Casino Chip of the Day

Quote: beachbumbabs

That was me, tending the fires.

Well done. Thanks!

Quote: Doc

(1) I know that rdw4potus has told us that he has a routine now for photographing his chips: get photos of both sides of every chip, even if they are the same, get two different size images, get them all uploaded to the web, etc.

(2) From the very beginning of this thread I have admitted that some of my own chip photos show color shifts, with gray chips looking beige, etc., and I frequently try to describe the colors a bit or the color shifts that I notice.

With those two factors in mind, I have to comment that these two photos of rdw's Quad chip make it look as if it is/they are two completely different chips. I mean, the images look almost as different as some of my visible light vs. UV light photo sets. ;-)

I use Microsoft Office Picture Manager to edit and color correct my images. The Auto Correct feature does a good job of sharpening the image, but it also color-corrects in an inconsistent and less-than-ideal way. In this case, it seems to have lightened the side with the black inlay and blued the side with the blue inlay.

State: Florida
City: Hallandale Beach
Casino: Mardi Gras

"What is now Mardi Gras Casino opened as the Hollywood Kennel Club on December 1, 1934, three years after Florida legalized parimutuel betting. [...] An extensive renovation project in 2006 added approximately 1,100 slot machines and a poker room to the dog track, which was renamed Mardi Gras Casino."

Another racetrack-poker venue sandwiched in the Lauderdale/Miami area by better places to play.

Unfortunately this is one of my more unclear pictures due to low room lighting and the chip being framed already.

Quote: wezvidz

Unfortunately this is one of my more unclear pictures due to low room lighting and the chip being framed already.

That would explain the glassy feel of the image.

Regardless, it's a beautiful design.

State: Florida
City: Hallandale Beach
Casino: Gulfstream Park

"Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino is a racetrack and county-approved racino in Hallandale Beach, Florida, in the United States. During its annual meet, which spans December through April, it is one of the most important venues for horse racing in America."

This chip is another racetrack-poker venue 1 mile from yesterday's (Mardi Gras). It's another framed chip that is a little blurry.

Are there any real casinos in Florida, or are they all just slots and poker?

deleted

Quote: Nareed

Are there any real casinos in Florida...?

It depends a whole lot on your definition of a "real" casino. I have played craps on a couple of the casino boats out of Florida, and I have played blackjack at several of the casinos operated by the Seminole tribe, but I don't think there is yet any legal, land-based, craps table in Florida. So it's just a matter of whether you consider boats and non-craps places to be "real" casinos.

Quote: Doc

It depends a whole lot on your definition of a "real" casino. I have played craps on a couple of the casino boats out of Florida, and I have played blackjack at several of the casinos operated by the Seminole tribe, but I don't think there is yet any legal, land-based, craps table in Florida. So it's just a matter of whether you consider boats and non-craps places to be "real" casinos.

Craps or not, the Seminole Hardrock properties are awfully big and fancy.

deleted

Quote: Doc

It depends a whole lot on your definition of a "real" casino.

Thanks.

By my definition it would have to include a variety of table games, not just one type, and preferably the big three types: roulette, cards and dice (and by dice I mean craps). Also VP as well as slots.

Quote: Nareed

Are there any real casinos in Florida, or are they all just slots and poker?

The state to state laws are silly and I was talking to fellow craps players in Blackhawk last weekend about their "1 drink per 30 minutes law" regarding free drinks in Colorado.

Most of what Florida has are dog tracks with poker. Scattered slot places like the Isle that also have poker. The smallest slice is Indian casinos allowed to have table games but NO craps or roulette (what's the difference?) or sports betting. Then there are the cruises where anything goes in international waters.

Quote: wezvidz

The state to state laws are silly and I was talking to fellow craps players in Blackhawk last weekend about their "1 drink per 30 minutes law" regarding free drinks in Colorado.

Still better than no free alcoholic drinks like Missouri. :-\

State: Florida
City: Miami Gardens
Casino: Calder Casino & Race Course (Studz Poker Club)

Getting down to the last few Florida chips and heading into Miami.

Googling some facts about this room, I found out it JUST closed this past Monday. This was another room with a seperate poker room name vs venue name.

"Like most horse tracks, dog tracks and jai-alai frontons Calder had been offering low-limit poker since about 2001 in a room at the grandstand. As poker boomed nationwide, Calder opened the roomy Studz in fall of 2009 on the grandstand's first floor. A separate building, constructed just for for slots, opened at Calder in January 2010.

But in January 2014, Calder management moved Studz opened inside the casino building and cut the number of tables in half. State records show Studz' poker revenues have been declining, from an average of about $400,000 per month to less than $200,000. "

Quote: wezvidz

The smallest slice is Indian casinos allowed to have table games but NO craps or roulette (what's the difference?) or sports betting.

Mexican casinos are allowed, apparently, to have reel slots (no VP), bingo, roulette and craps plus other dice games (they have Sic Bo and a dice-based kind of rulette), but no card games. There is sports betting. I don't know why.

Quote:

Then there are the cruises where anything goes in international waters.

Would that we had an outlet to the sea... Maybe it's just as well, though, or I'd gamble a lot more often than I do.

Quote: rdw4potus

Craps or not, the Seminole Hardrock properties are awfully big and fancy.

I was in the Tampa Hard Rock a few weeks ago checking out the blackjack and found nothing great. Atlantic City rules with mediocre to poor penetration. They had a couple of $5 tables that paid 6:5 for blackjack. It's a really nice property.

State: Florida
City: Miami
Casino: Casino Miami Jai-Alai

"... a state of the art casino featuring 1,000 Las Vegas style slot machines; Poker and Dominoes; a renovated Jai-Alai venue; dining facilities; live shows and entertainment."

Apparently this place has been here since 1926. When I visited it was a pretty rundown place in a moderately sketchy part of town. The chip is super generic looking as well.



FYI, I only have 2 more chips to post after this, so whoever is on deck, get ready to go!

I put this chip/casino in the index simply as "Miami Jai-Alai", because I have tried to avoid listing places with a leading "Casino". There have been several cases where it seemed I just had to do it that way though, such as Casino Royale, Casino del Sol, and three out of four of the European casinos covered so far.

As a point of curiosity, I checked the MOGH chip guide, and they have no chips from this casino, just one non-denomination metal token. I haven't yet checked through that guide's collection for all of the Florida poker rooms that wezvidz has covered in this thread. Maybe his collection and the posts in this thread could be a bit of internet authority on the subject.

State: Florida
City: Miami
Casino: Magic City

"..including the only Roulette wheels and Craps tables in Miami. 800 of the most popular slot machines make up the all-new Magic City Casino .. For over 50 years, Flagler Dog Track has been the premiere greyhound racing facility in the Magic City"

False advertising as it's just bubble craps and roulette. Lots of good action at this place, tons of poker tables going when I was there, as it is located just west of the heart of Miami.

They had 2 different chips in play at the tables, here is a picture of each. The 'Flagler' chips were all super old and worn/dirty.

This is the last of my Florida chips. I have one Colorado chip for tomorrow then I'm spent!

State: Colorado
City: Black Hawk
Casino: Monarch



My last chip! Glad I could contribute. After my Oklahoma trip in August and Phoenix/Albuquerque/NW Florida/Iowa next year, I'll see if I have enough other new chips to post again.

This was my only unique gather from Black Hawk and Cripple Creek which I visited last weekend. Stunning scenery on the drives in and out of Denver, nice people, good gaming.

I believe the switch from Riviera to Monarch occured in October 2013? Regardless, I don't believe anyone posted a chip from here yet. I stopped in quick to grab it during my stay at the Ameristar a few blocks away.

Pretty chip! I guess there's two I need to grab from Blackhawk now. I'll have to stopover in DEN next time I go to NV or CA.

Quote: wezvidz

I believe the switch from Riviera to Monarch occured in October 2013?

It is described in the MOGH catalog this way:

Quote: Museum of Gaming History chip guide

Monarch acquired the Riviera on April 26, 2012, but kept the Riviera name until October 2013.

I made my only visit ever to Black Hawk in May 2013. I guess Monarch had already owned the Riviera for over a year by the time I collected my souvenir chip there. Then 29 days later the Saratoga opened in place of Fitzgeralds and four months after that there was the name change from Riviera to Monarch. It's hard to accept that keeping up with casino name changes in Black Hawk is almost as much trouble as in Las Vegas. Maybe I'll get back to Colorado some day.

On first glance at this chip image, I thought it must be from Chipco. Then I remembered that Chipco was out of business by then, and I saw the Game On Chip Company logo in the 6:00 position, just inside the circle. I'm probably going to have a lot of problems (understandably) keeping Chipco and Game On chips identified correctly. I hope they include their logo on most of them.



Thanks again, wezvidz, for all of your contributions to this thread. Let us know when you again have some to offer.

As for the next round of chips to be posted, I sent a PM to DeadMansHand a couple of days ago to ask whether he was ready to post his chips, but he hasn't read that note yet. Perhaps the holiday weekend is to blame. I'm still looking for other volunteers with new casinos to present in this thread.

Perhaps this is old news to some, but I just saw a web report (the lowest 07/01/14 item) that directed me to this LVRJ article. It says that Caesars has announced that the Quad Hotel and Casino will be renamed Linq Hotel and Casino, with the conversion to be completed by October 30.

Guess that's another place to add to my list of Chips I Might Get Some Day.

Quote: Doc

Perhaps this is old news to some, but I just saw a web report (the lowest 07/01/14 item) that directed me to this LVRJ article. It says that Caesars has announced that the Quad Hotel and Casino will be renamed Linq Hotel and Casino, with the conversion to be completed by October 30.

Guess that's another place to add to my list of Chips I Might Get Some Day.

With the SLS opening at the end of August, there will be 2 chips to grab on my next Vegas trip on Halloween.

Quote: Doc

/caesars-spend-223-million-revamping-quad-rebranding-it-linq-hotel.

And where are the thousands on here saying Caesars was broke and near bankrupcy?

Quote: NokTang

And where are the thousands on here saying Caesars was broke and near bankrupcy?

Well, they're spending other peoples' money at this point. Might as well burn through all their cash and take on as much debt as they can before filing for bankruptcy, right?

Quote: rdw4potus

Well, they're spending other peoples' money at this point. Might as well burn through all their cash and take on as much debt as they can before filing for bankruptcy, right?

Borrow $500,000 and the bank owns you. Borrow $500,000,000 and you own the bank.

Attributed to Robert Heinlen (probably in error)

Quote: Doc (on 7/6/14)

As for the next round of chips to be posted, I sent a PM to DeadMansHand a couple of days ago to ask whether he was ready to post his chips, but he hasn't read that note yet.

Well, just to update things, DeadMansHand still has not read the PM that I sent on 7/4, even though he visited the site on 7/11. Not sure how to interpret that.

Next week I'll be visiting 13 or 14 casinos and adding 11 or 12 chips to my collection. Unfortunately for the reanimation of this thread, all of those casinos have already been covered by rdw4potus. I'll post my new $1 chips in a block though to supplement the $5 chips he has already presented. On my next planned trip (in late August), I expect to add a few more to my collection from casinos that have not yet been discussed here.

Where you headed?

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

And they don't need to have craps to be a full blown casino. Many of you may not know, but Casino (Caesars) Windsor did not have craps for many years do to Canada's ties with Britain. Neither the old art gallery nor the Northern Belle had craps. The permanent casino didn't have it until a few years after it opened.

What do ties with Britain have to do with offering a craps game?

deleted

So backgammon even not for money was illegal in England/Canada? Or did money have to be involved?

That's nuts.

Quote: wezvidz

Where you headed?

Next week's trip will take us from NC to casinos in Metropolis, Cape Girardeau, Maryland Heights, Boonville, the Kansas City area, possibly up to St. Joseph, back to Evansville, over to "Southern Indiana" (and the Kentucky Music Weekend in Louisville, the alleged purpose of the trip), then up to Rising Sun and Cincinnati before heading home. This itinerary provides new chips for me from every place except Harrah's Metropolis and Horseshoe Southern Indiana, where we will visit/stay/play because of convenient locations and reasonable room rates even for me. The Maryland Heights, Rising Sun, and Evansville locations are places we have visited/played before, but the ownership/name/chips have changed, so there are collecting opportunities for me.

Originally, we had planned to visit Biloxi and Bossier City on this trip, but I decided to leave those destinations out until they finish building the new casino in Lake Charles. We'll probably get to those places some time this winter.

The August trip will be primarily to visit family in New Jersey and Massachusetts and to spend a couple of nights at some northern beach. I anticipate visiting casinos in Rhode Island, Maine, and possibly New Hampshire along the way. The plans for that trip had originally included a loop through to Ottawa, Montreal, and north-central New York for tourism and a couple more casinos with new chips for my collection, but my wife decreed that it would be more pleasant to leave out some of the highway miles and add the time at a beach. I'm disappointed in part of that, but I can't fault either the logic or the sentiment.

My daughter-in-law tells me that they have approved construction of a casino in Springfield, MA, so maybe that will be open by the next time we travel to the far northeast.

Quote: Doc

Next week's trip will take us from NC to casinos in Metropolis, Cape Girardeau, Maryland Heights, Boonville, the Kansas City area, possibly up to St. Joseph, back to Evansville, over to "Southern Indiana" (and the Kentucky Music Weekend in Louisville, the alleged purpose of the trip), then up to Rising Sun and Cincinnati before heading home. This itinerary provides new chips for me from every place except Harrah's Metropolis and Horseshoe Southern Indiana, where we will visit/stay/play because of convenient locations and reasonable room rates even for me. The Maryland Heights, Rising Sun, and Evansville locations are places we have visited/played before, but the ownership/name/chips have changed, so there are collecting opportunities for me.

Originally, we had planned to visit Biloxi and Bossier City on this trip, but I decided to leave those destinations out until they finish building the new casino in Lake Charles. We'll probably get to those places some time this winter.

The August trip will be primarily to visit family in New Jersey and Massachusetts and to spend a couple of nights at some northern beach. I anticipate visiting casinos in Rhode Island, Maine, and possibly New Hampshire along the way. The plans for that trip had originally included a loop through to Ottawa, Montreal, and north-central New York for tourism and a couple more casinos with new chips for my collection, but my wife decreed that it would be more pleasant to leave out some of the highway miles and add the time at a beach. I'm disappointed in part of that, but I can't fault either the logic or the sentiment.

My daughter-in-law tells me that they have approved construction of a casino in Springfield, MA, so maybe that will be open by the next time we travel to the far northeast.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court just ruled that a casino repeal measure can appear on the November ballot. Stay tuned. It's going to be a heck of a fight.

Don't forget to visit Twin River.

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

Quote: AcesAndEights

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

And they don't need to have craps to be a full blown casino. Many of you may not know, but Casino (Caesars) Windsor did not have craps for many years do to Canada's ties with Britain. Neither the old art gallery nor the Northern Belle had craps. The permanent casino didn't have it until a few years after it opened.

What do ties with Britain have to do with offering a craps game?

http://procraps4u2.myfanforum.org/archive/just-some-history-of-craps-playing-in-canada__o_t__t_1620.html

"The removal of the 611-year prohibition on dice games means that visitors to our commercial casinos can now experience the most exciting and interactive casino game," said Ron D. Barbaro, Chair and CEO Ontario Casino Corporation. "The addition of craps brings a new dimension to the casino entertainment experience, and at the same time creates more than 200 new direct jobs." On March 15, 1999 the federal government removed the prohibition on dice games in Canada through the proclamation of an amendment to the Criminal Code of Canada. The removal of the ban on dice games will allow Ontario commercial casinos to remain competitive with American casinos, where dice games are a standard part of the gaming mix. The prohibition on dice games dates to the 1380's when England's King Richard II outlawed dice games for fear that his archers were spending more time playing backgammon than practicing archery. Canada adopted English criminal law as the basis of its legal system in 1892. England legalized dice games in 1960. The legalization of dice games in Canadian casinos was supported by other provincial jurisdictions, local municipal officials and casino patrons."

Very interesting, thank you IBYA. I knew there was craps in the UK presently, so I was a little bit confused :)

Quote: 1BB

Don't forget to visit Twin River.

That will be the Rhode Island stop in August.

Quote: Doc

Next week's trip will take us from NC to casinos in Metropolis, Cape Girardeau, Maryland Heights, Boonville, the Kansas City area, possibly up to St. Joseph, back to Evansville, over to "Southern Indiana" (and the Kentucky Music Weekend in Louisville, the alleged purpose of the trip), then up to Rising Sun and Cincinnati before heading home. This itinerary provides new chips for me from every place except Harrah's Metropolis and Horseshoe Southern Indiana, where we will visit/stay/play because of convenient locations and reasonable room rates even for me. The Maryland Heights, Rising Sun, and Evansville locations are places we have visited/played before, but the ownership/name/chips have changed, so there are collecting opportunities for me.

Obligatory reminder: There are a handful of casinos in Kansas within about an hour's drive of KC. They're reasonably close to each other, an nowhere near anything else. If you don't go now, it'll take an extra-ordinary detour from a future trip to ever get to them.

Are you really trying to get my wife pi$$ed off at me?

Of course, you know that I immediately looked at what that route would involve! It would change a day from a GoogleMaps estimated four hours of driving plus stops at six casinos into a day with an estimated six and a half hours of driving plus stops at ten casinos. Yeah, she wouldn't be too pleased if I suggested that.

Quote: Doc

Are you really trying to get my wife pi$$ed off at me?

Of course, you know that I immediately looked at what that route would involve! It would change a day from a GoogleMaps estimated four hours of driving plus stops at six casinos into a day with an estimated six and a half hours of driving plus stops at ten casinos. Yeah, she wouldn't be too pleased if I suggested that.

Lol! Yeah, and it's not at all a pretty drive (unless you really like farms) . But 2.5 hours now is almost certainly less than it'd take to go there later...

Update:

Well, we modified the plan as suggested by rdw4potus and visited five casinos in Kansas, not just the one in Kansas City, KS. And rdw, my wife says she will have her revenge on you, and you won't know when or from what direction it is coming!

We are spending tonight (Friday) and tomorrow night at Horseshoe Southern Indiana. The craps tables are too crowded, and the minimums are too high for my tastes, so I haven't yet played here. Besides, I already have one of the chips, and we're really in town for the music.

Thus far, I have played in 15 casinos on this trip and added 14 souvenir chips to my collection. I will probably play right here before we leave on Sunday, and we have two more casino stops to collect chips on the way home -- three if I get really gutsy (but no other chip).

As for the gambling to this point, my wallet is currently down just $35, and I have $14 in souvenir chips. I know dang well that I have tipped a bunch more than $21, so the casinos have lost money on my action, as have I. Hope things are close to this "good" when we make it home.

Thanks for the update. RDW is prepping his bunker... hehe. Enjoy the rest of your trip and good variance to you. Just for fun you can try collecting data on the performance of Dice Influencers at the different joints while you wait for a space to open. It would be interesting to see if there are regional differences.

Quote: Doc

And rdw, my wife says she will have her revenge on you, and you won't know when or from what direction it is coming!

We will want full details and pictures! :)

Quote: Doc

Update:

Well, we modified the plan as suggested by rdw4potus and visited five casinos in Kansas, not just the one in Kansas City, KS. And rdw, my wife says she will have her revenge on you, and you won't know when or from what direction it is coming!

We are spending tonight (Friday) and tomorrow night at Horseshoe Southern Indiana. The craps tables are too crowded, and the minimums are too high for my tastes, so I haven't yet played here. Besides, I already have one of the chips, and we're really in town for the music.

Thus far, I have played in 15 casinos on this trip and added 14 souvenir chips to my collection. I will probably play right here before we leave on Sunday, and we have two more casino stops to collect chips on the way home -- three if I get really gutsy (but no other chip).

As for the gambling to this point, my wallet is currently down just $35, and I have $14 in souvenir chips. I know dang well that I have tipped a bunch more than $21, so the casinos have lost money on my action, as have I. Hope things are close to this "good" when we make it home.

Hey! You tell Mrs Doc that I was looking out for her interests by suggesting the least time-consuming method by which to visit those casinos. She and I both know damn well that you'd have gone there eventually...:-)

Hope you two enjoy the festival this weekend. Looking forward to seeing those lovely KS chips when you get home.

State: Mississippi
City: Biloxi
Casino: Harrah's Gulf Coast

Unless it was left off the index, I don't believe this has been posted. This is a one time post, I don't have any other new chips at this time.

Just got back from a weekend trip to Biloxi. Stayed at Harrah's which was just rebranded this spring from The Grand. All of these chips were clean and new and a craps dealer told me they've been cutting their hands on how sharp the edges are.

I got a great rate to stay here, but upon visiting all the other places in the area, it was near my least favorite. The one set of bartops had bad lighting and TV setup, the casino itself was small and had not much atmosphere. I loved the feel of the IP and Beau, which is where I would stay if I ever returned.

Beautiful area though, great beach town with so many casinos in a small radius. Had fun.

Thanks for the Harrah's Gulf coast chip image, wezvidz. Originally, that renamed casino and the renamed-with-new-owners Golden Nugget in Biloxi were on the itinerary for the trip I just returned from, but the plans changed. At least I now know what that chip looks like -- a Paulson RHC with three brightly colored edge inserts. Nice.

As of my last update on the trip, I had played in 15 casinos and was down a total of $35 with 14 souvenirs in hand. I played three more craps sessions and collected two more souvenir chips, but negative variance took me right down the ol' chute. The best of those final three sessions was a $100 loss. I think I'll follow Ahigh's recent example and swear off casinos for almost a week -- I'll be at Harrah's Cherokee this Saturday night!

Edit 7/1/15: I finally made it back to Biloxi and got my chip. I posted the image (with some others) here. It's the same chip as wezvidz posted, but I showed the other side, too, and some UV images.

After a Denver, Vegas and Biloxi trip within the last month, I've gone further than you - I've sworn off casinos for 4 whole weeks!

The last weekend in August I'll be doing a Tulsa>OKC visit where it appears I'll grab a bunch of chips that haven't been posted on here.

Quote: wezvidz

After a Denver, Vegas and Biloxi trip within the last month, I've gone further than you - I've sworn off casinos for 4 whole weeks!

The last weekend in August I'll be doing a Tulsa>OKC visit where it appears I'll grab a bunch of chips that haven't been posted on here.

Nice! Okc and Tulsa are the parts of ok that I didn't visit. We should have pretty much the whole state represented after your trip.

So now that I have been home long enough to photograph my latest souvenirs, I will share them with you. I am presenting them here alphabetically by state and alphabetically within states, rather than in the chronological order of our visits. There are fourteen new chips, so this post may be rather long. All of these casinos have previously been covered in this thread, but I don't think these chips have been presented before.


Rising Star, Rising Sun, IN. This is the former Grand Victoria Casino, where I had managed to win some money at craps on a 2010 visit, but this time I lost $100 playing $5 craps. I’m blaming it on the new name.

Even though I had been to the place before, I trusted my GPS unit to guide me there. Big mistake. Although the app has this casino in the map directory, it is shown on the map nowhere at all close to the real position of the casino. Silly me for believing in modern cartography without checking the details. As we were given the message to "turn right," I knew that wasn't at all what I expected. I just trusted that the software knew a better route and wound up following bogus directions waaay out into the boonies along a road that looked as if they were about to be washed away by the torrent of the creek running right along side. Although I was complaining out loud along the way, I didn't give up on the GPS until it told me to turn onto this little one-lane gravel road into the woods, with a sign by the entrance saying "No outlet." I had to change over to a different set of GPS software to help me find my way out of there. I'm thinking about filing a complaint with the app vendor.

This is a white Gemaco chip with dark blue edge markings and daytime-landside and nighttime-waterside views of the casino. The Gemaco "G" logo is visible under UV light, in the 10:00 position on each side, just to the lower left of the "R" of Rising Star.



Tropicana, Evansville, IN. This is the former Aztar Casino, where I won money at craps in 2011. This time I won once again -- $85 playing $10-min craps. Hmmm…maybe a name change doesn’t explain everything.

The souvenir is another white Gemaco chip, this time with gray edge markings. UV light reveals the Gemaco "G" at 12:00, just above center. The two sides of this chip are the same.



Golden Eagle, Horton, KS. An establishment of the Kickapoo Tribe. Gaming-wise, this was one of the better stops on the trip – I won $225 playing mostly at the $5 level on a $3-minimum craps table.

This white chip with a Buffalo behind the denomination mark certainly looks like a Chipco product, but I cannot find any ID markings. Nothing fluoresces under UV light, and the two sides are the same.



Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, KS. Another GPS misadventure. Again, the app has this place in its map directory, but again it has the wrong address. Somehow they think that the casino is located on the campus of a community college several miles away in Kansas City. Fortunately, this time (which actually occurred earlier in the trip than the big GPS fiasco at Rising Star) I noticed that problem the night before the drive and made appropriate adjustments. The more annoying navigation problem in this instance was due to the fact that the casino is on the grounds of a NASCAR speedway, and many of the roads are blocked, either by gates or security personnel. Anyway, I eventually made it to the casino and managed to win $50 at $5 craps.

The chip is a white RHC Paulson with yellow, red, and dark blue edge inserts. The center inlay looks like quite a few we have seen previously from Hollywood casinos. UV light reveals the repeated “Hollywood” name, with the obligatory hidden spelling error.



Prairie Band, Mayetta, KS. Another place in the middle of nowhere that provided a $5 craps table where I lost another $100.

The chip is a white RHC Paulson with two dark blue, triangular edge inserts. UV light again reveals the repeated name of the casino, again with the spelling error(s) we have learned to expect.



Sac & Fox, Powhattan, KS. I grew up in Virginia, and there we were taught that the proper spelling was “Powhatan”. I guess if the natives don’t have a written language, it’s difficult to translate with consistent spelling. They have a $3 craps table where I played at the $5 level. I left $70 ahead, so as far as I am concerned, they are welcome to spell the name of the town anyway they like.

They also gave me a white Chipco ceramic chip with very different designs on the two sides. The “CI” logo is faintly visible in the second image, on the yellow background just below the spelled-out denomination. The chip has the casino name and the denomination on its edge, an interesting feature that most manufacturers cannot offer.



White Cloud, White Cloud, KS. This casino is really in the middle of nowhere, just a good stone throw from Nebraska. When rdw4potus reported on this casino, he said that his GPS routed him there via a dirt road. As much as I complain about my GPS, it did not take us on a dirt road – just a couple of very dusty gravel roads. I took the car to a car wash the next morning.

The casino is tiny and does not have a craps table, which probably saved me a bit of money. Instead, I broke exactly even (plus a souvenir chip) playing blackjack at the $5 level on a $3 minimum table. The chip is a white RHC Paulson with an oversized center inlay and four double edge inserts, each in dark blue and purple. UV light reveals that the purple portions of the edge inserts fluoresce right through the center inlay. It also reveals the Paulson hat and cane logo in the center.



Ameristar, Kansas City, MO. I played $5 craps and lost $75. The chip is a white RHC Paulson with a mostly-black center inlay and two double edge inserts in blue and brown. The two sides of the chip are identical, and nothing on the chip fluoresces under UV light.



Argosy, Kansas City, MO. I played $5 craps and won $20. A big whoopee. Better than losing, I guess.

The chip is white ceramic chip with a mostly-black center inlay surrounded by a dozen gray dots and three triple edge inserts in red and gray. There are also a number of gray spots on the very edge of the chip, between the edge inserts. I’m not certain, but I think this chip is from Gemaco and is their pattern 139.30.13.31, but I cannot find any identifying logo under either visible or UV light. For that matter, nothing on this chip fluoresces under UV light.



Harrah’s, North Kansas City, MO. This is the place where we spent our only night in the Kansas City area. They charged me for the room and took another $100 at a $5 craps table.

The chip is a white RHC Paulson with four edge inserts, two each in gray and pale blue. UV light reveals the Paulson hat and cane logo in the center, with nothing else fluorescing.



Hollywood, St. Louis, MO. This is the former Harrah’s St. Louis, really in Maryland Heights, MO. Two years ago, before the name change, I lost $100 playing craps there. This time I again played $5 craps and left while $325 ahead. Best session of the trip. Guess I better just forget about trying to establish any win/loss correlation to casino name changes.

The souvenir chip is a white RHC Paulson with a center inlay that looks a whole lot like the inserts on chips from most all of the other Hollywood casinos. This one has four edge inserts, two each in brown and very dark blue. UV light reveals a repeated “Hollywood,” just like on the chip from the Hollywood in Kansas that I posted above. This time, the repeated word looks out of focus, even though the edge of the chip looks to be in focus. I’m not sure what to make of that.



Isle, Cape Girardeau, MO. I’m not clear at all about the difference between casinos with the “Isle” name and those with the “Isle of Capri” name. The company has even started using the Lady Luck name again. Anyway, this casino was new since the last time I travelled to Missouri. I played $5 craps and lost $70. It looked like a nice place that I probably won’t visit again.

The chip is a white RHC Paulson with a cog-gear center inlay that gives the casino and city names but doesn’t mention what state it is in. I wonder what percentage of the people in this country could guess what state includes Cape Girardeau. The chip has three black edge inserts, and UV light reveals a repeated pattern of logos, some light on dark background and some dark on a light circular background. If there is a spelling error on any of those logos, as we have come to expect, I can’t find it. Let me know if you can.



Isle of Capri, Boonville, MO. We spent our second night of travel at this casino hotel in the middle of Missouri. I played $5 craps and lost $70. As I review my records for this trip, I see that I lost money at every one of the casinos associated with the places that we stayed. Hmmm…maybe that suggests a strategy change.

The chip is a white RHC Paulson with two double edge inserts in purple and red/maroon. Neglecting the rather standard Isle of Capri center inlay and some differences in the colors of edge inserts, it looks a lot like the Ameristar chip I posted above. UV light reveals the Paulson logo in the center and the fact that the red/maroon inserts fluoresce.



Isle of Capri, Kansas City, MO. Yep, three casinos from the same chain on this trip. Unlike at the first two, at least I won at the craps table at this one. A whole $35.

The chip fits most of the same description as the last one, except it has two wide inserts (brown) instead of the double inserts. And little details on the center inlay. However, this chip has nothing at all that fluoresces under UV light.



St. Jo Frontier, St. Joseph, MO. We stopped at this place on our way from the Kansas casinos back to Kansas City, MO. I played at the $5 level on a $2-minimum craps table and found yet another way to lose $100.

The souvenir chip is from Gemaco and has very different center inlays on the two sides. The chip is white with black edge markings. On the bronc-rider side of the chip, UV light reveals the Gemaco “G” logo right below the denomination mark. I think that might be the same logo at the 3:00 position on the other side of the chip, but it’s a bit dim, and I’m not sure. Other than that, I can’t see anything fluorescing on that side of the chip.



Horseshoe, Cincinnati, OH. I have now been to 75% of the Ohio casinos with table games, and I don’t know that I will ever make it up to Toledo. I heard a questionable rumor that another casino is to open, but the source was not one I would rely on. This was the last casino I visited on this trip, and their $10 craps table sucked $200 out of my bankroll quicker than I could take a second deep breath.

The white RHC Paulson chip has a center inlay that is slightly similar to that on the chip from the Isle in Cape Girardeau, posted above. There are two wide edge inserts in blue and gray. This is very different from the design of the corresponding chip from the Horseshoe casino in Cleveland, so I don’t know whether they were deliberately making their chips contrast or not. The Cincinnati chip has a Paulson logo that shows up in the center under UV light.

Quote: Doc

Sac & Fox, Powhattan, KS.

OK Doc, I know what the "fox" is, but what does "sac" refer to?

Quote: Doc

Harrah’s, North Kansas City, MO.

The logo on this chip is the familiar one to me. When I first saw the image in Wezvids post above: the logo didn't seem right. I realize now that the usual logo has a "wave" through it.

Thanks for the posts (and please extend our appreciation to Mrs. Doc for putting up with the drives). I think you could have done one a day, and we would all be fine with it. How was the music fest?

As for "Sac," it means "People of the Yellow Earth." And you probably were mistaken when you said that you know what the "fox" is. In this case, it means "Red Earth People." If that makes no sense to you (or if you're just curious), check out this web page.

The Kentucky Music Weekend was great, as it always is. The only problem was the serious lightning storm that blew in on Saturday evening, knocking out power and flooding the covered amphitheater. Audience members were first asked to move to the center seating area so that we would be less likely to be rained upon. Then, when things got worse, everyone was asked to come up to the safety of the stage, and to get there we had to wade through streams flowing down the aisles. Some of the musicians set up on stage, with audience members gathered round, and conducted an impromptu acoustic performance and singalong. When the rain eased enough for us to make it to the parking lot without drowning, we did so. The last act of the evening never got to go on. The whole neighborhood was dark with traffic signals out as we drove from the park back to the interstate highway.