Casino Chip of the Day

I visited Delaware park in March of 2011, while I was in Philly for a conference. I also visited AC for the first time that week, and the other Delaware casinos, and all of the casinos in the Eastern part of PA. Somehow I still passed the certification exam at the end of the conference:-)

Delaware park is an interesting casino to me because the space did not lend itself particularly well to the introduction of slots or table games. In several places, it really feels like you're in a hallway with machines on both sides, or with a row of tables in the middle, or both. It's a stark contrast from somewhere like Harrah's Philadelphia or Saratoga Casino & Raceway, where it feels like the building was designed to hold a casino and just happens to have a track (I guess I don't really know - maybe those are new buildings...).

My chip is the $5 equivalent of Doc's chip. I do like how the cutout in the picture on the face is different for each denomination. Looking at the MOGH's page on the casino, there are $4, $10, and $20 chips to support the poker room, and even those chips have this pattern present.

The insert with a 'bite" out of it really seems like an odd shape. I wonder if the "bite" has a UV image or some other security feature? Did you happen to hit it with your UV light Doc?

First of all, there isn't really a "bite" out of the center inlay. That's just the printed image; the inlay covers the entire recessed portion of the chip. There is no hidden image, at least not on the $1 chip, but the entire non-printed (white) portion of the center inlay does fluoresce under UV light. I didn't think that was worth recording in a photo. Only one of my Delaware chips has a hidden image, and that one will be coming up tomorrow.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Quote: Doc

My records indicate I lost just $5 playing craps at Delaware Park. That makes the chip shown in the image below my version of a souvenir $5 chip. ☺

Check your math. Don't you have to add the $1 for the chip itself, meaning you left $6 at that casino??? LOL :)

My win/loss records show cash-out minus buy-in. If I tip the dealers along the way or keep a souvenir chip, those amounts are included in "loss" or reduction of "win". Example: If I buy in for $100 and cash out $95, then I lost $5, even if I could have cashed out my souvenir chip, too. So, no, I didn't leave $6 at that casino. It really is my version of a souvenir $5 chip.

State: Delaware
City: Dover
Casino: Dover Downs

Dover Downs Hotel and Casino opened adjacent to the pre-existing horse track on the north side of the capital city. Since I was making my 2010 pass through Delaware north to south, I hit the casinos in alphabetical order, making this the second one on my schedule for the day.

Just as at Delaware Park, I lost money playing craps at Dover Downs, but not too much. My records say $35. Unless I am confusing two establishments, which is always possible, I remember a bit about the play at the table. It was crowded with a lively, friendly crowd, with lots of players placing small prop bet wagers for other players they didn't know. I sometimes wonder how the dealers feel about such stuff.

For one shooter, the point was 4, and a player who was betting the hard way yelled out for "Little Joe." The base dealer that I was standing beside had a delusion that he was clever and said, "Around this area they call that 'Little Willie from South Philly'."

I looked at him a moment and replied, "No. I really can't see anyone yelling out that they wanted a 'Little Willie'." The girl two positions away laughed and agreed that she just couldn't see that either, and we left the dealer to stew in his juices.

The chip shown below is a white RHC Paulson hat and cane design with four edge inserts, two in burgundy and two in a color I think I would call "peach". The MOGH catalog calls these colors purple and pink, so choose your chromatic preferences. The undersized center inlay has a graduated green tint, heavy on the perimeter and fading toward the center, plus their "Come Play!" slogan in a green script. The name and denomination are in black.

UV light reveals a hidden LCV Paulson logo in the center and also shows that the peach/pink edge inserts fluoresce. I have to admit that the fluorescence is more clearly pink.

Here's my chip from Dover Downs. The edge inserts are orange and purplish gray. They also seem to be much less precisely laid/cut in than the inserts on Doc's chip.

Dover Downs has been busy every time I've gone (4 times). People would have to drive past another casino to get there from any side, but it's busy and the people are friendly. Maybe it's the offers that they give out that bring people in. I'm not sure what it was about my 2 hours of green action that impressed them on my first trip, but they sent some very strong offers that I used on trips 2-4. They've stopped that now, probably because on trips 3 and 4 I didn't do anything except use the free play and match plays they sent. The hotel was nice enough - certainly worth every penny I paid for my stays - and the food is decent as well. The only real drawback is that it's in the middle of Delaware, and there's not a lot of non-gambling things to do either at the property or in town.

Okay. I won't question your math anymore.


It's interesting that the Dover Downs chip has the slogan "Come Play!" on it. I wanna say that this is the first chip we've seen that has an advertising slogan on their chip.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

It's interesting that the Dover Downs chip has the slogan "Come Play!" on it. I wanna say that this is the first chip we've seen that has an advertising slogan on their chip.

I ignore comments such as "Hotel", "Spa", etc. I also ignore limited edition chips.

So I scanned 25 pages of this thread before I came up with a similar slogan on a chip. Boardwalk has "The Fun Place To Be" on their chip.

Continue scanning... Page 44 has a Circus Circus chip that includes "The Adventuredome" I'm not sure if that is actually a limited edition souvenir chip or not.

Page 49, Club Cal Neva includes "Best Bet".

I stopped scanning at 60 pages. OK, it wasn't the first time we saw a slogan, but it is damn rare.



On a different/related topic, page 59, Eldorado Reno includes a copyright symbol, 1997 and the full corporate name, including "LLC" as a TM above the logo!

Quote: DJTeddyBear

I ignore comments such as "Hotel", "Spa", etc. I also ignore limited edition chips.

So I scanned 25 pages of this thread before I came up with a similar slogan on a chip. Boardwalk has "The Fun Place To Be" on their chip.

Continue scanning... Page 44 has a Circus Circus chip that includes "The Adventuredome" I'm not sure if that is actually a limited edition souvenir chip or not.

Page 49, Club Cal Neva includes "Best Bet".

I stopped scanning at 60 pages. OK, it wasn't the first time we saw a slogan, but it is damn rare.



On a different/related topic, page 59, Eldorado Reno includes a copyright symbol, 1997 and the full corporate name, including "LLC" as a TM above the logo!

Valley View is "San Diego's Favorite!"

I would absolutely put a slogan on my chip if I had a casino. Why not? It's effectively free advertising.

Quote: rdw4potus

I would absolutely put a slogan on my chip if I had a casino. Why not? It's effectively free advertising.

The burning question is, "If you actaully had a casino, what slogan would you put on your chips?"

Other chips that include what might be considered slogans:

Saddle West (Pahrump, NV) -- "In Sam We Trust"
Searchlight Nugget (Searchlight, NV) token -- "Gateway to Lake Mohave"
Mohegan Sun (Uncasville, CT) -- "Wigwomun" ("Welcome" in Mohegan language)

And the Four Queens chip includes their URL.


That's just for the chips I posted myself; I haven't taken the time to review all of the others. As for unusual things printed on the chip inlays, tomorrow's Casino Chip of the Day has an error on it. And I have an even more interesting tale to tell about one of the Indiana chips when we get to that one.

Quote: Ayecarumba

The burning question is, "If you actaully had a casino, what slogan would you put on your chips?"

Well, first, I'll own the Plaza after I win the Powerball tomorrow night. As for the slogan...It'd depend on the theme and target audience of the casino. But "Less rude than Revel" could work in AC, I think.

Quote: rdw4potus

Well, first, I'll own the Plaza after I win the Powerball tomorrow night. As for the slogan...It'd depend on the theme and target audience of the casino. But "Less rude than Revel" could work in AC, I think.

Hehe.. Good luck with the Powerball!

State: Delaware
City: Harrington
Casino: Harrington

The Harrington Casino tried to hide from me as I drove down US13. I even had its location programmed in advance into my GPS unit. Unfortunately, the casino is hidden on the back side of the race track, behind the facilities for the horses.

Try this: go to Google Maps and do a search on "Harrington Raceway & Casino, Harrington, DE". It should pop up in the menu long before you can type all of that in. Then take a look at that building that is marked by the little "A" flag and the label "Harrington Casino" – that is NOT the casino. I think it is a maintenance facility for the racetrack, but it may be another stable.

Anyway, I was suckered in and programmed that building's position into the GPS. I drove down US13 and turned down the road on the north side of the racetrack. I thought all was fine until I saw the building and quickly saw is was not the place I was looking for. Now if I had just driven a hundred yards or so farther, I would have seen the casino, but instead, I figured I had the wrong place, so I turned around and headed back to the highway. Eventually I found the signs and wound my way around the grounds to the real casino.

I remember less about the facility and my experiences there than I do about the difficulty I had finding the place. My records indicate that I only spent 35 minutes in the place and that I won $25 playing craps, which was better than half of what I had lost at the other two Delaware casinos earlier that day, so there was some sense of recovery, I suppose.

The chip shown below is white with three edge inserts that I recently referred to as "pliers tips" because (to me) they look like the tip of a set of slip-joint pliers. The MOGH catalog calls these "split black" inserts and says the chip is from RTP (R.T. Plastics). As we encountered for other chips recently, this is subject to question: the chip pattern is shown on the GEMACO web site as their design #139.25.13.00. Yes, it would be quite useful to know a bit more about both the chip manufacturers and their manufacturing processes.

I looked around the R.T. Plastics web site and could not find any chip patterns that look like these we have seen the past few days. My confidence in the source identification by the MOGH catalog is fading. Does anyone in the forum know whether there is a connection between R.T. Plastics and GEMACO?

The MOGH catalog does have the interesting notation that side B of this chip shows the wrong zip code for the casino: 19912 instead of the correct 19952. The error was issued on all denominations of the chips, and the catalog shows a re-issued $1 chip with the correct zip code. I assume other denominations may have been reissued, too. Perhaps we can see on rdw4potus's chip if he posts an image of that side. I think he picked up his Delaware chips a year after I got mine, but I don't know when the re-issue took place.

Quote: Doc

State: Delaware
City: Harrington
Casino: Harrington

The MOGH catalog does have the interesting notation that side B of this chip shows the wrong zip code for the casino: 19912 instead of the correct 19952. The error was issued on all denominations of the chips, and the catalog shows a re-issued $1 chip with the correct zip code. I assume other denominations may have been reissued, too. Perhaps we can see on rdw4potus's chip if he posts an image of that side. I think he picked up his Delaware chips a year after I got mine, but I don't know when the re-issue took place.

Hmm... I wonder what is actually at 19912?

Quote: Ayecarumba

Hmm... I wonder what is actually at 19912?

According to USPS, that is not a valid ZIP code.

Quote: Doc

I remember less about the facility and my experiences there than I do about the difficulty I had finding the place.

That's a trip to Harrington alright. Even the Wizard can tell you.

Here's my Harrington chip. I do not have a picture of the reverse, but it does have the incorrect 19912 zip code.

I also had a very hard time getting to Harrington. I followed my GPS, which led me to the back side of the property. Then I drove around the lot back there until I gave up and headed back to the highway. Only then, and completely by chance, did I drive past the front entrance to the casino. I don't think I've ever been to a casino where it's not possible to tell where to go, even when you're on the property.

I really didn't do much at Harrington. Played a little BJ, tried the buffet. It's billed as the best casino buffet in Delmarva, but unless I'm really missing something that just means it's better than the one at Dover. That's a true statement - it IS better than the one at Dover - but they're both pretty average.

Quote: odiousgambit

That's a trip to Harrington alright. Even the Wizard can tell you.

I don't think he reads this thread any more -- at least he hasn't posted anything here since last March, I think.

State: Florida
City: Tampa
Casino: Seminole Hard Rock

The casinocity.com web site claims that the state of Florida has 137 casinos, placing it at #4 on their list behind Nevada, California, and Montana. Unfortunately, most of those 137 casinos are on cruise ships that either call some place in Florida their home port or at least dock there occasionally. I suspect that most of the others are dog tracks, horse tracks, or jai alai frontons. I am not aware of a single land-based, legal, craps table in the state.

There are also some card rooms, and the Seminole tribe operates a few casinos. Do any of those offer card craps? Not the only one I've been to. I made my way to the Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa one afternoon in October 2010 and managed to break even in a half hour of play at a blackjack table. It is the only Florida land-based casino I have ever visited. I didn't see anything there that was interesting enough to draw me back. I think I did pick up a fast-food snack while I was there. Perhaps someone else on the forum can provide a more favorable review.

The chip shown below is a white RHC Paulson hat and cane design with two different, oversized center inlays, one with the Hard Rock guitar and the other with the even-more-common Hard Rock logo with the circle. Both center inlays have a pale blue background. The lighting is notably different in the two photos, because the first time through taking pictures of my collection, I overlooked the fact that the two sides of the chip are different. I don't seem to be able to replicate lighting reliably.

The chip has two, green edge inserts that I think may be triangular, but they are substantially covered by the oversized inlays, so I'm not certain.

UV light reveals the casino's name repeated numerous times over the surface of the inlay, and this pattern includes what we have now come to expect: a spelling "error" in one position. That's on the guitar side of the chip; the other side does not have anything that fluoresces under UV light.

Quote: Doc

UV light reveals ... this pattern includes what we have now come to expect: a spelling "error" in one position.

I think we were all expecting the error to be more in the "That's what she said" deparment...

Quote: DJTeddyBear

I think we were all expecting the error to be more in the "That's what she said" deparment...

Changing the "i" to an "e" in the tribe's name would have been unfortunate.

deleted

We've discussed this before in this thread. I have developed the opinion that it can't be much more than a whim that amuses someone in chip design at Paulson.

As for counterfeiting, first of all, no one is going to bother to counterfeit a $1 chip. I suspect that in small quantities (that you could pass without being caught), a decent counterfeit chip costs more than a dollar to produce. Second, if you are capable of counterfeiting a quality chip and are capable of adding the hidden images to be revealed under UV light, surely you are not so retarded as not to notice/remember the "error" in spelling.

Quote: Ayecarumba

Changing ... the tribe's name would have been unfortunate.

You reminded me of a five-word nickname I heard for one of the teams at Florida State University -- it was cruder and more offensive than Don Imus's comment about the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

Quote: Doc

We've discussed this before in this thread. I have developed the opinion that it can't be much more than a whim that amuses someone in chip design at Paulson.

Except, as I've mentioned before, the same "feature" is found on bank notes. It's common in microprint and in woven security strips.

Also, while it's true $1 chips are likely not worth the bother to counterfeit, probably the inserts are done in bulk first, and are common to all denominations. Say Paulson prints 100,000 "blank" inserts with just the UV ink, then adds graphics, denominations, etc for different chips.

Quote: Nareed

Except, as I've mentioned before, the same "feature" is found on bank notes. It's common in microprint and in woven security strips.

Misspelling? On currency? I haven't seen that yet. Tell us more, or did I miss/forget the earlier description?

Quote: Doc

Misspelling? On currency? I haven't seen that yet. Tell us more, or did I miss/forget the earlier description?

I know for sure the discontinued ten peso note carried a strip with the word "DIEZ" repeated all over it in tiny print. One instance was spelled "ZEID," which is reversed. I think the same appeared somewhere in old twenty dollar bills, but I'm not sure.

Newer notes have other features. These days color-shifting ink, holograms and watermarks are all the rage. It may be the misspelling or reversed words are no longer used. The ten peso note dates from the mid 90s and must have gone out of circulation around the turn of the century.

Quote: Doc

State: Florida
City: Tampa
Casino: Seminole Hard Rock

I'll be at the Tampa Hardrock in 4 days (on monday). I've done the Miami/Fort Lauderdale casinos, but I've never been to Tampa. So I'm going to go grab Hard rock (and Brighton and Immokalee) in between meetings.

Quote: rdw4potus

I'll be at the Tampa Hardrock in 4 days

Please post your Hard Rock chip when you get it -- we don't mind your being a couple of days late. ☺

I don't seem to get to Miami or Fort Lauderdale except to get on/off cruise ships; I don't know when I'll be able to get to the land casinos down there. Maybe I'll schedule a trip in time to post chip images while you are posting your collection.

State: Illinois
City: Alton
Casino: Argosy

As we begin a new state (for the second day in a row), I should note that I actually collected this Illinois chip while gathering some chips from Missouri last July. When I made my loop of St. Louis area casinos, I found two of them on the east side of the Mississippi River, including the Argosy, a riverboat docked just across the stream in Alton, IL.

That was part of a disastrous day at the tables for me, and I don't think I want to go into the details. Some memories should be left buried.

The chip shown below is yet another white RHC Paulson hat and cane design with four edge inserts, two brown and two that I guess I'll call pink this time. So sue me for not being consistent.

I think it is interesting how different jurisdictions have different rules on what info must be included on a chip. In this case, it doesn't appear that the Illinois authorities even require that the chips indicate the state where the casino is located. If I hadn't been there myself, I wouldn't know what state Alton is in – it's not as if it's a major metropolis. In fact, I suppose they could use these same chips if Argosy ever opened a casino in Alton, VA.

UV light reveals both a hidden Paulson hat and cane logo in the center and the repeated name Argosy Alton. Or Alton Argosy, if you prefer. Most often, the spelling "error" on this kind of hidden image seems to be two letters swapped. On this chip, the only thing I can pick out is one case of missing letters in both words of the repeated name.

Here's my Argosy Alton chip. My collection story is much like Doc's. I circled the greater STL area, and that included Alton. Like Doc, I lost badly picking up this chip. And like Doc, my chip is a paulson tophat and cane. It's pretty clear that our chips are from the same series.

I found Alton to be a below-average casino. Maybe it's just because the STL area casinos that are in MO are exceptionally fancy or maybe it's because they kept so damn much of my money, but Alton did not come across well at all. I suppose the absence of smoke was a big plus, and I do like small towns so Alton itself was kind of fun. But the casino was just not very nice.

Quote: rdw4potus

It's pretty clear that our chips are from the same series.

Wow! Almost 11 hours to get any reply at all to today's chip. That's the kind of interest in this thread that I thought only happened on weekends. At this rate, it would take another year to get this thread back into the #2 spot in the rankings. ☺ Thanks for breaking the ice, rdw, and thanks for the chip image.

Yes, the MOGH shows all of their Argosy Alton chips as being RHC Paulsons from 2009, with the differences being colors, edge inserts, and the shape of the scolloped edges on the center inlays: none for $1, deep concave for $2.50, shallow concave for $5, convex for $25, and cogwheel for $100.

Quote: Doc

Wow! Almost 11 hours to get any reply at all to today's chip. That's the kind of interest in this thread that I thought only happened on weekends. At this rate, it would take another year to get this thread back into the #2 spot in the rankings. ☺ Thanks for breaking the ice, rdw, and thanks for the chip image.

Yes, the MOGH shows all of their Argosy Alton chips as being RHC Paulsons from 2009, with the differences being colors, edge inserts, and the shape of the scolloped edges on the center inlays: none for $1, deep concave for $2.50, shallow concave for $5, convex for $25, and cogwheel for $100.

Today's delay was surely not caused by lack of interest. Just a very busy day at work, the result of which was the cancellation of my trip to Tampa. Hard Rock will have to wait, I guess.

Quote: rdw4potus

Hard Rock will have to wait, I guess.

You just reminded me -- back last spring you started a thread about Harrah's Chester changing its name to Harrah's Philadelphia and said, "I wonder if they'll have new chips..."

Do you have an answer to that yet?

Quote: Doc

You just reminded me -- back last spring you started a thread about Harrah's Chester changing its name to Harrah's Philadelphia and said, "I wonder if they'll have new chips..."

Do you have an answer to that yet?

I meant to mention to you - I was there two days ago, and the chips still say Chester. I wonder if they won't change. What they say is Harrah's, and then the location is Chester, PA. That's all still true.

State: Illinois
City: East St. Louis
Casino: Casino Queen

Once again we have an example of a casino that I had some difficulty placing in alphabetical order. Sometimes, I have ignored the word "casino" when it begins the name – I sorted Casino Fandango with the "F" casinos in Nevada. In contrast, I presented Casino Royale with the Nevada "C" casinos. While I thought someone might say they played blackjack at "the Fandango", I just didn't see anyone referring to just "the Royale". Same with "the Queen" – it just doesn't sound right, so I'm presenting this one in accordance with its full name.

This is that other Illinois casino I alluded to yesterday, saying that I picked up two chips east of the river while making my rounds of St. Louis casinos. I'm still deferring discussion of my gaming results.

The Casino Queen is located just east of downtown St. Louis. I haven't bothered to search out the full history of the place, but someone here can probably describe it from memory. I know that the place started out as a riverboat casino, which I think was docked very close to the location of the land-based casino that I visited last July. The photo that the MOGH catalog offers to accompany their collection of Casino Queen chips seems to suggest that the hotel was built on land next to the dock, and the new casino was later constructed next to the hotel. MOGH only lists that the casino opened June 24, 1993 and that the chip I have was issued in August 2007.

I think the casino is located at a very good place from which to take photos of the Gateway to the West arch across the river. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good place to stand to take such a photo. Unless one could get onto the roof of the casino or hotel, it seemed that the good spots would be between the river and the levee, somewhere along the railroad tracks, and the whole place had that look of "you don't belong here." Later, back home, I found lots of photos on line that had been taken from that area, but I hadn't pursued that option myself. I just waited until the next day and got my souvenir photo from the opposite side of the arch, looking east. It's not so dramatic as the view from across the river, but I like it.

Back to the real topic at hand, the chip is white with four black edge inserts, and it has the name of the casino and the word "ONE" molded into the edge. The MOGH catalog just lists this as a "House" mold, with no indication of the source. Fortunately, UV light reveals the Paulson logo, so we know where this one comes from. The UV light also shows the repeated name of the casino, as we have seen on the previous two Casino Chips of the Day. This time, I think I'll leave it to each of you to find the "error" for yourself. If you like, post here when you find it, but keep the nature of the error private to "the in crowd".

Wow that took forever to find. If I ever own my own casino, I think I'll put a word search on mine.

I scanned that damn UV photo three times before I found it!

Here's my Casino Queen chip. I was surprised to see the casino be on land. Between the name and the number of riverboat casinos in Illinois, I just assumed that it would be on the water. I imagine it was on a boat at one point. If that's the case, I'm glad to see that things ended up better for the Casino Queen than for some other Saint Louis area riverboat casinos.

deleted

Quote: DJTeddyBear

I scanned that damn UV photo three times before I found it!

Yeah, it's a ssneaky one.

State: Illinois
City: Metropolis
Casino: Harrah's

A couple of days ago, I suggested in this thread that Alton, IL isn't a metropolis, but today's Casino Chip of the Day is from a city that is. Precisely.

This Harrah's is a floating barge on the Ohio River, moored on the waterfront of Metropolis, IL. Yes, the town does play up the Superman theme.

I visited the casino just once, in July 2011, managing to win $30 at craps. It turns out I have collected all of my (three) Illinois chips in Julys. At the end of each July they hold a Kentucky Music Weekend festival in Louisville that my wife and I like to attend. Lots of folk music, bluegrass, and dulcimers. The past four summers I have conducted chip-gathering expeditions in conjunction with that trip to Louisville, and the 2011 and 2012 jaunts took us into Illinois.

We spent one night at the Harrah's Metropolis hotel, which is ashore and fortunately at a little higher elevation than the casino. That was just a few months after the Ohio River had flooded, putting the casino entrance under water. I assume that the barge floated high, but the shore end of the entrance walkway is anchored at the waterfront and was submerged. They had completed repairs and restoration by the time of our visit, but they had signs pointing out the high-water mark.

It is possible to drive to the casino entrance, but if you walk there from the hotel lobby, you can (and should) take an elevated connecting hall that passes through an exhibit of antique slot machines. I took a bunch of photos of them and have posted one here a couple of times before showing an antique "video" poker machine, once as a comment to one of Tiltpoul's blog entries and once in this thread back during a discussion of the Stardust chip. One photo is not enough to illustrate that full collection of antiques, so if/when you visit Metropolis, be sure not to miss seeing the exhibit.

Today's chip is a blue and white plastic-injection-molding creation from Bud Jones and has the BJ logo clearly in the 8 o'clock position. This logo is different from the ones I have seen previously, I think – others have been in a script. For contrast, take a look at the chip included in this thread's post about the Tuscany in Las Vegas. I think that chip has exactly the same Bud Jones design as this one from Harrah's Metropolis, including the colors, but the BJ logos are notably different.

Quote: Doc

A couple of days ago, I suggested in this thread that Alton, IL isn't a metropolis, but today's Casino Chip of the Day is from a city that is. Precisely.

Does that mean they have hordes of overworked workers toiling underground in 13-hour shifts, along with a robot Maria and Bonnie Tyler singing "Here she comes"? Or that the local paper employs Clark Kent?

Here's my chip from Harrah's Metropolis. It's a pretty average, if small, casino. But the hotel is far above average. and, since it's a CZR property in the middle of nowhere, the hotel is often available free of charge. I've visited Metropolis 4 times, both Great Race promos, plus once in 2011 before the promo started and once when I was driving to Tunica and stopped for the night. The high water mark signs at Metropolis are pretty incredible. I wish I'd taken a picture of those. They're both a long way from the water and quite tall.

Metropolis really does play up the superman thing. A lot. Here's a pic I took downtown:

I saw the signs promoting the giant Superman statue, but I didn't drive far enough into town to see it for myself. Thanks for posting the photo.

Quote: rdw4potus

Metropolis really does play up the superman thing.

I'd rather hear Bonnie Tyler sing "Here she comes."

Shade begins to steal the light
Confusion throws another mystery
It's out of focus with the eye
So now you wonder if it's just a dream.

State: Indiana
City: Evansville
Casino: Aztar

I am starting a new state for this thread by once again demonstrating my inconsistency in alphabetizing casinos whose names begin with "Casino". I'm sequencing this one based on the "Aztar" part of the name, which is also the name of the corporation.

Yesterday, I mentioned that I have extended several of my summer trips to Louisville's Kentucky Music Weekend in order to collect chips from casinos that I might not otherwise visit. It turns out that all of my Indiana chips (like all of my Illinois chips) were gathered on those July excursions.

I had draft plans for a similar excursion next July to include getting to the Margaritaville casino that is supposed to open in Bossier City, LA by then, the Oaklawn in Hot Springs, AR, then possibly getting out to the Kansas City area, and finally coming back by the re-named Hollywood casino in St. Louis. If all of that sounds like an extreme distortion of a trip from North Carolina to Louisville, KY, then maybe you can see how irrational chip collecting can become. After making those draft plans, I realized that the Kentucky Music Weekend will be the same weekend as my high school reunion, which I don't want to miss – it's a fun crowd. Guess that LA/AR/MO casino excursion will have to come some other time.

Casino Aztar is a riverboat casino that opened in 1995 and is docked in Evansville, IN. I have visited there just once, on the day in 2011 that I left the Harrah's Metropolis on a very indirect route toward Louisville. They don't make it easy to drive the 84-miles-as-the-crow-flies from Metropolis to Evansville, and that was the nature of my entire day as I visited three Indiana casinos while winding my way eastward. At least in Evansville I won $105 playing craps. That part was not the nature of my entire day, as the remainder of my gaming results went from good to bad to terrible.

The chip shown below is another white RHC Paulson chip, this time with four edge inserts in red and orange. Or two shades of orange. Or orange and peach. Whatever. The MOGH catalog describes them as orange and hot-orange.

UV light reveals the hidden Paulson hat and cane logo rotated 90° from the rest of the center inlay printing, plus the fact that all four edge inserts fluoresce. This time there is no hidden, repeated name of the casino for us to scan for errors. The MOGH catalog does not show the UV image for this chip, but it does include a different Casino Aztar $1 chip for which there are two versions of the hidden hat and cane, one rotated 90° and one aligned with the rest of the printing. I have no idea whether there is also a different version of the chip shown below with the hidden image not rotated.

Hmmmm...

I'm looking at the large versions of these photos, side by side. The UV version shows a lot of very small spots and smudges that glow, but are hard or impossible to find on the regular light photo. This tends to support the theory that the edge inserts are cut & filled rather than painted. I.E. Some of the glowing spots / smudges are so small and faint that they are best explained by very small residue left on the mold from one chip being pressed into the next chip.

A day late on my Metropolis comments...

I've never been there, but I was intrigued. So I poked around on Google Maps and found some cool stuff.

Their newspaper is the Metropolis Planet.


The Superman statue stands atop a Superman Logo area in Superman Square, next to the SuperMuseum.
Admin note: removed image www.djteddybear.com/images/superman_square.JPG



There is more Superman themed stuff in town.

I may have to put visiting Metropolis on my Bucket List...