January Update

Five new chips added to the collection thanks to a trip to the SHOT Show in Las Vegas. They are -

1. O'Shea's - new house chip. O'Shea's really went all out with their new chip... it is exactly the same as their previous chip only they added a tiny top hat logo above the name of the casino. Scintillating. From the looks of it, they haven't changed anything else about the actual casino, so they have that going for them.

2. Monte Carlo - Jabbawockeez. Again - a really bold move by a casino here as it's the same as the other Jabba chip, only instead of having a black insert, this one is white. The group's motto is apparently "Laugh Cheer Move." I bet when the Monte Carlo caught on fire a few years back everyone skipped the laugh and cheer part. Which reminds me of something I commented on on twitter (@jonross22)... The Carlo has a casino bar named "Ignite." How quickly we forget the 2008 fire. Unless they were going for irony. Which, if that was the case, why not just name the bar "Smoke Inhalation?"

3. Flamingo - Margaritaville Casino. This is a section of the Flamingo dubbed "Margaritaville." It appears to be as dumb as it sounds. I didn't even stroll through it to double-check.

4. Flamingo - new house chip. As opposed to the Margaritaville chip, I actually like the new Flamingo chip. It has a little flamingo bird above the script "Flamingo." Looks nice and isn't super busy. I bet they have a separate marketing department than the Margaritaville folks.

5. New York, New York - new house chip. Gone is the Statue of Liberty, replaced by just a red insert with a printed "New York New York." Not nearly as good as the old one. I still can't walk into this place without immediately thinking of two stories; the fight, and the ecstasy.


That's it for now - I'm off to read about a proposed casino Lansing hopes to open in 23-24 years. Hopefully that will be chip #1200 or something for me.

Mid-January Update

One new chip added to the collection, courtesy of Michelle Lange (@LangeM77). She spent two weeks in Australia and visited one of the countries 17 casinos. This one is from the casino in Cairns, called The Reef. It's on the northeast side of the country.

Their website is pretty slick (http://www.reefcasino.com.au/), when it initially loads up, it actually has an image of a rotating casino chip. The casino has a dress code, requiring "smart, clean clothing and suitable footwear." I'm not sure I want to know the story behind the "suitable footwear" clause. Wait, since Lange was there, I think I know the story.

This is my first chip from the Eastern and Southern hemispheres. I need to get cracking on some Euro chips.

Overall, this is a pretty nice looking chip - complete with a mini-seahorse type creature design on it. And, bonus!, the $5 Australian chip is actually worth around $5.16 US. Which makes it about 3% more valuable than my other chips! Thanks again Michelle!

December Update

Two new chips added in December, I got both of them for Christmas. They are:

1. M Resort - 2nd Anniversary 2011. Congrats to the M for making it to year two! I still have not seen this place, as it's a good 10 miles south of McCarran.



2. Monte Carlo - Grand Opening 1996. June 21 to be exact. I've probably gambled at the Carlo more than any other casino on the strip. Actually, there's no probably about it. I've definitely gambled here more than any other strip casino. Still haven't stayed here though. Maybe next time. Which is in ten short days... hopefully I'll be able to pick up a few of the new house chips.