Casino Chip of the Day

Quote: rdw4potus

State: California
City: Friant
Casino: Table Mountain

Sorry to hear your bad experience there. That is pretty lame them trying to stiff your SF bonus. I was there once and other than the smoke I had a pretty good experience. Each dealer had their own toke box and they were professional overall. I drove up to Mono Winds first and found out there's no more tables then drove down to TM. I'm in Fresno now for a bit longer and TM is closest to town. I might go again before I skip town.

I don't know why there is no card craps at any of the 3 indian casinos in the area (Chukchansi, TM, and Tachi).

Oh and a note on the name, while driving through the area I saw hilltops that had rocky rims and thus appeared to be flat on top (or it is really flat on top idk).

Quote: rdw4potus (regarding the Tagus chip he got at the Sundowner)

There have been a couple times when I've received a chip at one casino from a physically connected property (Bucky's/Cypress Bayou, Gold Creek/Double Eagle) but this is the only time I've received a chip from a physically distant - and closed - casino. I don't think this would be allowed in most places, but California's lack of regulations/regulators allows it to happen.

I've seen that a buuunnnch of times on the Caribbean islands. Those casinos don't seem to care whose chips they use! Sometimes the chips come from another casino on the same island and sometimes from a casino on a different island. I recently picked up a chip (to be posted here some day) at one of the island casinos, and it has the name of a closed casino that was more than 2,000 miles away in South America.

In most of those cases (all, I think), I have posted the chip under the name of the casino that it says on the chip, then explained in the post just which casino was using it in play. When they manage their chips that way, it's hard to figure out the best way to catalog them. When I get around to posting my latest batch of Caribbean chips, I'll have some strange tales to tell.

State: California
City: Lincoln
Casino: Thunder Valley

Today's chip of the day comes from the Thunder Valley casino in Lincoln, CA. Lincoln is northeast of Sacramento, north of I-80 and east of CA-65. It's in the Sacramento metro area, but it's quite far from the City of Sacramento. Thunder Valley has 2,700 machines and 134 tables. The gaming floor is 145,000 square feet, and the property also has 10 restaurants, a spa, and a hotel. The casino has a LOT of games, which I suppose is not surprising with 134 tables. Offered games are: blackjack, baccarat, card craps, card roulette, 3 cad poker, 4 card poker, mississippi stud, let it ride, ultimate texas hold'em, pai gow poker, blackjack switch, and dealer bluff poker.

Here's a picture of the property:



I was very surprised by Thunder Valley. I'd been driving across from the Bay Area, and I'd visited I don't even know how many small card clubs in a row. I knew this was a tribal casino, but I didn't know how big or upscale it was. So driving up to it was quite the experience. The gaming floor is huge. There's a lot on it, but it's big enough that it doesn't feel at all cramped. All the touches were high-end and consistent. There was no real theme, other than "hey, this stuff is nice!" It kind of reminded me of Green Valley Ranch. The only real drawback was the smoke. With a ceiling that high and a floor that well spaced, I was surprised to notice it at all, but the whole room smelled of stale smoke. I almost wonder if there was an HVAC issue at the time I visited.

I played 3 card poker to collect my chip. Usually, if I don't play BJ, PGP, or UTH, I note why I didn't play one of those games. My notes here just say 3CP 20 min +$55. I have absolutely no recollection of the session. I did visit on a Saturday night, so maybe there was no room at those other games. (though, on 134 tables, it's hard to see how every BJ table could be filled).

My chip from Thunder Valley is a red Paulson RHC. I like the casino's logo. The logo, including the full-color version (below) is shown in several places throughout the casino.

Quote: rdw4potus

State: California
City: Lincoln
Casino: Thunder Valley

I think this complex is one of the main reasons Lake Tahoe's casino's are suffering so badly.

Quote: rdw4potus

State: California
City: Stockton
Casino: Cameo Club

Today's chip of the day comes from the Cameo Club in Stockton, CA. Stockton is a commercial and industrial hub with a population of about 300,000. It's on the San Joaquin River, and there's a large port and rail terminal. It's also where I-5 and CA-99 run close enough together that they're both in town. The Cameo Club is pretty small - 2,000 sqft and 10 tables, mostly poker but also BJ, 3CP, and PGP.

Cameo Club is perhaps most famous for an unfortunate viral story regarding the restaurant. Turns out a server listed the "customer" on a tab as "fat girls" and that caused an uproar. When I looked for pictures of the casino, 99% of what I found were pics of the check and pics of the girls. I did find this cute pic of the sign:



I played blackjack at Cameo Club. It's a 21st Century BJ game. They really want the game to move fast. I'm a pretty quick basic strategy player, and I couldn't keep up with the dealer's desired pace. After a few hands, we were mutually frustrated (to the amusement of the corporate player) and I left.

My chip from Cameo Club is a Paulson RHC. It's red, and it features a globe that's centered roughly on the Caribbean. I'm not sure of the reason for that.

Sorry about the late reply, but I am just now trying to catch up on this thread. This card room used to be behind its current location next to a Chinese resturant. Now it is located in the previous home of Naughty Nicks. It was a pizza place with pool tables and tons of arcade games. It was the place to hang out when I was a kid. Went to a lot of birthdays parties there as a kid. Surprisingly I have yet to visit it although I guess I should to add a chip to my small collection

Quote: rdw4potus

State: California
City: Lincoln
Casino: Thunder Valley

Placeholder. Away from home so I'll try to post the $1 at a later time. I agree the indian casinos have pulled away a lot of business from Reno/Tahoe. I visit Reno from time to time and it's pretty dead except for holidays.

State: California
City: Turlock
Casino: Turlock Poker Room

Today's chip of the day comes from the Turlock Poker Room in Turlock, CA. Turlock is between Modesto and Merced on CA99. The Turlock Poker Room has 12 tables, including blackjack, pai gow poker, spanish 21, 3 card poker, and ultimate texas hold'em in addition to the poker ring/tourney games.

Here's a picture of the club:



I visited Turlock on the final leg of my loop from San Diego to San Jose and back. I played blackjack at Turlock. My $60 turned into $100 in a little under 10 minutes, and I was happy to color up and run off to the next stop at that point. At this point, I was about 90 minutes behind schedule and gaining time back. Shortly after this stop, the wheels utterly came off and I was barely able to get back to San Diego at all before my conference started the next morning.

I thought Turlock was a cute little town. The interweb tells me the population is 65,000. It didn't feel nearly that big. I suppose I had that reaction about many of the cities in central CA. They just feel like small towns - quaint downtowns, strip malls, neighborhood shops. Modesto and Merced both also felt smaller than they are.

My chip from the Turlock Poker Room is a red Paulson RHC. Both of the reversed canes are within the black inserts, which makes them pretty hard to see on the image. The chip features the property's logo, which is a heart with a crown on it.

The "heart" looks like a sliced radish.

I wonder about the population figures too. Are there "suburbs" a ways off the main highways?

I also wonder where the folks who work in Jean or Primm live. Do they commute from the Las Vegas valley everyday, or are there actually homes in those somewhat remote, "towns"?

State: California
City: Chula Vista
Casino: Village Club

Today's chip of the day comes from the Village Club card room in Chula Vista, CA. Chula Vista is between San Diego and Tijuana. The name means beautiful view, and some of the views in town are pretty spectacular, especially out into the Pacific or North to downtown SD and Coronado. The Village Club is pretty small and has blackjack, baccarat, and paii gow poker in addition to various hold'em and omaha games.

Here's a picture of the club:



I played BJ at Village Club. Their game is a no-bust variant, and my brain just doesn't work that way. I physically can't handle not losing on a busted hand. I twitch. Oddly, the same reaction doesn't happen when natural blackjacks pay 6:5 or 1:1 or when an ante is required. Must be that serum that Paigowdan gave me...

Village Club is right in the middle of downtown Chula Vista. It was busy when I visited, and access was quite easy even though parking was limited. This part of Chula Vista is too flat and too far from the beach to have any of the beautiful views that the city is named for. And, there was a lot of dust in town. I don't know what was up with that. I've always thought of San Diego as a relatively lush city and it's rained every time I've visited (well, except for the time it snowed...) but Chula Vista was dusty like Yuma and El Centro were dusty.

My chip from Village Club is an orange Paulson LCV. The chip features an image of a wheel flush in spades. The chip cleaned up very well when I scrubbed my collection last spring, and it has a very nice rounded edge. Based on how busy the club was, I can see how/why that rounding occurred.

Are there images of different hands on the various values of chips? I ask because the hand on the sign in the photo above appears to be a royal flush.

Quote: Ayecarumba

Are there images of different hands on the various values of chips? I ask because the hand on the sign in the photo above appears to be a royal flush.

All of their $1, $2, and $5 chips shown on the MOGH site have the A-5 sf on the inlay, except the few that have a completely different logo -- no royal flush designs shown there.

State: California
City: Lodi
Casino: Wine Country

Today's chip of the day comes from the Wine Country card club in Lodi, CA. Lodi is between Stockton and Sacramento at the north end of California's Central Valley. That isn't the first area in CA that I think of when wine comes to mind, but there are many wineries in the area. The cardclub has about 20 tables, including baccarat, pai gow poker, 3 card poker, blackjack, and texas hold'em.

Here's a picture of the property:



I played blackjack at Wine Country. It was a great game. Fast, fun, friendly...if it weren't for the ante, it might have been an ok place to play regularly. As it was, I was happy to play a few dozen hands, lose a few dozen dollars, and chat with the dealer and corporate player for a while.

This casino was the northern-most point that I hit on my loop from San Diego to San Jose and back. A couple days later, I flew to San Fran and then drove to Sacramento, passing within a few miles of this club. Part of the problem with planning multiple trips to the same area to collect chips is that this situation occasionally comes up - an arbitrary line means that some locations could fit into more than one day's journey. It does sort of hurt to know that 1,000 miles were driven in the 36 hours before that near-visit, and yet the casino was only 10 miles away on that day.

My chip from Wine Country is a brown Sunfly mold from the Blue Chip Company. The chip features an image of grapes, which I suppose serves to drive home the whole wine country thing.



This is the last chip in my collection from CA, which means that tomorrow will start a new state. I think that Iowa is the only state left in my collection (save for a handful of newly collected chips from a variety of states), so tomorrow's chip will start a series of entries from Iowa.

Quote: rdw4potus

State: California
City: Chula Vista
Casino: Village Club

Today's chip of the day comes from the Wine Country card club in Lodi, CA. Lodi is between Stockton and Sacramento at the north end of California's Central Valley. That isn't the first area in CA that I think of when wine comes to mind, but there are many wineries in the area. The cardclub has about 20 tables, including baccarat, pai gow poker, 3 card poker, blackjack, and texas hold'em.

Here's a picture of the property:



I played blackjack at Wine Country. It was a great game. Fast, fun, friendly...if it weren't for the ante, it might have been an ok place to play regularly. As it was, I was happy to play a few dozen hands, lose a few dozen dollars, and chat with the dealer and corporate player for a while.

This casino was the northern-most point that I hit on my loop from San Diego to San Jose and back. A couple days later, I flew to San Fran and then drove to Sacramento, passing within a few miles of this club. Part of the problem with planning multiple trips to the same area to collect chips is that this situation occasionally comes up - an arbitrary line means that some locations could fit into more than one day's journey. It does sort of hurt to know that 1,000 miles were driven in the 36 hours before that near-visit, and yet the casino was only 10 miles away on that day.

My chip from Wine Country is a brown Sunfly mold from the Blue Chip Company. The chip features an image of grapes, which I suppose serves to drive home the whole wine country thing.



This is the last chip in my collection from CA, which means that tomorrow will start a new state. I think that Iowa is the only state left in my collection (save for a handful of newly collected chips from a variety of states), so tomorrow's chip will start a series of entries from Iowa.

The header needs to be corrected. Thanks for the tour de Cali.

Quote: Ayecarumba

The header needs to be corrected.

Yep. I've added that chip/casino/post to the thread directory as "Wine Country".

I know that rdw4potus had some travel planned during these holidays -- isn't he always traveling? Anyway, we didn't get a new chip posted on Christmas Day and had an error in constructing the latest post. I suspect that somebody had a typically hectic holiday week and will soon get back into a routine.

;-)

Quote: Doc

Yep. I've added that chip/casino/post to the thread directory as "Wine Country".

I know that rdw4potus had some travel planned during these holidays -- isn't he always traveling? Anyway, we didn't get a new chip posted on Christmas Day and had an error in constructing the latest post. I suspect that somebody had a typically hectic holiday week and will soon get back into a routine.

;-)

I really thought I had yesterday's post down well. I wrote that from my phone (which is, frustratingly, easier than working from my tablet). Now I'm still traveling but back to working from my laptop.

State: Iowa
City: Council Bluffs
Casino: Ameristar

Today's chip of the day comes from the Ameristar casino in Council Bluffs, IA. Council Bluffs is the primary suburb of Omaha, and is located on the Iowa side of the Missouri River. Ameristar has 1,584 machines and 22 tables on a 38,500 square foot gaming floor. It's pretty crowded, though I don't think it's quite as tight as that sounds. Like most non-tribal non-racino properties in Iowa, Ameristar's casino is on a boat. The casino has a very large assortment of games: blackjack, Caribbean Stud, let it ride, 3 card poker, 4 card poker, pai gow poker, craps, roulette, ultimate texas holdem, and texas holdem bonus.

Here's a picture of the property:



I've been to Ameristar about 10 times. I like the casino, but I've never stayed in the hotel. At my old company, we used to have a tradition: go to the mandatory winter-preparation meeting for the gas pipeline in Omaha, go to Ameristar, drink & lose money. I don't know why we never went to either of the other casinos in Council Bluffs, but Ameristar was always the casino of choice on those trips.

I think this was the first chip I added to my collection from outside of Minnesota. That'd make it chip number 9 or 10 in the collection. I played BJ to collect the chip. My coworkers and I played for a couple hours. They're recreational players, and they all won while I lost. Those jackasses still mock me for that. If I'd stayed on those 16s, not doubled those 9s, stayed on soft 18, I could have won too!! Ameristar is a relatively easy casino in which to place new games. I know this is the first place I played Texas Shootout, and I think this is also the first place I played Rabbit Hunter Stud. Both games have now rotated out of Ameristar's offerings.

My chip from Ameristar is a Paulson RHC. It's in pretty good shape, with minimal grime and a fairly sharp edge.

Ah, a brand new state for this thread! We haven't had a new state since Oklahoma, back in September. We got all the way through autumn without a new one.

State: Iowa
City: Burlington
Casino: Catfish Bend

Today's chip of the day comes from the Catfish Bend casino in Burlington, IA. Burlington is on the Mississippi River, south of the Quad Cities and west of Peoria, IL. Catfish Bend has about 640 machines and 24 tables. The casino has a wide variety of games for its size, and offers blackjack, spanish 21, 3 card poker, 4 card poker, pai gow poker, ultimate texas hold'em, craps, e-roulette, and mississippi stud.

Here's a picture of the casino:


My visit to Catfish Bend was pretty frustrating. First, I'd planned on attending a PGA tour event in the Quad Cities with a customer. My customer had the tickets and backed out at the last minute due to a family tragedy. So I had to find something else to do while I was in town. Perhaps not surprisingly, I spent the time visiting casinos in IA and IL. At the time, the American Casino Guide was my primary source of information for organizing these trips. The ACG listed Catfish Bend as being in Fort Madison and not in Burlington. While that used to be the case, the casino moved some time ago to Burlington on a permanent basis. On the day of my visit, I drove to Fort Madison, saw the abandoned boat there, and started driving back to the Quad Cities. That drive brought me through Burlington via the road that the casino happened to be on. So I stopped in and grabbed a chip. And then, on my way out of town, I apparently sped by driving 57 in a 35. My ticket came with photos from a traffic camera and was delivered from a processing center in White Plains, NY. Apparently, there is one member of the Burlington Police Department who is physically located in New York and who reviews and signs tickets for these traffic offenses.



My chip from Catfish Bend is a red Paulson RHC. It has the Burlington location on one side and the Fort Madison location on the other side. There's a lot of edge wear, but the inserts are fairly clean. There's a bit of color transfer between the inserts from when I cleaned the chip last spring.



Note on why this is today's chip: I'm traveling, and apparently the only copies of my chips from the Argosy in Sioux City are on my other computer. I'll have to circle back to that casino later...

State: Iowa
City: Dubuque
Casino: Diamond Jo

Today's chip of the day comes from the Diamond Jo casino in Dubuque, IA. Dubuque is due east of Waterloo, IA, and is located at the IA/WI/IL tri-border. Diamond Jo is a riverboat and has 38,000 square feet of gaming space with 1,000 slots and 20 tables. The casino has blackjack, craps, roulette, 3 card poker, 4 card poker, and pai gow poker.

Here's a picture of the property:



I visited Diamond Jo in the summer of 2011. I flew from Minneapolis to Omaha, then drove a big loop from Omaha to Dubuque to the Quad Cities and back to Omaha. I'm not very clear on the gaming rules in Iowa. Specifically, I don't understand the boat/land-based rules. Clearly, tribal and racino locations can be land-based. This property is very obviously a boat. But, I think it's sister property (tomorrow's chip of the day) is land based. Both Diamond Jo properties are owned by Boyd, and new chips with the B Connected logo were issued after my visits. I guess I'll have to tour rural Iowa again one of these days.

I played PGP to collect my chip. The session was pretty unremarkable - I won $40 in 20 minutes of play - but I suppose it's worth noting that this is one of the only times when I've seen a player who was seriously banking. He must've had $10k in front of him and he was begging for action against him. I sat with him and let him bank in turn. I don't think my green action was what he was hoping for, but I don't know that he'd have found much black PGP play in Dubuque, IA.

My chip from the Diamond Jo in Dubuque is a Paulson RHC. The chip has quite a bit of edge wear, but it's mostly clean. The reversed canes are aligned with the green edge inserts.

State: Iowa
City: Northwood
Casino: Diamond Jo

Today's chip of the day comes from the Diamond Jo casino in Northwood, IA. Northwood is a very small town near the MN/IA border just east of I-35. Diamond Jo features a 38,700 square foot gaming floor with 975 slots and 20 tables. The casino has blackjack, craps, roulette, ultimate texas hold'em, mississippi stud, and 3 card poker.

Here's a picture of the property:



Yep, that's a casino that is specifically themed to look like a rusted barn. They did a good job of it, too. Luckily, the theme does not carry to the inside of the property. The farm/barn touches outside are pretty cool. The door pulls are shaped like corn cobs. I think that as a non-racino corporate casino, this property needs to be a boat. If that's the case, then it's floating on a perfectly sized man-made "lake" that does not extend beyond the edges of the barn structure. I don't think I've mentioned yet that casinos in IA are required to post their slot payback percentages. There's a sign as you walk into Diamond Jo listing the percentage as 90.3% (as of november, 2012). The sign looks like one of those boards you see at a bank where they list today's yield on a CD, so I do think the sign is adjusted periodically and most likely then reflects a trailing actual return to player.

Diamond Jo is nominally in Northwood, but is actually in an unpopulated area just off of I-35. The casino is located at the first exit off of the interstate south of the MN/IA border. The only other things there are 2 hotels (built because of the casino...) a gas station, and the Iowa welcome center.

I've been to Diamond Jo many times. It's has the most readily accessible craps and roulette tables to Minneapolis (one of the WI properties is closer, but the drive is slower and less predictable). The game I've played the most at Diamond Jo is pai gow poker. That game was not listed on the casino's website, and was also left off the list in the first paragraph of this thread. I'm not sure if they pulled it in favor of UTH, or if they just don't list the game for some reason. On one session, I was 4 to a royal flush on 3 consecutive hands. I still haven't received that hand on a PGP table. The casino announces slot jackpots with a "winner winner, chicken dinner..." call, and winners get a free buffet or $20 coupon to the steakhouse. There's also a subway and a burger king on the property. I know those announcements are supposed to make people think that winning is possible, but I always just get angry that I wasn't the one who won (never mind that I'm playing BJ and they're obviously slot winners...)

My chip from Diamond Jo's Northwood location is a Paulson RHC. The chip features the iconic water tower/sign which is visible on the upper right side of the image above.

The water tower is a real eye catcher! I assume it is non-functional, and wonder what is actually inside of it.

Does it snow here? I note from the photo that the buildings all appear to be on ground level. I would expect the entrances to be raised to keep the elements out.

deleted

Quote: Ayecarumba

The water tower is a real eye catcher! I assume it is non-functional, and wonder what is actually inside of it.

Does it snow here? I note from the photo that the buildings all appear to be on ground level. I would expect the entrances to be raised to keep the elements out.

There aren't raised entrances, but there's an entry foyer. So it's door, giant forced-air heater, second door, casino.

As for the water tower, I agree it's most likely non-functional. I don't know what's inside it. Maybe the best part about it is that it's lighted. There's a point on the highway at night where the water tower is visible before the building is.

State: Iowa
City: Larchwood
Casino: Grand Falls

Today's chip of the day comes from the Grand Falls casino in Larchwood, IA. Larchwood is a very small town in northwestern IA. It's about 5 miles east of Sioux Falls, SD. The casino is even closer to Sioux Falls, and that city provides almost all of the casino's market. Grand Falls has 896 machines and 36 tables. Table games include blackjack, craps, roulette, ultimate texas hold'em, pai gow poker, and mississippi stud.

Here's a picture of the property:



Grand Falls is the newest casino in Iowa, and is also one of the most upscale. Not that it needs to be all that nice - it's 3 miles from Sioux Falls, which guarantees the casino's viability. Grand Falls opened after I made my initial pass through the area, so I snagged this chip on a return trip. I collected the chip by playing UTH. Nothing much happened during the session, but I was impressed by the strategy of the other players. This was one of the most strategically correct tables I've ever played on. I'm so used to being mocked for playing basic strategy on that game, I almost didn't know what to do when the other players were doing the same and sharing information as well. There was no heat for the info sharing and if the dealers flashed a little, this would be a tremendously beatable game.

My chip from Grand Falls is an Icon chip. The chip is pretty plain and just has the name and denomination on the face, along with a couple instances of the casino's GF script. I really like Icon's chips. I think that when/if I redo my business card chips, I might try to use Icon chips.

State: Iowa
City: Council Bluffs
Casino: Harrah's

Today's chip of the day comes from the Harrah's casino in Council Bluffs, IA. Harrah's is just up the road from Ameristar. The casino has 830 machines and 18 tables. Harrah's has blackjack, craps, roulette, 3 card poker, pai gow poker, texas hold'em bonus, mississippi stud, and high card flush poker.

Here's a couple pictures of the property:




Harrah's is my go-to hotel in Omaha/Council Bluffs. It's frequently free, and the room quality is high and predictable. I really can't get over that sign in the elevator, though. How many eyes saw that without questioning it? How do I get to the fitness center, again? The casino is small, but it's fun. There's usually at least one non-standard table game on the floor. For a while that was Texas Shootout, then it was Rabbit Hunter Stud (I think), and now it's high card flush poker. I like high card flush poker almost as much as I like texas shootout. Hopefully, high card flush will have a longer life cycle than Shootout seems to have had.

I collected this chip right after I collected the one from Ameristar. I think I grabbed it on a blackjack table, but I was with other people and we played pretty much everything over the course of a couple hours. I know I kept trading my chip back in when I found one with better edges and/or cleaner inserts. I kind of wonder if I made a mistake there somewhere, because this chip just isn't in very good shape.

My chip from Harrah's is a Paulson, RHC. There's some edge wear, but it cleaned up pretty well last year.

Looks as if in another week this thread will have reached 4,000 posts, with 600 casinos whose chips have been presented.

State: Iowa
City: Council Bluffs
Casino: Horseshoe

Today's (thursday's) chip of the day comes from the Horseshoe casino in Council Bluffs, IA. Horseshoe is across the street and inland a bit from Harrah's and Ameristar, and is attached to a dog racing track. The casino has a 78,800 square foot gaming area with 1,670 machines and 88 tables. The casino offers blackjack, craps, roulette, baccarat, pai gow poker, mississippi stud, 3 card poker, and ultimate texas hold'em.

Here's a picture of the property:



Horseshoe is easily the most upscale property in Council Bluffs. Limits are a bit higher than on the two boats, there's more space than on the boats, and the selection of machines is also a bit wider and features newer titles. The door pulls are shaped like horseshoes, which is kind of fun. I've never been to the dog track part of the property, but it's definitely nice that the casino doesn't feel like it has been force-fitted into/around the track.

My chip from Horseshoe is a Paulson RHC. The edge of the chip is quite rounded, but it cleaned up nicely. There's no outer ring, so some of the hats are quite close to the edge of the chip.

State: Iowa
City: Waterloo
Casino: Isle

Today's chip of the day comes from the Isle casino in Waterloo, IA. Waterloo is on US20, about halfway between I-35 and Dubuque. The population is about 65,000 which makes Waterloo a prety big city by Iowan standards. The casino has 1,000 slots and 25 tables. Games include: blackjack, craps, roulette, mississippi stud, ultimate texas hold'em, pai gow poker, and match'em hi-lo.

Here's a picture of the property:



I visited the Isle on my loop of Iowa. I drove across the state from Sioux City on US20, and I was pretty damn glad to get to Waterloo. That's a nice-enough road, but it's a stalk straight and desolate path through endless corn fields. I was surprised by the size and completeness of the Isle's property. It's a full-service casino hotel with meeting facilities as well. It's also a full step less awful than most other Isle properties.

I played UTH to collect my chip. I played for a couple hours, and wound up ahead about $150. I hit a straight flush - 9-K, with the 9 on the river - during my session. Without that hand, I'd have been down about $200. I thought the game mostly went well. The dealers were fast and mostly accurate. The speed made them miss some full houses (by paying for 3OAK), but it was a bit better than an average UTH game.

My chip from the Isle is a Paulson RHC. It's red with pink inserts and the usual Isle bird logo. I never noticed before now that the period is a part of the Isle logo.

The parrot makes them a good candidate for a Margaritaville tie-in.

I feel like we've seen the "wide" peach colored inserts before. Does someone else use the same combination?

State: Iowa
City: Bettendorf
Casino: Isle of Capri

Today's chip of the day comes from the Isle of Capri casino in Bettendorf, IA. Along with Davenport, Moline, and Rock Island, Bettendorf is one of the Quad Cities. Because of the geography of the area, Bettendorf is the farthest east of the 4 cities even though Rock Island and Moline are in Illinois. The Isle of Capri is located on the Mississippi River and has a 25,000 square foot gaming floor that has 1,000 slots and 25 tables. It's a tight fit. The casino has blackjack, craps, roulette, pai gow poker, mississippi stud, and 3 card poker.

Here's a picture of the property:



I visited the Isle of Capri on the same trip that brought me to the Isle. I was at the IoC about 5 hours after I visited the casino in Waterloo. After the Isle in Waterloo was so nice, it was a little disappointing to see that this property was a much more typical Isle of Capri property. It's not bad, but it sure isn't good either. And it's very starved for space. The boat is just very very cramped. To the extent that competition makes it less-than-fully-occupied, they'd almost do well to look at removing machines to make it more comfortable. They could even then advertise that they're the most spacious casino in the area, since all the area casinos are somewhat cramped.

I played BJ at Isle of Capri. The table had a 21+3 configuration. Unlike some places, there was no (enforced) rule about the relationship between the blackjack bet and the 3 card bet. Several of the other players were betting $5 on BJ and $25 on the bonus. They were also bleeding $100 bills like it was nothing. I, on the other hand, stuck to the base bet and proceeded to hit flush after flush after flush. I'd have played longer, but I thought the guy at 3rd base was going to snap.

My chip from Isle of Capri is a Paulson RHC. The design is different than the one on the Isle chip from yesterday, but the parrot appears on this chip as well.

I have commented previously about the variation in colors for the Isle/Isle of Capri logo birds, and that continues with these latest two chips. Of course, I don't know one real bird from another nor which ones might have either of these color patterns.

State: Iowa
City: Marquette
Casino: Lady Luck

Today's chip of the day comes from the Lady Luck casino in Marquette, IA. Marquette is in the northeast corner of the state, on the Mississippi river. The casino has 600 slots and 9 tables. They have blackjack, craps, mississippi stud, and ultimate texas hold'em.

Here's a picture of the property:



Lady Luck is right next to the bridge between IA and WI on US18. It's so close, it's funny. I arrived at the casino from the Wisconsin side, and I laughed out loud when I saw the casino - finally, a destination that I wouldn't get lost finding! Lady Luck is tiny. Sources vary, but the floor is just under 20,000 square feet. It's pretty tight and has low ceilings as well. But, smoke wasn't as much of an issue as I'd feared.

I played blackjack to collect my chip. It was a hard choice between blackjack and UTH, but I decided to go with BJ since the minimum was $3. I played for about an hour, lose about $10, and headed off on my way. The other players at the table were there when I arrived and were still there when I left. There was no turnover at all. I guess the $3 tables (offered 12p-6p M-Th) have a following.

My chip from Lady Luck is an Icon product. Lady Luck's logo is pretty intricate, and it's very clear on the chip. I'm hopeful that means I'll have success with the QR code when/if I use Icon for my next round of business chips.

Vegas in 2 weeks... Need to hit DT Grand and MAX/Westin for new chips (collection 240 and growing!).

Question: anyone know if the newly reopened O'Sheas at the Linq has new chips? I assume so but thought I'd ask if anyone's been there yet.

State: Iowa
City: Osceola
Casino: Lakeside

Today's chip of the day comes from the Lakeside casino in Osceola, IA. Osceola is just a bit south of Des Moines, and the casino is just off of I-35. Lakeside has about 1,000 machines and 15 tables. The casino has: blackjack, craps, roulette, baccarat, pai gow poker, and "specialty games." I guess those "specialty games" may theoretically rotate. They've been ultimate texas hold'em and texas shootout for many years, though.

Here's a picture of the casino:



I think I've mentioned this elsewhere, but the approach to this casino reminds me of the bar in From Dusk Til Dawn. It's really just missing some motorcycles and Cheech. I don't really know why it has this effect on me. I think it's the visual effect of driving down slightly to reach the building, and seeing that there's a further slope behind the casino.

This property was Lakeside resort from 2000-2006, then was Terrible's Lakeside from 2006-2011, and is now Lakeside Casino & Hotel. I've visited about 5 times, both during the Terrible's days and after the return to the Lakeside name in 2011. On each visit, the same group of people has been there. There's 4 of them, and they find a way to tie up the entire texas shootout table. So that's unfortunate. One time, I gave up on waiting and went to play UTH. Then, they descended on the UTH table. There aren't a lot of people who I don't like, but I really hate one of the women. She fills every box on the "entitled american woman" stereotype. She asked me to move so she could set her purse next to her. I ordered a water before she arrived, and the water was delivered after she sat down. She tried to claim it. She has no idea how to play (and, apparently, can't learn) and blames any/everything but herself when she loses. It's just not pleasant.

I collected this Lakeside chip in September. I played UTH to collect it, since my friends were at the texas shootout table. Not much special happened during the session. I pretty much just ground out an $80 win on a series of non-premium hands.

My chip from Lakeside is...umm...pretty? I'm not sure what the manufacturer is, and the Mogh isn't too helpful in identification here. It looks kind of like some Bud Jones chips, so maybe that's a likely manufacturer? Or RT Plastics, but I think that company went out of business about the same time that the name of the casino changed.

It's interesting that the color schemes on the two sides are different. The "silver" color really jumps off the image. Are these very different than the Terrible's ownership days?

Quote: Ayecarumba

It's interesting that the color schemes on the two sides are different. The "silver" color really jumps off the image. Are these very different than the Terrible's ownership days?

The Terrible's chip looks much like the chips from the Terrible's properties in NV and MO. I do have one for this property, and I'll be posting it in a few days. The Lakeside chip is, at least to me, much more attractive than the Terrible's chip.

Quote: wezvidz

Vegas in 2 weeks... Need to hit DT Grand and MAX/Westin for new chips (collection 240 and growing!).

Question: anyone know if the newly reopened O'Sheas at the Linq has new chips? I assume so but thought I'd ask if anyone's been there yet.

I have not been to the new property. The last set of chips from the old property were very newly issued when it closed. If they still have them, they could easily use them. But, unless the reopening was planned at the time of the closure, those chips may have needed to be destroyed. I checked on the Museum of Gaming History website, and they don't list new chips. But, they also list the property as closed. So, there's that...

The chips are the same chips as before. Was there Saturday.

Quote: rdw4potus

My chip from Lakeside is...umm...pretty? I'm not sure what the manufacturer is, and the Mogh isn't too helpful in identification here.

I'm not at all certain, but I'm guessing this is a design from Gemaco. Note the shape of the edge inserts -- they are somewhat similar to the Gemaco edge inserts that I keep describing as shaped like the tips of a pair of slip-joint pliers. However, these edge inserts extend further from the edge of the chip than the ones such as on your chips from Presque Isle Downs, Harrington Raceway, or Hollywood-Joliet.

Quote: Doc

I'm not at all certain, but I'm guessing this is a design from Gemaco. Note the shape of the edge inserts -- they are somewhat similar to the Gemaco edge inserts that I keep describing as shaped like the tips of a pair of slip-joint pliers. However, these edge inserts extend further from the edge of the chip than the ones such as on your chips from Presque Isle Downs, Harrington Raceway, or Hollywood-Joliet.

I think you're right. I think this is design 139.30.24.00 from their catalog. I did check their site last night before giving up and writing my post, but I must have only looked at their B series (this is a P series design).

Quote: rdw4potus

I did check their site last night before giving up and writing my post, but I must have only looked at their B series (this is a P series design).

I made the same oversight myself this morning. I have the .pdf of their catalog and only looked at the B-series pages and not the P-series pages.

Did anyone ever get the story of whatever happened to RT Plastics? All I know is that their web site stopped working.

State: Iowa
City: Tama
Casino: Meskwaki

Today's chip of the day comes from the Meskwaki casino in Tama, IA. Tama is on US 30 between Marshalltown and Cedar Rapids. It's a cute little town, but the paperboard plant makes it smell kind of odd. Meskwaki opened in 2006 and has 1,500 machines and 30 tables on a 125,000 square foot gaming floor. The casino offers blackjack, craps, roulette, baccarat, mississippi stud, pai gow poker, 3 card poker, and ultimate texas hold'em.

Here's a picture of the property:



Tama is about halfway between US30 and I-80. That made it a little tricky to decide how and when I'd visit, since my loop involved driving east on 30 and then back west on 80. I decided to visit Tama on the return journey, so that I could be sure to hit all of the quad-cities area casinos before the end of the first day. That decision meant that I visited Meskwaki early on the second day of the trek. It was pretty quiet when I visited. The floor really is quite spacious and the ceilings are quite high. Those factors, combined with the low traffic, meant that there was almost no smoke.

I played UTH to collect my chip. I did not fare well. Sessions like this one are the reason that people play the game all wrong. I lost almost every 4x bet, won almost every 1x bet, and lost a couple hundred dollars.

My chip from Meskwaki is a Bud Jones product. I think that this is one of the more visually appealing chips in my collection. But, my pictures really don't do it justice. I'm going to add the MOGH's file photo as well, since the lighting and color are much better on their image.

State: Iowa
City: Dubuque
Casino: Mystique

Today's chip of the day comes from the Mystique racino in Dubuque, IA. Mystique has 975 machines and 23 tables on a 30,000 square foot gaming floor. Games include blackjac, craps, roulette, mississippi stud, pai gow poker, ultimate texas hold'em, 3 card poker, and 4 card poker.

Here's a picture of the property:



Mystique has a very wide variety of games on their small floor. If you're a slot player, Mystique probably has your favorite machine. But, they probably only have one or two units of it. So hopefully you either have unique tastes or are willing to wait to play. Similarly, I had to wait about 5 minutes to get onto their PGP table. It's a great game. The bank rotates with no sawtooth pattern (1,2,3,4 not 1,2,1,3,1,4...), and the fortune bonus pays envy on the dealer's hand. My session was frustrating, more for the guy who kept banking than for me. His hand variance was just brutal. He'd get huge hands when the dealer was j-high, and then pull 22/QJ when he was banking. It's like Fate knew he had a roll of big bills in his pocket, and he just wouldn't be allowed to win until the money was gone. Dude must've gone through $5k in the 90 minutes I was there. It's a $500 max table. That might have been the worst run of luck that I've ever seen.

My chip from Mystique is a Chipco product. There's quite a bit of wear on both faces of the chip. The "CI" logo (at the 5:00 position) is almost worn off on both sides.

Quote: rdw4potus

State: Iowa
City: Bettendorf
Casino: Isle of Capri

Today's chip of the day comes from the Isle of Capri casino in Bettendorf, IA. Along with Davenport, Moline, and Rock Island, Bettendorf is one of the Quad Cities.

Don't forget East Moline! The Quad Cities are actually 5 cities, but they can't change the name...too much recognition...

Anyway, I'll tell this story here because it happened in the Quad Cities and I don't remember which casino. It was well before I ever placed a bet in a casino; I think before I had even been to Vegas as an adult. I was in town for a wedding, and was pretty hosed after the reception. The casino was within walking distance of the hotel, so I decided to check it out. Upon arrival, the door person assessed my state of inebriation (very inebriated) and indicated that I was too drunk to enter the casino property, let alone gamble. Not only that, but I was prohibited from leaving the casino property under my own power! Due to some arcane law (this was their claim, I have never verified it), they were responsible for shuttling me back to my hotel so that I did not hold them liable for any kind of mishap while walking away from their casino...boggles the mind, doesn't it? So there I am, waiting for a shuttle back to my hotel, which I can see is in plain sight across one road, if I remember correctly. I should have just started walking away, but they said they would call the police if I did. Being far away from home, I didn't feel like chancing a police encounter.

I think it was in Davenport, but anyway.

Quote: rdw4potus

Casino: Mystique

That makes chip/casino #600 and post #4008 for the thread.

State: Iowa
City: Altoona
Casino: Prairie Meadows

Today's chip of the day comes from the Prairie Meadows racino in Altoona, IA. Altoona is a Des Moines suburb, and is just outside of the city's highway loop slightly east on I-80. Prairie Meadows has an 82,000 square foot gaming floor with 1,935 machines and 53 tables. Games offered include blackjack, blackjack switch, roulette, craps, pai gow poker, three-card poker, baccarat, mississippi stud and ultimate texas hold ‘em.

Here's a picture of the property:



Prairie Meadows is a horse racing facility. The casino is one that feels quite a bit like it was just sort of placed into/under the grandstand. It's on two levels, ceilings are low, etc. When I visited, a terrible storm rolled in. It was really something to see - one of those storms where it got black as night at 1pm, then rained sideways, then unleashed several inches of pea-to-golfball sized hail. The weather got quite bad and, though there was no threat of tornado, the security staff were ordered to keep the doors closed and not allow anyone to leave. So, I was forced to stay about 90 minutes more than I wanted to. Even after I could leave, the weather made the drive from Prairie Meadows back to Omaha a bit dodgy. There's no feeling quite like being broadsided by a 60 mph gust of wind.

I played PGP to collect my chip. The dealer didn't really understand the game, and needed help setting all but the easiest hands. That made for a slow and contentious game. There were lots of times where the resetting of the dealer's hand changed winners into losers or pushes or, more rarely, pushes or losers into winners. Mostly, she wanted to split all two pairs and just didn't understand the two pair rule at all. I won about $150 before I tried to leave the first time, and lost back about $120 during the storm-caused imprisonment.

My chip from Prairie Meadows is a Paulson RHC. It has a bit of edge rounding, but it's otherwise in good shape.

Would they have physically restrained someone who really wanted to leave?

Quote: Ayecarumba

Would they have physically restrained someone who really wanted to leave?

Yes, they really did do that. Most people walked up to the doors, looked outside, and walked back into the room without much fuss. One guy wanted to go out to check his car in the hail (what a "good" idea that is!) and needed to be restrained. I'm not sure if the guy was drunk, or just frantic, but he couldn't be reasoned with.

I've never seen anything quite like this weather. I've seen rain fall in sheets. I've seen rain fall with winds so strong that it appears to be horizontal. I've seen large hail. This is the only time I've ever seen large hail fall in sheets with winds so strong that it appeared to be falling horizontally.

State: Iowa
City: Davenport
Casino: Rhythm City

Today's chip of the day is from the Rhythm City casino in Davenport, IA. Davenport is one of the Quad Cities, and this casino is just west of the Isle of Capri in Bettendorf. Rhythm City is also an IoC brand. It is, I think, the only casino in the chain that is not an Isle, Isle of Capri, or Lady Luck. The casino has 930 slots and 12 tables on a 29,000 square foot gaming floor. Games include: blackjack, craps, and mississippi stud. The website does not list roulette, but the table games page features a prominent image of a roulette wheel so it seems likely that they also have that game.

Here's a picture of the property:



I first visited Rhythm City minutes after leaving the Isle of Capri in Bettendorf on my big chip collecting loop of Iowa. It's pretty much a typical, if small, riverboat casino. The ceilings could be higher, the games could be spaced farther apart, and onboard dining options are very limited. But, the atmosphere is fun and the staff is pleasant and competent.

I played BJ to collect my chip. This was maybe the second most tired I've ever been at a casino, after my experience at Black Oak in CA. I think I managed to not make too much of an ass of myself - I did win about $80 in 20 minutes of play - but I really couldn't think straight at all. I left my car in the parking lot and took a cab to the hotel, and I'm sure that cabbie thought I was drunk. The hotel was nice enough to shuttle me back down to the casino (about 1 mile) the next day. I thought that was nice of them.

My chip from Rhythm City is a Paulson RHC. There's a treble clef and a stylized set of 5 lines that I think is supposed to allude to sheet music. I think that the IoC's purchase of Rhythm City is relatively recent. The Mogh doesn't show any new chips yet, but I wonder if they're coming...

Is "rhythm" the longest word without one of the five common vowels?