Casino Chip of the Day

I don't know the chemistry, but there are places called White Sulphur Springs (with that spelling) in West Virginia, Montana, New York, North Carolina, and perhaps other states. The one in West Virginia, and perhaps the others, was developed as a tourist locale where people sought the healing powers of the mineral spring waters. It was referred to as "taking the waters" and that could be either/both internally or externally as a bath. That's how Greenbrier resort got started.

Apparently, "white" sulphur is actually an amalgam of other elements:

Quote: White Sulphur Springs literature

"Calcium, sodium, sulfate and magnesium are the predominate minerals found in the spring water."

Quote: Doc

The one in West Virginia, and perhaps the others, was developed as a tourist locale where people sought the healing powers of the mineral spring waters. It was referred to as "taking the waters" and that could be either/both internally or externally as a bath. That's how Greenbrier resort got started.

So they graduated from snake-oil sales to casino management?

State: West Virginia
City: Charles Town
Casino: Hollywood

The casino facility that is now in Charles Town, WV began as just a horserace track in 1933. According to the Wikipedia page, it opened as the Charles Town Race Track and was owned by the Shenandoah Valley Jockey Club. In contrast, the Hollywood Casino history page says that it was initially known as Jefferson County Races and was owned by Albert and Joseph Boyle. Who ya gonna believe? I think I'll wager against Wiki, though their info may be correct for a later date.

Horse racing thrived there from the 40's up through the 80's in part because it was/is one of the most northern horse tracks to operate in the winter. There is also the proximity of some metropolitan areas with surrounding affluence. I suspect that the place may have had several ownership changes by the time Penn National Gaming purchased it in 1997. In the last few years preceding that purchase, the racing, purses, attendance, and most everything else had declined. In 1996, voters approved video lottery machines in Charles Town, making investment in the facility more attractive to Penn National. By the time they finished their renovations, the place was known as Charles Town Races & Slots, and the racing side of the business recovered with support from the additional sources of revenue.

West Virginia law allowing table games required approval by local voters. In June 2007, the Jefferson County voters rejected table games for Charles Town, with significant concerns about how much of the governmental revenue would remain in their county to cover their increased local expenses. The vote ran 56% against to 44% in favor, while the other three West Virginia counties with pari-mutual wagering tracks approved table games for their racinos.

In 2009, there was a second Jefferson County referendum, in which the result was reversed, with various sources disagreeing on the dominant reason. The new table games were introduced in 2010, and the facility's name was changed again to its current moniker of Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. Early operation of the table games was characterized by high minimums and large crowds. Proximity to Baltimore and Washington has been a major factor in the success to date, subject to future impact of the legalization of gambling in Maryland. The Hollywood web site claims that they have 3,500 slot machines, 100 table games, and a 50-table poker room.

My wife and I visited this Hollywood Casino just one time, a Sunday afternoon in August 2011 as part of that Grand Adventure after Hurricane Irene ran us out of Atlantic City. I managed to let a net $100 slip out of my wallet in an hour at the craps table.

The positive part of that experience was the souvenir chip that I kept, which is shown below. It is a white RHC Paulson with four narrow edge inserts, two each in orange and brown. The center inlay looks like a two-layer affair, with a wood-grained outer ring (or bottom layer) and a maroon-toned central circle with spreading rays like a grand opening spectacular search light beam. The casino name is presented using three different stylized fonts, with the West Virginia Lottery logo above and the denomination mark below. UV light reveals a hidden Paulson logo in the center and the fact that the orange edge inserts fluoresce though the brown ones do not.

Quote: Doc

The casino name is presented using three different stylized fonts, with the West Virginia Lottery logo above and the denomination mark below.

More proof, if any was needed, that casinos don't mind even a little bit to be associated with, nor offering, bad bets :)

That said, I love the photo of the insert. It's very elegant all over. I may just put it on pinterest later today.

Quote: Nareed

More proof, if any was needed, that casinos don't mind even a little bit to be associated with, nor offering, bad bets.

The West Virginia Lottery is the controlling governmental authority, a bit like the Nevada Gaming Control Board. It's state regulation that the casino chips must have the West Virginia Lottery logo on them. The full rules (not the game rules but the rules for operating a place with table games) can be downloaded here. An excerpt of the most relevant part is:

Quote: WV Lottery Table Games rules

§179-8-67. Chip specifications; optional radio frequency identification sensors in each chip.

67.1.a A chip issued by the casino licensee shall be round in shape and have the name of the casino, the Lottery-specified identifier symbol and the specific value of the chip clearly and permanently impressed, engraved, or imprinted on the chip, except that the casino licensee may issue gaming chips without a value impressed, engraved, or imprinted on the chip for roulette.

The logo specifically says "Table Games".

I'm hoping that the spam post above (from 3:34 this morning and below my own last post) is deleted quickly, either by an admin or by numerous members flagging it.



Edit:
Done! Thanks for the help.

State: West Virginia
City: Cross Lanes
Casino: Mardi Gras

The Mardi Gras Casino is located just off I-64, about fourteen miles west of the capital city of Charleston (a completely different city from Charles Town). The casino facility is an extension of the greyhound racing track (the dogs, Silly, not buses) which has been in operation since 1985.

The place has been known by several previous names. It was called the Tri-State Casino and Resort up until a few years ago. Since I will be presenting a Tri-State Casino chip in a couple of days, I'll leave the reporting of the earlier history until then. Yes, this two-casino-names-for-one-building thing is how I came up with six casino chips from West Virginia, as alluded to a couple of days ago.

The theme of the casino area evolved into a Fat Tuesday celebration, with showgirls attired in Brazilian costumes, and in 2010 or 2011 (haven't been able to dig up the date) the name of the place was changed to the Mardi Gras Casino and Resort. Many sources on the web still refer to the greyhound track as Tri-State, so I'm not sure whether that's still official.

In 2012, the chairman of the West Virginia GOP pushed for a recall referendum to eliminate table games from the casino's offerings. The argument was that the track had not lived up to promises offered in its development plan that accompanied the original vote. The question was added to last November's ballot in Kanawha County, and the final vote count showed the casino tables prevailing, with 23,192 in favor to 22,849 against – a difference of just 343. Sounds like a very reasonable house edge.

My wife and I have been to this casino three times, once before the latest name change and twice afterward. All three visits were on the drive home from the Kentucky Music Weekend festivities held in Louisville the last weekend of each July.

I collected my Tri-State Casino chip on the trip home in 2009, then, in 2011, as we entered West Virginia from Kentucky on I-64, I saw a billboard advertising the Mardi Gras Casino. I immediately recognized the opportunity to collect a new souvenir. We stopped at the casino for our lunch break, and I bought in at the craps table only to discover moments later that all of the chips still said Tri-State Casino. Lost my buy-in and didn't get a souvenir. Bummer.

In 2012, I gave it another try but was cautious enough to look the chips over before buying in again. It looked as if all of the $1 chips were still of the Tri-State variety, so I asked a pit supervisor whether they had ever had any that said Mardi Gras. He said they had and asked a blackjack dealer to look through his rack to find one. They seemed to be scarce, but he did find one, and the supervisor told him to let me buy it for $1 cash.

Just to keep to my intended theme of chips-from-casinos-where-I-played, I then went over to the craps table, bought in, played for an hour, and broke even. Better results than the previous year and the stop gave us a suitable lunch break that time, too.

The chip shown below is a white RHC Paulson with two peach edge inserts (triangular, I suspect, but partially covered by the center inlay). The inlay has a central graphic that shows a masquerade celebrant beside a blue and white diamond patterned curtain or something. That portion of the inlay looks like a complete but slightly undersized inlay. However, there is a mostly-white outer ring on the inlay that extends over the edge inserts and the hats and canes. It includes printing of the casino name and the required West Virginia Lottery logo.

UV light reveals the hidden Paulson logo in the center and fluorescence of the edge inserts. They do seem to glow through the center inlay as triangles, but we have previously seen some fluorescent shapes that do not seem to match the shape of the inserts themselves, so I don't want to take a strong stand on this.

I'm pretty sure that Mountaineer is the only WV casino that I've visited. So I don't have a lot to add this week. I think that this Mardi Gras chip is beautiful. the mask would be better without the face, which is a little creepy somehow, but the chip seems to do a good job of capturing the theme of the casino. Also, bus racing would be awesome. I'd bet on that for sure!

Quote: rdw4potus

I'm pretty sure that Mountaineer is the only WV casino that I've visited. So I don't have a lot to add this week. I think that this Mardi Gras chip is beautiful. the mask would be better without the face, which is a little creepy somehow, but the chip seems to do a good job of capturing the theme of the casino. Also, bus racing would be awesome. I'd bet on that for sure!

Mountaineer tomorrow, of course. As for bus racing, think the movie Speed. I know they have offered truck racing, maybe even the big rig tractors, and I thought I had seen some sort of RV race absurdity, but Greyhound buses???

State: West Virginia
City: Chester
Casino: Mountaineer

And now tomorrow has arrived....

The Mountaineer Racetrack and Gaming Resort is located a bit southwest of Chester, WV, just a few miles from the extreme tip of the state's northern panhandle, where West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania come together. A search for the resort on Google Maps leads to a listing claiming it is located in Grant, WV. On the other hand, a search for Grant, WV points to a completely different part of the state. I don't know what that's all about; another "feature" from Google, I suppose. In truth, the facility is right on the banks of the Ohio River, and it is owned and operated by MTR Gaming.

Al Boyle, one of the original owners of the horse racetrack in Charles Town, planned a second track at the north end of the state in the late 1930s. According to Wiki, he had in mind to call it Waterford Downs after his family's ancestral home in Waterford, Ireland. The onset of World War II and a continuing shortage of steel delayed the start of grandstand construction until 1948. The name had evolved to Waterford Park by the time of opening day in 1951.

There were a couple of ownership changes, and the track was renamed Mountaineer Park in 1987. For anyone not familiar with the trivia, the West Virginia nickname is The Mountain State, and the state motto is "Mountaineers are always free." The West Virginia University athletic teams are the Mountaineers. All of this is to suggest that "Mountaineer Park" is likely more fitting for this facility than having it named for a city in Ireland.

The track was sold again in 1992 to Excalibur Holding Company. Law changes permitted the track to operate slot machines, and they were installed in 1994. Excalibur was renamed Winners Entertainment and later was changed again to MTR Gaming Group. Table games were introduced in December 2007.

With the exception of the West Virginia Derby, which is run at the Mountaineer track the first Saturday afternoon in August, all racing is in the evenings, with a 7 P.M. post time. If I am reading their site correctly, the 2013 live racing season at Mountaineer opens tomorrow evening, March 1. I hope the snow isn't too deep.

My wife and I have visited the Mountaineer Casino just once, on a Sunday afternoon in May 2008 as we were driving an indirect route (typical for chip-search excursions) from the West Virginia Wine and Arts Festival in Martinsburg to Niagara Falls, Ontario. By that point in time, I seem to have been keeping track of which casinos I visited and when, but not the game played and results. My recollection is that I played craps, which had become my game of choice well before then.

My wife was pleased with the concept of the casino having a non-smoking area for slot players. I think she found that area eventually, but we both noticed that getting to it involved passing through some pretty stinky zones. I have seen similar comments on the web calling the Mountaineer non-smoking area a joke. Perhaps the management heard the complaints, because earlier this month they announced they had opened an expanded/additional non-smoking slots area. The poker room is also non-smoking.

My souvenir chip shown below is a white RHC Paulson with three edge inserts in red, turquoise, and gold. The slightly-undersized center inlay is black, though it may not look it in my photo, and includes a white line graphic of a horse and rider in front of a mountain. The casino name, state (but not any city or town name), the denomination, and the West Virginia Lottery logo also appear in white. If you look very closely, you should be able to see another copy of the horse and rider image, very faint, a little larger, and right behind the casino name. I think all of their standard chips have this same center inlay, differing only in the denomination mark.

Another odd thing I noticed is that on their web site, they seem to be consistent about spelling "racetrack" as one word, though on their chip it is clearly two words.

Nothing on this chip fluoresces under UV light.

What did horse tracks do for income during their "off season" before casinos were allowed?

At Canterbury park in MN, they cut staffing way down (still do, even with the card-clubs on site) and just operated the simulcast betting area and one restaurant.

Quote: rdw4potus

I'm pretty sure that Mountaineer is the only WV casino that I've visited.

O.K., so where's your chip? You posted in the thread but didn't include the image. Quit holding out on us!

;-)

Quote: Doc

O.K., so where's your chip? You posted in the thread but didn't include the image. Quit holding out on us!

;-)

It's still trapped on my SD card. I was looking for a non-photobucket free online hosting solution, but I think I've struck out. I wanted to do google docs, but I can't actually link to the image from there. That seems really silly, but all I can do is link to the web address of the file (so, link to the link on my google Drive). So I'll upload the second set of images to Photobucket later tonight.

Also, at the rate this is going, I'm going to run out of free Photobucket space before i get all of my images uploaded. I'm torn about whether to pay or open a second account or move to a different hosting service. I suppose I could also compress the image files.

Are you guys aware that most (all?) internet access providers give their users a generous amount of space to store whatever they want? You could put the photos there, and then link to them.

Yeah, it can be a challenge to learn the method for uploading, and the url might be a little cumbersome, but it's a viable and free solution.

Turns out I was wrong. I've actually been to 3 WV casinos. I suppose it would be weird to go to Mountaineer and not go to at least one other WV casino, since it's quite close. and I've also been to Hollywood at Charles Town. I must have stopped at Hollywood on a very poorly planned (not by me) trip that had me fly from Philly to Pittsburgh, then drive from Pittsburgh to Erie, and from Erie to Baltimore and Atlantic City. I have utterly no recollection of stopping at Hollywood, but it would have been at about 3am, since I got to Baltimore at 5ish. I'm probably just lucky that I remembered to grab a chip.

I DO remember visiting Mountaineer. I'd started the day by driving from Erie back to Pittsburgh, and meeting with a customer and a prospect in Pittsburgh. They both strongly suggested that I shouldn't go to Mountaineer, even just to say I was there. I didn't think it was THAT bad, though it was not stellar. On the plus side, it doesn't feel like it's attached to a track the way that some racinos do. And, I guess not so much about the casino, but I really love the look and feel of this part of the country. On the minus side, smokety smoke smoke. Smoke smoke. There have been times when I've been smoking a cigar and still had less smoke in my face than I did at Mountaineer. Plus, I got absolutely creamed at the table. I lost my $60 buyin before I'd even selected a chip to keep, so I had to buyin again.

Both of these chips are Paulson RHCs. The Mountaineer chip was a bit of a casualty of the cleaning process. The chip is much cleaner than before overall, but the acetone caused some of the clay on this chip to transfer to another area. At the 5 o'clock position of the second image of that chip, you can see some of the lime inset coloring. That transferred from the inset to the tophat as I wiped down and scrubbed the chip. I couldn't get it back off.

...and...jumping back to Louisiana for a minute. I found my chip from IoC/Grand Palais in Lake Charles. Didn't occur to me at the time to look in the G's, but I do infact have a Grand Palais chip. If my reading of Doc's post is correct, then I'll need to return sometime to collect an IoC chip now that those are the only ones in circulation at the property.

Here's a link to the post with that chip.

Quote: rdw4potus

... I do infact have a Grand Palais chip. If my reading of Doc's post is correct, then I'll need to return sometime to collect an IoC chip now that those are the only ones in circulation at the property.

I think your Grand Palais chip, with a name on it that is clearly different from "Isle of Carpri", deserves a listing of its own; i.e., it is a "different" casino from the IoC. If you agree, there are a couple of ways I can think of to handle that:

(1) I could just treat the post that you edited and linked to above as the Grand Palais Casino post and put it in the post #1 directory.

(2a) You could re-edit that post, noting that you found your chip and discovered that it has a different casino name. Use that post as a place holder for posting your Isle of Capri chip when you get back to Lake Charles. Be sure to let us know when you do that, as you did in your post above.

(2b) You can post the Grand Palais casino chip as a separate casino while you are leading the thread next week.

Do either of those strike your fancy?


And thanks for posting your West Virginia chips.

State: West Virginia
City: Cross Lanes
Casino: Tri-State

The Tri-State Casino and Resort was located adjacent to I-64, nominally in unincorporated Cross Lanes, WV, although there are some references to it being in Nitro, WV some two miles to the west.

The name of that little – but incorporated – town of Nitro is a shortened version of "nitrocellulose," the explosive a chemical plant produced there for the government in World Wars I and II. The whole area was rife with chemical production for decades, reportedly being at its peak the leading area for industrial chemical production in the entire world. There are significant environmental issues that are still being remedied.

There are also a few references that suggest the casino was located in Charleston, which is more than a dozen miles away. Regardless of the various claims about its location, the casino is still there in Cross Lanes, operating now under the name of Mardi Gras Casino and Resort, and that was the subject of this thread just two days ago.

As I noted when I presented my chip from the Mardi Gras, the place has been known by several names. It was originally known as Tristate Greyhound Park when the track opened in 1985, and it became Tri-State Racetrack and Gaming Center in 1999 when the law was enacted to allow operation of a racino. I think I have that spelling right, at least based on the references I can find now, that it was "Tristate" at first and then "Tri-State" later.

According to Wiki, it became the Tri-State Casino and Resort when table games were approved in 2007 and added in 2008. It makes no sense at all to me that with the new table games they changed the name (supposedly) but introduced chips that used the older "Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming." I only visited the place one time while it was operating under any version of the Tri-State name, in July 2009, when I got my butt handed to me at their craps table. Yeah, but I took them for a souvenir chip, all right.

That chip is shown below, and if it looks familiar, just check back two days ago in this thread. This chip is identical to the replacement chip used for the Mardi Gras, except for the "Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming" designation instead of "Mardi Gras Casino and Resort." They even used the exact same base chip, edge inserts, and central graphic of the masquerade girl on the center inlay. The UV fluorescence is exactly the same, too.

You might wonder why they even bothered to change to Mardi Gras chips. Or maybe you wouldn't wonder if you recalled my post from two days ago saying that almost all the chips in play (at least the $1 ones) still are like the one below – they didn't change out very many it seems.

I really wish you had addressed why they called it "Tri-state." It really isn't close enough to state borders to be "n-state" anything. If anything, Mountaineer should be "tri-state."

Quote: teddys

I really wish you had addressed why they called it "Tri-state." It really isn't close enough to state borders to be "n-state" anything. If anything, Mountaineer should be "tri-state."

It's a trick! People will forget how far the casino is from Maryland if we just name it "Tri-State." Tri-state MUST be close to the border, right? :-)

Really, I agree with you. Mountaineer or tomorrow's location have much stronger claims to the "Tri-state" name.

Wait a sec...

Unless you didn't photograph the same side, on both the Mardi Gras and Tri-State, the fluorescent areas do not match up to the inserts.

deleted

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

Quote: teddys

I really wish you had addressed why they called it "Tri-state." It really isn't close enough to state borders to be "n-state" anything. If anything, Mountaineer should be "tri-state."

I'm for renaming the whole state "Northwest Virginia."

Judging by the fact everything in that state is named after him, I thought it was Robert C Byrd-ville

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Wait a sec...

Unless you didn't photograph the same side, on both the Mardi Gras and Tri-State, the fluorescent areas do not match up to the inserts.

Yeah, I guess that does look a little odd.

I took the visible-light photos of both chips on March 15, 2012 and didn't have my UV lamp to take those photos until May 30, 2012. I didn't take much care to photography the same sides of the chips.

Even some of the chips I acquired and photographed months later have different sides shown. When I get around to taking such photos, I generally do the visible-light shots of all the new chips and then set up the UV lamp. I'm nerdy, but I'm probably not quite nerdy enough to track which side of the chip was up on an earlier shot. I don't think I have ever taken UV photos of both sides of a chip, even though they are sometimes slightly different. I have even noticed a couple of chips that only have UV images on one side.

Quote: teddys

I really wish you had addressed why they called it "Tri-state."

I probably would have, if I had any idea what the correct answer is. I think I put more than enough fiction in these posts as it is.

Here's a little follow-up note, though. Yesterday, I mentioned that the Mountaineer was a rather smokey environment and has just announced an expanded non-smoking area. The day before, I mentioned that the Mardi Gras (née Tristate/Tri-State) had recently been exposed to a recall referendum on table games.

Well, one of the articles about that recall referendum mentions that Kanawha County implemented a smoking ban, allegedly reducing revenue at the Mardi Gras Casino. I'm sure a recession had nothing to do with it.


Edit: Perhaps the fact that the Tri-State Racetrack is only about ten miles from where I-64, I-77, and I-79 converge (almost) gives some credence to the idea that multiple states are tied together at this point and have quick access to it. Just a wild guess.

State: West Virginia
City: Wheeling
Casino: Wheeling Island

The northern panhandle of West Virginia is rather narrow. Where I-70 crosses, it requires less than 15 miles of pavement to get from Ohio in the west to Pennsylvania in the east. Straight line east-west across the panhandle at that point is less than twelve miles.

The Ohio River forms the Ohio-West Virginia boundary line, and as I-70 enters WV from the west across the river, there are two river channels separated by an island a bit under two miles long and half a mile wide. The island is fully in West Virginia, and it is known as Wheeling Island. It is part of the city of Wheeling, but the bulk of the city is all the way on the east side of the river.

The Wheeling Island Hotel, Casino, and Racetrack is located (not surprisingly) on Wheeling Island. The island is low-lying land, subjecting the casino and track to significant risk of flooding when the river runs high. The casino building's ground floor is elevated more than ten feet above the surrounding land in order to be above the hundred-year flood plane.

The place started off as a horse racetrack for harness racing on the grounds of the State Fair Park in 1937 and was known as Wheeling Downs. It was never a big-time racetrack, and a fire in 1962 suspended racing for half a dozen years. In 1975, legislation was passed permitting dog racing in the state, and the half-mile track was converted for use by the smaller species, with the greyhound races beginning in 1976.

Slot machines were introduced in 1994, and the facility was significantly expanded in 2003, with a hotel, restaurants, and a show room. Table games were added in 2007.

The décor of the casino is tropical, and the symbol is a palm tree. I have no idea how a casino operator in northern West Virginia can keep a straight face while using a palm tree as the symbol for a place that far from the tropics. It's about as bad as that saguaro cactus and the Pacific dolphins used on the center inlays for those Atlantic City casino chips. Maybe they think the word "island" implies a tropical setting.

My wife and I visited the Wheeling Island casino not long before we went to the Mountaineer Casino some 40 miles or so up the road on that excursion I mentioned from a Wine and Arts Festival on up to Niagara Falls in May 2008. Again, I did not record my play, but I am confident that it was at the craps table. Win, lose, or draw, I came away with a souvenir chip.

That chip is shown below and is a white RHC Paulson with two wide edge inserts in brown and orange. The center inlay is also orange, matching the edge insert. It includes the palm tree logo backed by what looks like an annular solar eclipse. I have no idea what that is all about. The "Wheeling Island" part of the facility name is presented in a large font, with "Hotel • Casino • Racetrack" presented in a smaller font at the top of the inlay. The state name, with no city designation other than where it is part of the "Wheeling Island" name, is at the bottom, and all of those text items are presented in all caps. The remaining items on the inlay are the West Virginia Lottery logo and the denomination mark.

Nothing on this chip fluoresces under UV light.



This closes out my set of West Virginia chips for this thread. Tomorrow morning, my wife and I will be heading out for a trip through Arizona and New Mexico to have some fun in the sun (hopefully), collect a few casino chips along the way, and meet up with a couple of former cheerleaders from my high school – really cute chicks whom I haven't seen in decades. In my absence, rdw4potus will again be taking the lead in this thread, posting some more chips from casinos that I have not yet visited. I will try to check in occasionally when I encounter wi-fi service for my Nexus 7 tablet or mobile phone.

Here's my chip from Wheeling Island. I visited Wheeling Island right after Mountaineer. I was so sure I'd missed the casino as I drove all the way through Wheeling and hadn't found the casino. Then, way on the far side of town was the actual island and casino. I wound up spending a lot of time at Wheeling Island. I played much longer than I'd intended, then ate dinner then played some more. That proved problematic, as it made me arrive much later in Baltimore than I'd intended - and it apparently made me so loopy that I forgot that I also stopped at Hollywood Charles Town. But, on the plus side, I did nothing but win at Wheeling. I bought in for $60 and cashed out $300 before dinner, bought back in for $100 and cashed out for $500 after dinner. That made up for all my losses on the rest of the trip. Yay Wheeling Island!

Congratulations on the favorable variance, rdw!

It looks as if the $1 and $5 chips may have the same center inlays except for the denomination marks. The inlay on the $1 chip really is about as orange as it appears in the photo. Is the inlay on the $5 chip that color? In your photo it looks more gray or tan. I have had a lot of color shifts in the chip photos I have posted, so the accurate color is not always obvious.

Do you want to give hints as to what state's chips to expect in the coming week or so, or just leave it as a surprise for tomorrow?

I'm still trying to decide just how to post the Arizona chips that I will be getting during this trip, since you have already covered all of these casinos while I was traveling in January. After all, your posts provided the motivation for me to make this trip.

I probably will post the $1 chip images all together right after I get home, perhaps with some very brief comments. Also, I think I made some kind of post most of the days when you were posting your Arizona chips, though probably not every day. I can go back to those old posts and insert an edit with either the chip images or a link to where I post images of the whole set together.

Apparently, Wheeling gets flooded all the time. In 1936, the flood waters peaked more than 55 feet above, "gage 0 datum". The track and casino, located on the southern tip of the island, will be underwater when the flood reaches 36.6 - 39 feet. Why are do people continue to live and work there? Who would give them flood insurance?

Check out this Wheeling Island building known as the "Town Hall" with a long list of flood marks on it, including, "THE BIG ONE":


Oh, and have a great trip Doc! We look forward to your report of good variance and chip images when you return.

Quote: Doc

Congratulations on the favorable variance, rdw!

It looks as if the $1 and $5 chips may have the same center inlays except for the denomination marks. The inlay on the $1 chip really is about as orange as it appears in the photo. Is the inlay on the $5 chip that color? In your photo it looks more gray or tan. I have had a lot of color shifts in the chip photos I have posted, so the accurate color is not always obvious.

Do you want to give hints as to what state's chips to expect in the coming week or so, or just leave it as a surprise for tomorrow?

I'm still trying to decide just how to post the Arizona chips that I will be getting during this trip, since you have already covered all of these casinos while I was traveling in January. After all, your posts provided the motivation for me to make this trip.

I probably will post the $1 chip images all together right after I get home, perhaps with some very brief comments. Also, I think I made some kind of post most of the days when you were posting your Arizona chips, though probably not every day. I can go back to those old posts and insert an edit with either the chip images or a link to where I post images of the whole set together.

I can't tell if those inlays are the same or not. The one on my chip is kind of a salmon pink, which may just not be as orange as the one on your $1 chip.

I will cover Illinois and Indiana while Doc is out. I'm missing the current incarnation of one IL casino, but after this we'll at least have every casino building in those states accounted for. I just finished taking the pictures of those chips, so I'll work on formatting and uploading the chips tomorrow so that we're good to go for the next week and a half.

I hope that your trip to the Southwest goes well. Have you looked at the forecast? They're not expecting more snow, are they?

Quote: rdw4potus

Have you looked at the forecast? They're not expecting more snow, are they?

My wife took a quick look at the Weather Channel web site for some long-range forecasts. The temperatures in Phoenix and Tucson are milder than we have been having here in North Carolina, and Albuquerque and Santa Fe are very much like it is here. They are predicting ice in Taos for the day we expect to be there, so that could affect us just a bit. I have no idea how reliable these forecasts 10 days out will be, and I haven't looked at forecasts for either the eastern Arizona areas or that "alternate return route" up through Durango.

Quote: Doc

My wife took a quick look at the Weather Channel web site for some long-range forecasts. The temperatures in Phoenix and Tucson are milder than we have been having here in North Carolina, and Albuquerque and Santa Fe are very much like it is here. They are predicting ice in Taos for the day we expect to be there, so that could affect us just a bit. I have no idea how reliable these forecasts 10 days out will be, and I haven't looked at forecasts for either the eastern Arizona areas or that "alternate return route" up through Durango.

Well gosh, Doc. You leave tomorrow for this trip. If you haven't ruled out that alternate return route...:-)

Quote: rdw4potus

Well gosh, Doc. You leave tomorrow for this trip. If you haven't ruled out that alternate return route...:-)

I have motel reservations up through Taos on Saturday night 3/9. What direction we head from there is still open. It will depend on weather, bankroll depletion, and how disgusted my wife has become with the number of casinos I'm dragging her to. We will need to make reservations some place for Sunday and Monday nights and catch a plane out of Phoenix about midnight Tuesday night.

I haven't yet looked into where on that loop we might stop for Sunday night if we took that alternate route. I don't think I would drive the whole loop back to Gallup, but I need to be back to Flagstaff or farther for Monday night, I think. One of those cheerleaders I mentioned this morning said in an email, "The Strater Hotel in Durago is fabulous! It's an old historic hotel that's quite lovely rather than just old. If you have the time it would be a wonderful stop." I think I might need to go farther than that on Sunday, but I'm not sure. I also need to go back and see which casinos you said didn't open their tables until late. That might screw up the whole plan.

Quote: Doc

I have motel reservations up through Taos on Saturday night 3/9. What direction we head from there is still open. It will depend on weather, bankroll depletion, and how disgusted my wife has become with the number of casinos I'm dragging her to. We will need to make reservations some place for Sunday and Monday nights and catch a plane out of Phoenix about midnight Tuesday night.

I haven't yet looked into where on that loop we might stop for Sunday night if we took that alternate route. I don't think I would drive the whole loop back to Gallup, but I need to be back to Flagstaff or farther for Monday night, I think. One of those cheerleaders I mentioned this morning said in an email, "The Strater Hotel in Durago is fabulous! It's an old historic hotel that's quite lovely rather than just old. If you have the time it would be a wonderful stop." I think I might need to go farther than that on Sunday, but I'm not sure. I also need to go back and see which casinos you said didn't open their tables until late. That might screw up the whole plan.

The Wildhorse in Dulce is the one that opens the tables table at 6pm. It's also the first one you'd come to after leaving Taos (note: the best route probably involves returning to the Santa Fe area - not the worst place to kill an afternoon...). I don't think you'd have a hard time finding an open table at any of the other casinos, at least not between noonish and midnightish.

Durango is a very cute and quirky town. Downtown is historic and very charming, and it looks like that's where the Strater Hotel is. If you do stay in Durango, then I think I'd suggest visiting the two Colorado casinos and Northern Edge in Farmington the next day. From Farmington, you could either take 64 to 160 to 89 and skirt the 4 corners area and head into Flagstaff from the north, or you could take 64 to 491 to I40 and take the interstate to Flagstaff. Either way, it's only 5ish hours from Farmington to Flagstaff. So I'd think you could visit the casinos and still make it to Flagstaff (or even a little farther south) later that day.

Just boarded our flight out of MSP (?!?!) for PHX. I'll review the alternate route complexities after we get to NM.

Good morning all. I guess there may have been some miscommunication. I thought rdw was going to start posting his chips yesterday while I was traveling.

Anyway, we made it to Phoenix and stopped by Talking Stick late last night. As rdw had suggested, they had chips that said "Casino Arizona" so I just drove by the place with that name. Heading to breakfast now then on to Fort McDowell.

State: Illinois
City: Joliet
Casino: Empress

OK, so first things first - this is Sunday's chip of the day. Some minor technical difficulties kept me from posting this yesterday. I will post a second chip later today as well.

The Empress Casino in Joliet opened in 1992. It closed temporarily in 2009 following a fire. I'm a little confused about what happened next. The interweb suggests that it reopened as a Hollywood in 2010. This is the part that I don't quite understand. I blogged about my visit to the Empress in May of 2010. So it seems like the online timeline is off somewhere. I assume that the Empress reopened for a short time while work continued on the Hollywood. Maybe a Chicago-based member can help with the specifics here.

I haven't been to this casino since it became a Hollywood, so if anyone has a Hollywood Joliet chip please feel free to share it now.

My Empress chip is a Paulson SCV. The MOGH shows that an LCV version also exists.

I live in the Chicago area, although about a good hour long drive from Joilet (misspelling intentional) and yes, the Empress did shut down and is now the Hollywood Casino Joliet. It is one of two casinos in Joliet along with Harrah's which is downtown. Hollywood Joliet has a link to M Resort in Las Vegas on their website so I am assuming there is some form of partnership there, although on their Club Hollywood page it makes no mention of points being able to be used at M Resort. If you are a Chicago area local, your points at Hollywood Casino Joliet are also able to be used at Hollywood Casino out in Aurora as well.

And about the casino reopening as Empress temporarily the fire was March 20, 2009, it reopened as Empress on June 26, 2009.
Here is a video of the fire about 3 and a half minutes worth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y0Na72SlrA

The Hollywood Casino Joliet is the same facility. The name change went through December 22, 2010.

Quote: Gabes22

I live in the Chicago area, although about a good hour long drive from Joilet (misspelling intentional) and yes, the Empress did shut down and is now the Hollywood Casino Joliet. It is one of two casinos in Joliet along with Harrah's which is downtown. Hollywood Joliet has a link to M Resort in Las Vegas on their website so I am assuming there is some form of partnership there, although on their Club Hollywood page it makes no mention of points being able to be used at M Resort. If you are a Chicago area local, your points at Hollywood Casino Joliet are also able to be used at Hollywood Casino out in Aurora as well.

Yes, Penn National owns both the M and all of the Hollywood properties. But very few of the properties are linked together. I must have half a dozen "Hollywood" players cards from places throughout the Midwest and Midatlantic.

Do you know what happened with the fire? Did the Empress reopen for a short time before the Hollywood was opened? Edit: Thanks for that info. I've got to learn to post faster:-)

The Empress opened back up about 3 months after the fire, it was converted to Hollywood about a year and a half after that, shortly before Christmas of 2010. That said, The Empress/Hollywood is the casino in the Chicago area I am least familiar with, I have only gone there once in 2003. When I lived closer to Joliet I went to either Harrah's (Downtown Joliet) or Hollyood (downtown Aurora). Now that I am in the NW burbs I either go to the new Rivers casino in Des Plaines or the Grand Vic in Elgin, and once to twice a year, I make it to Arlington Park to play the ponies.

State: Illinois
City: Elgin
Casino: Grand Victoria

Today's chip of the day comes from the Grand Victoria casino in Elgin, IL. The Grand Victoria opened in 1994, and is home to 1,150 slot machines and 29 table games. At 29,000 square feet, the casino is incredibly crowded. I believe that Illinois's "gaming station" limit is 1,200, so I suppose the Grand Vic's operators crammed in as much as they could in the space that was available. The property also has a hotel with 201 rooms. The presence of a hotel - especially one with that room count - would fit well with Nevada laws, but I'm not aware of any similar regulation in Illinois. It seems somewhat odd for a property like this to have a hotel at all.

I visited the Grand Victoria during the same trip that brought me to the Empress. I would say that was the first trek I went on specifically for the purpose of collecting casino chips. I carved out a weekend-long stopover in Chicago, and drove an arc from Milwaukee to Battle Creek, MI (actually, from O'Hare to Milwaukee to Battle Creek to O'Hare). Looking back at my blog/trip-report, I can't help but chuckle. At that time, I was not yet addicted to Ultimate Texas Hold'em. Can't help but think how much more money I'd have if that remained the case.

At least at the time of my visit, the Grand Vic had some spectacularly bad table games offerings. 1x odds on the craps game, no DAS on the BJ tables, 6-3 PP on the TCP table (that one was a bigger deal 3 years ago...).

My chip is a Paulson RHC. It's a good example of something that frustrated me throughout my cleaning process. The tophats cleaned up much better on the base-color than they did on the inserts. That was almost universal across all Paulson chips, though not all of the base-color tophats cleaned up as well as these did. It's almost like the two areas have different properties. In fact, I kind of wonder if they have different clay compositions. Maybe the inserts are softer than the base chip?

I know that adding color changes the properties of paint, so I would not be surprised if the various colors of composite have different properties too.

The inserts carried the UV pigment when it was used in other examples. Maybe that is what is causing the difference?

Rather than doing the reasonable thing and starting a blog, I thought I'd just post my chip collecting adventures of the current trip here. So far, I have been to Talking Stick, Fort McDowell, Gila River/Wild Horse Pass, Harrah's Ak Chin, Desert Diamond - Tucson, Casino del Sol, Apache Gold, and Hon-Dah. Tomorrow I will start deviating from my earlier plan. If I can get WiFi, I'll let you know how it goes.

Eight chips added to the collection and only down $30 net at the tables.

State: Illinois
City: Joliet
Casino: Harrah's

Today's chip of the day comes from Harrah's in Joliet, IL. The casino opened in May of 1993, and has just under 39,000 square feet of gaming space. In that space is about 950 gaming machines and 33 table games. Harrah's, like Grand Victoria, has a hotel with slightly more than 200 rooms. There must be a reason for that sizing, but I don't know what the appropriate regulation is. I visited Harrah's shortly after I stopped at Empress on my trip through Chicagoland in 2010. The casino is right downtown in Joliet. It's a cute small-town downtown, and for the most part the casino blends in appropriately.

My chip from Harrah's is a Paulson SCV. The MOGH shows two variations of this chip. One with a small space between the "Joliet" and the "$5," and one with a much larger space. Mine is the small space version. I had to do a double-take to make sure that these two pictures were of different faces of the chip. i don't think I've ever seen a paulson chip that is so exactly similar on both sides. If it weren't for the intersection of the insert and the tophat at the 3 oclock position, I don't know that I'd have been able to tell them apart at all.

I note that it says "CASINO CRUISES" under the Harrah's name. Do they actually have a boat that floats?

The current iteration of Harrah's is a moored barge. Apparently, the laws in Illinois changed in 2001 so that actual cruising was no longer required. At that time, Harrah's two cruise vessels were replaced by the one barge.

Quote: Ayecarumba

I note that it says "CASINO CRUISES" under the Harrah's name. Do they actually have a boat that floats?

When the Illinois Riverboats opened in the early 90s, the way they skirted the law stating that there would could be no land based casinos was to make riverboats. In the early days of the Riverboats, you had to board by a certain time and it would pull away from the dock for a 2, 3, or 4 hour stretch before it would return. Shortly thereafter, they figured out they could get more people through the door if the boat remained docked. So now, the "Riverboats" such as Harrah's, Empress (Now Hollywood Joliet), Hollywood Aurora and the Grand Victoria in Elgin remain docked. The new Rivers Casino in Des Plaines is more of a traditional building. They basically dug a pit and filled it with water (which is hidden from view) in order to skirt the no land based casino law.