Casino Chip of the Day

Haha I never even thought about that. At least they are being honest in that the house always wins.

There wasn't much to guide me. The side of the mountain was there but not much else. I just tried to follow the car in front of me because it was so hard to see where the lines on the road were. The highway was two lanes both ways with no divider. I stayed in the far right lane to avoid oncoming traffic. As much as I was uncomfortable driving I was more worried about oncoming traffic hitting me. It was the longest 2-3 minutes ever lol, I was so happy when I could see again.

State: Nevada
City: Sparks
Casino: Nugget

Today's chip of the day is from the Nugget in Sparks, NV. MoGH says that John Ascuaga's Nugget officially closed in May of 2016 but they had already taken down all signs and replaced them when I was there in April of 2016. They were however still using the old chips which is why I had to make a return trip this year when I was in the neighborhood. I stopped here and got beat up while playing craps and VP, I lost $165 before leaving with my shirt and a new (expensive) chip. There was construction going on, the new owners are trying to spruce the place up I guess. The casino has 32 tables and 945 slot machines although I think that number may be off a bit while construction continues. When I visited last year I actually stayed at the Nugget and loved the rooms. The room was only $50 and it was as nice as the some of the higher end rooms on the strip.

The chip is a white RHC with three edge inserts that are pink, baby blue and mint green. The centre inlay is black and grey with the casino name and chip denomination in yellow and the location in black. I really like this chip, it is very simple but the grey and black inlay is very nice.

State: Nevada
City: Carson City
Casino: Cactus Jack's

Today's chip of the day is from Cactus Jack's Casino in Carson City, NV. They recently brought back their poker game so I was able to collect a chip. I played limit Omaha hi-lo for a few hours until the game broke. I was the only player under 60, the other 4 gentleman were very kind and inviting, I had a great time! The dealer baked brownies for the players which I have never seen before lol. I ended up winning $5 at Cactus Jack's before calling it a night. The casino is very small with 130 slot machines, one poker table and a little cafe/deli. The casino is across the street from the Carson Nugget but I don't remember seeing the giant Cactus Jack's sign last time I was in Carson City. I can be a little oblivious sometimes.

The chip is a white RHC with no edge inserts. The centre inlay is black and oversized covering half of the top hats. The casino name, location and chip denomination are all in white. There is a picture of a man that I assume is Cactus Jack and he is holding up a sign that say's "Howdy".

Quote: PokerGrinder

State: Nevada
City: Sparks
Casino: Nugget

MoGH says that John Ascuaga's Nugget officially closed in May of 2016 but they had already taken down all signs and replaced them when I was there in April of 2016.

I grew up being exposed to ads for John Ascuaga's Nugget. On particularly memorable radio (possibly also TV) ad was about how John Ascuaga walks through his casino for miles each day to ensure that customers get great service—such that his staff put a pedometer on him for confirmation of his mileage!

On one visit to the Nugget, I actually saw him and exclaimed "It's John Ascuaga!" Mrs. smooth and I took pictures with him, who was very gracious with his time. Sadly, it was the early days of digital cameras and somehow the photo did not save/sync with my computer correctly, and my photo with Mr. Ascuaga is lost to the ether.

State: Nevada
City: Incline Village
Casino: Grand Lodge

Today's chip of the day is from the Grand Lodge Casino in Incline Village, NV. This is the former Hyatt Regency Casino. The name change occurred before last Spring Fling so I visited to pick up a new chip as the cashier said they had them when I called... they didn't! On top of that I got to deal with one of the rudest dealers I have ever met and I deal with a lot of dealers. It was so bad that I actually made a complaint on my way out which I don't know if I have ever done before. This time I was 100% sure the chips were available so I made the drive from Reno to Incline Village for the 3rd time in under 4 years and most likely the last time unless they change the name again.

This experience was much nicer as I had two very nice and sociable BJ dealers and the customer service that signed me up for my club card went above and beyond as well! I got $10 FP from a ACG coupon and $10 FP for signing up. The guy also gave me $10 MP because they had so much trouble accepting the coupon. I won $28.50 I believe from all that and then managed to win a bunch playing BJ when I won a $50 hand that had a split and two doubles, a nice $200 win on one hand when I was down a bunch. I also found UX vulturing paradise! Clearly nobody up there checks the machines so they were all full and they have about 20 machines in a tiny casino. Yay free money. Casino city says they have 255 slot machines and 20 table games which is far off. The table count was closer to 10 I would say.

The chip is a white RHC with 8 blue edge inserts. The centre inlay is blue with white in the middle. The casino name, logo and location are all in black. The denomination is blue and white with a black border.

It's still a Hyatt Regency, but they added a name for the casino? That seems odd. Is it because Hyatt doesn't want to be in the casino business in the U.S.?

I'm not really sure of the reason but they have been renovating the resort for the last couple of years so maybe they thought a new name was a good plan.

Quote: PokerGrinder

State: Nevada
City: Incline Village
Casino: Grand Lodge



This experience was much nicer as I had two very nice and sociable BJ dealers and the customer service that signed me up for my club card went above and beyond as well! I got $10 FP from a ACG coupon and $10 FP for signing up. The guy also gave me $10 MP because they had so much trouble accepting the coupon. I won $28.50 I believe from all that and then managed to win a bunch playing BJ when I won a $50 hand that had a split and two doubles, a nice $200 win on one hand when I was down a bunch. I also found UX vulturing paradise! Clearly nobody up there checks the machines so they were all full and they have about 20 machines in a tiny casino. Yay free money.

I can vouch for this as I've never seen so many active multipliers in one place. Did you do the casino win cards where you get $45 in chips for $30 cash? They'll usually give you some match play coupons on top of those, too. Very unique place between the large fireplaces, animal heads on the wall, and the parking lot paved around the trees.

This is a very different (and nicer) chip than the one the Hyatt used (posted here) before the name change for the casino. They did, however, keep the same logo of the mountain and trees, and is that supposed to be the lake in the foreground?

Rogerkint I didn't know about the win cards.

Doc that is probably correct.

Doc Maryland Live! has changed its name to just Live! I'm not sure if they plan on releasing new chips.

Interesting! We'll have to keep an eye on that.

I don't really care to go into the Washington/Baltimore area, mostly because of the traffic. I did pass through the region about six weeks ago and picked up my souvenir from MGM National Harbor.

I've never been to Maryland Live! so the next time I collect a chip there will be the first time.

Then perhaps you will need two trips: Before and After the (potential) chip design change.

Pick up one from MGM, too, while you are in the general area.

I have no plans to be anywhere near that part of the country anytime soon.

Quote: PokerGrinder

I have no plans to be anywhere near that part of the country anytime soon.

The hell you don't! Here let me just plan out a trip for ya... :-)

Let me guess you want to add it to my trip that will take me to Washington state?

State: Nevada
City: Carson City
Casino: Jackpot Crossing

Today's chip of the day is from Jackpot Crossing Casino in Carson City, NV. I visited here on my way south to Las Vegas. I stopped in because I was told they would have a tournament followed by cash games, sadly when I got there the dealer said the cash games most likely wouldn't run that day. I decided to buy a chip at the cage and played VP, winning $30 when I hit quad 4's. The casino has 173 slot machines and 2 poker tables.

The chip is a white RHC. The centre inlay is oversized with a blue centre. There is a train in the middle of the casino name. The casino name, location and chip denomination are all in red. You can see how little they have a cash game by how new this chip looks. They got the chips a year ago but they looked brand new.

Odd that they wouldn't run the cash game after the tournament. Usually the reason for running the tournament is to bring players in before and after to spend their money.
The logo cracks me up because if you think about it, to see the train from that perspective means you are about to be run down.

I like the shadow under the denomination. It looks 3-D in your photo.

Ya I have no idea why they wouldn't run cash games if the players are already there.

It is a really nice chip, they seem to have put some thought into the design.

Quote: PokerGrinder

I decided to buy a chip at the cage and played VP ....

I started doing that a few years ago in cases where a casino I visit doesn't have their table games open for me to get the chip in play. I buy the chip and generally play a single dollar in a machine -- at least I can say I collected the chip at a casino where I gambled.

Come to think of it, I believe I first did that in the case of a casino that had completely removed their table games and I had encountered one of their chips in play at an affiliated casino a hundred yards or so up the hill. In that case, I really did collect the chip at the gaming table but not in the casino named on the chip, so I went down the hill and played a buck in the casino that had been home to the chip.

Anyhow, I hadn't ever thought about it until reading PokerGrinder's post, but I could try doing that at casinos that just have machines and poker tables. I'm not enough of a poker player to bother going to such places to get in the games, but if I were in the area, I could stop in to buy the chip, I suppose.

Do most casinos use the same chips in the poker room as on the main casino floor?
I don't play poker.

I haven't seen one that does.

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

I haven't seen one that does.

Are you saying that the poker rooms use different chips than the main floor? I've played in hundreds of casinos and I've only found a handful that use different chips in their poker room compared to let's say a BJ table.

Tournament chips need to be very distinct from chips with a cash value. Beyond that, I'm not sure I've ever seen different chips in play in the poker room than on the floor.

Yes of course tournament chips are always different. I was talking about cash game chips vs table games chips. Those are most often the same. I think the Mirage is one of the few that I've seen that have "Poker Room" chips.

Quote: PokerGrinder

Are you saying that the poker rooms use different chips than the main floor? I've played in hundreds of casinos and I've only found a handful that use different chips in their poker room compared to let's say a BJ table.

I haven't seen one that uses different chips besides tournament chips.

State: Nevada
City: Las Vegas
Casino: Lucky Dragon

Well yesterday I went to the late showing of Wonder Woman and then to the casino afterwards and completely forgot to post a chip. So...

Today's chip of the day is from the Lucky Dragon Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Lucky Dragon opened on November 19, 2016 and has 275 slot machines and 37 table games. I visited Lucky Dragon with RS and RDW after dinner in April. We played UTH, I know so little about these type of games that I had to look back into my TR to know what game we played. I lost my $100 buy in but the pit boss gave us each a $20 food comp which was quite funny trying to figure out what to use it for since we had just eaten dinner. I got 2 large cookies, 3 pieces of cake, 2 blueberry muffins and a banana. (I ate a muffin, a cookie and the banana for breakfast the next morning lol) The casino is nice but was not very busy for a Friday night which was even more concerning when the pit boss said that it was pretty busy for them. The dealers and pit bosses were all kind and friendly, they made the night enjoyable. Sadly because of their location and their offerings I can't see myself ever going back again.

The chip is a white RHC with 2 blue edge inserts. The centre inlay has a gold ring with a gray dragon in the background. I really like the design of this chip, very cool looking. The Lucky Dragon logo is in the top left with the casino name and location in black beside it. The denomination is at the bottom in gold.

I have two more chips to post from Nevada over the next two days.

Quote: PokerGrinder

I have two more chips to post from Nevada over the next two five-ish days.

FTFY

I laughed really hard at that. I've been decent so far, 12 chips posted in 15 days.

State: Nevada
City: Tonopah
Casino: Mizpah Club

Today's chip of the day is from the Mizpah Clun in Tonopah, NV. I visited the Mizpah Club on Easter Sunday. They have two BJ tables that are open Thursday, Friday and Saturdays, they also have one poker table that is open on Sundays. I waited for about a hour and played VP but no players showed up to play poker. I eventually gave up and bought a chip so that I could get on with my drive to Vegas. I broke even after buying my chips. Mizpah also has around 90 slot machines that don't have TITO yet so every time you cash out they hand pay it no matter how much it is.

The chip is in excellent condition and still looks brand new after almost a year of "use", probably very light use :P The chip is white with the suits twice around the edge with a little circle between each suit. It is a very basic chip that probably won't look very good after too much use but brand new it looks very nice IMO. The centre inlay has the casino name, location and the chip denomination hot stamped in gold. There is a "M" beside the location does that mean it is a Matsui chip?

I don't recall seeing this design before. I like it alot. Reminds me of a bas relief sculpture. Interesting that it was so slow, because on the same day in Las Vegas it was surprisingly (to me), busy on the Strip. I thought it would be totally dead.

Who or what's a "Mizpah"?

It is a Hebrew word for an emotional bond between two people.

I'm not sure if this is what they were going for.

The Mizpah Hotel has a really nicely done website that does a decent job of making me want to go there, in my opinion better than some big-azz Strip resorts, with a lot of beautiful looking high quality photos throughout, also with some local historical information under the "About Us" tab. But really nothing more about the naming of it as far as I've noticed when doing some virtual sightseeing. Of course I'm just taking the leap of assuming it must be the same place, 'cause how many places can there be in Tonopah, really?

http://www.themizpahhotel.com/

But mostly I think of it for prominently quoting my very favorite review of any such joint anywhere:

Quote:

"It's not just a hotel - it's an experience!" - Guest Review

Quote: DrawingDead

Of course I'm just taking the leap of assuming it must be the same place, 'cause how many places can there be in Tonopah, really?

I haven't yet been there -- was planning to go there during my Spring Fling trip before that got cancelled -- so I'm not completely sure of this: I think the hotel and the casino are currently two separate businesses operated next door to each other, though I think they were combined at one time. PG probably has the full story.

Quote: Doc

I haven't yet been there -- was planning to go there during my Spring Fling trip before that got cancelled -- so I'm not completely sure of this: I think the hotel and the casino are currently two separate businesses operated next door to each other, though I think they were combined at one time. PG probably has the full story.

Nope you are wrong sir, I have no clue lol.

Another Edit: Never mind this isn't a chip of the day because I hadn't realized that Chipmanspiff had already posted a chip from the El Capitan years ago. Whoops!

Today's chip of the day is from the El Capitan Casino in Hawthorne, NV. MoGH says that the casino opened in 1952 but my chip says Est. 1941 so I am going to believe the chip. El Capitan has 200 slot machines and 3 BJ tables. They brought back the BJ tables in mid 2016, I am not sure how long they were without table games for. I stayed in Hawthorne the Saturday one week before Spring Fling. There isn't much going on in this one horse town from what I could see. The casino owns the Travelodge across the street where I stayed. With my hotel stay I got 2 $5 FP coupons and 2 $2 food coupons. I also got $5 FP for signing up for a club card. Between the FP and my gambling/keeping $9 worth of chips I was down $20 at El Capitan.

I kept both a $5 chip and a $1 token which has become my standard when the casino doesn't have $1 chips in play. The chip is a red RHC with 4 edge inserts, 2 blue and 2 white. The centre inlay is white. I couldn't find online what the inlay shape is called, do you know Doc? The casino name and chip denomination are both in red and the location is in black.

That is the end of my new chip of the days until October when I will have about 40 new ones to post. I know I miss days here and there but 14/17 days isn't too shabby lol. That is a passing grade in school :P

Tomorrow I will mass post the rest of my new chips from my trip, all of the casinos have been covered here as CotD's but I have 3 chips that have never been pictured here before.

Edit: I forgot to mention the token at all. The token shows the front of the casino, and judging by the wear and tear on these, the tokens were in play last time the casino had tables. The back of the token says 1980 which I guess was when they were made.

Quote: PokerGrinder

State: California
City: Gardena
Casino: Lucky Lady

Today's chip of the day is from the Lucky Lady Casino in Gardena, CA. This casino was the former Normandie Casino which closed and was bought by Larry Flynt who owns Hustler Casino down the street. The casino has 60 table and poker games. I would say it was about half poker and half third party banked house games. I played 1/2 with a $200 max buy in here as that was the biggest game running. I signed up for a club card which gave me $20 cash for 2 hours of poker play. They comp you $8 worth of food as soon as you sit down and every 4 hours after that. I played my two hours in a pretty juicy game with two guys who would gamble with any two cards. I lost a few big pots early against them but ended up winning $60. It pained me to leave that game but I still had so much driving left in the day and couldn't waste anymore time.

The chip is a blue RHC with two edge inserts, one yellow and the other I am going to call a light maroon. The centre inlay is white with a Caucasian nude lady on her knees. I wonder what old Larry is trying to sell here?!? The casino name is black with a red heart between "Lucky" and "Lady" and the denomination is in red.

Oh hell yeah!!!!

Quote: RS

Quote: PokerGrinder

State: California
City: Gardena
Casino: Lucky Lady

Today's chip of the day is from the Lucky Lady Casino in Gardena, CA. This casino was the former Normandie Casino which closed and was bought by Larry Flynt who owns Hustler Casino down the street. The casino has 60 table and poker games. I would say it was about half poker and half third party banked house games. I played 1/2 with a $200 max buy in here as that was the biggest game running. I signed up for a club card which gave me $20 cash for 2 hours of poker play. They comp you $8 worth of food as soon as you sit down and every 4 hours after that. I played my two hours in a pretty juicy game with two guys who would gamble with any two cards. I lost a few big pots early against them but ended up winning $60. It pained me to leave that game but I still had so much driving left in the day and couldn't waste anymore time.

The chip is a blue RHC with two edge inserts, one yellow and the other I am going to call a light maroon. The centre inlay is white with a Caucasian nude lady on her knees. I wonder what old Larry is trying to sell here?!? The casino name is black with a red heart between "Lucky" and "Lady" and the denomination is in red.

Oh hell yeah!!!!

You fell really far behind lol.

Quote: RS

Quote: PokerGrinder

State: California
City: Gardena
Casino: Lucky Lady

Oh hell yeah!!!!

Better slow your roll... Maybe only ladies are lucky there? Dudes consider "Lucky" a grazing gunshot wound to the head:

Quote: CBSLA.com

GARDENA (CBSLA.com) — A man who had just left a Gardena casino was shot in the hand early Wednesday after being attacked by at least two men who followed him to a nearby gas station.

The shooting was reported just before 4 a.m. at a gas station across the way from the Lucky Lady Casino, 1045 W. Rosecrans Ave.

The man had just left the casino with his winnings when police say at least two men followed him out of the parking lot and rear-ended him, to get him to park in a Chevron gas station and 7-Eleven convenience store.

American casinos and entertainment that owns (owned) both Arizona Charlie's, the Stratosphere and Aquarius in Laughlin has been sold to Golden Entertainment.

So I've got my ticket booked to Asia for just under 4 months starting in January. I will be going to India for a month. Starting in New Dehli and then backpacking though Varanasi, Agra, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Mumbai and then finishing in Goa.

In Goa I will doing some chip collecting. They have 18 casinos, 6 of them are riverboats and 12 are in high end hotels. I'm getting conflicting reports on if the onshore casinos have tables. I've seen sites that say no and some that say they do but are partially electronic but do have chips so I will just make my rounds while I'm there.

I will be visiting Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in Thailand. Thailand doesn't have any casinos as gambling is illegal but I will be visiting a poker club that a friend of mine plays all the time as he lives out there half the year. The game is very safe he says and they even have a Facebook page.

Next up is Cambodia where I will do the majority of my gambling on this trip. On my way from Bangkok to Siem Reap in Cambodia you pass through a casino border town called Poipet. I will be stopping there for the night and they have around 10 casinos. I will then head to Siem Reap the next day. This is the part of my trip I am looking forward to the most as Angkor Wat is supposed to be the most amazing place! After Siem Reap I will head to the capital of Phnom Penh. They have one casino there (Nagaworld) plus a few poker clubs around the city. Next up is the beach town of Sihanoukville where I plan on grinding for a week or so. They have 6+ casinos where I will collect from. It is much harder to get information on all these places in Asia then in NA but I think I've found a enough to figure it out.

After Sihanoukville I will be heading to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. On my way I will be passing through the other casino border town of Bavet that is there for Vietnamese citizens. There seems to be about half a dozen casinos here. After Ho Chi Minh City I will be heading to a casino resort by the beach for one night before getting back to travelling. I will be taking a hop on hop off bus to northern Vietnam. I will be stopping in Nha Trang, Da Nang, Hue, Hoi An, Hanoi and probably Ha Long. There are 6 more casinos in Vietnam with tables and I plan on hitting two of them that are on the path I will be on. I'm not willing to veer off my intended path on this trip to collect.

From Hanoi I will be flying to Luang Prabang in Laos because the alternative is a 38 hour bus ride and I refuse to go through that hell when I can afford a $150 plane ticket. Call me spoiled I guess lol. I will spend 3-4 days in the capital before heading to Vientiane for 3-4 days. I will visit the casino there as well as in my next stop which is Savannakhet. My last stop in Laos will be in Pakse because I've heard its beautiful. At that point I will fly back to Bangkok.

I have planned the trip with 2 weeks of "extra" days at the end of the trip just in case I get delayed somewhere or the poker games are great in Cambodia. That way I don't have to skip any of my planned destinations. If everything goes as planned and I end up in Bangkok with 2 weeks before my flight then I will buy a plane ticket somewhere. Maybe I'll go back to Macau or somewhere new.

PG. This needs its own, I'm sure phenomenal thread, either now or when you go, but I would suggest now, because the various arrangements you make ahead of this would be really interesting and useful for anyone else trying an Asian trip like this. I'd like to suggest you copy and paste this itinerary into a new TR in that sub-forum, and keep us up to date on the preparations. Thanks!

Sounds like it is going to be amazing PG! Looking forward to reading about it.

Is there a rainy season, or a best time to go weatherwise?

Yes I will be in India when it's less hot and I leave se Asia just before monsoon season. I am purposely going to India in January when the weather is less insanely hot.

I have created a separate thread for my Asia trip.

https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/gambling/trip-reports/29050-grinder-backpacking-asia-round-2/

I won't post pictures of all the chips I picked up on my Spring Fling trip because most of them have been posted here. I do have three new ones that haven't been posted but the casino has.

The first one is a $1 chip from Mineral Palace in Deadwood, SD. I already had a $5 chip from here but they recently replaced their $1 coins with chips so I picked one up. I will cash my $5 in next time I am in Deadwood.

The next two are my most expensive chips as they are both $25 chips. The first one is from the First Gold Casino in Deadwood, SD. They use coins for $1 and generic $5 chips that either say BlackJack or Horseshoe on them. I wanted a chip that had the casino name so this time (my third visit to Deadwood) I decided to keep a $25 chip. I debated whether this was silly but silly won out in the end.

The third chip is also a $25 chip from Deadwood. It is from the Celebrity Casino where I previously collected a $1 coin. They use $1 coins and oversized $5 coins so again I bit the bullet and kept an expensive green chip.

The other two chips in this picture are already in the chip of the day from the Augustine Casino and Havasu Landing Casino.

TWO $25 chips? Hehe... You need to seek professional help PG... This is getting out of hand.

Didn't I once post a much larger denomination chip from my collection?

Quote: Ayecarumba

TWO $25 chips? Hehe... You need to seek professional help PG... This is getting out of hand.

Getting out of hand??? The collection currently sits at 607 casinos, I think it's been out of hand for awhile now lol.