Casino Chip of the Day
Quote: beachbumbabsThere's a lot of military there, and the FAA Large TRACON for all of SoCal is in the neighborhood as well. I think most of the populace is military/ military support; there are 3 large bases very close together, with a lot of live firing exercises and off-limits acreage, so what development there is kind of goes into the spare spots; there are a lot more people around than it seems. But I've never lived there, so I'm not that familiar with their specifics, just visited some friends in the area a few times. (Doc; I'll delete this if it's too off-topic for the chip thread.)
There are alot of homes, so I assume there are alot of people. It just seems like a brutal place to live in the summer, and there doesn't seem to be any other places to work (unless you tend windmills). The folks in the casino on a Sunday afternoon seemed to be a mix of military and retired, mixed with a big helping of "slot mommas". I don't know whether this is true all over, but I can tell when I am close to military facilities by the presence of an abnormally high number of late model Ford Mustangs and raised 4x4's.
There is a thread from a year ago that discussed the planned Tortoise Rock casino, and I mentioned the murals there. I posted my favorite of the murals, one showing a "mural in progress", and since I have the photo ready, I'll repeat it here. Note, there are no living creatures visible in this photo, not the bull, not the artist taking a nap, nor the vulture. In fact, the entire wall is flat with no projections other than the two illuminating lamps at the roof line.
I have a bunch more of these photos.
Quote: DocNo problem at all with your post, Babs. It relates to the potential market for the casino being discussed, even though we don't have a chip posted yet. My first visit to the area was in 2003, when I was working on an energy-conservation project at the Marine Corps base there.
There is a thread from a year ago that discussed the planned Tortoise Rock casino, and I mentioned the murals there. I posted my favorite of the murals, one showing a "mural in progress", and since I have the photo ready, I'll repeat it here. Note, there are no living creatures visible in this photo, not the bull, not the artist taking a nap, nor the vulture. In fact, the entire wall is flat with no projections other than the two illuminating lamps at the roof line.
I have a bunch more of these photos.
Yeah, thanks very much for re-posting that. After your first discussion of it, I had to go look up all these murals. This one ended up being my favorite.
You know, it would be fun to look at a thread with "artwork of the day", for pieces in and around casinos, like this, some the wiz has featured, some other people have noted.
Idea of posting such thread is wonderful liked it...
Waiting for knowing more.
State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Desert Inn
Today's chip of the day is from the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, NV. Wilbur Clark started construction in 1946, having bought and demolished the Players Club which occupied the site. He ran out of money, and Cleveland mobster Moe Dalitz stepped in to complete it. Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn opened in April 1950 and would have a storied history for the next 50 years. It went through numerous owners, the most famous of whom is billionaire Howard Hughes, who checked in on Thanksgiving 1966 and occupied the top two floors. When they asked him to leave, he bought the place instead.
The Desert Inn would later be owned by investor Kirk Kerkorian, who renamed it MGM Desert Inn, then sold it 5 years later to ITT/Sheraton Resorts, which was soon acquired by Starwood Resorts. The property was remodeled in 1997 but was still a money-loser. Then in 2000, just 3 days after the Desert Inn's 50th anniversary, Steve Wynn bought the property and eventually announced plans to tear it down and build his Le Reve (later Wynn) resort. The Desert Inn's golf course remains as part of the Wynn/Encore resort.
My personal recollection of the Desert Inn is part of the larger story of how I started collecting chips. My first big chip collecting trip to Vegas was either spring 1998 or fall 1999 (I know I went twice, but I can't remember if I was collecting chips in early 1998). I walked the entire Strip from the Tropicana to the Sahara, and then back from the Stratosphere to Luxor (I don't think Mandalay Bay was open yet) and played for a chip in every casino along the way. Most places I picked up a $1 chip but as many of you will recall, a lot of places still used $1 slot tokens for blackjack. I would only later realize that they had real chips at the craps tables. On top of that, I was also picking up 2 of every chip, as a friend asked me to bring back some. I must have looked ridiculous walking the Strip with 60-70 chips and tokens in my pockets.
So, you wouldn't think I'd be able to remember any particular casino 15 years later but I actually remember the Desert Inn quite well. The casino wasn't huge by today's standards but seemed spacious and laid out well. I would have been there on a weekday so it wasn't very crowded. I played blackjack and was doing OK and having fun chatting with the dealer, but another player came in and threw off my rhythm, and I quickly lost my buy-in. I didn't stay long but remember the Desert Inn as one of the nicest places I visited on that trip.
The chip is a Paulson RHC in white, with a dark green center and the initials "DI" in brown. There are four edge inserts, two in dark green and two yellow. It is not one of the highest quality chips in my collection but I was still something of a newbie then and wasn't that good at picking a perfect specimen.
Was it the place that "Dan Tanna" lived on the TV show "Vega$"?
It is interesting that the edge inserts appear to be the same color as the center.
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Showboat
Today's chip of the day comes from the Showboat Hotel, Casino & Bowling Center in Las Vegas, NV. This property has at least briefly been discussed in one of Doc's previous posts. The Showboat was located on the northwest end of the Boulder Strip, not far from downtown.
Showboat originally opened in 1954 as the first "resort" in the city of Las Vegas (recall that the Strip is actually in the towns of Paradise and Winchester). A partnership between William Moore of the Last Frontier and J. Kell Houssels of the Las Vegas Club, the casino was originally run by the management of the Desert Inn, including (here he is again) Moe Dalitz. That proved "unsuccessful" (not my word) and later management targeted the property to locals, offering cheap breakfasts and installing what would become the world's third largest bowling alley.
In the 1970s, Showboat would expand further, building a 19 story hotel tower. At the time it closed, Showboat offered more than 500 hotel rooms and an 80,000 square foot casino. Eventually, however, competition from the "mega resorts" on the strip would doom the property. Harrah's, Inc. bought Showboat, Inc. in 1998 but turned around and sold the Las Vegas casino to VSS Enterprises in 2000. Harrah's retained the rights to the Showboat name, for their Atlantic City property. VSS renamed the site Castaways, which will be the next chip of the day.
I have no particular memory of visiting Showboat, though I vaguely recall that it was smoky and dingy and I didn't want to stay long. I likely went in late 1999, but as that trip would have been rushed, I probably just made a quick stop on my way further down the Boulder Strip.
The Showboat chip is a Paulson RHC in white with a light-medium blue inlay. The name "SHOWBOAT" is in yellow/orange text with a Mardi Gras mask above it and random bits of confetti in the background. There are no edge inserts.
Quote: JohnzimboMy chip is different as you can see. I don't have any info on it other than it was from that same lot of chips my wife bought me about 4-5 years ago
I am digging through this nearly 500 post thread because...well, because I have no life. Anyway....I want to say this is a super creepy chip. Like creepier than Creepy Rob Lowe creepy.
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Castaways
Today's chip of the day comes from the Castaways Hotel-Casino-Bowling Center in Las Vegas, NV. This casino is the successor to the Showboat, which was discussed yesterday. This should not be confused with the Castaways Casino that existed on the Strip until the 1980s. That casino eventually became the Mirage and Treasure Island.
Castaways was the name given to the Showboat property after Harrah's sold the casino, but not the naming rights, to VSS Enterprises in 2000. The non-restrict count report I have from the end of 2002 shows that the casino had 1,345 slot machines and 21 table games. The casino never did very well, but was particularly hit hard after the 9/11 attacks. The property went into default in 2003 and was shut down by the bankruptcy court in early 2004. The site was sold to Station Casinos, who had plans to develop it into a Castaways Station with a Spanish theme. The site was cleared by early 2006, but nothing else was done, and Station itself ran into troubles during the economic downturn.
The land is still vacant, but not completely unused. The site is the location of Nevada's least accessible casino (maybe next to Country Club in Gerlach - is that even still open? It's still on the NGC's non-restrict list). In order to keep the Castaways gaming license current, the owners bring in a portable trailer with 16 slot machines - the minimum required for a non-restricted gaming license - for 8 hours every two years. The last time was December 2013.
I would have visited Castaways some time in mid-2002. I don't remember much about it other than the fact that the neighborhood was pretty sketchy.
The chip is a Bud Jones product with the manufacturer's logo at the 4 o'clock position. The chip is white with a large inlay picturing a tropical beach. There are 6 pairs of inserts in a bluish-gray along the edge - 3 pairs are parallel to the radius and 3 are along the circumference... or something like that. I'm pretty much just using circle terms randomly.
The Country Club was open but did not have tables when I inquired in 2011. According to the MOGH, it's since closed. I wonder where the least accessible tables in Nevada now are. Ely? Yerington?
Edit: I've been reminded that Treasure Island in MN has bowling.
Quote: rdw4potusCan't help but notice that Castaways apparently had a bowling center. Did Showboat also have bowling?
The bowling alley was originally added to Showboat in 1959 and was expanded over the years to a total of 106 lanes, making it the largest in the U.S. It was frequently used for PBA tournaments.
Quote:I wonder where the least accessible tables in Nevada now are. Ely? Yerington?
My initial guess for least accessible would have been Say When in McDermitt but they removed their tables some time ago. Next most remote locale would probably be Jackpot, on the Idaho border.
Quote: rdw4potus
Today I went to Majestic Pines (a/k/a Ho Chunk Black River Falls) on my way home from Green Bay - yes, I know that's not "on the way" from Green Bay to Minneapolis. They changed names a couple years ago, and now have new(ish) chips bearing the Ho Chunk Black River Falls name.
The Ho-Chunk conglomeration (used very loosely) is all over the board for me. I thought my sort-of-but-not-really-decent research told me the BRF location didn't have table games. Am I wrong...or did it used to have them at the time of this 2 year old post?
An aside: I live in GB (a mere 8 mins from Oneida's main location) and until 6 months ago, lived north of GRB for most of my life...but yet, I've been to only 3 of WI's casinos. With this thread as inspiration, I'm plotting the visits to get chips from as many casinos as possible and realized: Nearly all of WI's casinos (and I suspect, most of Native American casinos generally) are in the middle of nowhere. I LIVE HERE and without Google, I'd be utterly stumped on how to find them. I'm looking forward to the challenge. The Legendary Waters visit is going to require effort..and an overnight stay.
Quote: BrewfangrbThe Ho-Chunk conglomeration (used very loosely) is all over the board for me. I thought my sort-of-but-not-really-decent research told me the BRF location didn't have table games. Am I wrong...or did it used to have them at the time of this 2 year old post?
An aside: I live in GB (a mere 8 mins from Oneida's main location) and until 6 months ago, lived north of GRB for most of my life...but yet, I've been to only 3 of WI's casinos. With this thread as inspiration, I'm plotting the visits to get chips from as many casinos as possible and realized: Nearly all of WI's casinos (and I suspect, most of Native American casinos generally) are in the middle of nowhere. I LIVE HERE and without Google, I'd be utterly stumped on how to find them. I'm looking forward to the challenge. The Legendary Waters visit is going to require effort..and an overnight stay.
I wish you good variance (and good weather!) on your quest, and look forward to reading about your adventures.
First, I want to thank ChipmanSpiff for posting these terrific chips that predate my collecting obcession. Please keep it up!
Second, I would like to make a small request that would help us maintain a formatting style that we have used for each of the chip of the day posts for the last few years. Can you edit these recent posts to add headers like these, including the boldface font:
State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Castaways
If you are not familiar with editing posts or using the formatting codes, perhaps one of the moderators could step in and make these edits to those few posts for you.
Quote: DocI would like to make a small request that would help us maintain a formatting style that we have used for each of the chip of the day posts for the last few years. Can you edit these recent posts to add headers like these...
I thought of that last night but forgot to go do it. I have updated the posts with headers.
Quote: BrewfangrbI am digging through this nearly 500 post thread because...well, because I have no life.
Welcome to the forum and to the Casino-Chip-of-the-Day thread, Brewfangrb.
I noticed a bit of a typo in your post: this is a nearly 5,000 post thread forming nearly 500 pages! And we even avoid flame wars here.
As for your digging through this being an indication that you have no life, just think what it might mean if you were one of the folks who run all over the country/world collecting these silly things!
Quote: DocWelcome to the forum and to the Casino-Chip-of-the-Day thread, Brewfangrb.
I noticed a bit of a typo in your post: this is a nearly 5,000 post thread forming nearly 500 pages! And we even avoid flame wars here.
As for your digging through this being an indication that you have no life, just think what it might mean if you were one of the folks who run all over the country/world collecting these silly things!
Hehe, c'mon Doc, contributors have been assaulted, ticketed, solicited, and even quite lost, while collecting chips. I can't even estimate how many thousands of miles of travel are represented by the chips in this thread. It is quite a life... even a lifestyle.
Quote: BrewfangrbThe Ho-Chunk conglomeration (used very loosely) is all over the board for me. I thought my sort-of-but-not-really-decent research told me the BRF location didn't have table games. Am I wrong...or did it used to have them at the time of this 2 year old post?
An aside: I live in GB (a mere 8 mins from Oneida's main location) and until 6 months ago, lived north of GRB for most of my life...but yet, I've been to only 3 of WI's casinos. With this thread as inspiration, I'm plotting the visits to get chips from as many casinos as possible and realized: Nearly all of WI's casinos (and I suspect, most of Native American casinos generally) are in the middle of nowhere. I LIVE HERE and without Google, I'd be utterly stumped on how to find them. I'm looking forward to the challenge. The Legendary Waters visit is going to require effort..and an overnight stay.
http://www.ho-chunkgaming.com/blackriverfalls/gaming/tablegames.html
BRF still appears to have their tables. Really, it'd be a shame to move into a new building and then lose the table games from their offerings. Tomah is relatively close by and is slots only.
You're right that most Native American casinos are in Very remote areas. Like, incredibly remote areas. But, some aren't. Albuquerque, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Fort Lauderdale, OKC & Tulsa, and San Diego all have big fancy indian casinos in or near town. If you do the northern part of WI, be prepared to be alone on some lonely and little roads. then be prepared to be confused about why such big and nice casinos are at the ends of those roads.
In terms of finding the casinos, www.themogh.org and www.casinocity.com have pretty decent lists that are helpful to determine who may have chips/tables. From there, google is your friend in terms of routing and figuring out where some of these tiny towns are. If this is something you're interested in doing, let me give you one simple piece of advice: think in 3 dimensions. The single biggest issue I had, especially early on, was not realizing how close some things were when they were on the other side of a state or international border (Some of the closest casinos to Chicago are in Indiana, etc).
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Westward Ho
Today's chip of the day comes from the Westward Ho Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Westward Ho closed in November, 2005, and was located on the Las Vegas Strip between Circus Circus and the Stardust, across the street from the Riviera.
Westward Ho was unusual for several notable reasons. It was a motel-casino, not a hotel, which itself was an oddity on the Strip, but it was also the largest motor inn in the world, with over 700 rooms. (The difference between motel and hotel is usually that motels are low-rise and allow you to park right outside your room - in other words, they are car-centric, hence the term "motor-hotel"). Westward Ho was also uncommon in that it was one of the few places on the strip owned and run by a family rather than a corporation. The Petersons bought or built the property in 1963, 1965, or 1971 (depending on which source you read); founder Dean Peterson died in 1997.
After closing in 2005, the property was sold to C D P W H Acquisition, LLC (part of Centex) with plans to build condos, but later sold to Harrah's, who then traded it to Boyd Gaming for the Barbary Coast, which then become Bill's. Part of the land of the Westward Ho sat on is now part of the Echelon Place project, which stalled in 2008 but has recently started up again and is supposed to become Resorts World Las Vegas.
I visited Westward Ho in either 1998 or 1999, on my long walk up and down the strip. I remember it being your typical old-school strip casino; somewhat dark, full of neon and mirrors, land of $1-2 blackjack and cheap food. I didn't stay very long; I had spent too long playing the most excellent slightly-positive-expectation blackjack game next door at Slots-o-Fun and was running late.
The chip is a Paulson H&C (SVC) in light gray, with red and black lettering on a white inlay. There are no edge inserts.
Quote: AyecarumbaI wish you good variance (and good weather!) on your quest, and look forward to reading about your adventures.
Thanks! I'm hoping to start some of it soon--this time of the year, it starts to be a bit cool to do much outside but it's very good driving weather. Rather...uh, downhill, after 12/1 or so, particularly up north. So Legendary Waters might be a nice summer weekend trip and knock out the 3 near there and the couple (?) in the western UP. I hope I can stick with it.
Quote: DocWelcome to the forum and to the Casino-Chip-of-the-Day thread, Brewfangrb.
I noticed a bit of a typo in your post: this is a nearly 5,000 post thread forming nearly 500 pages! And we even avoid flame wars here.
As for your digging through this being an indication that you have no life, just think what it might mean if you were one of the folks who run all over the country/world collecting these silly things!
You're right! I think I meant 500 page. I love it. :)
And I've decided to add myself to that group of running all over the place. I hope to stick with it. And I'm learning there are far more casinos in WI, IA, MN, MI and IL alone than I ever realized.
Quote: rdw4potushttp://www.ho-chunkgaming.com/blackriverfalls/gaming/tablegames.html
BRF still appears to have their tables. Really, it'd be a shame to move into a new building and then lose the table games from their offerings. Tomah is relatively close by and is slots only.
You're right that most Native American casinos are in Very remote areas. Like, incredibly remote areas. But, some aren't. Albuquerque, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Fort Lauderdale, OKC & Tulsa, and San Diego all have big fancy indian casinos in or near town. If you do the northern part of WI, be prepared to be alone on some lonely and little roads. then be prepared to be confused about why such big and nice casinos are at the ends of those roads.
In terms of finding the casinos, www.themogh.org and www.casinocity.com have pretty decent lists that are helpful to determine who may have chips/tables. From there, google is your friend in terms of routing and figuring out where some of these tiny towns are. If this is something you're interested in doing, let me give you one simple piece of advice: think in 3 dimensions. The single biggest issue I had, especially early on, was not realizing how close some things were when they were on the other side of a state or international border (Some of the closest casinos to Chicago are in Indiana, etc).
I was poking around on this very idea recently and realized the casinos in the western UP are fairly (relatively speaking) close to Legendary Waters and Bad River. A weekend probably lets me get nearly everything up in that area. I'm looking forward to this.
Quote: dlevinelawWhen I got married at the Trop last year, I went to the cashier and asked for 100 $1 chips for wedding favors. I was given brand new ones, with a free chip rack, with no questions asked.
I promise to try to keep the running commentary to as much a minimum as I can since I'm still working through the thread, but this is pretty cool of them.
Quote: ChipmanSpiffState: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Westward Ho
I remember the place being a dump. Rails on the second floor rusted out and missing, and swimming pools empty or half filled in with dirt. This was the mid 80's and a dozen of us split one of the bigger rooms in the back of the property because we didn't have the dough to afford a place with an ice machine. Man, that was fun, but I 'm not sure how we got out of there alive.
Quote: DocOK, folks, time for the first installment. I decided not to take "UV" photos of chips that only showed fluorescence of the basic clay, the edge inserts, or lines that were already obvious with visible light -- only those chips where something new was revealed by the UV light. Since the Paulson top hat and cane chips are by far the most common type in my collection, I hope no one is too surprised that the most common hidden image is a top hat and cane.
Of course, the UV images will be more understandable when I have them posted right next to the regular images, which is what I will do for each future Casino Chip of the Day. If you can only see what fluoresces, sometimes it's difficult even to identify the chip.
Edited later on 5/30/12: Per a suggestion, I added the plain photos to this post, too, just as I plan to do for future chips of the day.
As with the regular images, I will post these as 180x180 pixels in the thread, and you can see the 600x600 pixel versions by clicking on these. The larger images look much better, in my opinion.
Here are the first four; I'll try to get a few more posted this evening.
Aria (showing Paulson top hat and cane):
Barbary Coast (showing Paulson top hat and cane with "05" below):
Bellagio (showing Paulson top hat and cane):
Boulder Station (showing Paulson top hat and cane in the center plus a repeated "Boulder"):
Let me know what you think!
FANTASTIC! I'd wondering if a solution would ever come up as I was reading page after page of being told about the neat things that fluoresced but not being able to see them. This is great work, Doc. And since I haven't already--thank you so much for starting and maintaining this thread. (Your earlier comment about how civil its been is very nice, as well).
Quote: DJTeddyBear
Because I was in seat 5, I could easily see the chips in the pot. At one point I noticed a chip, perked up, and asked the dealer if I could swap him for that chip. I wasn't even pointing to a chip, and he knew which one I wanted. "The twins?"Click for high res.
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Because of the printing, the edge impression is very hard to photograph. Heck, when looking at it, I gotta rock the chip to read the whole thing:
HOOTERS CASINO HOTEL
• LAS VEGAS, NEVADA •
Instead of bullets, they use palm trees.
Note, while I respect NSFW attitudes enough to hide the images, I REALLY don't think they're actually NSFW.
My $1 chip is different than Docs. Same image on both sides, and a visible Paulson logo.
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Awww. Why were the links removed? Were they really that NSFW??
Quote: rdw4potus
Here's my Longhorn chip. Good blackjack rules, less sketchy than Bighorn. Not much more to say about the casino.
The chip is a bit frustrating to me. Apparently, there are no "standard" Longhorn chips in circulation. So this "collectible" chip is the one that's in my collection. I wish that weren't the case, but no other option is available.
I get your preference--and I suspect I lean toward the same thinking you do. That said, I think this is a pretty neat chip. And I think if Oneida EVER decides to do something (anything) interesting, it'd be nice to have the collectible/special edition/commemorative version.
Side note: I was thinking about this last night re: Oneida. The main casino, the first "real" casino to open in the area, opened in 1994. I remember it vividly as I turned 18 that year and to my recollection, it opened near my birthday (March 25). You only needed to be 18 to enter casinos (and racetracks--WI had...hmm, 3 or 4?) at that time, so I went with my dad and stepmom as a sort of birthday fun. I'm about as certain as I can be that the chips today are exactly the same as they were then. Not sure if that's normal or remarkable.
Quote: bigfoot66I noticed the come bet on the dice table at Margaritaville is labeled "Come Monday"...cute.
You've given me a reason to find a way to cram a visit here into my next trip.
Quote: BrewfangrbAwww. Why were the links removed? Were they really that NSFW??
I'm not completely sure, but I think someone had hacked either DJTeddyBear's site or his domain host with the result that the site was identified by some security software as a source of malware that you could catch by visiting the site. Since images are not stored here at WoV, each time you look at a post with an image, you visit the site where the image is hosted.
BTW, your Westward Ho chip looks to be in great condition. The place was still open when I started collecting chips in 2003, but it closed before I got to that one. I would like to have added one of those to my collection because my parents stayed there on their only visit to Las Vegas in the 1970s. I remember them talking about the trams or carts that ran through the parking lot transporting guests between the motel rooms and the casino.
Quote: BrewfangrbAnd I've decided to add myself to that group of running all over the place. I hope to stick with it.
Before you get started, you should realize that it's a hobby that can become an addiction -- not a gambling addiction but a collecting addiction.
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Las Vegas Auto Truck Plaza
Today's chip of the day comes from the Las Vegas Auto Truck Plaza in Las Vegas, NV. More specifically, it was located in the town of Enterprise, which is to the southwest of McCarran International Airport and forms part of the greater Las Vegas area. The casino was located on Industrial Road (now Dean Martin Drive) at Blue Diamond Road, across the street from the Silverton casino, just off of I-15. In 2011, the property became the Alamo casino, which was discussed here.
I can find surprising little information about this casino; I would have visited in the summer of 2002 and a non-restricted count report from 2002 says that the casino was licensed for 109 slot machines and three table games. I'm sure I would have played blackjack there, because that was about all I knew how to play back then. I'm also not sure why I have a $5 chip - it's possible I chose that over a $1 chip because it was an interesting commemorative, but more likely was that they were using $1 slot tokens at the tables like many other places. MOGH shows that there was a full series of chips from their opening in 1973, but I have no idea if there might have been $1 chips in play when I visited. Another non-restricted count report I have from 2008 says that they no longer had table games.
Both sides of the chip are shown below. The chip is a Paulson RHC in orange and blue, with a picture of a truck and a diamond on opposing sides. It's marked as a limited edition (of 2000) but is not numbered.
Quote: ChipmanSpiffState: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Las Vegas Auto Truck Plaza
Why is there a diamond on the chip? The traditional 25 year anniversary gift is silver, no?
Quote: AyecarumbaQuote: ChipmanSpiffState: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Las Vegas Auto Truck Plaza
Why is there a diamond on the chip? The traditional 25 year anniversary gift is silver, no?
Maybe because they're on Blue Diamond Road?
Quote: DocState: Nevada
City: Pahrump
Casino: Saddle West
The NGCB document on license holders describes the business as Aces High Management, LLC dba Saddle West Hotel, Casino and RV Resort and notes that Aces High is 100% owned by Sher Gaming, LLC, which is in turn owned 100% by Edward Franklin Sher.
So Sam Rothstein wasn't able to get back in the business? Too bad.
Quote: BrewfangrbSo Sam Rothstein wasn't able to get back in the business? Too bad.
With my chip posts, I only report what I am able to dig up and what I am creative enough to make up. I'm too lazy to do much more than that. You and others are always welcome to add corrections and comments about the casinos, chips, and facility ownership and history, plus random stories of your experiences at these places in order to add to the entertainment offered by this thread.
By the way, I am now recovered enough to be sitting up at my computer, so I have added to the thread index the chips that have recently been posted by ChipmanSpiff.
Quote: AyecarumbaQuote: Doc#6. A casino where I have never played has its name changed, with or without being sold, but they keep using the same old chips!
"Union Plaza" -- "The Plaza" -- "Jackie Gauhgan's Plaza" -- "Plaza", as well as the "Las Vegas Club" -- "Vegas Club" -- "LVC" switches could be examples. I think it may have to do with the lag time required to expire old designs since casinos are required to advertise an "expiration" date for old designs to allow folks holding them a chance to redeem them.
Completely aside, with an apology since I appear to have nearly completely hijacked this thread, I just discovered this happening at the Ho-Chunk in Wisconsin Dells. New chips were issued July 10 and the old chips are "discontinued" October 31. The first thing I thought of? Whether rdw knows this and whether he's actually gotten the new chip already. Second thought? Dammit, I missed getting the "old" chips and now, can't have both versions.
Quote: DocBefore you get started, you should realize that it's a hobby that can become an addiction -- not a gambling addiction but a collecting addiction.
I hope so!
Quote: DocWith my chip posts, I only report what I am able to dig up and what I am creative enough to make up. I'm too lazy to do much more than that. You and others are always welcome to add corrections and comments about the casinos, chips, and facility ownership and history, plus random stories of your experiences at these places in order to add to the entertainment offered by this thread.
Sorry, I think my attempt at a joke fell flat. I read about "Aces High Entertainment" being the owner of the casino referenced in that post and immediately thought of Deniro's character (Sam "Ace" Rothstein) doing the talk show thing after his license was denied and it was called "Aces High".
Quote: DocState: Arkansas
City: West Memphis
Casino: Southland Park
The blackjack game is the iTable from Shufflemaster, where a live dealer deals real cards from a shoe that reads the cards as they are dealt, entering the info into the table's computer system. A cash buy-in results in credits appearing on the table-top touch screen in front of the player, where wagers and hit/stand/insurance/double/split decisions are entered. When a player leaves the table, chips are used to pay out the balance of credits, and that appears to be the only use for the chips. It seems that a TITO printout and a redemption kiosk would be more efficient than issuing chips to be carried over to the cashier cage or another table, but then they would never get someone like me into their place even for a first visit.
What, exactly, is the point of this? Live dealers, real cards, but with it basically converted to video Blackjack? Do they not trust the dealers to count and do math? This is very strange to me.
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Sports World
Today's chip of the day comes from the Sports World Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Sports World was a small casino located in a strip mall setting on Las Vegas Blvd, just north of Desert Inn Rd, roughly between the Riviera and what is now the Encore, and across the street from the Stardust.
The property originally was a casino called Dan's Royal Flush, which existed from 1991-1996. Sports World opened in 1997 as CBS Sports World, as the owner called itself Casino Bar & Sports, Inc. However, they ran into legal problems with the CBS television network and changed the name in 1998 to just Sports World. According to an old article I found in the Las Vegas Sun, the casino was owned by a James R. August Sr, about whom I can find nothing. The casino closed suddenly in the summer of 2001 and to this date, no casino has replaced it.
I don't remember much about this place except that it was fairly small, given its strip mall setting. I remember the dealers wearing sports related clothing but can't remember if it was player jerseys or black and white striped referee shirts. Either way, the place was definitely sports themed.
No problem, though. Might still hit up the 2 closer ones.
Quote: Brewfangrb (with regard to the blackjack iTables at Southland ParkWhat, exactly, is the point of this? Live dealers, real cards, but with it basically converted to video Blackjack? Do they not trust the dealers to count and do math? This is very strange to me.
I think the idea was to make it look as much like a real blackjack game as possible without having to rely on the dealers to accurately count out the chips on every payout. It also speeds up the game a little.
They originally had the same kind of setup at Oaklawn Park, the only other racino in Arkansas, down at Hot Springs. When rdw4potus visited there to get his souvenir, he found that they had completely abandoned the use of chips. His visit at least saved me a wasted trip to that area, but the old chips are on display in the MoGH chip guide.
Quote: BrewfangrbI had a plan to try to hit the 4 "Northeast" WI (excluding Oneida, for obvious reasons) casinos tomorrow with what looked like a decent driving plan, allow for 30-60 mins of play at each spot and be back at a decent hour. So I checked each casino's website to confirm hours--first 2 on the plan, open at 10 and 10:30. Great! The next one in line and furthest away...BJ opens at 4. Well, jeez. Way better to know now than get up there and have nothing to do, but come on. 4 on a Saturday? I guess I'll do that in summer or something. I don't mind driving at night, but I have to desire to do it when I have no idea where I'm going, being alone and only Google to help me.
No problem, though. Might still hit up the 2 closer ones.
I realize you'll see this when you're back from this trip. Also, i realize that you in no way need my blessing with respect to your routing. But...I like your plan. Those other 2 are more or less on the way to or from Bad River and Legendary Waters, anyway. it'd be "easy" to route a trip next summer up to the UP, over to legendary waters, and then back through the Rhinelander area to catch those casinos.
Quote: rdw4potusI realize you'll see this when you're back from this trip. Also, i realize that you in no way need my blessing with respect to your routing. But...I like your plan. Those other 2 are more or less on the way to or from Bad River and Legendary Waters, anyway. it'd be "easy" to route a trip next summer up to the UP, over to legendary waters, and then back through the Rhinelander area to catch those casinos.
Yeah, I've got a couple ideas on how to do it. There are a quite a few casinos in the eastern half (more or less) of the UP. I was thinking a weekend of hitting Escanaba, and then up to Sault Ste Marie to knock those out. Then a different weekend to get Legendary Waters, Bad River, Lake of the Torches and whatever that one in Watersmeet is called. I think there might be another in the western UP. I can probably bang out Mole Lake and Carter on that trip.
So today's trip was pretty easy. I could've probably done it by memorizing the routing without using my phone's GPS. North Start is a very nice place. Clean, pretty spacious and the table felts, machines, etc all look nice and new. Lost $100 on BJ (including my souvenirs). Craps didn't open until 6. Ok rules: 3:2, DA2, DAS, H17. But no LS. I asked to surrender on my 16 v 10 and she asked "what's that?" I guess no surrender. (I couldn't find a rules board that usually is posted at the end of the pit).
Menominee was disappointing. I've been there twice with some guys to play poker and forgotten much about it. It's being remodeled to make it easier to get from the casino to the hotel, improve air handling, etc. So I don't know if was just not going far enough around, but the casino seems small to me. Smaller than I remembered. Played craps, lost $105. 2x odds on the pass line. Meh. I guess that let me play a little longer.
Anyway, glad to have a start. I go to Vegas in a month, so I probably won't try too hard to get too many more in WI...many just to save bankroll since I can't see to drive all those distances just to play 3 hands and lose $20.
Edit: Because I am a dork, I've decided to keep both a $1 and $5 chip. It doesn't really make any sense, but I thought: What if there's a difference between the $1 and the $5? I'd kind of like to have both. But then I can't collect a $1 and $5 just in the places where they're different because that would screw up the collection. So I decided I needed both from everywhere. I'm not exactly a rocket scientist.
City: Las Vegas
Casino: The Regent
Today's chip of the day is from The Regent Casino-Hotel-Spa-Golf in Las Vegas, NV. This is a follow-up to Doc's post about the Rampart Casino, here.
MOGH indicates that The Regent was actually the second generation casino at this location, the first being the Resort at Summerlin, not to be confused with the third generation casino, Rampart at the Resort at Summerlin. The first casino seems to have lasted for less than one year; The Regent lasted about two. My recollection of The Regent was that it was not very busy; I had the impression that it was targeted mostly at hotel guests, but despite all the money that must have come with the Ritz Carlton hotel that was there at one point, there wasn't much activity in the casino. I seem to recall that either the Regent or the Rampart closed down for a year or more as a result of low visitor numbers.
Incidentally, Summerlin, a planned community, was a large plot of land owned by billionaire Howard Hughes and named after his grandmother, Jean Amelia Summerlin. The Hughes Corporation started developing the land - almost 25,000 acres - in 1990.
The chip is a white Chipco with a satin finish; the front side has what appears to be clouds in the background, while the reverse side has a waterfall in front of what looks like the hotel.
Quote: BrewfangrbMenominee was disappointing.
The odd part for me was the 1972 vintage bowling alley decor. The really odd part was that they're using RFID chips. None of it is high-stakes, but they're investing in RFID chips & scanners.
The cancelled card vending machine was amusing. 50c/deck when everyplace else around I've seen just gives them away.
North Star... I have been amused by some of their promos. Definitely a nice place, and they're actually trying to make their slogan true ("friendliest casino in Wisconsin").
Quote: DieterThe odd part for me was the 1972 vintage bowling alley decor. The really odd part was that they're using RFID chips. None of it is high-stakes, but they're investing in RFID chips & scanners.
The cancelled card vending machine was amusing. 50c/deck when everyplace else around I've seen just gives them away.
North Star... I have been amused by some of their promos. Definitely a nice place, and they're actually trying to make their slogan true ("friendliest casino in Wisconsin").
The casinos I've been to in WI always sold them either in the gift shop or in the vending machine. There are places that give them away? (I was actually going to make a deck of cards from every casino part of my collection as well, but...and this is just me being flat-out lazy...I couldn't find a gift shop or a vending machine with cards at North Star. I should've just asked. Damn).
Potawatomi in Milwaukee has bins of them on the bridge to the parking ramp - if you're fortunate enough to walk by right after they've dumped them full. It's amazing if they last more than an hour or two. (They change out their cards at least daily, have mostly machine-shuffle tables, and a lot of 8 deck games... so they cancel a fair number of decks.)
I didn't pick up a deck from North Star, but... I didn't particularly like the cards they use (Gemaco Sentinels), so I don't feel bad about that.
If you get over to Nekoosa and want a box of souvenirs, they had been selling their retired chips (from when it was Rainbow) for $10 a box. 40x$1, 60x$5 to a box. They're usually fairly dirty. 5 minutes, warm water, and a squirt of dish soap does wonders. (Useful if you want to practice chip tricks - they handle much better than the $8/100 "dice" chips you can get at Wal-Mart.)
Since Baraboo just retired their chips, it may be interesting to see if they sell off the retirees next month.
