chips for casinos already covered. And these chips are different than the ones posted - primarily because I tend to be a sucker for collector / specialty chips. On the other hand, the wife tends to yell when I do that, so the collection is somewhat limited.


In the spirit of the "of the day" nature of this thread, I'll play catchup, one casino per day. It should only take about 2 weeks.




Here's my chip from Binion's, front & back.

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State: Nevada
City: Sparks
Casino: John Ascuaga's Nugget

OK, I'll start with excuses. There is this thread started by the Wizard on the topic of a physics problem. Last night, the Wizard posted his answer, I posted a reply, the Wizard raised another question and then disappeared. I spent an unreasonable amount of time and too much of my limited brainpower last night and this morning composing explanations to various people's questions. That's my excuse for why I haven't really prepared much to post along with the photo of the Casino Chip of the Day. So there.



As one more of the Nevada casinos with the "Nugget" name, John Ascuaga's place is located in Sparks, just east of Reno, and is snuggled between I-80 and a railroad yard. To the far side of the interstate, there is an attractive mall that I did not visit, and on the far side of the railroad yard there is an industrial district with a metal recycler, mini-warehouses, and truck rental place. I didn't go there either. As an outsider, I suspect that the railroad and highway serve as a significant boundary between areas of the town. The immediate location between the two tends to make me think, "Who would want to build anything there?" It seems like the kind of location that could be a bit of a dump.

Not the case. John Ascuaga's Nugget seemed to be one of the nicer establishments that I visited in Reno/Sparks, though perhaps the locals will correct me on that. It has two sizable hotel towers that I did not investigate, in addition to the casino area.

According to Wiki, the place opened in 1955 as Dick Graves's Nugget, with John Ascuaga as the General Manager who bought the place in 1960 and expanded the facility several times. It is now owned by a family trust and operated by his son and daughter.

The chip shown below is a white RHC Paulson hat and cane design with nine edge inserts in three colors. That's more extreme than I usually see on a $1 chip. The MOGH catalog says that this chip was issued in 2002. Previous $1 chips illustrated there were blue with nine edge inserts and a less colorful center inlay, sometimes with a different variety of the hat and cane design.

So who has good stories to tell about their times at John Ascuaga's Nugget? I feel certain that TIMSPEED has something to share.

I'm a bit confused by the image on this chip. I don't remember the casino having a theme that would evoke elephant imagery. Did I miss something there?

Quote: rdw4potus

I'm a bit confused by the image on this chip. I don't remember the casino having a theme that would evoke elephant imagery. Did I miss something there?

Thanks for the chip image.

You and I both missed out on the elephant. According to the Wikipedia page:

Quote: Wiki

The Nugget's primary attraction from the 80's to late 90's was Bertha the Elephant and her baby, Tina, who entertained in the Circus Room many a time. They were also favorite attractions at the annual Nevada Day parade in Carson City. Bertha died in the late 90's after being with the Ascuaga family for over 10 years.

A note on that page, from someone who claims to have worked with Bertha for 16 years, adds, "Bertha performed with three baby elephants in her 37 years at the Nugget. Two were named Tina and one was named Angel. None were related to Bertha."

I guess it's typical Wikipedia stuff to say one place that she performed there over 10 years from 80s to late 90s and another place on the same page say that she performed there for 37 years. (Maybe I should read that sentence as saying that she performed with three baby elephants at the Nugget and that she lived 37 years, not all at the Nugget. If so, it's another example of poor writing.)

The Circus Room was remodeled and renamed the Celebrity Showroom.

Quote: Doc

I guess it's typical Wikipedia stuff to say one place that she performed there over 10 years from 80s to late 90s and another place on the same page say that she performed there for 37 years.

What I'd like to know is how much it costs, and how hard it is, to dispose of a dead adult elephant!

BTW, Doc, your chip is a beautiful example of matching seemingly missmatching colors. The black and gold inlay is complemented nicely by the edge inserts, even if none quite matches.

Well, lol, seeing as I live in johns house every weekend, I could tell you a whole lot of stories...
Once there was a bomb scare in the early 90s...then in 2011, during street vibrations, the president of the hells angels was shot dead in the casino...
They give decent cash back, and theirs a decent selection of food.
I'll post chips tommorow ($5 hot August night collector, $25, $100, and $500)

Well, I was there in 2011 -- glad I wasn't around for the shooting. Or for the bomb, real or not.

I look forward to seeing all of your chips, TIMSPEED. The MOGH catalog includes $25 and $100 chips from the same series as my $1 chip, but it doesn't show any other series or any $500 chips or your $5 commemorative.

As promised yesterday, I'm playing catch-up, one casino per day.

Here's my chip from Caesars, front & back as well as edge printing.

Hey Doc! Check out the high-tech studio gear used for the edge shots!

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Yeah, it's a dinner fork....

Quote: Nareed

You all passed on the chance to do the IP buffet challenge. Now we'll never know, as surely the buffet will improve when the property's renamed.

I hope to make a trip to Vegas this summer, and as someone who has self-identified as "I don't have any taste buds left as I have burnt them all off drinking cheap whiskey on the rocks*," I would like to try the IP buffet and report back. I also have a pretty strong stomach (maybe approaching iron).

If any forum members are around (and if the buffet is still open - not sure about the construction schedule), I will invite you to observe.

*This is mostly a joke, but I have a very non-sensitive sense of taste compared to most people I know. My friends have pretty much stopped taking my advice on restaurants because just about everything falls into "eh it was pretty good" to "yeah, that place was great!" for me.

Quote: AcesAndEights

I hope to make a trip to Vegas this summer, and as someone who has self-identified as "I don't have any taste buds left as I have burnt them all off drinking cheap whiskey on the rocks*," I would like to try the IP buffet and report back. I also have a pretty strong stomach (maybe approaching iron).

If any forum members are around (and if the buffet is still open - not sure about the construction schedule), I will invite you to observe.

*This is mostly a joke, but I have a very non-sensitive sense of taste compared to most people I know. My friends have pretty much stopped taking my advice on restaurants because just about everything falls into "eh it was pretty good" to "yeah, that place was great!" for me.

(This was supposed to be an edit - whoops - to add this fairly insignificant sentence:)

Also, I have plenty of TR credits to spend, so I wouldn't have to pay for it. In cash at least, I guess the credits are almost as good as cash while you're in Vegas.

Quote: FleaStiff

Skimping on a room charge but working your way up to Black chips at the IP that is good. You were at a place where the owner said: No bathtubs!! I want players who will take a quick shower and then hit the casino.
With all this Linq stuff going on, I don't know what is happening to the IP... but it was a great lifestyle place for awhile. Young adults with little money, hot-bunking in the rooms, six people fighting over two key cards, making a meal of a hot dog, playing blackjack for five dollars and trying to pick-up the dealers. Everyone piling into the car to drive back to Los Angeles and hitting the Agricultural Inspection at 5:00am with one sober driver and six unconscious passengers utterly dead to the world.

Damn...that sounds like a great time. I wish I were 21 again sometimes.

Quote: AcesAndEights

I hope to make a trip to Vegas this summer, and as someone who has self-identified as "I don't have any taste buds left as I have burnt them all off drinking cheap whiskey on the rocks*," I would like to try the IP buffet and report back. I also have a pretty strong stomach (maybe approaching iron).

Great! we can unofficially call this WoVCon ][.][ even if you don't meet anyone from the forum ;)

Seriously, It's ahrdly necessary. We have a few reviews here already. As I recall, I said it was ok for breakfast if you stuck to oatmeal and the omelette station. At this time, though, I don't recall if I ate lunch or dinner there. It was 3 years ago, and by far my least memorable trip. Hell my clearest memory is trying to get to understand craps from a book, while sipping lemonade and vodka at the Spanish Steps bar at Caesars Palace.

State: Nevada
City: Henderson
Casino: Jokers Wild

The Cattle Baron Casino operated in Henderson from 1990 to 1993. After being closed a while for re-work, it reopened as the Jokers Wild Casino. This is at least the fourth casino on Boulder Highway that has been covered in this thread (Did I overlook any?), and more are to come. This one is part of the Boyd Gaming family.

Sometimes the organization/ownership of casino businesses amuses me. I don't really understand why things are done the way they are. Jokers Wild is really licensed as Eldorado, Inc., doing business as Jokers Wild. This Eldorado, Inc. is 100% owned by California Hotel and Casino, which is owned 100% by Boyd Gaming. That seems unnecessarily complex. Why can't a corporation like Boyd Gaming just own a place named Jokers Wild, without having corporate sub-layers going through the names of two other casinos?

The chip shown below is a typically-grimy SCV Paulson hat and cane design in light blue with two red, triangular, edge inserts. The center inlay is a textured white with a simple denomination and city listing accompanying the playfully-designed logo of the casino name. The MOGH catalog indicates that this chip was issued in 1993 when the casino reopened under the new name. Excluding a couple of promo and roulette chips and one Richard Petty collectors' chip, there are no Jokers Wild chips shown in the MOGH catalog that were issued after 1993. I guess if it works, you don't need to replace it.

Here's a little oddity, I think. Under UV lighting, the Paulson top hat and cane logo shows up on the center inlay, as it does on a number of other chips. On this chip, it is rotated 90° from the printing on the inlay. I have found that rotation on several chips, but I think this is the first one I have posted in the thread. Is this just random, deliberate, or accidental?

I think I have only been in Jokers Wild one time. Is there any reason I should want to go back?

Quote: Doc

I think I have only been in Jokers Wild one time. Is there any reason I should want to go back?

$1 Craps baby, with .25 chips and 10x odds!!! Play $3 on the pass line with full come bets, and you'll be treated like a rock star!

Quote: Doc

Here's a little oddity, I think. Under UV lighting, the Paulson top hat and cane logo shows up on the center inlay, as it does on a number of other chips. On this chip, it is rotated 90° from the printing on the inlay. I have found that rotation on several chips, but I think this is the first one I have posted in the thread. Is this just random, deliberate, or accidental?

From my experience in the printing industry:

The fluorescent ink is added in the printing process as if it were just any other color. They are printed on large rectangular sheets, not round spots. After all colors are printed, THEN they are cut into circles (or maybe even later in the application process). I.E. Whatever position and rotation it has, is deliberate. Isn't it in the same position and orientation on the other side?

Quote: Doc

I think I have only been in Jokers Wild one time. Is there any reason I should want to go back?

Yeah. The orange chips shown below play on the craps table. As I have been told, it's one of only 2 casinos in the US that still use 25¢ chips on craps. The other is the El Cortez (but I've never been there to verify...).

Trivia: Old timers will call it a "Bird Game." That name comes from the eagle on the back of quarters. Did some casinos use actual quarters on the craps tables?




Here's my Joker's Wild chips. Note that the 25¢ chip is not a front/back thing. I was feeling like a sport, and took two of those chips. LOL! Note that the two orange chips are the same color (As is the greenish background). I'm having trouble with the color and have new respect for Doc's skills as a photographer.

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I happen to own the Richard Petty chip Doc mentioned. Here's the front and back:

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Here's my Jokers Wild chip. Took a LONG time to find a "normal" chip that wasn't just utterly beat to hell.

I've at least stopped into Jokers Wild every time I've been to Vegas. The table games are cheap, and the deli isn't bad given the establishment's overall quality. But what has me stopping in are the progressives. JW is a property that has lots of locals betting less than the max. So the jackpots can get pretty interesting. Of course, I've never had any good luck with them, but boy have they been interesting:-)

I'm a bit late with this shot, but in regard to J.A. Nugget from yesterday, I got such a kick out of this sign in the parking lot when I stayed here last year, I had to snap a pic. The sign was on a corner lightpole, not an enclosed pavilion in any way, so I wonder just how far away from this sign free speech is protected. EvenBob should limit his rants only to this area, and he'll be fine.

Quote: JB

Doc nailed it - Verizon's vzwpics.com website requires you to be logged in, and the owner or recipient of the image, in order to view it. Hence, it shows up for Beardgoat but nobody else.

The recommendation is to upload it somewhere and reference that instead in the [img] tag.

As an aside, I know this is a bit of a hassle -- in the new version of the forum (there is no ETA on that yet), you will be able to upload images directly here without the need for a third party to host the image.

Just wanted to say thank you for the update. Haven't had any time the last few days to work on the chip issue but I will tonight

Quote: DJTeddyBear

They are printed on large rectangular sheets, not round spots.

Yes, I assumed they were printed in sheets. It just surprised me that when printing they didn't orient the sheet the same way it was for the hidden UV image. I thought it could be an accident that the hidden image was added first, then sheets were loaded into a printer while the operator didn't have a UV light to know what direction they should go. There is no real basis for that speculation.

As for the "bird" game being based on the true quarter chips (not "quarter" as in a green one), I wonder whether calling a tipper a "George" came from making $1 bets for the dealer (George on the currency) or 25¢ bets for the dealer (George on the coin).

Thanks for all the chip images.

Quote: rdw4potus

Took a LONG time to find a "normal" chip that wasn't just utterly beat to hell.

All of those chips you played with may have entered service in 1993 when they were issued. Almost twenty years of wear, tear, and grime accumulation.

To Tiltpoul, DJTeddyBear and rdw4potus: maybe I will have to try out the $1 craps game. They don't limit you to something like 2x odds, do they?

Quote: Doc

To Tiltpoul, DJTeddyBear and rdw4potus: maybe I will have to try out the $1 craps game. They don't limit you to something like 2x odds, do they?

Nope, 10x odds! Just remember when those 7s roll on the come out, you only 1 dollar. That's why I like 3 dollars

Quote: zippyboy

I'm a bit late with this shot, but in regard to J.A. Nugget from yesterday, I got such a kick out of this sign in the parking lot when I stayed here last year, I had to snap a pic. The sign was on a corner lightpole, not an enclosed pavilion in any way, so I wonder just how far away from this sign free speech is protected. EvenBob should limit his rants only to this area, and he'll be fine.

The free speech area may be the result of a labor dispute. Picketers are restricted to public areas, and by defining that space the hotel/city is able to keep them away from the doors.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Trivia: Old timers will call it a "Bird Game." That name comes from the eagle on the back of quarters. Did some casinos use actual quarters on the craps tables?

Yes. In fact, Binion's Horseshoe used to allow players to add dimes to their wagers to take advantage of the casino rounding up payouts and odds bets.

State: Nevada
City: Henderson
Casino: Klondike Sunset

There used to be a Klondike Hotel and Casino on the south end of the strip, just a few feet from the McCarran runways. The hotel had previously been a Motel 6. At one time, the owner of the Klondike was the same Ralph Engelstad who owned the Imperial Palace and ticked off the NGCB with publicity from his Nazi-themed parties. He sold the Klondike in 1976 to John Woodrum, a former partner of Bill Boyd, who was discussed recently in the Las Vegas Advisor Question of the Day – Woodrum is the one who ran a power line from the casino out across the street to illuminate the Welcome to Las Vegas sign. There was a bit of a dispute, and eventually the county took over responsibility for lighting the sign.

Some of the chips from the Klondike that are shown in the MOGH catalog indicate the name was Klondike Inn and some say Klondike Hotel and Casino, though I don't know the history of name changes or whether they aligned with ownership changes.

The Klondike closed and was demolished in about 2006, but by that time Woodrum had opened the other place, the Klondike Sunset out in Henderson, the real subject of today's Casino Chip of the Day. Now for those genuinely interested in minutiae, the place really is named Klondike Sunset, LLC, dba Klondike Sunset Casino, and belongs to Woodrum Gaming Trust, with trustee-beneficiaries John and Ellen Woodrum. Is there possibly anyone at all who reads these posts and actually cares about such stuff? That doesn't even merit inclusion in a trivia contest.

The two images shown below are the front and back of the same Klondike Sunset token. The side in the first image has a mint mark of "RWM" near the bottom -- you can't possibly read it in this small image, but if you click on it and squint at the larger image, maybe you can. This RWM stands for the former Roger Williams Mint of Massachusetts, which was also the source of the Caesars Palace token that I posted back at the end of March.

The MOGH catalog indicates this token was issued in 1999 when Woodrum opened the casino. The catalog still shows no $1 clay chips from Klondike Sunset. In fact, while it shows a $5 chip, it shows no chips at all of higher denominations. Surely they have greens and blacks, don't they? I've only been there once, and I don't remember.

What can anyone tell us about the Klondike Sunset, and does anyone have chips to post here that are missing from the MOGH catalog?

If you happen to have souvenir chips from the Klondike on South Las Vegas Boulevard, then this is a fine place to post those, too. I never went into that establishment.

Here's my Klondike Sunset chip. I've been to the Klondike Sunset twice. Both times, the same group of women was playing the roulette game. Both times, those women and I were the only customers in the casino. Kind of sad...

Quote: rdw4potus

Here's my Klondike Sunset chip.

Yep, that's the $5 chip that is shown in the MOGH catalog. The entire collection shown in that catalog consists of two roulette chips, your $5 chip, and my $1 token. Maybe the roulette chips shown in the catalog were submitted by those women, eh? Another thought: perhaps rdw4potus prefers to go to the casinos on Ladies' Nite, no?

I'm continuing to play catch-up.

Here's my Fiesta Henderson chips

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This same edge appears twice on the above chip. I have no idea WHAT dream they're talking about.
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Quote: Doc

perhaps rdw4potus prefers to go to the casinos on Ladies' Nite, no?

Well, of course! But I should probably re-evaluate my choice of casinos...:)

Klondike Sunset is the only casino I've ever walked in, saw table games weren't open and the faded paint of where slot machines were near the entrance, and walked out with my keys so I could attack anybody who may have seen me in the broad daylight.

True story by the way...

Quote: Doc

So how should I deal with this for Texas (Station) Gambling Hall? Does anyone know whether they ever introduced $1 chips that say "Station" on them? I need to know whether they exist and then decide whether one should be added to my collection at the next opportunity. If I go that route, it would be nice to pick one up before this thread gets to "T", but I don't think that will happen. The first step is to find out whether they exist. Any input?

Oh my, this is late, but YES, Texas Station (Gambling Hall & Hotel) does have new chips that say Station on them. They are the slippery kind that are a pain at the craps table (Fiesta Rancho has the regular tacky chips that don't slip). So yep, guess you'll have to make another trip out there ;)

Quote: rdw4potus

Poker Palace, Club Fortune, Jokers Wild, Ellis Island, Whichever-casino-in-downtown-henderson-is-the-one-with-the-tables, Klondike Sunset, Silver Saddle Saloon, Slots-a-fun (did they take out the tables?). that's all I've got off the top of my head. How many am I missing?

Silver Nugget, Eldorado (the one in Henderson you were thinking of), Bighorn.

Quote: rdw4potus

I've at least stopped into Jokers Wild every time I've been to Vegas. The table games are cheap, and the deli isn't bad given the establishment's overall quality. But what has me stopping in are the progressives. JW is a property that has lots of locals betting less than the max. So the jackpots can get pretty interesting. Of course, I've never had any good luck with them, but boy have they been interesting:-)

I stop in every time, too, for craps exclusively. Usually a good time, but it has not been fun the last couple times I've played and I'm not sure why. Time of visit matters, I guess. Be sure to ask for a comp to the Court Cafe if your buy-in is more than $100 and you don't deal with the $0.25 chips :) Very well done food at extremely reasonable prices even if you don't have a comp.

Edit: In lieu of jamming in more posts, I'll add the rest of my comments here:

Klondike Sunset is a dump. They used to deal $2 Blackjack after 4 P.M. and you could get loaded because the waitress would come around every 15 seconds! Now, they only have the $0.10 Roulette. I don't bother going there anymore.

IP Buffet is truly horrible, everyone who said so is correct. By the way, I went to the Terrible's Buffet on a free birthday offer this trip and, once again, regretted eating there. Maybe there should be a Terrible's/IP Buffet challenge?

Quote: Doc

There used to be a Klondike Hotel and Casino on the south end of the strip, just a few feet from the McCarran runways.

I actually stayed there once in 1982. Me and four college buddies drove to Vegas one weekend, might have been New Year's or some other holiday. We had no reservations and on the drive from So. Cal we heard on the radio that the entire town was sold out...no rooms to be had. Since we had no reservation, we pulled off I-15 at Las Vegas Blvd and the Klondike was the first casino/motel on the right, so we pull in and they tell us they had one room so we snagged it. We were a couple miles from any of the "good" casinos like the Hacienda or Aladdin but didn't care cuz "WE SCORED THE LAST ROOM IN VEGAS!!!"

At least we thought so, until we drove further down the strip and saw "vacancy" at every property. Lying radio punk!

And, alas, I didn't snag a chip from the Klondike

Quote: teddys

Oh my, this is late, but YES, Texas Station (Gambling Hall & Hotel) does have new chips that say Station on them.

Thanks for the info, teddys. Just to be very clear, you see from this thread that it is only the $1 chips that I collect. I may have said it before, but the MOGH catalog shows Texas Station chips that say "Station" for the higher denominations, including $5, but they show no $1 chips like that, and I collected my souvenir (that does not say Station) well after the name change. You are confident that they do have $1 chips with the full Texas Station name?

I won't make a special trip to Las Vegas to get one, but the next time I'm there, I will drive as far as that section of North Las Vegas. Unfortunately, I will not be willing to do that until the weather cools down again there, and this thread will progress past "T" before then. I'll have to include that new chip in my catchup posts later.

Quote: Doc

I won't make a special trip to Las Vegas to get one, but the next time I'm there, I will drive as far as that section of North Las Vegas. Unfortunately, I will not be willing to do that until the weather cools down again there, and this thread will progress past "T" before then. I'll have to include that new chip in my catchup posts later.

Are you mulling over WoVCon ]I[ next year, in either April or May?

Quote: Nareed

Are you mulling over WoVCon ]I[ next year, in either April or May?

If we haven't been back to Las Vegas before then, I am fairly confident I could convince my wife to make a trip in either April or May. Last year, the trip in June was borderline, and probably a bit over to line, for when we like to be in Las Vegas.

We don't have any plans at all for when our next trip there might be, and I have been careful not to make any comment here one way or the other about being there for the scheduled (?) weigh-in this fall. I'm not participating in that wager, so I don't have a vested interest in being present. Scheduling our next trip to Nevada will depend mostly upon when/where we travel to other places. If we do go out there in the fall, she-who-must-be-obeyed may not want to go back in the spring.

Quote: Doc

Scheduling our next trip to Nevada will depend mostly upon when/where we travel to other places. If we do go out there in the fall, she-who-must-be-obeyed may not want to go back in the spring.

I would love to go in March or even February. I get along well in colder climates, and the tail-end of winter is a good time to shop for a winter wardrobe.

Alas, those are busy times at the office. my choices are April (possibly), May, June, July and August. I hear Vegas in August is a bit cooler than Venus, but I don't know it for a fact ;)

Quote: Doc

We don't have any plans at all for when our next trip there might be, and I have been careful not to make any comment here one way or the other about being there for the scheduled (?) weigh-in this fall. I'm not participating in that wager, so I don't have a vested interest in being present. Scheduling our next trip to Nevada will depend mostly upon when/where we travel to other places. If we do go out there in the fall, she-who-must-be-obeyed may not want to go back in the spring.

When's your scheduled trip to Ohio? You've got two new chips to collect up here, with another two within a year!

Quote: Tiltpoul

When's your scheduled trip to Ohio? You've got two new chips to collect up here, with another two within a year!

I enjoy visiting Niagara Falls and haven't been there in four years. I think the next time I convince my wife to ride up there, we will take the detour over to Cleveland on the way home. I-77 passes within sight of my condo, so there wouldn't be many navigation issues in finding our way back from Cleveland.

We try to get to the Kentucky Music Weekend in Louisville the last weekend of each July. The last couple of years we have taken circuitous routes getting to Louisville, picking up chips in Indiana and Illinois, and this year the route might take us via Biloxi (Margaritaville), Tunica (no new chips, I think), a brief stop in West Memphis (Southland), and another one in Caruthersville, MO (Lady Luck). Next year, if the timing is right, maybe we will go by Cincinnati.

No idea when we might get to Toledo and Columbus -- those spots are a bit off our usual paths.

This reminds me of something I may have asked before. Last summer, coming home from the Kentucky Music Weekend, we stopped at the Mardi Gras casino in West Virginia to pick up a new chip. Unfortunately, they were still using the Tri-State Casino chips. Does anyone know whether they have new ones yet? I expect to be passing by there again this July.

State: Nevada
City: Lake Tahoe
Casino: Lakeside Inn

The Lakeside Inn and Casino is a nice rock and wood structure appropriate for a traditional, mountain lake cabin. The Wikipedia page for Stateline, NV (there is not one for this specific casino) makes a distinction between the five casinos in town, saying that the Lakeside Inn caters to locals and modest gamblers, while the other four qualify as resorts.

The Lakeside Inn is not really right at the side of Lake Tahoe. There's a golf course, a housing development, and a trailer park between the Inn and the water. Cutting the place a little slack, I'll admit that it is as close to the shore as most of the other casinos, and the name sounds nicer than some – I mean, what really sounds like a nicer place to you: "The Lakeside Inn" or "Harvey's".

The Lakeside Inn is on the outskirts of Stateline, NV, very close to where the highways split, going to either points north like Reno and Carson City or points east like Minden and Gardnerville. Mostly the two routes just take you through different high mountain passes. I drove past the Lakeside Inn quite a few times during my visit to Lake Tahoe last fall, but I only went inside once, making my contribution to their crap table's profit for the year.

The chip shown below is a pale blue SCV Paulson hat and cane design (Have we seen one of those before?) with no edge inserts. I didn't notice until getting ready to post this that I had photographed the side of it with a color streak scratched across the center inlay – just pretend that's not there.

The MOGH catalog shows two very-similar chips that are distinguished by such an esoteric feature that I don't really understand it myself – it is in the technique by which colors are mixed for printing of the center inlay. Rather than trying to explain in a way that I would probably get wrong, I'll just quote from the FAQ page of the MOGH catalog:

Quote: MOGH FAQs

Physical Mix

A physical mix is when you create colors by mixing them together before using them.

Optical Mix

An optical mix is when you create colors not by physically mixing them together, but through knowledge of color theory and how the eye perceives colors that abut or overlay each other. This is often done by printing tiny dots of different colors close to each other causing the eyes to mix them.

Based on some examples of the two methods that the catalog shows, I believe that my chip has the optical mix of colors, even though I could not have determined that from the photos I am posting. Examining the chip with a magnifying glass, I can see that the dark blue of "The Lakeside Inn" is composed of blue and red/purple dots, while the "$1" is composed of blue and white dots. I think the textured surface of this inlay makes it particularly hard to see this. I'm quite open to a better explanation of this distinction from any member with a background in printing.

In any case, the Lakeside Inn chip with the physical mix of colors was issued back in 1985 when the casino opened, while the one with the optical mix was issued in 2005, which seems to support my determination that the one I picked up last year is the one with the optical mix.

I've never been to this casino. My chip guide states that the faciltiy was the Sky Harbor from 1947-1954, Caesars from 1969-1971, then Harvey's Inn from 1972-1985. If this info is correct it must have been shuttered from 1954-1969, but I have no clue about the accuracy of any of this

Well, Johnzimbo, I had even less info than you did about the place, so you got me to looking just a little deeper. Starting with the casino names that you provided, I checked the MOGH catalog again. Harvey's Inn and Lakeside Inn are both listed as "168 Highway 50", and there is a note that Harvey's Inn indeed became Lakeside Inn.

On the other hand, Sky Harbor and Caesars are listed as having been located at "Kingsbury Grade at Highway 50" and "Hwy 50 & Kingsbury Grade" respectively, which is at least in the same immediate neighborhood. I suppose they too could have been at 168 Highway 50, but then there are quite a few others that are listed at addresses within a hundred yards, including:

Tahoe Village ('46-'51) which became Casino de Paris ('51-'54) which became Oliver's Club ('58-63).
Glass Crutch ('62-'67)
South Shore Club ('65-'66) which became South Tahoe ('66-'67)
Gary's Casino ('76-'78)
Riverboat ('70-'70)
John's Tahoe Nugget ('83-'91) which became Ed's Tahoe Nugget ('91-93)

With all of those casinos coming and going in the immediate vicinity, it's hard for me to be confident that the Lakeside Inn is really the same casino that was the Sky Harbor a few decades earlier. Today, the Lakeside Inn is the only establishment with table games in that very short stretch of Highway 50.

Even if the four casinos that your chip guide links together really are the same place, in that gap between '54 and '69 it certainly is possible that the facility remained open as a hotel and restaurant without operating a casino there. It would not really surprise me either if the structure itself had been replaced at some point.

The Lakeside Inn's own web site currently says, "We are celebrating our 25th anniversary this year", which seems to suggest that either they didn't really open in 1985 or the web site is out of date, likely the latter in my guess. At least their license was issued in 1985 -- would they still be celebrating a 25th anniversary after being open for 27 years?

Doc - that second coloring technique sounds kind of like Pointillism.

I visited the south Lake Tahoe casinos on a day that featured a bike race starting at Harveys/Harrah's. So, I was quite happy to escape to Lakeside Inn on my way back down to Reno. As I recall, the casino is somewhat oddly laid out, like it's just in a room that was originally purposed for some other task. I guess I would explain it this way: Lakeside Inn felt like a lodge that had a casino placed in it as an after-thought. By contrast, L'Auberge du Lac ( Lake Charles, LA) feels like a casino that was surrounded by a lodge as an afterthought.

I think you hit it on the head, rdw4potus. Do you think the Lakeside Inn facility has been around long enough to be the same place as the Sky Harbor that Johnzimbo mentions being open in 1947? I just don't think it's that old. I does seem plausible that someone built a lodge that, as you said, had a room "purposed for some other task" and then someone decided to put a casino in there. I just don't know whether that is the same place that used the Caesars name for two years right after Jay Sarno sold Caesars Palace. I haven't found a link between the two, other than the name.

Quote: Doc

The MOGH catalog shows two very-similar chips that are distinguished by such an esoteric feature that I don't really understand it myself – it is in the technique by which colors are mixed for printing of the center inlay.

Photos and sometimes graphic images are printed using what is often called halftoning. Wikipedia has a good article on it.

With the halftone process, four colors are used to print small dots. Depending on the dot size and distance from the viewer, the colors can appear as a solid color. The four colors can be mixed to create a wide variety of colors. But, upon close examination, or magnification, the dots show up.

Note that modern color printers can do a fantastic job of printing where you have trouble seeing the dots and patterns. But they are there. They equally difficult to see in magazines. The coated stock helps the printing process and allows for very small dots. Printing on uncoated stock encourages "dot spread." As a result, the dots need to be further apart, therefore larger. Newspaper is the worst for dot spread, and the individual dots are very easy to see

Often, when advertising items are printed, additional colors are used to make sure items like logos appear without the dot pattern and in the correct exact color. These spot colors are often specified by the Pantone Matching System color code. Wikipedia has a good article on Pantone as well. For example, if you can imagine an item printed for FedEx, you can see that the majority would be the four color mix, but the logo uses a fifth and sixth color: Purple and Orange.



Looking at the enlarged chip, I CAN see some red (or actually Magenta) spots within the name. The blue (cyan) $1 looks like it has white spots, but those can also be caused by the lighting of the dimples in the chip itself.

---

Edit: You might be right. This might be an example of Pointillism.

Once again, in my effort to catch up...

I have the old style Fitzgeralds $1 chip as well as these new style $1 and $5.

As Doc mentioned in the original post, the back side DOES have a different image.

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SInce I haven't done a trip log yet (and may end up not), this seems as good a place as any to post this image of the TV after I checked out of The D a month ago:

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The fact that they haven't had a chance to change the background image file or text from Fitzgerald's to the D is a little silly and embarrassing.

But what is the Holiday Inn connection and how old is THAT?

Quote: Doc

I think you hit it on the head, rdw4potus. Do you think the Lakeside Inn facility has been around long enough to be the same place as the Sky Harbor that Johnzimbo mentions being open in 1947? I just don't think it's that old. I does seem plausible that someone built a lodge that, as you said, had a room "purposed for some other task" and then someone decided to put a casino in there. I just don't know whether that is the same place that used the Caesars name for two years right after Jay Sarno sold Caesars Palace. I haven't found a link between the two, other than the name.

I think I might believe that it'd been there since 1969. Maybe the "missing" 15 years between 1954 and 1969 involved a razing and rebuilding on the same lot?

State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Las Vegas Club

The Las Vegas Club has a long and complex history in downtown Las Vegas, so I'm going to ramble a little while about some of the things I was able to dig up….

J. K. Houssels was a World War I biplane pilot and a graduate of the Colorado School of Mines. In 1929, he moved his family from California to Las Vegas, and with $6,000, he bought a one-third interest in a legal poker room and parlor called the Smokehouse on Fremont Street downtown. He renamed the place the Las Vegas Club. Two years later, the state legalized casino gambling, and Houssels and his partners expanded the place into a small but full-fledged casino. He also partnered in the construction of other downtown casinos, including the El Cortez.

Now, I have complained numerous times about the contradictory information that is offered by Wikipedia, so I tried to find a reliable, on-line resource for history of Nevada casinos. I came up with the Online Nevada Encyclopedia (www.onlinenevada.org) as a candidate, and much of the info from the previous paragraph came from there. Unfortunately, even that resource seems to have a degree of conflict. Its page on Houssels says that in 1946, he acquired full ownership of the Las Vegas Club, accepted Benny Binion as a partner in the club in 1947, but soon afterward sold his own interest there and returned to running the El Cortez.

In contrast, that same encyclopedia has a page on "Golden Gate Corner", the intersection of Fremont and Main, in which it says that Houssels and his original partners sold the Las Vegas Club to Jackie Gaughan in 1961. Why is there never a reliable historian around when you want one? Anyway, I'm not sure of the timing, but somewhere along the way prior to the sale, the casino was moved across Fremont Street into what had been the Overland Hotel, which is the current location of the Las Vegas Club.

Even today's Las Vegas Advisor Question of the Day discusses which casinos were where and when, including the Las Vegas Club, and that FAQ provides this link to the Time-Life vintage photos of Las Vegas from 1955.

Jackie Gaughan owned the property for more than 40 years, and some sources list the 1961 date at which he purchased it as the origin of the Las Vegas Club – to heck with whatever Houssels and partners were doing under that name for the previous thirty years. The people Gaughan eventually sold to seem a bit different from either the typical family or corporate groups that own casinos in Nevada. In most cases, those owners are almost entirely in the casino business.

In contrast, the Tamares Group is an international investment firm headquartered in Liechtenstein and with offices in Gibraltar, Helsinki, Las Vegas, London, New York and Tel Aviv. Through their subsidiary Tamares Leisure, they partnered with Barrick Gaming to purchase several casinos in downtown Las Vegas from Mr. Gaughan in 2004, including the Las Vegas Club. Tamares did not have the necessary license to operate casinos in Nevada, so the casino was operated by PlayLV Gaming, which was managed by Barrick.

In 2006, Tamares took full ownership of the property, but the casino continued to be operated by PlayLV Gaming. The topic of who-runs-the-casino is hard for me to follow. According to the NGCB documents, the operator PlayLV Gaming was managed by a series of companies: Barrick until January 2006, then Navagante Gaming (which we have encountered before in this thread) until July 2008, then BRH Gaming until October 2010, and finally (perhaps) Santo Gaming. I don't know whether this means that all of the casino's management personnel got thrown out three times in less than five years or whether the same people still do the work with different firms buying the business. It doesn't leave me with a feeling of stability in the house.

Some time during that period, the official name of the casino changed from "Las Vegas Club" to simply "Vegas Club", though nobody bothered to change the name on the front of the building. I had heard of the new name, and it was included in the advertising for the Vista Vision show at the Fremont Street Experience, so I kept trying to get a souvenir chip that said "Vegas Club". As near as I can figure, such chips never existed, and not too long ago the official name was changed back to "Las Vegas Club." I really have no idea what that was all about.

I think that I personally have spent less time gambling in the Las Vegas Club than I have spent cutting through the place to get from the FSE canopy to the California and on to Main Street Station. Via that route, I'm only outdoors while crossing Ogden Avenue, and I minimize the chances of being confronted by panhandlers or worse along that block of Main Street.

The chip shown below is a white RHC Paulson hat and cane chip with three edge inserts in maroon. The MOGH catalog says that this chip was issued in 2004 when Tamares and Barrick acquired the property, though the chip only mentions that it is "A Barrick Gaming Corporation Company." I don't even know what that pattern on the center inlay is supposed to mean. To me, it looks a bit like a golf green, with an asterisk or star marking the pin location. Or is that a Trekkie insignia with the points worn down?