Casino Chip of the Day

State: Illinois
City: Aurora
Casino: Hollywood

Today's chip of the day is from the Hollywood Casino in Aurora, IL. Hollywood opened in June of 1993. The MOGH's page for this casino suggests that it's always been a Hollywood. If that's the case, then i think that this is the longest tenured of Penn National's Hollywood casinos. According to CasinoCity, the casino's 53,000 sqft gaming floor is home to 1175 gaming machines and 25 table games. But I don't think that can possibly be right - the state's limit is 1,200 total gaming positions, and 25 table games should have about 150-175 included positions. I believe that this is the only Hollywood property that does not have a hotel.

I visited Hollywood Aurora during my Chicagoland casino tour in 2010. At that time, the pair plus bet on the three-card poker table paid 4 for a flush. I wonder if that's still the case. Also at that time, the casino offered $20 in free play to new members of the players club. I turned that free play into exactly $0, but it's still a pretty good offer.

My chip from Hollywood is a Bud Jones. MOGH says it's from a series that was put in circulation in 2000. Color correction got really odd on these pictures, especially on the background - the small images are just miniature versions of the larger images, but the software altered the coloration between images.

Quote: Gabes22

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.

Yeah, I believe Lumiere Place in St. Louis is like this as well, probably River City too. Older boats are mostly on barges and permanently docked. I'm too young to actually have "cruised" on a gambling riverboat, Missouri lifted the requirement in 2000.

As crazy as it sounds, I might just have to stop reading this thread. In January, rdw posted beautiful chips from Arizona, and now I am driving all over the desert Southwest picking up chips. So rdw starts posting chips from Illinois, and I start getting a twitch to visit the midwest. What the heck am I going to do after rdw takes the lead of the thread full time? He'll likely have me running all over the entire country!

Anyone want to take a guess at where my wife and I are spending the night tonight?

Quote: Doc

As crazy as it sounds, I might just have to stop reading this thread. In January, rdw posted beautiful chips from Arizona, and now I am driving all over the desert Southwest picking up chips. So rdw starts posting chips from Illinois, and I start getting a twitch to visit the midwest. What the heck am I going to do after rdw takes the lead of the thread full time? He'll likely have me running all over the entire country!

Anyone want to take a guess at where my wife and I are spending the night tonight?

LOL! Well, not to encourage you - I'd never do that;-) - but there's a scenic and easy drive to be made that basically circles Lake Michigan and hits most of these casinos, plus many in Michigan and Wisconsin.

State: Illinois
City: Rock Island
Casino: Jumer's

Today's chip of the day comes from the Jumer's Casino in Rock Island, IL. Jumer's opened in 2008 on a site away from the Mississippi River. Presumably, that means that this casino has some sort of artificial water-bed under it so that it's not technically land-based. Prior to the opening of Jumer's, this license was used to operate the Casino Rock Island boat in downtown (riverfront) Rock Island. I have not visited that former casino, so if anyone has chips from that location this would be a good time to share them.

Jumer's has 1100 slots and 33 table games, according to Casino City. Unless they intentionally keep some seats closed at all times, I don't see how that would be under the seat limit. Also, Jumer's has a 205 room hotel. 200 must be a magic number, but I don't know why or for what.

I visited Jumer's on a boondoggle within a boondoggle. I convinced my employer to let me take a customer to the John Deere Classic golf tourney, then spent an extra day in the area collecting chips. It's a good thing that the company paid for the travel, because I got pretty well killed on the chip collecting mission.

Jumer's is the Quad Cities best casino. Partly because its new, partly because it's bigger than the boats, but also because it's just well executed. I've been trying to think of a good comp for Jumer's, but nothing really captures it. A newer Fiesta Henderson, maybe, but only with the understanding that the other properties in the area are like Jokers Wild and Arizona Charlies Boulder.

I'm a little confused by my chip from Jumer's. It's a Paulson RHC. And, while I used an editing software to color-correct these photos, it really is this bright. But, the only $5 chip in the MOGH's catalog for this casino is a nearly-identical but definitely more muted version of this chip. I took both of these photos in indirect natural light. Maybe that just makes them more vibrant than the images that MOGH has on file.

Another beautiful chip, rdw. I think you are trying to torment me.

As everyone can see, rdw was the only one to venture a guess as to my locale last night. Behind his spoiler button, he said this:

Quote: rdw4potus

You made it at least to Pinetop on the 5th, so I'll guess that you spent the night in ABQ yesterday.

No, rdw, that would be far too logical, and besides, I had already announced I was changing my plan. Here's how absurd it got.

After Hon-Dah, we went up to Snowflake for Tuesday night. On Wednesday, we got on I-40 and headed east to Fire Rock, which was still on the original plan. But then we backtracked to Gallup and headed north through Shiprock to Farmington and the Northern Edge Navajo casino, and from there up to Durango to spend the night at the Strater Hotel.

Yes, it's a bit like doing that "alternate return route" in reverse order to avoid the bad weather that is supposed to begin on Saturday. Except we took things in an odd sequence. From Durango, we went west to Ute Mountain casino, back through Durango and on to Sky Ute casino, then to Dulce and the Wild Horse casino, getting there just as they were about to open the table at 6 PM. We made it down to Santa Fe without my falling asleep at the wheel.

Follow that on a map and see whether you can make sense of it.

Quote: Doc

Another beautiful chip, rdw. I think you are trying to torment me.

As everyone can see, rdw was the only one to venture a guess as to my locale last night. Behind his spoiler button, he said this:

No, rdw, that would be far too logical, and besides, I had already announced I was changing my plan. Here's how absurd it got.

After Hon-Dah, we went up to Snowflake for Tuesday night. On Wednesday, we got on I-40 and headed east to Fire Rock, which was still on the original plan. But then we backtracked to Gallup and headed north through Shiprock to Farmington and the Northern Edge Navajo casino, and from there up to Durango to spend the night at the Strater Hotel.

Yes, it's a bit like doing that "alternate return route" in reverse order to avoid the bad weather that is supposed to begin on Saturday. Except we took things in an odd sequence. From Durango, we went west to Ute Mountain casino, back through Durango and on to Sky Ute casino, then to Dulce and the Wild Horse casino, getting there just as they were about to open the table at 6 PM. We made it down to Santa Fe without my falling asleep at the wheel.

Follow that on a map and see whether you can make sense of it.

Lol! That's a fun route. But, except for Fire Rock, there's not much you could have done differently given that you wanted to visit all of those locations. I suppose you could have gone to Ute Mountain before stopping at the Strater for the night, but then you'd have just had more time to kill before the Wild Horse's game opened. And, now I guess you're going to drive from Santa Fe to Taos to Santa Fe to ABQ.

What did you think of the Strater? Are you going to spend some time in Santa Fe? Lots of fun art and culture there, including a staircase that Jesus may or may not have built in the late 1800s. How is Mrs. Doc handling the trek? And, for that matter, how is your bankroll handling the trek?

Quote: rdw4potus

How is Mrs. Doc handling the trek? And, for that matter, how is your bankroll handling the trek?

She's doing pretty well -- tired of riding but otherwise just fine. As for the bankroll, after 13 casinos I am down a net of $15 and have 13 souvenir $1 chips.The casinos are down while the dealers are up a good bit.

The Started was very nice, but I am having so much trouble typing on this tablet that I am not going to try to describe it.

Quote: Doc

She's doing pretty well -- tired of riding but otherwise just fine. As for the bankroll, after 13 casinos I am down a net of $15 and have 13 souvenir $1 chips.The casinos are down while the dealers are up a good bit.

The Started was very nice, but I am having so much trouble typing on this tablet that I am not going to try to describe it.

Tired of riding already? You're only at the half-way point! But I suppose you can slow down now in the middle where there's less distance between casinos. And there's lots to walk to and see during this stretch in Santa Fe (downtown, Canyon Road) and ABQ (Old Town).

Quote: rdw4potus

State: Illinois
City: Rock Island
Casino: Jumer'sBut, the only $5 chip in the MOGH's catalog for this casino is a nearly-identical but definitely more muted version of this chip. I took both of these photos in indirect natural light. Maybe that just makes them more vibrant than the images that MOGH has on file.

It could be that the MOGH images were not color corrected. My scanner and digital camera are overwhelmed by the bright colors of some chips, making day-glo oranges appear pink, and day-glo pink appear yellow.

I note that the graphic is shaped as a hexagon. It appears that no effort was made to line up the edge inserts with the flat sides of the graphic. Is it actually a clear circle with a hexagon printed on it?

Also, what's a "Jumer"? Is it a local take on, "Junior"?

Quote: Ayecarumba

Also, what's a "Jumer"? Is it a local take on, "Junior"?

I looked and looked and couldn't find the info last night. But now I see that the Wiki entry has 1 line about the name. The casino is named after the founder: D. James Jumer.

Quote: rdw4potus

I looked and looked and couldn't find the info last night. But now I see that the Wiki entry has 1 line about the name. The casino is named after the founder: D. James Jumer.

Thanks for the lead rdw. Here's a link to a nice obituary. Mr. Jumer passed away in 2008.

Apparently, D.J.'s Steakhouse on the property is named after him too.

State: Illinois
City: East Peoria
Casino: Par-A-Dice

Today's chip of the day comes from the Par-A-Dice casino in East Peoria, IL. The casino opened in November of 1991. It has 1170 slots, 27 tables, and a hotel with 202 rooms. Boyd purchased the property in 1996. When I visited, the property seemed pretty well used. I originally wrote "run-down" instead of well used, but the issue is one of age much more than dilapidation. I think there was also some renovation work going on (that or some parts were REALLY soiled). I remember thinking that the casino was an odd fit for the town. Peoria is a vibrant city with a beautiful downtown area. Par-A-Dice is dated and quite average.

The obituary for Mr. Jumer that Ayecarumba posted earlier today contains some interesting info about the origins of this gaming license. Apparently, Jumer has very strong ties to Peoria - it's where most of his businesses were - and he'd applied to have the Peoria-area gaming license. But, he already had a license to operate Casino Rock Island (now Jumer's) and the state wouldn't give two licenses to one entity, so he abandoned his plans to open a Peoria casino which opened the way for Par-A-Dice to be developed. Apparently, Illinois has relaxed the licensing requirements since the early '90s, since Penn National has three licenses (Alton, Aurora, Joliet) and Caesars has two (Joliet & Metropolis).

My chip from Par-A-Dice is a Paulson RHC. The colors in these photos are almost exactly spot-on. The chip is a saturated brick red, and the inserts are an odd pinkish/peachish color. It reminds me of the "peach" crayon color in my box of Crayolas when I was growing up.

Par-A-Dice is the first casino I ever played at! Driving from school (UofI) to home (western part of IL) I used to pass through Peoria a few times per month. I would stop there and drink free soda and watch people feed the slots...

Thanks for posting!

State: Illinois
City: Des Plaines
Casino: Rivers


Today's chip of the day is from the Rivers casino in Des Plaines, IL. It is Illinios' newest casino, having opened in July of 2011. Rivers is owned by Midwest Gaming and Entertainment LLC. The floor at Rivers is about 45,000 sqft. The casino has 1050 slots and 45 table games. As we discussed a couple days ago, Rivers is effectively on-land and skirts the state's laws by filling a water basin under the casino. I find that pretty ironic, since the facility is called Rivers, on River Road, and located within a couple hundred yards of the Des Plaines River. But anyway...

I've been to Rivers several times. it's only a couple miles from O'Hare, and access to the casino is easy by car, cab, or unabashed abuse of the hotel shuttles from the Hyatt, Marriott, Courtyard, or Garden Inn. Rivers is a high-end property. Even the cafe charges $15ish for a meal, table limits are never under $15, there aren't even many penny slots. The casino has been absolutely packed every time I've been there. I think we've talked about this before in other threads, but the parking garage at Rivers has a very nifty feature. There's a light and sensor above every stall. Depending on whether or not the stall is occupied, the light is red or green. handicapped spots have blue lights.

I didn't realize until recently that this Rivers and the one in Pittsburgh have the same operator. Sugarhouse in Philadelphia is also operated by the same company. The players club at each property is Rush Rewards. i'm not sure if those rewards are transferable like at Caesars properties, or if they're property-specific like at Penn National's properties.

My chip from Rivers is unlike any that we've come across so far. It's a Paulson chip with a custom mold. But, instead of spelling the casino's name or location in the custom mold, the image of a river from the inlay is repeated around the border of the chip. That image is kind of cool. It's a river, but it's also supposed to look like a script R (without the vertical stroke)

Quote: jopke

Par-A-Dice is the first casino I ever played at! Driving from school (UofI) to home (western part of IL) I used to pass through Peoria a few times per month. I would stop there and drink free soda and watch people feed the slots...

Thanks for posting!

<--- U of I alum

And you just watched? :P

Went to Par-A-Dice once during grad school; went on semi-tilt with the ID/camera routine because they had to look up my Missouri license in a book. Never went back since Missouri casinos are ridiculously better slash I could visit family by tacking on an extra 90 min drive.

Quote: rdw4potus

State: Illinois
City: East Peoria
Casino: Par-A-Dice

I went to a wedding in Peoria last April and was sad that I didn't have enough time to head out to the casino, oh well...

State: Indiana
City: East Chicago
Casino: Ameristar

Today's chip of the day comes from the Ameristar casino in East Chicago, IN. This property has had quite a few names over it's relatively short life: from 1997-1999 it was the Showboat Casino; then Harrah's bought the property (and the Showboat name) and the boat was Harrah's Showboat Mardi Gras from 1999-2005. In 2005, Resorts bought the boat from Harrah's and the boat operated as Resorts East Chicago from 2005-2008. Then, in 2008, the boat was purchased by Ameristar and it has been Ameristar East Chicago since then. The only chip that I have is from the Ameristar iteration, so if anyone else has chips from the past operators of the property, this would be a good time to share them.

Ameristar has 1950 slots, 42 table games, and 6 bars and restaurants packed into it's 53,000 sqft floor. It doesn't feel quite as cluttered as that suggests, but it's certainly a tight fit. The property also has a hotel with 288 rooms.

I think I've been to Ameristar twice. Maybe it's 3 times. I went for the first time in 2010 when I collected the other Chicago-area chips in my collection. Then, I went in early 2011 when the casino sent a bounce-back offer. I may have stopped in one more time in 2012 during a trip to Four Winds to pick up some free play there. Ameristar is not in a good part of town and a lot of people here and elsewhere have made comments about avoiding the property (and it's neighbors), but I've found the players at Ameristar to be more normal than I'd expected. To put it in Vegas terms, my experience was more akin to playing at the 4 Queens than to playing at the Western.

My chip is a Paulson RHC. It has a very large inlay, which extends out so far that the tophats are about half-covered. The MOGH shows that this chip series has both $0.25 chips and $2.50 chips. In my travels, I haven't seen many tables that have both of those in play.

I went to Ameristar East Chicago on Thursday. Um yeah, it's quite crammed in terms of machines. It was the first thing I noticed when I got on the gaming floor. But they were offering $2 Miller beers and has the best Double STP machine that I have seen for dimes, 7/5 Bonus (98.51%), so that kept me happy enough. Even the penny machine was 7/5 Bonus, which is unheard of! Hopefully Pinnacle keeps it this way when they take over.

We also ate the buffet there. Not bad for $15 on a weekday for dinner.

Didn't play any tables, but those are some odd looking chips.

Sorry for the flashback, but is the "Par" in "Par-A-Dice" pronounced "Pair" (rhymes with "air") or "Par" (rhymes with "car")?

Do they specialize in Craps (as the name implies, no matter how it is pronounced)?

Quote: Ayecarumba

Sorry for the flashback, but is the "Par" in "Par-A-Dice" pronounced "Pair" (rhymes with "air") or "Par" (rhymes with "car")?

Do they specialize in Craps (as the name implies, no matter how it is pronounced)?

The whole name is pronounced like Paradise. I'm not sure about the craps situation at the casino - they certainly offer the game, but I'm not an avid player & didn't notice if it was more prominent than usual at the casino.

I don't know if this is a new feature, as I have never been to Ameristar, but in my email recently I received an offer that they have a partnership with MGM Casinos and you are able to use your points on your Ameristar card towards comps at MGM properties. As I read furthers it seems it is only affiliated for MGM properties in Las Vegas, so you can't use points at MGM Grand Detroit for instance.

Quote: Gabes22

I don't know if this is a new feature, as I have never been to Ameristar, but in my email recently I received an offer that they have a partnership with MGM Casinos and you are able to use your points on your Ameristar card towards comps at MGM properties. As I read furthers it seems it is only affiliated for MGM properties in Las Vegas, so you can't use points at MGM Grand Detroit for instance.

What's really confusing is that Pinnacle agreed to buy out Ameristar last quarter, so I really don't know if this cross promotion with MGM will last for too long. Pinnacle properties currently have a deal with Wynn (yuck).

Don't know how long it will last but it is interesting to say the least. My email basically said (I have never been to Ameristar before) as an MLife cardholder you are entitled to some freeplay and you qualify for a (Star Awards card of equal status) and you can use earn points on a Star Awards card for your next Las Vegas stay at an MLife property.

Quote: Gabes22

Don't know how long it will last but it is interesting to say the least. My email basically said (I have never been to Ameristar before) as an MLife cardholder you are entitled to some freeplay and you qualify for a (Star Awards card of equal status) and you can use earn points on a Star Awards card for your next Las Vegas stay at an MLife property.

Yeah, I got two offers of $5 comps at Ameristar for it last year, they have had this marketing connection for almost a year now. Given my play at MGM (very sporadic in Tunica and Vegas), it was pretty stupid on their part.

Quote: Doc on Seneca Casinos

Anyone from the area know more details?

I followed this thread for months, and when you finally get to my stompin’ grounds, I’m in Vegas and lose track of thread while you ask all sorts of questions. The nerve! =p

Anyways, the history of the area is interesting indeed. Anyone interested in politics would find it fascinating, especially those who revel in conflict. Just to show how interwoven and all encompassing the strife is, I happen to play hockey for the Beaver Club, a bar created to house the men who built the Kinzua dam back in the 60's, a dam which kicked a bunch of Senecas off their land and into Salamanca, Senecas that included my grandfather. You cannot be from this part of NY and not have some sort of connection to Seneca/State bad blood and interesting moments in history. For an entertaining history lesson of the area, listen to Johnny Cash’s “As Long As The Grass Shall Grow”.

I don’t have specific details about the lawsuit between Seneca Niagara and the City/State, but rest assured, any agreement between Seneca and State is going to deteriorate as quickly as possible and result in a fight. There’s so much bad blood, I doubt it will ever change. I could go on forever, but won’t derail your thread.

The “coat hanger” is curious. There’s no Seneca symbolism like that, nor can I connect it to anything from the Falls. Allegany (spelled without an “H”!!), has the mountain graphic, an obvious choice. The Falls stumps me. There are many references to the Seneca culture in the décor if you know what to look for, but I’d bet cash money that the “coat hanger” is not one of them. The closest I can compare it to is the Tree of Peace, the Onondaga, or a teepee, but that hook on top isn’t a tree, nor a longhouse, and the Seneca did not have teepees. I’m stumped.

Quote: Face

I followed this thread for months, and when you finally get to my stompin’ grounds, I’m in Vegas and lose track of thread while you ask all sorts of questions. The nerve! =p

Thanks for the added info. It's nice to have a local member to fill in the blanks where I can only speculate.

And I understand the problem of getting behind on a thread. I am traveling now myself and have had several nights of terrible WiFi access. I haven't been able to participate as I would have liked.

So far this trip, I have added 25 chips to the collection, with 2 more to go. We fly home about midnight tomorrow night, with my wallet much lighter.

State: Indiana
City: Michigan City
Casino: Blue Chip

Today's chip of the day comes from the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, IN. Blue Chip opened in 1997, and it's 65,000 sqft gaming floor houses 1965 slots and 65 gaming tables. There's also a 485 room hotel that was added to the property. Unlike many of the other properties in Indiana, which make no steps to mask the fact that the gaming floor is on a boat, Blue Chip did a very good job with the hotel addition. The current layout requires the player to enter through the hotel area and walk down a short hallway to get to the casino. It's hard to even tell that the gaming floor is on a barge. I'd say it's as well done as L'auberge in Lake Charles or Hollywood Lawrenceburg. Really, Hollywood Lawrenceburg is a pretty good comp for the property overall. Bluechip's food is a little better, and the fact that it's a Boyd property is handy, but Hollywood's theme is better done. Or, on an intra-company level, Blue Chip is on par with MSS and Kansas Star as the highest quality of the non-Borgata Boyd properties.

I've been to Blue Chip 4 times. The first was in 2010 when I picked up my chip. For whatever reason, that trip caused Boyd to send some nice offers. So I've stopped back a few times when I've been in the area. Blue Chip seems to have and promote a party atmosphere. On two of my visits, the music was so loud and obnoxious that I didn't stay more than 10 minutes. I suppose there's a lot of college draw for this casino, being roughly halfway between Valpo and Notre Dame.

My chip from Blue chip is a Paulson RHC. Something about the chip strikes me as being classy. I think it's the relative simplicity of the script name on a white background that gives me that impression.

Quote: rdw4potus

State: Indiana
City: East Chicago
Casino: Ameristar

What is the pattern behind the denomination supposed to be? I first thought it was random. However, if the two photos are indeed of both sides, the background graphic is the same in both places.

Is "East Chicago" more descriptive than "West Gary"?

Quote: rdw4potus

State: Indiana
City: Michigan City
Casino: Blue Chip

Are two of the three contrasting inserts supposed to be the same color?

It appears that the color insert at the ten o'clock position is rubbing off, revealing the main color underneath. I always thought the contrasting inserts were actually that color through and through. Is it actually just painted on?

There's a dent in the chip a the 3 o'clock position on the white insert. Did the material just compress, or did it crack off?

Quote: Ayecarumba

Quote: rdw4potus

State: Indiana
City: East Chicago
Casino: Ameristar

What is the pattern behind the denomination supposed to be? I first thought it was random. However, if the two photos are indeed of both sides, the background graphic is the same in both places.

Is "East Chicago" more descriptive than "West Gary"?

This is one that I had to check closely when I was working with the photos. These really are different sides of the chip. It's easiest to tell by looking at the inserts in relation to the tophats at the 11:00 and 5:00 positions. That said, I have no idea what the wavy thing in the insert is supposed to be.

I suppose East Chicago is slightly better sounding than West Gary. What I don't quite understand is how/why Chicago and East Chicago don't actually touch. There's a little strip of Hammond (with today's casino in it) between the two cities.

Quote: Ayecarumba

Quote: rdw4potus

State: Indiana
City: Michigan City
Casino: Blue Chip

Are two of the three contrasting inserts supposed to be the same color?

It appears that the color insert at the ten o'clock position is rubbing off, revealing the main color underneath. I always thought the contrasting inserts were actually that color through and through. Is it actually just painted on?

There's a dent in the chip a the 3 o'clock position on the white insert. Did the material just compress, or did it crack off?

I'll have to look at the dent on the physical chip tonight.

Here's the Mogh's image of the Blue Chip $5 chip. It's shows a little more clearly that there really are three different colors of insert.


I'm not sure if the "inserts" are just painted onto this chip, or if what we're seeing on my chip is color transfer from my cleaning process.

Was at the Blue Chip on Sunday and took away a small win. I really like the place because they offer 20oz craft beers for <$5. I had "Bell's Two Hearted Ale" for $4.75 each. Good luck getting that in a bar for that cheap! Also I have a soft spot for the place because for whatever reason, they decided to make their best paying video poker machines Super Times Pay machines and have 9/6 JoB w/STP available at 10-play quarters (I can only afford to play 1-hand though :().

And rdw is right about it looking "less like a boat" vs. most Indiana riverboats. The only thing that's a dead giveaway is the uneven level when first stepping on the gaming floor.

State: Indiana
City: Hammond
Casino: Horseshoe

Today's chip of the day comes from the Horseshoe casino in Hammond, IN. The property opened as an Empress casino in 1996, and became a Horseshoe in 2001. Horseshoe's floor is about 108000 sqft, and the casino has 3000 slots and 150 table games. This is another casino that is on a boat but doesn't feel much like it. I think it's a bit more obvious than Blue Chip is, but it's still pulled off well. Horseshoe is also a very upscale establishment, which is pretty special given that it's in one of the worse places in the USA. Horseshoe is in a little strip of Hammond (which is, itself, mostly not a bad town) that runs between south Chicago and East Chicago/Gary. The neighborhood to the west in Illinois isn't a good one, and the area to the east is filled by rail lines and empty parts of the surrounding steel facilities. But, Horseshoe itself is quite nice. And, contrary to the comments made by some, I don't perceive any risk associated with parking and leaving a car anywhere on the property. If nothing else, Horseshoe would go to just about any lengths to ensure that visiting is safe.

I've visited Horseshoe a handful of times. I collected my chip on my 2010 journey through IL, IN, and MI, and I returned in 2011 to make a stop for the Great Race promotion. I also visited on a weekend trip to Chicagoland last year. One of the more odd experiences that I've had on this board involves Hammond Horseshoe. A board member called Callmebufo had visited the property and left with some chips in his pocket. He and I exchanged my funds for his chips, and i cashed the chips in on my next visit to the casino.

My chip from Horseshoe is very similar to the chip from the neighboring Ameristar. It's a Paulson RHC with an oversized inlay, and the inlay has a pattern on it that I can't quite decipher.

Yes, Horseshoe Hammond is definitely a diamond in the rough, imo. Easily the nicest boat in NW Indiana.

Quote: rdw4potus

State: Indiana
City: Hammond
Casino: Horseshoe

Today's chip of the day comes from the Horseshoe casino in Hammond, IN. The property opened as an Empress casino in 1996, and became a Horseshoe in 2001. Horseshoe's floor is about 108000 sqft, and the casino has 3000 slots and 150 table games. This is another casino that is on a boat but doesn't feel much like it. I think it's a bit more obvious than Blue Chip is, but it's still pulled off well. Horseshoe is also a very upscale establishment, which is pretty special given that it's in one of the worse places in the USA. Horseshoe is in a little strip of Hammond (which is, itself, mostly not a bad town) that runs between south Chicago and East Chicago/Gary. The neighborhood to the west in Illinois isn't a good one, and the area to the east is filled by rail lines and empty parts of the surrounding steel facilities. But, Horseshoe itself is quite nice. And, contrary to the comments made by some, I don't perceive any risk associated with parking and leaving a car anywhere on the property. If nothing else, Horseshoe would go to just about any lengths to ensure that visiting is safe.

I've visited Horseshoe a handful of times. I collected my chip on my 2010 journey through IL, IN, and MI, and I returned in 2011 to make a stop for the Great Race promotion. I also visited on a weekend trip to Chicagoland last year. One of the more odd experiences that I've had on this board involves Hammond Horseshoe. A board member called Callmebufo had visited the property and left with some chips in his pocket. He and I exchanged my funds for his chips, and i cashed the chips in on my next visit to the casino.

My chip from Horseshoe is very similar to the chip from the neighboring Ameristar. It's a Paulson RHC with an oversized inlay, and the inlay has a pattern on it that I can't quite decipher.

This is one of the few midwestern casinos I've been to - it's hard to catch when you actually walk onto "the boat."

Well, my wife and I finally made it home, though my head is still fuzzy from the travel and the overnight flight with three hours change between Arizona and Eastern Daylight times.

I have updated the directory in post #1 to include all of the chips that RDW has posted in my absence. And in case I haven't been clear about it, thanks again RDW for your efforts on this thread. Beautiful chips and great write-ups. If I am counting correctly, he should have two more Indiana chips to post to close out the state completely.

On my trip, I picked up a bunch of $1 chips in Arizona casinos that RDW has already discussed when he presented his $5 chips in January. As RDW finishes posting his Indiana collection, I will be getting photos of those chips and getting them uploaded. Then, I think I will take one day and make a single post of all of them, and I will likely have only brief comments on each one.

Then, and perhaps on the same day, I will present an Arizona chip from a casino not represented in RDW's collection. After that, I will start a new state for this thread.

All of that assumes that I can clear out some of the fuzziness -- my wife went straight to bed when we got home, which seems like a better plan than my own.

Quote: rdw4potus

State: Indiana
City: Hammond
Casino: Horseshoe

... Horseshoe's floor is about 108000 sqft, and the casino has 3000 slots and 150 table games. This is another casino that is on a boat but doesn't feel much like it...

... My chip from Horseshoe is very similar to the chip from the neighboring Ameristar. It's a Paulson RHC with an oversized inlay, and the inlay has a pattern on it that I can't quite decipher....

Hmm, their website currently says the floor is 350,000 sq. ft. Did they expand recently? The pictures of the exterior make it really look non-descript. Like a giant Costco, with a parking structure.

The pattern on the inlay is a flower of some sort, perhaps a lilly? I was expecting a pattern of stylized "H's", or horseshoes of some sort. The blue vs. red is really... "eye catching". Do the other denominations have different clashing insert colors?

Just what are the boundaries of, "Chicagoland"?

Quote: Ayecarumba

Quote: rdw4potus

State: Indiana
City: Hammond
Casino: Horseshoe

... Horseshoe's floor is about 108000 sqft, and the casino has 3000 slots and 150 table games. This is another casino that is on a boat but doesn't feel much like it...

... My chip from Horseshoe is very similar to the chip from the neighboring Ameristar. It's a Paulson RHC with an oversized inlay, and the inlay has a pattern on it that I can't quite decipher....

Hmm, their website currently says the floor is 350,000 sq. ft. Did they expand recently? The pictures of the exterior make it really look non-descript. Like a giant Costco, with a parking structure.

The pattern on the inlay is a flower of some sort, perhaps a lilly? I was expecting a pattern of stylized "H's", or horseshoes of some sort. The blue vs. red is really... "eye catching". Do the other denominations have different clashing insert colors?

Just what are the boundaries of, "Chicagoland"?

Chicagoland basically starts in Minneapolis and extends to Indianapolis and Detroit:-) I don't think there are firm boundaries, but I think most would say that it does not extend so far as to include Milwaukee, South Bend, or Springfield.

I saw that 350,000 number there, but I can't make sense of it. Using your Costco reference, 350,000 sqft is about 2.5 Costcos. The casino is big, but not that big. I think Horseshoe is giving themselves credit for all of the interior space, including restaurants, hallways, and maybe even staff-only areas in that number. As a point of reference, CasinoCity puts the casino floor at Foxwoods at 344,000 sqft.

State: Indiana
City: Gary
Casino: Majestic Star

Today's chip of the day comes from the Majestic Star casino(s?) in Gary, Indiana. This might be the most unique riverboat casino I've ever been to - there are two boats, Majestic Star and Majestic Star II, which are moored next to each other. Unlike Blue Chip and Horseshoe Hammond, this is a case where it's very obvious that you're on a boat, except that you can remain inside, cross a hallway, and be on what is clearly another boat. Combined, the boats have about 80,000 square feet of floor space, 1900 slots, and 70 table games. There's also a hotel with 280 rooms.

I've been to Majestic Star once, in 2010, during my chip-collecting trek. It wasn't a good visit. Majestic Star and Ameristar are less than 5 miles apart, but the direct route was closed and I had to drive almost 20 miles to get from Ameristar to Majestic Star as I made my way eastward so i arrived in a bad mood. On the plus side, the buffet was cheap and worth the money ($13, in 2010). On the negative side, the property looks and feels old. I don't think much has changed since the casino opened in 1996. Outdated slots, old carpet, etc. I played PGP on my visit, and lost $100 in short-order. Then, I had an experience at the cashier that was bad enough that I'll repeat it 3 years later - they had two lines, VIP and regular, but they took the VIPS at any cashier window. So, us regular folks only got to advance when there was nobody in the VIP line at the time that a window opened up. It was just awful standing in that line.

My Majestic Star chip is a Paulson RHC. This was the best chip I could find, and these pictures are of the chip post-cleaning. Yes, it looked even worse before I cleaned it, and yes, this says something about the property overall.

I think that this chip closes out my collection of Indiana chips. I thought that I had all of Indiana's current casinos covered, but it looks now like Aztar may be renamed as at Tropicana now.

Edit 4/25/16: After it was pointed out (again) today that the Yavapi Casino had never been listed as an official Casino Chip of the Day in this thread, I revised/resequenced this post. That chip was originally shown at the bottom of this post as just one more Arizona chip I had collected.


State: Arizona
City: Prescott
Casino: Yavapi

As RDW reported when he posted his chip from Bucky's Casino, the affiliated Yavapai Casino across the street and down the hill had already removed its table games. When I was at Bucky's, they were using a mix of Bucky's and Yavapai chips, at least in the $1 and $5 denominations.

O.K., so I had a Yavapai chip in my hand that I got by playing a table game, but I had never played in the Yavapai Casino. My "policy" is to collect chips from casinos where I have played, and I have done fairly well at that. What to do, what to do….

So I kept the chip, went across the street, and played one-spin in a $1 slot. Lost, of course, but at least I have gambled at the Yavapai Casino and have a souvenir chip from there! This white chip is from Bud Jones and is very similar to the chip I posted from the Harrah's in Metropolis, IL, except that it does not include a BJ logo on the center inlay, and the blue is a bit darker.






So yesterday I said of RDW, "If I am counting correctly, he should have two more Indiana chips to post to close out the state completely." And shortly thereafter he posted his "last" Indiana chip.

I don't think it was my incorrect count, just some difference in perspective and plan. Although the house rules say I am not to reveal anything said in private messages, I think that you can reasonably expect to see another chip image posted by RDW today. It's just that it is one that you have seen before, and he wasn't sure whether to repost it.

Also, as I said yesterday, I thought it would be reasonable for me to post together all of my new Arizona chips from the casinos that RDW discussed in January. That is the purpose of this post, which might be a bit longer than usual. Here goes:

Apache Gold, San Carlos, AZ
(from Bud Jones)



Bucky's, Prescott, AZ
(from Bud Jones)



Casino Arizona/Talking Stick, Scottsdale, AZ
It says "Casino Arizona", but I got it at Talking Stick, which uses the same chips. The MOGH catalog lists this as being from ICON, but I don't know anything more.



Casino del Sol/Casino of the Sun, Tucson, AZ
As RDW posted, the Casino of the Sun no longer has table games, but the same chips were used at both casinos. It is a Paulson RHC with two red and two blue/purple edge inserts and a hidden Paulson logo.



Cliff Castle, Camp Verde, AZ
When RDW posted his chip from this casino back on January 10, 2013, he made the comment:

Quote: rdw4potus

After hearing the name and seeing the sites in Prescott, I somewhat hoped that this casino would either be on a cliff or look like a castle or maybe even both. Instead, it was a very normal casino on a little hill just off of I-17. Oh, well.

Well, it turns out that there really is a castle on a cliff there. It just isn't on the casino grounds. The entrance to the Montezuma Castle National Monument is located just across the street from the casino. I went to the casino at night, saw the road signs, and had to go back to visit the national monument the next morning. Here is one of my photos of the "castle" there.


Anyway, here is my chip from the Cliff Castle Casino. It is a blue Paulson RHC with three pairs of green and white edge inserts and a hidden Paulson logo.



Desert Diamond, Tucson, AZ
(from Chipco)



Fort McDowell, Scottsdale, AZ
A white Paulson RHC with four wide, pink edge inserts. The edge inserts fluoresce under UV light, but there is no hidden image.



Gila River/Wild Horse Pass, Chandler, AZ
Yes, the chip represents three casinos, and I picked it up at Wild Horse Pass. It is a white Paulson RHC chip with four wide edge inserts, two green and two orange.



Harrah's Ak-Chin, Maricopa, AZ
A white Paulson RHC chip with four edge inserts, two black and two dark blue, plus a hidden Paulson logo.



Hon-Dah, Pinetop, AZ
A white Paulson RHC chip with four edge inserts, two black and two green, and an oversized center inlay.



Mazatzal, Payson, AZ
I think this very nice, white chip is Gemaco's pattern 139.30.13.31. All of the white material on the center inlay fluoresces, but there is no hidden image.

I love the Yavapai solution. That's awesome. Also, D'oh on missing the Cliff Castle connection. And here's a link to Icon's website. Small player, pretty chips. I think we briefly discussed them when I posted my chip from Casino Arizona.

It occurs to me that perhaps the Yavapai Casino should appear in the directory for this thread. I think I will post a link there to this post, and anyone who comes here looking to see the chip can just look at the very bottom of the post two above this one. ;-)


Edit 4/25/16: Revised the post two above and changed the index link today.

Quote: rdw4potus

And here's a link to Icon's website.

D'oh, myself. I even had that site bookmarked already, but I was in a state of confusion trying to organize that post of all those Arizona chips.

I'm getting an orange tint in some of your photos Doc. Is it just my monitor?

Quote: Ayecarumba

I'm getting an orange tint in some of your photos Doc. Is it just my monitor?

I'm not noticing an orange tint on any of the white areas of the photos of the chips. The scroll work and background on the Casino Arizona chip is more yellow-brown than it appears in the photo. The Fort McDowell chip really does have an orange background on the center inlay. On which chips are you seeing the orange?

State: Indiana
City: Rising Sun
Casino: Rising Star

Today's chip of the day comes from the Rising Star casino in Rising Sun, IN. Doc did a good job covering much of the history and info about the property when he covered Grand Victoria in November. I suppose I can add that the casino has 40,000 sqft of gaming space, 1200 slots, 33 table games, and a 201 room hotel. And it's worth mentioning that this is a really cute little property, located in what is basically a park (see the front of the chip). I've only ever visited this boat during poor weather and/or in the dead of night, but it seems like a fun place to kill a lazy summer afternoon.

My chip is a bit of a mystery. The MOGH doesn't list any manufacturer's info. I don't see any on the chip, either. It is finished similarly to my Casino Arizona chip, which makes me think that maybe this is another Icon chip. But the Icon website doesn't list this casino as a customer or feature any of these chips. Maybe this is just a house mold, though the quality is pretty high if that's the case.

Quote: rdw4potus

My chip is a bit of a mystery. The MOGH doesn't list any manufacturer's info. I don't see any on the chip, either.

That looks to me like the Gemaco design 139.30.14.00 that can be seen on their site here. (second row, the next to last on the right) The pattern of dots on the chip edge could help to confirm this possibility.

I don't know whether some of these chip suppliers are really the manufacturers or just resellers of someone else's products, but I doubt that two different manufacturers use identical patterns.


Edit 7/31/14: I finally got to visit the Rising Star casino. I posted my souvenir chip from this casino, along with a bunch of others, in this post.

State: Colorado
City: Ignacio
Casino: Sky Ute

And now on to a new state for the thread....

Prior to nine days ago, I had visited the state of Colorado exactly one time – an evening back in the 1980s when I changed planes at the Denver airport. That's it – never set foot out of the airport then, and that had been my only visit to the state ever.

For the past year, maybe, I have had a list of casinos in Central City, Black Hawk, and Cripple Creek that I would like to visit to play and collect their chips. That trip seems to have kept slipping to the back burner, but I have the flights reserved and paid for in late May, immediately after WoVCon ]I[.

When I was preparing that list of casinos, I became aware of two more casinos in the state – tribal casinos out in the southwest corner of the state. I figured I'd never get out to that area, so I would just content myself with those casinos within easy driving distance of Denver.

So what happens – rdw4potus first tempts me into making a trip to Arizona to gather souvenir chips, and then when I mention that I am planning to hit the ones in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe areas on the same trip, he convinces me that I should make the trip up through Durango to get chips from the other northern-NM casinos plus the two way-out-west Colorado casinos. I wind up starting my Colorado collection with the two chips that I didn't figure I would ever get!

The casinos are owned and operated by two of the federally recognized bands of the Ute people. The Southern Ute tribe has a 1,000+ square mile reservation in southwestern Colorado, with it's capital in Ignatio, where they operate the Sky Ute Casino Resort.

I had considerable difficulty coming up with information about the history of this casino. There is no Wiki web page, and the casino's own web site tells nothing about its origin. The tribal web site (separate from the casino site) does include a couple of photos about destruction of the "old" Sky Ute Casino in 2011 but nothing about when that one and the new one were constructed.

The MOGH site shows Sky Ute chips that are listed as being issued as early as 1992, but the commemorative anniversary chips (4th through 8th plus 10th) included there mostly seem to indicate an origin date of 1993. That conclusion is complicated a bit by there being two different chips marked as 7th anniversary, with one having a 1999 date and the other showing 2000. I assume that all of that info relates to the "old" casino.

The CasinoCity.com page for this casino has a link to a news report dated March 2007 claiming that the "new" casino would open within 18 months. That's the best I have been able to come up with. Anyone have a better history for the place?

I visited the Sky Ute casino on Thursday of last week and played (mostly) $5 blackjack at a table that offered a $3 minimum, breaking even for my session.

My souvenir chip from that visit is shown below. It is a white Chipco chip with different, large graphics on the two sides. The images aren't particularly clear. In the first image, there is definitely a bear on the left near the tree, but I'm not sure at all what that is on the right. Another bear? A buffalo? If it's an animal, what direction is it even facing? My wife thinks it's a log.

The other side includes a headdress with a lot of long (eagle?) feathers. I was always told that those things were Hollywood creations and were never really used by Native Americans. I guess they at least use them to decorate their casino chips. Can anyone here distinguish between genuine, traditional, tribal costuming and the fantasies of movies and 50s television?