Casino Chip of the Day

I enjoy Mandalay Bay, though there is an overpowering aroma as you walk through; not as distinct as Venetian, but kind of similar to it. They used to have a GREAT BJ pit, with S17, Surrender and RSA, with $15 table minimums at off peak hours. The pit is still in the same place, but the rules have changed to H17. At one point they had a Double Deck game, same rules except no RSA but S17, but every time I played on that table, I got killed...

It'll be interesting to see how the Michael Jackson Cirque Show does there, considering Viva Elvis is on its way out.

Thanks for posting the chip images.

I guess this is proof that I don't see much of the scenery while I am driving....

At the bottom edge of the photo on the center inlay of each of these chips, you can see part of a small building. I don't think I have ever noticed it when I have driven by, but I just checked the images on Google maps, and sure enough it is right there at the S.W. corner of S. Las Vegas Blvd. and W. Hacienda Ave. It appears to be something in a Greek or Roman style with columns and porticoes, and it is surrounded by water. Does anyone know what that is?

It seems a shame that I should miss a structure like that until seeing its roof on a chip inlay. The whole area looks like a garden of some kind that (to me at least) has been hidden in plain view.

On my first two trips to Vegas, I did more sight-seeing than gambling. During the first trip I did not go to MB, because I judged it was too long a walk from the Luxor. I had no idea there was a tram connecting both properties! :)

Anyway, I did go on my second trip, I looked around and eventually left. I suppose if you're not staying there, and you don't like the shark acquarium (and I don't), there's not much to draw you there. On my third trip I enarly did stay there. Had they not charged resort fees, I think I would have chosen it over the Rio. Now I like staying Downtown, so it looks like MB will remain nothing but a landmark on the way to the outlet mall as far as I'm concerned :)

Quote: rdw4potus

My Mandalay Bay chip

Here's my Mandalay Bay chip. It's also a Paulson chip with 6 edge inserts, but they're evenly spaced. I think I like the triplets better..

Looks like 12 total inserts to me, 6 couplets (right word?).

Quote: bigfoot66

Looks like 12 total inserts to me, 6 couplets (right word?).

I suppose it's a matter of perspective. The chip I posted and described as having "six edge inserts in two triplets" is described in the MOGH catalog as "Inserts: 2 PI/RD/OR". I interpret that as meaning they think there are only two inserts and that each is a combination of pink, red, and orange. Apparently I don't even agree on the colors. The fluorescing insert/section that I called pink is the one they called "RD".

For the chip that rdw4potus posted, MOGH says "Inserts: 6 WHITE/GOLD". Just call it the way you see it, I guess.

Quote: bigfoot66

Quote: rdw4potus

My Mandalay Bay chip

Here's my Mandalay Bay chip. It's also a Paulson chip with 6 edge inserts, but they're evenly spaced. I think I like the triplets better..

Looks like 12 total inserts to me, 6 couplets (right word?).

LOL! yes, 12. I just looked at the preview image when I wrote that, and on the smaller image it looked like it was all one color. D'oh!

Quote: Doc

State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Mandalay Bay

On my first trip to Vegas where I actually gambled, we were staying at the Trop, so I walked over to MB on the advice of a friend who said the waterfalls were kind of scenic. I have to agree; I was definitely pretty tired and drunk at the time, but I seem to remember a very long walk if you're walking in off of the strip, and there are waterfalls all around you. It's an interesting effect.

I then proceeded to lose $600 playing blackjack using the absolute worst donk strategy ever. This was before I was an informed gambler. I did make all of that money back on the same trip after I learned how to play Craps. Ah, the good times when $600 seemed like a lot of money to lose or win on one trip.

State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Margaritaville

The Margaritaville casino is just an area of the Flamingo casino operating under the Margaritaville banner. The MOGH catalog lists the chips right along with other Flamingo chips. However, the chips do say "Margaritaville Casino", and there are other Jimmy Buffett-licensed Margaritaville casinos open or on the way in other cities. The man created a trademark with one song, and it's still serving him well 35 years later. With this projected growth of the name/emblem in the casino realm, I feel adequately justified in presenting this chip with a day of its own.

My wife and I had previously dined several times at the Margaritaville restaurant at the corner of the Flamingo property, just across the alley from O'Sheas, and I think the casino opened the first of October last year. I picked up my souvenir chip during my visit to Las Vegas for WoVCon][ in May.

I looked for a chip while playing/losing at craps. By the way, that crap table is almost as close to the street as the one used to be at Slots-a-Fun, but at least at Margaritaville there is a glass door, and you are in the air-conditioned space. Wasn't the O'Sheas crap table almost on the sidewalk, too?

Unfortunately, they didn't have any Margaritaville chips at the crap table, just the standard Flamingo chips. The dealers said the Margaritaville chips had pretty much vanished and suggested I might be able to get one from the cashier.

Turns out the cashier didn't have any either. She even checked with her supervisor and told me they try to hold onto them for collectors if they notice one showing up at the cage. I left my business card and asked that they hold one for me. I checked back three days later, and sure enough they had one. I don't know whether they had really been holding it for me or not, but at least I got one for my collection.

The two images below are opposite sides of the same chip. It is a light blue RHC Paulson hat and cane design, with no edge inserts and with oversized center inlays on both sides, one primarily white and one primarily dark blue. Of course, there are parrots prominently displayed on both inlays – you just have to follow through on a theme! There are no hidden UV images on either side of this chip. I think a palm tree would have been nice.

Here's my Margaritaville chip. I was surprised by how much more fun this casino was than the Flamingo-proper. At the Flamingo, the dealers always seem to be just "there," while the Margaritaville dealers were having fun and making the experience enjoyable for the players as well.

Thanks for that chip image, rdw4potus.

I guess I haven't played the main floor at Flamingo recently enough to recall what the dealers were like. I did think those in Margaritaville made the game fun (except for the fact that I was losing money).

So after the discussion yesterday, who has a guess at how the MOGH catalog counts the number of edge inserts in the chip that rdw4potus posted? Four? Eight? Some other number?


Edit: BTW, you really need to find where photobucket has hidden your second image of chips. I took a look at the MOGH image for the other side of that chip, and it includes a reference to another Jimmy Buffet song. Unless yours is different from the one in that catalog.

Quote: Doc

Thanks for that chip image, rdw4potus.

I guess I haven't played the main floor at Flamingo recently enough to recall what the dealers were like. I did think those in Margaritaville made the game fun (except for the fact that I was losing money).

So after the discussion yesterday, who has a guess at how the MOGH catalog counts the number of edge inserts in the chip that rdw4potus posted? Four? Eight? Some other number?

I'd assume 4 after yesterday's discussion. I'm also intrigued by the prospect that it could be some other number:-)

Quote: Doc

The man created a trademark with one song, and it's still serving him well 35 years later.

You know, I'd never heard of Margaritaville until I saw the restaurant in Vegas. I had heard of Jimmy Buffet. In fact, for the Vegas Strip, a much better name for a reastaurant would have been Cheeseburger in Paradise :)

Quote:

With this projected growth of the name/emblem in the casino realm, I feel adequately justified in presenting this chip with a day of its own.

The thread is about chips, not casinos. So if margaritaville is or isn't technically an adjunct of Flamingo, it doens't matter. if it has its own chips, though, it does matter.

Anyway, it is an odd placement for the craps table. As I had entered by way of the Flamingo, I dind't even realize there was a craps table at all.

Quote: Nareed

You know, I'd never heard of Margaritaville until I saw the restaurant in Vegas. I had heard of Jimmy Buffet. In fact, for the Vegas Strip, a much better name for a reastaurant would have been Cheeseburger in Paradise :)

Cheeseburger In Paradise IS the name of a restaurant chain. Also owned by Jimmy Buffet.

To anyone that is a fan, Margaritaville is more of a state of mind rather than a physical location. It's kinda like "Vegas" vs "Las Vegas".

----

I was there a few days after it opened. I didn't play but snagged 6 of the $1 chips. I kept 1, and gave the others out at my poker league game. One of the venues we play at is the local Cheeseburger In Paradise.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Cheeseburger In Paradise IS the name of a restaurant chain. Also owned by Jimmy Buffet.

Yeah, I saw that on Wikipedia after I posted. Apparently it's also a dish at the Margaritaville restaurants.

Shouldn't there be one at the LVH? After all, it's on Paradise Rd. It's a shame when marketing opportunities are wasted. But then again, there's no Planet Hollywwod restaurant at the Planet Hollywood hotel...

Quote:

To anyone that is a fan, Margaritaville is more of a state of mind rather than a physical location. It's kinda like "Vegas" vs "Las Vegas".

I wouldn't know about that. But when they build a Margaritaville hotel and casino, what will they call the buffet? :P

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Cheeseburger In Paradise IS the name of a restaurant chain. Also owned by Jimmy Buffet.

It is my impression that Jimmy Buffett isn't investing a dime in the casinos but is instead leasing the name. Is that a franchise? I'm not sure of his financial position in the Margaritaville restaurants, but I'll take your word for it that he owns the Cheeseburger places. Cheeseburger in Paradise is also a menu item at the Margaritaville restaurant in Las Vegas. It is described as "The Heinz 57 is on the table and don’t forget the draft beer… if you’re old enough. Topped with American cheese, lettuce and tomato." Is that enough references to the song? Guess you have to ask specifically for the onion and Kosher pickle.



Edit: to both DJ and Nareed -- he spells his name with a double t -- Buffett.

I was interested in checking out the Margaritaville "casinette" (a new word I just made up), but there always seems to be a pretty big, rough looking crowd loitering on the sidewalk outside. This was on more than one weekend night.

What's the deal? They sure didn't look like Parrotheads, unless Parrotheads have changed their uniform from aloha shirts, cargo shorts, and straw hats; to basketball jerseys, baggy pants, and ball caps that still have stickers and tags on them.

I noticed the come bet on the dice table at Margaritaville is labeled "Come Monday"...cute.

I would say that the $5 chip has 8 inserts, but I think the book most likely says 4.

Just park in the parking deck out back, take the bridge to the main casino of Flamingo, head to the front and turn right (north). You get to the Margaritaville casino before the gift shop and restaurant, and you avoid whatever crowd might be hanging around out front. I stood close to the glass doors while I was playing craps, but I never had any reason on my latest trip to go out onto that front sidewalk.

Quote: bigfoot66

I noticed the come bet on the dice table at Margaritaville is labeled "Come Monday"...cute.

Well, that makes three of his songs that have come up in this thread so far today.

Quote: rdw4potus

Here's my Margaritaville chip. I was surprised by how much more fun this casino was than the Flamingo-proper. At the Flamingo, the dealers always seem to be just "there," while the Margaritaville dealers were having fun and making the experience enjoyable for the players as well.

I'm not all that surprised. If you think about it, this is the first casino since Harrah's that CET has developed on the strip since Harrah's took over. Harrah's has always been the "party casino" image, more about the fun and less about the gambling (obviously with terrible rules all over the place). Flamingo was Park Place, Caesars, stuff before that and I'm sure the long-term dealers (which are probably half of them) are tired of changes and just there to do their job.

I've played Flamingo nearly every trip, and wanted to get to Margaritaville during WoVCon, but sadly this trip was focused on the other Vegas properties, and I only did a strip trip one morning and didn't get over that far.

Quote: Ayecarumba

I was interested in checking out the Margaritaville "casinette" (a new word I just made up),

Careful. The word "casino" comes from the Italian for "small house." So calling it a "casinette," is in fact saying "a small small house." :)

Quote: Nareed

So calling it a "casinette," is in fact saying "a small small house." :)

So doesn't that work for the Las Vegas edition of Margaritaville?

Quote: Doc

So doesn't that work for the Las Vegas edition of Margaritaville?

Not really. Consider it is techincally the same casino as the Flamingo, not a "small casino" itself. So it would be like a casino section, or an adjunct, or annex, or something like that.

What Caesars should do, if themes ever come back in fashion, is take an existing casino, say Harrah's or Bally's, rename it Margaritaville and go heavy with the tropical, laid back theme. But then the Margaritaville casino wouldn't have a Margaritaville restaurant.

Quote: bigfoot66

I noticed the come bet on the dice table at Margaritaville is labeled "Come Monday"...cute.

Hmm, I'm surprised I didn't notice that.

The one time I've played craps at M-ville, I was surprised at how often they actually play the song. I wasn't there long (long enough to lose too much money...but anyway), and it already started to bug me. I asked the dealers if they wanted to kill themselves every time the song came on, but I guess they just tune it out.

State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: MGM Grand

There is a common expression about the 600-pound gorilla in the room, but when it comes to casinos in Clark County, it's the lion in the room. Or perhaps it's the lion with the most rooms in a single hotel in the U.S. (though the combined Venetian-Palazzo has more.)

The MGM Grand, with the statue of Leo the MGM Lion out front, is the focal point of MGM Resorts International in Las Vegas. If I haven't mentioned it before, it has long amused me that the two behemoth casino corporations on the strip both have their namesake resort on one side of S. Las Vegas Blvd. and all of their other strip properties on the other side of the street. What are the odds of that?

The original MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the hotel-casino where the big fire occurred, was converted to Bally's, though I don't think I discussed that when I posted my Bally's chip. The new/present casino-hotel opened in 1993, replacing and incorporating the Marina hotel. The original strip entrance involved walking into the mouth of the lion, which didn't fit well with the beliefs of Asian gamblers, so that was deleted, and the statue was added in 1998.

The Las-Vegas-as-a-family-friendly-destination theme park out back was closed in just a few years. I doubt I would have bothered to go there, but my wife and I did enjoy visiting the lion habitat just off the casino floor, so we are very disappointed that it too has faded into history. We have no use/interest at all in their adding one more nightclub on the strip.

We have attended a few shows at the MGM Grand, including George Carlin and a couple of performances of Kà. We often get either a late breakfast or a late-evening snack at one of the casual cafés in a casino, and we like the Stage Door Café at the MGM Grand. I don't recall having dined at any of the facility's major restaurants.

The chip shown below is a dark blue Paulson chip with two, white, triangular, edge inserts. The outer ring of the chip has molded in the full "MGM Grand Hotel/Casino", which is repeated on the center inlay. According to the MOGH catalog, this chip was issued in 2005, and there have been two other very similar chips. One issued in 1996 looks the same but is in a lighter shade of blue. The other, issued in 2010, is this same darker blue but has a smaller version of the center inlay, with the same pattern as this one.

The center inlay of all of the standard MGM Grand chips has an image of Leo the trademark Lion in full-roar mode. I think the graphic makes his mane look as if he is caught in some kind of vortex.

The ultra-violet light reveals the Paulson hat and cane logo, the only indication of the chip manufacturer. It also shows that all of the blue clay fluoresces, but the white edge inserts do not.

I have only played occasionally at the MGM Grand tables. My question to you is this: Who considers the Grand their favorite (or one of their favorite) places to gamble, and why? With that many tables and that many machines, it seems they ought to have something to draw gamblers from the other places on the strip, but I haven't figured out just what it might be.

MGM isn't one of my favorite places to play in Las Vegas, but it IS my favorite place to play Tiles. Maybe it's because they don't have quarters on the table and round down. They also have a fantastic Asian restaurant with some great sushi.

I did have the chance to go to the theme park when it was operating. The problem was that it was too small, with only about 10-12 ride offerings. You really could only spend a few hours before it got old. They did have a good indoor roller coaster, that when they moved outside, really sucked. But not knowing what was coming made the dips and turns much more exciting. Overall Grand Slam Canyon at Circus Circus had better quality rides.

The show before Ka was EFX, which had a series of various actors who portrayed the main character. The show was reworked for the star's strengths; we saw it with Rick Springfield.

Quote: Doc

We have no use/interest at all in their adding one more nightclub on the strip.

Hear, hear!

Quote:

My question to you is this: Who considers the Grand their favorite (or one of their favorite) places to gamble, and why?

I'll do you the opposite: I dislike the MGM Grand.

Oh, the building's pretty, and the casino is very nice. But it's too, damned BIG. Everything's too far away. Also there are too many things inside, so signage quickly gets confusing. Last May I had a hell of a time findnig the exit to the Strip. I went in trhough a side entrance off the pedestrian bridge from the Tropicana. BUt I wanted to exit at the Strip to catch the SDX. You'd think that would be marked in the signage, but it isn't.

Curiously I had the same problem two years ago at the Monte Carlo. Then I entered through the tram from City Center.

My one and only visit to MGM was this past May. Due to construction on the corner of the Strip and Tropicana, I was forced to enter MGM and exit out their hotel entrance on Tropicana. This turned out to be acceptable, since I discovered that there is free WiFi inside (or at least where I tried it, near the front desk), and the exit was right across the street from Hooters, my destination!

Here's my chip from the MGM Grand. I'm not sure what to think of MGM. The casino is a solid OK. Lion habitat was cool, but it's gone now. Ka is fun, but weird. Restaurants are great, but that's pretty much as-expected. MGM is the "flagship" of it's brand, but I'm not even sure it's in the top tier of their Vegas properties. I think I'd take Bellagio, Aria, and Mandalay Bay before I'd take MGM. By comparison, Caesar's is head-and-shoulders above Paris and Planet Hollywood in the CZR hierarchy.

Quote: Nareed

But it's too, damned BIG.

I don't recall whether I have related this story here before or not. The night that we saw George Carlin perform there, we shared a booth with a young couple we did not know. It was their first visit to Las Vegas, and they told us about their initial experience. After checking into their room at the MGM Grand that day, they decided to go out for a walk to explore the area. They went outside, walked a long way down the street, turned onto another street, and walked a little farther. They were getting a little tired of walking and decided to step inside a place and see what it was like. It was still the MGM Grand. They had gone out at the door by the hotel desk, headed up Tropicana and re-entered from the strip. I think they decided they would need a taxi to visit any other casino.

Quote: rdw4potus

Here's my chip from the MGM Grand.

That chip looks so new/unworn that it's almost as if you got it straight from Paulson.

Quote: Doc

It was still the MGM Grand. They had gone out at the door by the hotel desk, headed up Tropicana and re-entered from the strip. I think they decided they would need a taxi to visit any other casino.

Wow! You found someone with a worse sense of direction and a worse sense of location than me? Impressive!

True story: I've gotten lost on the Strip. That's hard, considering it's a striaght line, mroe or less, without twists and turns. But for some reason on my first trip I thought the Flamingo was on the opposite side from where it really is. So I kept looking for it while walking right past it :)

Quote: Doc

That chip looks so new/unworn that it's almost as if you got it straight from Paulson.

I think the casino may well have just received it. I also picked it up on a completely empty (let it ride?) table. I got the impression that the dealers were used to that table being basically a quasi-break in their rotation.

I have the same chip as Doc, which I grabbed during Super Bowl weekend a couple years ago. Our group got some decently priced tickets to KA on Saturday night...and that was enough to remind me why I hate the strip, especially on weekends. The casino was so crowded we were lucky to find seats at a slot machine to kill the 45 minutes before doors opened, and even though we won about $80 on a Dean Martin slot, I doubt I'll go back. Simply too many people.

Jeez, Johnzimbo, your chip looks as pristine as the one rdw4potus posted. I would say that mine looks cruddy enough to be something from the Bourbon Street casino, except that might suggest that I got one from Bourbon Street before it closed, which I didn't. (rats!)

Here's a thinker...

If you were able to get a chip from every open casino (with their own chips, no tokens) in Nevada today (June 21, 2012), how many chips would you have?

Quote: Ayecarumba

Here's a thinker...

If you were able to get a chip from every open casino (with their own chips, no tokens) in Nevada today (June 21, 2012), how many chips would you have?

I just realized something: I could count my collection to get the answer. I'm only missing 2 casinos, and 2 have closed since I collected them.

I don't anticipate ever getting chips from all of them. There are plenty of places in Nevada that are developed enough to have table games yet too far out in the boonies for me ever to travel to. I suspect that rdw4potus needs to get his collection complete before he gets married, or it'll never be complete.

Quote: Doc

I don't anticipate ever getting chips from all of them. There are plenty of places in Nevada that are developed enough to have table games yet too far out in the boonies for me ever to travel to. I suspect that rdw4potus needs to get his collection complete before he gets married, or it'll never be complete.

I beg to differ. What a wonderful honeymoon that would be, driving from casino to casino. Talk about TRUE LOVE ...

Quote: buzzpaff

I beg to differ. What a wonderful honeymoon that would be, driving from casino to casino. Talk about TRUE LOVE ...

I hear divorces in Nevada are cheap and easy.

Quote: Doc

I suspect that rdw4potus needs to get his collection complete before he gets married, or it'll never be complete.

I'm trying to be strategic at this point. Can I get the girl to come with me to indian casinos in Oklahoma? No? Better go now. Can I get the girl to road trip through beautiful northern california and oregon? Yes, ok, wait...:-)

A Man With a Plan !

Quote: rdw4potus

I'm trying to be strategic at this point. Can I get the girl to come with me to indian casinos in Oklahoma?

Make sure she is in pristine condition and borrow Doc's UV light to check for hidden tattoos hehe

Quote: buzzpaff

What a wonderful honeymoon that would be, driving from casino to casino.

Quote: Nareed

I hear divorces in Nevada are cheap and easy.

Welllllll, if I drag her with me to Battle Mountain NV to get that chip, both of these statements could come into play:-)

Add getting a new chip to your collection and hit the TRIFECTA !

State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Mirage

The Mirage casino was opened by Steve Wynn in 1989 and is commonly considered a milestone in the evolution of the strip – a new, luxurious casino-hotel that turned around the decline in visitors to the strip. It was the most expensive casino-hotel ever constructed.

My wife and I never attended the Siegfried and Roy show the years it played at the Mirage, but we did visit the Secret Garden one time, and we always liked the white tiger habitat beside the corridor to the southern entrance/exit to the strip. That habitat, like the lion habitat at MGM, is now history, having been replaced by a direct revenue generator – a burger restaurant. We ate there once, but I would have drawn more pleasure from spending the same amount of time watching the tigers. (I know – they wouldn't have made any money off my watching the tigers, just as they never made a cent off my watching the lions. Except such things did get me inside the doors, and I usually did spend/play some while I was there.)

Inside the Mirage, there are two shows that my wife and I have attended: One visit to "Love" by Cirque du Soleil and two visits to see Terry Fator, the ventriloquist-winner of America's Got Talent. Very different forms of entertainment, but we thoroughly enjoyed both. For free indoor viewing/entertainment, there is a small but nice atrium just inside the front entrance and a very nice aquarium behind the hotel check-in desk. Unfortunately, you cannot get close to the glass as you may at the aquariums in the Caesars Forum Shops or at the Silverton.

Outside of the building, also for free, the Mirage offers an hourly-in-the-evening volcano eruption. This was an original attraction at the Mirage and was re-worked and improved in both 1996 and 2008. One of the sideshows that I like about the volcano is watching the ducks that live and nest in and around the pond. As the show begins, there is some low rumbling from the sound system, and the ducks obviously have learned what is coming. They don't fly away, but they do scoot – even a mother with a trailing of ducklings – to the far end of the pond. There, they are safe when the "lava" flames start erupting from the water at the attraction end of their abode. The tourists, of course, don't have that much sense and try to get their viewing from as close to the action as possible. They wind up experiencing some significant thermal radiation before the show is over.

The chip shown below is a dark blue Paulson chip with four white edge inserts. The outer ring of the chip has "Mirage" molded in twice, plus two five-tree groves of palm trees. The center inlay also has the five palm trees. The inlay is oversized, but since the outer portion is clear (with some texture) it does not noticeably intrude on the outer ring. I thought that all Mirage chips since the casino opened had used this same mold, with different clay colors, different edge inserts, and different center inlays. However, the MOGH catalog shows a poker room chip with the Paulson RHC design. I suppose there could be other exceptions.

As with several other recent chips, the UV light reveals the hidden Paulson hat and cane logo on the center of this chip. The MOGH catalog indicates that there are two almost-identical versions of this chip, one with the short cane version of the hidden logo and one with the long cane version, like mine. Both were issued in 1996. There are two other Mirage chips, issued in 1989 and 2009, that use this same chip but with different center inlays.

I don't know if I've noticed this on prior chips, but the inserts on the Mirage chip look like they have been painted on. I.E. On your chip, they are nice and white in the impression of the mold, but are faded / worn away on the surface.

Interestingly, the two Mirage chips I own have the opposite effect. The white is nice on the surface, but dark in the impression. I don't think that's due to dirt. I'm more inclined to think that the white marks were painted on prior to the impression being made. I know that's a lame theory. By contrast, I'd then think that the white was pained on afterwards for your chip. Yeah, I know, still a lame theory.

On the other hand, on all three of these chips, the white has a perfect border with the inlay impression. Further evidence that these are not cuts and inserts.


My two chips are different in another way too: Either my second chip has seen a lot more wear & tear, or the two chips used different methods of impressing the inlay into the chip.

Admin note: removed link to www.djteddybear.com/images/chips_large/mirage_1.JPGAdmin note: removed image www.djteddybear.com/images/chips_thumb/mirage_1.JPG Admin note: removed link to www.djteddybear.com/images/chips_large/mirage_2.JPGAdmin note: removed image www.djteddybear.com/images/chips_thumb/mirage_2.JPG

Here's my Mirage chip. There are 12 (!) inserts. I originally collected one with a Terry Fator advertisement, and I swapped that out for this one in March when I drove through Vegas on my way from Beatty to LA.

What's with the very unnatural, and non-matching, palm tree colors? They clash horribly with the chip colors, and they look like a five-year old painted them with crayons.

BTW, this thread is giving me a sense of how many Vegas casinos I've visited but never played in. For all that I spread my play around, I tend to wind up playing in only a few places.

Quote: rdw4potus

My Mirage chip

Here's my Mirage chip. There are 12 (!) inserts.

This further causes me to think the "inserts" are painted stripes.

They look more like two sets of three parallel stripes. And these also make a perfect border with the inlay insert impression.

Quote: Nareed

What's with the very unnatural, and non-matching, palm tree colors?

Unnatural? As in, you'd never see them in real life? As in imaginary? Kinda like a mirage?

Mirage. Get it?

For what it's worth, if you didn't already realize it, that's their logo.