Casino Chip of the Day

That is a surprisingly nice Searchlight Nugget $5 chip.

I always stop in Searchlight. Its just such a convenient waystation. But I usually stop at the Terrible's/McDonald's/Chevron station. I did see the greatest blackjack winning streak of my life while playing the SN's BJ game. A construction worker absolutely could not lose. Their max was $50, and he cleaned out the tray of green chips. For a fill, the dealer just opened a drawer and pulled out another sleeve of chips. I suggested the worker bet two hands of $50, but he left to go to play slots :). The dealer gave him the cancelled pack of cards later to commemorate "the luckiest streak he had ever seen."

Fun place. Good food specials, too.

State: Nevada
City: Reno
Casino: Siena

My most recent casino chip-collecting trip took place just over a week ago on a circuitous route to the Kentucky Music Weekend performances at Iroquois Park in Louisville. I have enjoyed folk music, both traditional and modern, since it achieved wide popularity in the 1960s; i.e., with such groups as Peter, Paul, and Mary. One of my favorite songs of that era was a newly written song, Darcy Farrow, as originally performed by Ian and Sylvia, though John Denver had a bigger hit of it some years later.

The song tells the tragic tale of two lovers in the late 19th or early 20th century, who were engaged to be married in the Carson Valley of Nevada when the girl was thrown from a horse and killed. Just the kind of tragedy that is so common in folk music, particularly the traditional ones. At a Kentucky Music Weekend show several years ago, one of the performers was Tom Campbell, who along with Steve Gillette were the co-writers of Darcy Farrow. Tom told a little of the background of the song. It was not based on anything event from early Nevada history but rather on a non-fatal horse-riding accident that Steve's sister had in her youth. They even used her name for the lead character in the song, after discussing the appropriateness, considering that the song's Darcy gets killed.

So how in the world could that little story have anything at all to do with a Casino Chip of the Day? Well, the song ends by describing how the death of the young girl is mourned and remembered throughout the region, and the final verse begins, "They sing of Darcy Farrow where the Truckee runs through." When I first heard of the song, I had no idea what the Truckee was/is, but it is the only river flowing out of Lake Tahoe, and it passes right through Reno. One day last October, after I had collected my souvenir chips from most of the downtown Reno casinos, my wife and I walked a bridge across the Truckee to get to the Siena Hotel Spa Casino on the south side of the river. The river seemed a bit out of place in the middle of a city in the middle of a desert basin. From Reno and Sparks, it flows lower in the basin to form Pyramid Lake, from which no stream emerges.

Yes, that may be a long and rambling tale, but it's just the kind of thing that comes to my mind when I think about my experiences visiting so many casinos to collect chips.

The Holiday Hotel Casino operated on that site next to the Truckee from the 1950s until closing in 1998. The property was sold, and after an extensive renovation it was reopened as the Siena in 2001. That property, too, had difficulties and closed in October 2010, only to reopen under new ownership just six months later and after another major renovation

The Siena seemed like a very nice place, perhaps because of the renovation just six months before my visit. I suppose I should let one of the locals describe the place, since I was only there long enough to lose a little at the crap table on my only visit. That was the general pattern of my gaming that day.

The chip shown below is a white RHC Paulson chip with two purple edge inserts and an oversized, monochrome center inlay. The graphic behind the "$1" is marked "TM", but it seems a bit odd to use a trade mark in this manner. It is an oval containing the initial "S" for Siena, but it is rotated 90° from the rest of the info on the center inlay. Why? On the casino's web site, the same mark is used, but with a more understandable orientation.

Although the MOGH catalog groups the pre- and post-sale Siena chips together, the NGCB documents make it clear that it is a completely new casino license effective 4/21/11. The catalog says that this chip was issued in 2011, presumably as the "new" Siena opened. Probably the best way to tell which chips are from which version of the Siena is to look at the logo: the new ones have the logo shown on my chip, though I think only the $1 denomination has the 90° rotation, while the older ships have a script "S" logo that looks almost like a "P".

Please post your images of chips from either edition of the Siena, as well as any you might have from the Holiday Hotel Casino on that same site in Reno, since I only have the current casino represented in my collection.

Here's my Siena chip. I picked it up during one of the only craps sessions that I'd played up to that point. When I flew from LAX to RNO, I'd slept only 2 hours the night before. Also on the plane was a group of guys who'd spent the entire prior 24 hours drinking. When I arrived at the casino, I'd planned on playing BJ, but as I was sitting down a guy across the pit yelled "hey, sleeping plane guy!" Turns out it was "hilariously drunken terminal guy," and we played craps together for about an hour. He was still pretty blitzed, but it was markedly less amusing the second time around.

It is interesting that the "S" logo is rotated 90 degrees compared to the text on rdw's and doc's chips. I wonder if this is on purpose?

I mentioned the rotation in my post, and I agree that it is "interesting." I am confident that the correct orientation is the one shown on rdw4potus's chip, since it is shown that way on the casino's web site and because the "TM" label on the graphic is rotated on the $1 chip. It's not an accident, but I don't understand it.

Quote: Doc

I mentioned the rotation in my post, and I agree that it is "interesting." I am confident that the correct orientation is the one shown on rdw4potus's chip, since it is shown that way on the casino's web site and because the "TM" label on the graphic is rotated on the $1 chip. It's not an accident, but I don't understand it.

My first guess would be a manfacturer's error. I don't think there is a good reason to place it off-kilter. The stylized fat "S" (rdw's) is still an "S" when turned 90 degrees (doc's). I can understand the confusion by the person who set up the graphic.

I haven't been there as Siena, but here's some goodies when it was Holiday.

I guess we kinda skipped over the Sands?

Quote: zippyboy

I guess we kinda skipped over the Sands?

Yep. It was gone before my first visit to Las Vegas in 2003. I suspect that Sands, Dunes, and a bunch of other old Las Vegas casinos will be covered after I turn the lead role of this thread over to others. It would be way too complex to try to identify in advance who has a chip from each of the casinos that we might want to cover.

I have already discussed with rdw4potus that he should take over first after my collection is finished, since he has the most extensive collection I have heard of on this forum. He has also agreed to fill in for me and keep the thread alive while I take an extended trip this fall. After rdw gets his full collection on display one day at a time -- that might be in 2018 ;-) -- we will move on to someone else's collection.

Quote: zippyboy

I guess we kinda skipped over the Sands?

We did Sands Regency (Reno), but not the LV Sands. I started collecting after it was razed & rebuilt as Venetian. I think Doc's collection also post-dates the transformation of the property in LV.

edit: Well timed, Doc:-)

State: Nevada
City: Reno
Casino: Silver Legacy

For our second-in-a-row Casino Chip of the Day from downtown Reno, we have the Silver Legacy Resort Casino, which opened in 1995 and is connected by bridges to both the Eldorado and Circus Circus.

Who owns the place? Well, the NGCB document on licenses has a list of ownership for this casino that runs 27 pages. Seriously. Here is the link to download the .pdf file – if you download it now and get the August 6, 2012 edition, check out pages 472-498 and see how everything is split up. If I read it correctly, I saw ownerships listed as small as holding 0.01407% of a company that owns 47% of the company that owns 50% of the joint venture that is the Silver Legacy. If they were going to split ownership to that extent, why didn't they just incorporate and issue shares of stock?

Basically, the joint venture was between the Carano family, owners of the Eldorado casino to the south, and MGM, owners of the Circus Circus casino to the north. As complicated as the ownership of the place has become, I thought the Silver Legacy was a pretty nice place on my only visit, disregarding how much I lost at their crap table. Any locals have input on this place?

Most of the Wikipedia page on the Silver Legacy reads like a flyer from their publicity agency, but it does include a paragraph describing some financial difficulties in early 2012. That paragraph includes this statement:

Quote: Wiki page

Silver Legacy and it's financial partners have worked out a deal to restructure by April 30, 2012, the deal includes the joint venture partners coming up with $15 million each to subsidize and a new loan issued to pay off the remaining amount. If that deal should fall apart, the Silver Legacy would likely be foreclosed upon….

I have no further info on what may have happened, but the NGCB document doesn't indicate any changes in 2012.

The chip shown below is a white RHC Paulson chip with four edge inserts, two brown and two pink/purple (fuchsia? puce?). The two sides have different center inlays, both of which are rather ornate. One shows a very early automobile – is that a steam engine? It doesn't look like any of the images I have seen of the Stanley Steamer vehicles, but there were surely similar competitors. Maybe some of the auto enthusiasts on the forum can identify this one.

Both of the center inlays are oversized and cover about half of each hat and cane on the perimeter. UV light reveals a hidden Paulson logo and the fluorescence of the two pink edge inserts.

One of the few $5 chips in my collection. I stayed there once or twice when bowling in tournaments at the National Bowling Stadium a few blocks away. It seemed newer/cleaner than most other Reno casinos, at least to me. Fondest recollection of the place-- wife and I were running low on funds and I told her I was going to play a little 21 and if I lost I would hit the ATM. While playing I get a page, find a house phone, and the wife tells me she just hit a five spot on live keno for $800.

Here's my Silver Legacy chip. I was surprised by how nice and inviting the Silver Legacy was. I really didn't expect much given the location and neighbors, but it was a solidly above-average place.

I think that Johnzimbo and rdw4potus just posted opposite faces of identical $5 chips. Am I right? BTW, the $1 chip I posted was issued in 1995, and I think that $5 chip came from the same time.

Quote: Doc

I think that Johnzimbo and rdw4potus just posted opposite faces of identical $5 chips. Am I right? BTW, the $1 chip I posted was issued in 1995, and I think that $5 chip came from the same time.

Lol, looking at the stripes I'd say you're correct.

Quote: Doc

I think that Johnzimbo and rdw4potus just posted opposite faces of identical $5 chips. Am I right?

I believe so, the opposite face of mine looks just like rdw's

Quote: Doc

Casino: Silver Legacy

The two sides have different center inlays, both of which are rather ornate. One shows a very early automobile – is that a steam engine? It doesn't look like any of the images I have seen of the Stanley Steamer vehicles, but there were surely similar competitors. Maybe some of the auto enthusiasts on the forum can identify this one.

The image is from an etching of the earliest steam powered car. Built by the three partners of the french company, "De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux", it was the first to put the engine in the front.

Unfortunately, the car burned up during its trial run in 1883. I am not sure what it has to do with Reno, except for the "Victorian Era" theme.



Read more details here

Quote: rdw4potus

Lol, looking at the stripes I'd say you're correct.

Actually, looking at the edge stripes makes one wonder. BOTH chips have the pink stripe next to clockwise the green stripe.

If they are the same issue, then either one of them is a production error, or they made no effort to be consistent on front & back when manufacturing them.

Makes me wanna start looking at stacks of chips a little more closely....

I noticed on the Google satellite view that there is a white "dome", which actually looks more like a ball on top of the hotel, and came across this image:



What's in the dome/ball?

The Silver Legacy is one of my favorites, also. It is probably the best place in the country to play two of my favorite games: Pai Gow and deuces wild video poker. The Pai Gow is $10 and in a really nice Asian pit, and you can bank every other hand. The deuces wild is full pay with full cashback and comps, so you can basically play while making money and eating for free. It just doesn't get much better than that.

Quote: Ayecarumba

The image is from an etching of the earliest steam powered car. Built by the three partners of the french company, "De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux", it was the first to put the engine in the front.

Unfortunately, the car burned up during its trial run in 1883. I am not sure what it has to do with Reno, except for the "Victorian Era" theme.

Excellent! I thought I was good/lucky to recognize it as a steam-powered vehicle. I would have no idea where to look for the identity and background info.

Is this an area of interest for you, or do you just conduct very good internet searches?

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Actually, looking at the edge stripes makes one wonder. BOTH chips have the pink stripe next to clockwise the green stripe.

If they are the same issue, then either one of them is a production error, or they made no effort to be consistent on front & back when manufacturing them.

Makes me wanna start looking at stacks of chips a little more closely....

I doubt that the manufacturers ever pay much attention to which way the chip is oriented in the equipment. Since most chips have the same inlay on both sides, we just don't notice the variation.

Quote: Ayecarumba

I noticed on the Google satellite view that there is a white "dome", which actually looks more like a ball on top of the hotel....

What's in the dome/ball?

I may have misremembered from my only visit, but I think that this is the place where they have a model silver mine or ore-processing facility, can't remember the details at all. The place I vaguely remember had some big pieces of equipment, and the dome may just be a way of extending the ceiling for the exhibit.

Quote: Doc

Excellent! I thought I was good/lucky to recognize it as a steam-powered vehicle. I would have no idea where to look for the identity and background info.

Is this an area of interest for you, or do you just conduct very good internet searches?

Paco is my hero. Google is my brother.

State: Nevada
City: North Las Vegas
Casino: Silver Nugget

Once again, I have conflicting information on the history and ownership of a casino. (Surprise, surprise.) According to the MOGH catalog, The Silver Nugget operated in North Las Vegas from 1965 until closing in 1988. It was replaced the following year by Mahoney's Silver Nugget, the source of today's Casino Chip (token) of the Day, which operated until 2010. That establishment was replaced by the Silver Nugget Casino, which is still in operation. They certainly have a collection of chips to support that three-edition version of the story.

Unfortunately, the Wikipedia page claims that the place opened in 1964 and was sold to Silver Nugget Gaming in 2007 in a transaction that included the Opera House Casino. It mentions Mahoney's Silver Nugget as a previous name of the place but indicates no changes specifically taking place in 2010.

Those two versions of the story don't seem compatible at all, and the lack of new chips being issued between 2007 and 2010 lends credence to the MOGH version of the story. Nevertheless, in spite of all the negative comments I have made in this thread about the reliability of Wikipedia, I have to believe they have at least a substantial part of the story correct this time. Why? Because the NGCB list of licenses shows Silver Nugget Gaming dba Silver Nugget Casino and RV Park, as the holder of the current license which was issued in January 2007.

I have no idea how to explain the discrepancies on chips labeling and issue dates. Perhaps somehow the holders of the new license received permission to continue using Mahoney's chips and tokens for several years before issuing their own, though that doesn't really seem likely. Anyone have any insight on this one? I'm not going to worry about it too much, because I have no more memory of the Silver Nugget (with or without Mahoney's name) than I do of several other North Las Vegas casinos I made a dash through that day.

The Wiki page says that the signature attraction of the place is its bowling center but also notes that in 2008 the new owners resumed the practice of hosting boxing matches with televised coverage. It doesn't say whether these start with disagreements on lane assignments.

The images below show the two sides of the same token. When I was initially taking photos, I did not realize that the sides of this token were different and only shot one. When I went back to shoot the other, I did not replicate the lighting – it is the photos that are so different, not the sides of the token. And yes, on both sides of the token that blur above "Silver Nugget" does say "Mahoney's"

The differences are minor. The script around the perimeter of the token is different from side to side. One side indicates the mint date (1989), while the other side, right under the state name, has the "CT" mint mark from Casino Tokens, Inc. That mint was first discussed back in March, in the post with the Barcelona token.

Please post images of your chips and tokens from any edition of a Silver Nugget gaming establishment in North Las Vegas. If you know the approximate date that you obtained the chip/token, perhaps that will shed a little light on the chronology.




Edit (10/6/17): After all these years, I am trying to replace the tokens in my collection with $1 chips if they are now available (and with $5 chips if the place is still using $1 tokens.) As part of that effort, I now have collected a $1 chip from the Silver Nugget casino.

Here's my Silver Nugget chip. I have almost no memory of the property itself. Maybe being unremarkable is a good thing for a North Las Vegas casino? It sure beats being remembered for the wrong reasons...

Quote: rdw4potus

My Silver Nugget chip

Here's my Silver Nugget chip.

Very interesting looking chip.

Those small, rounded edge inserts are unusual.

One wonders if the little "G" next to the "$5" a manufacturer's mark...

Quote: DJTeddyBear

One wonders if the little "G" next to the "$5" a manufacturer's mark...

Nice catch. The manufacturer is Gemaco, also known for playing cards. I think this is the second pattern shown on their page for foil stamp chips.

State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Silver Saddle Saloon

With yesterday's post of the Casino Chip of the Day, I mentioned that it was one more casino that I didn't even remember at all and that I had had that experience at several North Las Vegas casinos I visited the same day. Well, I probably spent even less time in the casino represented by today's chip (token) of the day, but the experience more than two years ago was much more memorable. In fact, immediately after returning home I started a new thread to tell the story of my visit to the Silver Saddle Saloon. Instead of my providing another description of the place here, I just suggest that you click the link and read at least the very-long first post of that thread, if you don't remember it.

I think there are only a couple of things I have to add to that earlier post. First, in August of last year I noticed that new chips had been approved for the Silver Saddle, including a real $1 chip instead of a token. I posted about it here and immediately got delightful replies from pacomartin and Ayecarumba.

Second, just a few days ago while preparing another post for this thread I noticed the reason for those new chips last year. Ownership of the Silver Saddle Saloon had changed in May 2011. After a couple of months of the place operating under a limited license, the limitation was removed at the end of July. I have no idea what a "Limited License" means or what kind of limitation was imposed/removed. I don't even know the difference between transferring a license to a new owner and issuing a new license. Does anyone here know those kinds of details?

In any case, I have not been back to the Silver Saddle to get a clay chip to replace my token, even though I did that for both Caesars Palace and Hard Rock. I haven't been adventurous enough to do that in this case.

The images below show the two sides of the same token. From the NGCB Chip and Token Report, I found that my token was issued in May 1996 when the casino opened. In the first image, below the saddle, you can see the GDC mint mark of the Green Duck Company. This is the same version of that mint mark that was on the Longhorn token but different from the one they used on the Searchlight Nugget token.

The MOGH catalog does not show this token, but it does mention that there was a different place called the Silver Saddle Casino in the early 1980s, located on the strip roughly across the street from where City Center is now. The catalog does show the new $1 chip for the Silver Saddle Saloon, a light blue SCV Paulson chip with a gold hot-stamped center impression.

I will be very interested to see whether any other forum members have Silver Saddle chips or tokens to post here.

Here's my Silver Saddle chip. I've told my story before as well, but I can't find where. Long story short, security at the Silver Saddle is provided by a uniformed police officer. When I walked in, he took one look at me and said "Sir, you are in the WRONG place." So, that was fun...

Quote: Doc

In any case, I have not been back to the Silver Saddle to get a clay chip to replace my token, even though I did that for both Caesars Palace and Hard Rock. I haven't been adventurous enough to do that in this case.

I'd be willing to acompany you next WoVCon in order to serve as an interpreter with the natives, should the need arise. Provided, that is, you can talk the Wizard into coming along with us and bringing his 9 mm with him.

Otherwise you're on your own.

While re-reading the posts you linked to, I recalled that Silver Saddle is listed in the WoV hotel list. And, since that list indicated that they have table games, that was the criteria needed to included it on the WoV map I made.

Truth is, I DID include it on an early version of the map. And that turned out to be quite a challenge because I couldn't find any website that included a logo for the place. So I ended up using Google Street View to check out the name on the building/sign, so I can emulate the design and font.

When the Wiz got my map, he mentioned that he never heard of the place, and that I should remove it from the map. Despite the work I had done to create a logo, I had no reservations about complying. Hell, I was a little spooked just by looking at the place on Street View!

Now if I can only get him to let me include Joker's Wild.....

Quote: DJTeddyBear

While re-reading the posts you linked to, I recalled that Silver Saddle is listed in the WoV hotel list.

Does the Silver Saddle Saloon have a hotel? That is surprising news to me!

I've never been there, but the street view makes the Silver Saddle look like a small, one story building. Yeah, just the right size for a dance hall. If they have a hotel, it's detatched. and/or across the street or whatever.

The Wiz remarked that he was going to take it off the WoV Hotel list when that gets updated.

But, sigh, the lack of hotel criteria is what keeps Joker's Wild off the map, too....

Quote: DJTeddyBear

I've never been there, but the street view makes the Silver Saddle look like a small, one story building. Yeah, just the right size for a dance hall. If they have a hotel, it's detatched. and/or across the street or whatever.

That matches what I recall seeing when passing by it with Doc and Mrs. Doc on the way to better places.

State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Silverton

The Silverton Casino Hotel Lodge is located just across I-15 from South Las Vegas Boulevard, far south of the area considered the Strip. Does that make it an off-non-strip casino?

It is on Blue Diamond Road, which is the route out to Pahrump and one of the ways to Red Rock Canyon. If I-15 is jammed up, an alternate route might be Dean Martin Drive, which starts between the Rio and the interstate and extends south all the way past the Silverton, making a loop to avoid going right through the casino. I suppose everyone knows about this "alternate" route, so it is probably jam-packed every time that the interstate is. I have taken it a couple of times, just for variety.

This area is actually Enterprise, Nevada, but that is no more likely to be mentioned by the casino that it would be for Bellagio to advertise that it is in Paradise instead of Las Vegas.

The casino originally opened in 1994 as a Boomtown Casino with a mining theme, but it didn't fare very well. In 1997, the property's landlord, Ed Roski's Majestic Realty, took over, renamed it the Silverton and re-themed it as a hunting lodge.

The Silverton has a couple of features that set it apart from other casinos. In 2004, as part of a renovation, a large Bass Pro Shop opened on the south end of the facility. It includes a trout pond with a waterfall just a few feet from the gaming floor.

Another unusual feature is Silverton's fabulous aquarium, located between the Bass Pro Shop and the gaming floor and containing a wide variety of salt-water fish, including several kinds of rays. Although this aquarium is quite a bit larger than the one in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, it similarly is served by divers who hand feed some of the fish several times a day. It makes for an interesting show for both kids and adults. In contrast to the diver at the Forum Shops, the Silverton diver is equipped with a microphone and can converse with those watching from outside the glass. An assistant in the crowd aids in a question and answer session about the tank inhabitants.

They also have mermaids that appear in the aquarium, somewhat reminiscent of the performances at Weeki Wachee Spring in Florida. Of course, this provides a theme tie-in to the Mermaid Restaurant and Lounge located next to the aquarium.

The Silverton chip shown below is a commemorative chip for the 2005 grand opening of their poker room. I have never been in their poker room. In fact, now that I think about it, I don't even know where in the casino the poker room is located. I picked it up at one of the usual table games, probably craps, though possibly blackjack.

The chip is white with four edge inserts, two in blue/purple and two in something between hot pink and day-glo orange. The outer ring of the chip has the molded name of the casino twice on each side of the chip. The center inlays are different on the two sides of the chip, though both of them mention the poker room grand opening. The MOGH catalog shows that the royal flush graphic on one center inlay was used on several chips, even those that do not mention the poker room. The orange inserts that almost glow in normal light do fluoresce under UV light, which also reveals the Paulson hat and cane logo.

Please post images of your Silverton chips, commemorative or not, and also please post any chips you may have from the Boomtown casino that preceded it, as that was before my time in Las Vegas.

Here is my Silverton chip. I've always thought that the Silverton was an odd place. The casino floor is big enough, but it still feels secondary to the Bass Pro Shop and restaurants. On the strip, there are many non-gaming aspects to each property, but the casino floor is always the most prominent feature. Silverton feels different to me.

Silverton is pretty classy. I dig the way they do business. They have more flair than the cookie-cutter Stations casinos, and I like some of the restaurants there. Pretty generous promotional stance. The table games have always left me cold, though, and I wish they had better video poker. Small complaints.

Never been to the Silverton.

The "insert" on the right side on the first image you posted makes me wonder if those marks are inserts or just painted on.

I looks like there is a hickey that would be hard to produce with real inserts. Makes me wonder....

Admin note: removed image www.djteddybear.com/images/silverton_edge_hickey.gif

Quote: teddys

The table games have always left me cold, though, and I wish they had better video poker. Small complaints.

My one trip to Silverton was this past May during WoVCon. I played my $50 in free play on a crappy VP machine, but hit two quads, so I ended up a nice chunk of change. I then played their single deck, 3-2 game, where out of 5 hands, I got either a BJ or 21 ALL 5 times. I figured it wasn't going to get much better than that, and left with a cool 100 in my pocket.

State: Nevada
City: Henderson
Casino: Skyline

Not to cut off discussion on Tiltpoul's story of a nice win at Silverton, but it's another day and time for me to post another chip (token).

The Skyline Casino is located on the west side of Boulder Highway in Henderson, just a mile toward Las Vegas from Joker's Wild and almost due east of Sunset Station. When I wrote about the Silver Nugget Casino a few days ago, I grumbled about my usual sources providing conflicting information. Today the complaint is more about a lack of information about the Skyline, or perhaps about gaps that are big enough for a pack of dice sliders to slip through.

First, there is no Wikipedia page at all for the Skyline. What's a guy supposed to do without such a reliable resource?

Second, there is the issue of the precise name of the establishment: one side of my souvenir token says that it is "Skyline Casino and Restaurant", while the other just says "Skyline Casino." The place's own web site says "Skyline Restaurant and Casino." Perhaps that's just a matter of emphasis. The NGCB license list document says "Northumberland LMG Corporation dba Skyline Casino", not mentioning a restaurant, though it says the sports book is "Leroy's Horse and Sports Place DB at Skyline Restaurant and Casino – Race Book." I suppose that just calling it "Skyline" should be sufficient.

Third is the matter of what kind of casino it is and when it has been in operation. I got the token by playing blackjack. The Skyline web site talks about their slot, poker, and keno machines and their sports book, but it makes no mention of any table games at all. Did they close down their tables? Anyone know? The MOGH catalog says that the casino opened in 1961, closed in 1965, opened again in 1974, and remains open now. The NGCB document says that the current license was issued in 2003, though the sports book's license was issued in 1995. Yep, there seem to be a few gaps in the story.

So who owns the place? I did a quick search on Northumberland LMG Corporation and found a page from corporationwiki.com. That page cites Dun and Bradstreet as their source and says, "Northumberland Lmg Corporation has no known officers." So much for D&B knowing the whole story – the NGCB lists James Reimers Marsh as President-Secretary-Treasurer-Director and 100% owner. Jim Marsh is a Las Vegas automobile dealer and a real estate investor throughout Nevada. I came up with this article about him from last year, photo included.

The images below show the two sides of the same token, with a mint date of 1992 clearly visible in the first image. Just above the date is the "CT" mint mark of Casino Tokens, Inc., which has previously been mentioned as the source of the Barcelona and Silver Nugget tokens.

The MOGH catalog does show some older $1 Skyline chips from Paulson, but none issued since the 1970s. There are newer $5 chips shown, so perhaps some of those will be posted here. I expect we can at least count on one from rdw4potus. ;-)




Edit (10/6/17): After all these years, I am trying to replace the tokens in my collection with $1 chips if they are now available (and with $5 chips if the place is still using $1 tokens.) As part of that effort, I now have collected a $5 chip from the Skyline casino.

Quote: Doc

State: Nevada
City: Henderson
Casino: Skyline

Not to cut off discussion on Tiltpoul's story of a nice win at Silverton, but it's another day and time for me to post another chip (token).

The Skyline Casino is located on the west side of Boulder Highway in Henderson, just a mile toward Las Vegas from Joker's Wild and almost due east of Sunset Station. When I wrote about the Silver Nugget Casino a few days ago, I grumbled about my usual sources providing conflicting information. Today the complaint is more about a lack of information about the Skyline, or perhaps about gaps that are big enough for a pack of dice sliders to slip through.

First, there is no Wikipedia page at all for the Skyline. What's a guy supposed to do without such a reliable resource?

Second, there is the issue of the precise name of the establishment: one side of my souvenir token says that it is "Skyline Casino and Restaurant", while the other just says "Skyline Casino." The place's own web site says "Skyline Restaurant and Casino." Perhaps that's just a matter of emphasis. The NGCB license list document says "Northumberland LMG Corporation dba Skyline Casino", not mentioning a restaurant, though it says the sports book is "Leroy's Horse and Sports Place DB at Skyline Restaurant and Casino – Race Book." I suppose that just calling it "Skyline" should be sufficient.

Third is the matter of what kind of casino it is and when it has been in operation. I got the token by playing blackjack. The Skyline web site talks about their slot, poker, and keno machines and their sports book, but it makes no mention of any table games at all. Did they close down their tables? Anyone know? The MOGH catalog says that the casino opened in 1961, closed in 1965, opened again in 1974, and remains open now. The NGCB document says that the current license was issued in 2003, though the sports book's license was issued in 1995. Yep, there seem to be a few gaps in the story.

So who owns the place? I did a quick search on Northumberland LMG Corporation and found a page from corporationwiki.com. That page cites Dun and Bradstreet as their source and says, "Northumberland Lmg Corporation has no known officers." So much for D&B knowing the whole story – the NGCB lists James Reimers Marsh as President-Secretary-Treasurer-Director and 100% owner. Jim Marsh is a Las Vegas automobile dealer and a real estate investor throughout Nevada. I came up with this article about him from last year, photo included.

The images below show the two sides of the same token, with a mint date of 1992 clearly visible in the first image. Just above the date is the "CT" mint mark of Casino Tokens, Inc., which has previously been mentioned as the source of the Barcelona and Searchlight Nugget tokens.

The MOGH catalog does show some older $1 Skyline chips from Paulson, but none issued since the 1970s. There are newer $5 chips shown, so perhaps some of those will be posted here. I expect we can at least count on one from rdw4potus. ;-)

I do not have a Skyline chip. I trusted CasinoCity's description of the property, which mentions 400 slots but no tables, and I haven't ever been there. If there really are tables, I'll add it to the list (currently 1 casino long: the D) to visit when I'm in Vegas in October.

No tables at the Skyline. Surprisingly, one of the best selections of full-pay video poker anywhere, and all coin-droppers. I've hit two $500 "hand-pays" there.

Quote: rdw4potus

I trusted CasinoCity's description of the property, which mentions 400 slots but no tables, and I haven't ever been there.

Quote: teddys

No tables at the Skyline.

Well, I don't have a record of specifically when I collected this chip, but I did look back at some old photos of my office in which the collection may be seen on my desktop. It appears that I must have obtained the Skyline chip some time between February 2007 and November 2007. I did visit Las Vegas in April 2007 and collected some souvenir chips then, but I don't have any record of going to the Skyline on that trip (or any other). Bottom line: they had at least a few tables at one time, from which I got a token, but I'm not sure when that was, and I have no idea when they removed the tables.

State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Slots-A-Fun

The MOGH catalog claims that Slots-A-Fun opened in 1973, while the brief Wikipedia page says that it opened August 5, 1971. Both of those dates are long before my first visit, so I have no input on which is correct. Wiki mentions that the place had mob connections from the very beginning, with an owner from the 1970s being convicted for skimming.

Slots-A-Fun is located just south of Circus-Circus, and it emphasized the ultimate in low-limit gaming. The $2-minimum craps table was located way out front, so close to the street that if there were a traffic jam, the passing motorists could almost participate in the game.

Slots-A-Fun was long operated as an annex of Circus-Circus under a separate license. In 2010, I read that it was being rolled under the Circus-Circus license and would be known as "Slots-A-Fun at Circus-Circus". I went by one afternoon (about an hour before my only visit ever to the Silver Saddle) to see whether they had chips with the new name. All of the tables were using the same Circus-Circus chip that I already had in my collection, so I left without playing and have never been back.

Apparently there is no reason for me to consider going back. According to that Wiki page:

Quote:

The casino no longer hosts live table games. As of 2011, the only games were slots and other machines, such as blackjack and 3-card poker. There is no drink service and even the cashier booth refers people to the one inside Circus Circus.

The chip shown below is another Bud Jones chip without the "BJ" logo. According to the MOGH catalog, this chip was issued in 1995. It is white with maroon/burgundy details, including six edge inserts, six card pips (clubs and spades appearing twice), a ring around the silver center in-layed coin, and six dashes on the edge of the chip aligned with the pips. I have a particular fondness for the center coin inlays.

In some post recently I noted that the split diamond pip can be either right-on-top, like this one, or the mirror image left-on-top design. The MOGH catalog shows both ROT and LOT versions of this chip that were issued in 1995. Does anyone have a LOT Slots-A-Fun chip to post here? Five years earlier, there was another issue of a very similar chip that did not have any suit pip repeated; instead there were two positions that had pairs of dice with the 5-2 faces showing.

Quote: Doc

State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Slots-A-Fun

Golly! Two in a row again! I honestly didn't expect this to happen when the thread was started. I don't have a slots-a-fun chip, either. By the time I got there, they were using Circus-Circus chips.

And I felt that I was a newcomer to chip collecting!

deleted

Quote: Doc

Slots-A-Fun is located just south of Circus-Circus,...

"Just south" is something of an overstatement.


My only visit was around 7 years ago. My wife & I went to the Stratosphere in the morning, played a bit, walked around, saw the long line of people for the observation deck, then decided to walk to the next casino on the southbound side of the strip. Circus Circus. Why not? It was only two inches on the map. Oh yeah, it was now mid afternoon. In August.

It didn't take long before she started cursing me out. About half-way there, she comments that it looks like it's getting further away. I didn't want to admit it, but I agreed with her.

To calm her down, I told her we'd cab it to the next one after that.

We both started laughing when we got there and saw that "the next one", Slots-A-Fun, was so close that it actually shared the driveway with Circus.


We didn't spend much time in either casino, however, I remember noticing that S-A-F had a lot of older slot machines, and that they were still using coin droppers. It made me declare that, as far as strip casinos go, S-A-F is where old slot machines go to die.


I did manage to collect a souvenir slot token.
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I also crossed something off my bucket list that day. I had a 99¢ foot-long hot dog. Word to the wise: It was overpriced.