2024 - September

Another 2024 entry! This one comes because The Mirage closed on July 17. It was open for 34 years - and will re-emerge in a couple of years as the new Hard Rock, complete with a guitar-shaped tower on the Strip.

This chip was the original house chip, from what I can tell. Not all that different from the house chip used at its' closing.

This is my 5th chip from the Mirage. Besides the two house chips, there is the 25th anniversary chip, Siegfried and Roy chip, and Danny Gans chip. They also had a Boyz II Men and Terry Fator chip, and a six chip set of Fator's puppets, but I was never particularly fond of those. Boyz II Men is an odd choice for the only musical act to get a chip. And as far as entertainers go - Gans was The Mirage to me, not Fator. 

Stayed at The Mirage once - good location, fine to stay out, really smelled like suntan lotion in that place. Never played there much, but will miss it nonetheless. 

2024 - July

 Now we're cooking with fire! A third post this calendar year! Blog production not seen since the glory days of 2014. Ten fricking years ago. This chip is #530 in my collection (531 if you count both sides of the glorious "Mortal Enemies" chip of 1995).

Encore - Boston Harbor

A work trip took me to Boston just before the 4th of July. There are three casinos in Massachusetts, this being the closest to downtown. I didn't actually make the trip out to the casino as an Uber there and back just for a chip wasn't economically sensible, but we did hit up a Red Sox game at Fenway. GK even made it onto the jumbotron. What an accomplishment. Encore is part of the Wynn/Encore group - hence the very similar chip design. And I can't believe the Wynn opened in 2005 and Encore in 2008. They seem way newer than that. The other casinos in that group are in Macau, so maybe I can head there next.

2024 - May

 For the first time since 2015, a second post in a calendar year! On a roll now. The two newest chips are numbers 528 and 529. 528 came in the mail, 529 came on a recent visit to Las Vegas. I'm not sure what that visit number is... gotta be in the 20s. Here we go:

Four Queens - Mayor Oscar Goodman. This is my second Goodman chip, but it's the first one he appeared on. The other being a Plaza chip. This chip is limited to 2,500... so only another 2,499 are out there in the world. This marked the first time the mayor of Las Vegas was pictured on a casino chip, although to be honest, I haven't seen any others. His wife is the current mayor.

Park MGM. I would have bet you a bunch of money I already had this chip, but in preparation for my most recent visit, I found it was missing from my collection. Which is odd because the last time I was there, we ate at Eataly inside Park MGM twice. I got this one in the course of playing, and what a session it was. $15 table, paying blackjack 6 to 5. I joined three players at this table, all of them with ties to Dominos (there was some super Dominos convention going on at the time). I slid my three $5 chips to the circle and we were off.

Loss

Loss

Loss on a double

Loss

Loss

Down a quick $90 with one Park MGM chip in my pocket for my collection and one chip left, I bailed. A beatdown of epic proportions. Also, the sandwich I had for lunch at Eataly was massively over-priced. Probably done with Park MGM now.

On this visit I did make it down to see the new Fountainebleau. Overrated. And I got most of my $90 back playing at a $10 table at the Flamingo. So at least the old places know how to treat a guy.

2024 - January

 I'm 99% sure this won't be my only post in 2024. So there's that. I recently added seven new chips to my collection. We have:

1. Circa. I would have swore this was in the City Center area on the grounds of the former Monte Carlo Casino (RIP Carlo), but no, it's downtown. Which makes sense, the chip has a very downtown design to it. In a good way.

2. Horseshoe Las Vegas. Was under construction when I was last there, but this is mostly a name change of the old Bally's Casino. Really good location. 

3. Sahara. Just a new, updated chip for one of the originals. Way down at the far end, but now has Fountainebleau nearby and Resorts World across the street. So not as lonesome as it once was. It's also been cleaned up nicely inside. We walked through on the most recent visit and I was impressed. The casino floor layout was almost exactly how I remembered it, too. 

4. Strat. Also a new house chip for a casino down at the far end. I really like the look of this new Strat chip and, like the Sahara, seemed much cleaner/nicer on the inside than I remember. 

5. Circus Circus. Sticking with new house chips from the far end, a new house chip from Circus Circus. I don't think anyone calls it the CC. I did not go inside so I have no idea if the inside's been cleaned up but judging from the outside of the place, I doubt it. Would it kill them to power spray the exterior once every 30 years?

6. Fountainbleau. I think they started on this the last time the CC was power-washed, but it is now finally open. It was nearly complete last year when we were there and it's open now. I'm eager to check out the inside on our next visit. I really like how this chip looks except for the donut hole in the middle. Need to put a big "F" or something in there.

7. Last, it's the Mandalay Bay Raiders chip. From the complete opposite end of the Strip as the last couple. Not sure I could name any current Raiders. David Carr? He still a thing?

2023!

Starting off with a bang! Got a couple from before this year that I had never added and three from a trip in early January to Las Vegas. My first trip since January 2017. Things have gotten a lot more expensive. On to the chips:

1. Casino Catalonia - Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I can't for the life of me remember who got this for me, but I'm guessing GK. He's a big Punta Cana guy. 

2. Next is the Tin Lizzie in Deadwood, South Dakota. My parents like to vacation there and brought this one back for me. I have no idea why they like going there... I've been to South Dakota once and it was depressing. Except for the Corn Palace - that place rocks. 

3. On to the Vegas chips! The first from my recent trip is from Resorts World. I guess they call it "three casinos in one" but it appears to just be three different hotel towers with a shared gaming space and a mall/restaurant row connecting each tower to the casino. I played here for a bit, the cheapest table on Thursday morning was $15 and it was a 6-5 table, but beggars can't be choosers. And they brought our drinks fast, so that was a plus. 

4. and 5. The last two are both from Ellis Island Casino and Brewery. I was actually pretty surprised I didn't have a chip from Ellis Island already, as the place is 50 years old. The first is the newer house chip and the second is a 50th Anniversary chip. And believe me, most of the people there playing were present on opening day 1967. (The 50th Chip came out 6 years ago). The location opened as the Village Pub and renamed Ellis Island in 1985. There's still a restuarant in it called the Village Pub. Ellis Island actually had one $5 table that paid 3-2, which is fantastic. But I grew tired of waiting players out and just played $10 3-2 Which still isn't all that bad. It's not a bad walk from the Strip to Koval, but it's a walk better made in the daylight. And it isn't all that far from the new Top Golf on Koval. I'm glad I went but now am a little sad I also didn't grab the Ellis Island chip that simply said "Honoring Immigrants." Next time.

 

2020!

Probably going to have to accept that this is a once-a-year update at this point. Two new chips added to my collection, which brings me to 515.

1. Cadillac Jack's in Deadwood, SD. This is actually my second chip from Cadillac Jack's. The first being a 2013 addition.

2. A new Soaring Eagle house chip. My brother got this for me last month. I think this is the 4th house chip the Eagle has had, but I may have missed one. Or two. I can't remember the last time I played here. The waterpark was pretty cool though.

Maybe I'll get more this year, but most likely, I'll see you in 2021!

2019!

I guess the updates are yearly now.

Four new chips added since the last update, bringing my total to 513 different $5 casino chips. Gotta be the best collection in DeWitt, if not all of Clinton County.

The new chips are:

Ameristar - Kansas City, MO
Fitwilliam Card Club - Dublin, Ireland
Harrahs - New Orleans, LA
Quechan Casino and Resort - Winterhaven, CA

The Ameristar - Kansas City, MO chip comes from Rob. I appreciate him spending time in KC so that I don't have to. Anymore. 

The Fitzwilliam comes from our trip to Dublin/Munich. While I'm glad I got this chip, I probably wouldn't choose to go back to Dublin, especially at the expense of more days in Munich. The cab ride from the casino to our hotel was probably the only time I have ever been more than 50% sure the cabbie was going to rob/kill me. Super sketchy. Almost rose to the level of pre-dialing 9 and 1 and having my finger on the other 1. Does that work over there? I guess I'm glad I didn't find out. While he didn't kill/rob us, he did come about 3 inches from running over a bicyclist on the route. In his defense, the roads are super narrow and the bicyclists are very very brave.

Harrah's New Orleans comes from Julie's Aunt Winnie. It's my second chip from this casino, and the two are not very different, but different nonetheless. And while Louisiana is one of four states I haven't been to yet (with Hawaii, Vermont, Idaho), again I'm glad I didn't have to spend time there to get this one. As my brother told me, the French Quarter smells like piss and vomit. He doesn't exactly work for their tourism department.

I have no recollection of how I came to be the owner of this chip. Do you know? Let me know.

See you in 2020, I guess!

2018!

Welcome to the first (hopefully not last) post of 2018!  I have 12 new chips to add to collection, which brings the total to 509.  It has been a long time since my last update and I am sorry to say I don't remember exactly how I got this most recent batch of 12.  Nevertheless, they are:

Two from Miami, Oklahoma (I've been through here before!)
Quapaw Casino
Joe's Outback Casino and Grill (which I believe is a part of the Buffalo Run Casino and Resort)

 A third chip from the Hard Rock in Tulsa.

Two cruise ship chips, a Caribbean Grand Casino and Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas.

The Lucky Star Casino in beautiful Clinton, Oklahoma.

The Twin Arrows Casino in Flagstaff, Arizona.

The Route 66 Casino is Rio Puerco, New Mexico.

Located in Church Rock, NM is the Fire Rock Casino.  Cool Mountain Lion on it, too.

The Sky City Casino in New Mexico.

And two from Albuquerque, the Isleta and Sandia Resort.

Hopefully, the posts come more often in 2018 as I now start the march toward 600 chips.

Now just 3 away from 500!

It's been a while.  Not quite 18 months like the time between the last 2 posts, but still 5 months.  I guess I'm running out of chips to collect.  Was in Vegas in January and while I didn't come home with any chips, it did send me to the web to get a handful I had been looking at.  13 to be exact, which brings my grand total up to 497.  Just 3 more to go to hit an even 500.  On to the newest 13:

1.  Scoreboard Sports Lounge and Casino - Spring Creek, NV.  Spring Creek is a suburb of Elko off I-80 on the way to Salt Lake City.  It's part of the Northern Star Casinos group which includes 2 casinos in Elko including one names El Capitan.  I kind of want a chip from there now.

2.  Palms - Las Vegas.  New house chip for the Palms.  Which is the home of Rain.  Not Mist.  I actually kind of like it, especially for the Palms.  They don't have the strongest looking collection of chips.

3.  Red Rock 10th Anniversary.  Congrats to the Red Rock on 10 years of taking people's money!

4.  Green Valley Ranch 15th Anniversary.  And congrats to the Green Valley Ranch on 15 years of taking people's money.  Man, I wish their TV show was still on the air.

5.  Lucky Dragon - Las Vegas.  I wish I had made it down to this one, as it's the first Strip casino built from the ground up since 2010.  It's by the City Center complex though and out of walking distance for the 50 hours or so I was in town.  Next time for sure.

6.  Aliante Casino - Las Vegas.  New house chip after being acquired by Boyd Gaming.  Pretty boring.  And very similar to:

7.  Cannery - Las Vegas.  Also a new house chip after being acquired by Boyd Gaming.  All the money was spent on acquisition, I guess.  Nothing left for chip design.

8.  and 9.  Caesars Palace Las Vegas 50th Anniversary Chips.  2 chips for this, one with a view of the casino as it looked in 1966 and one from 2016.  I still don't think this place, or palace if you will, is beeper friendly.  I'll have to check.

10.  Caesars - Lake Tahoe.  Very nice design by the folks in Tahoe as the red chip with black Caesars head looks really sharp.

11.  Tropicana - Laughlin.  Again, a really nice looking chip.  Take note Boyd Gaming!

12.  MGM - Prince George's County, Maryland.  Maryland's newest casino is an MGM property.  I believe the state now has 6.

13.  Nugget - Reno.  New house chip for the Nugget, which is actually in Sparks, not Reno.  But they are practically the same town.  And who has ever heard of Sparks?  At least people are familiar with the biggest little city in the world.  Reno fever, catch it!

Long Time, No Blog

Looks like it's been almost 18 months since my last update.  Fear not, I have not neglected my chip collecting duties over that time.  In fact, I've collected almost one chip per two months gone without blogging.  I am now 8 chips closer to hitting the 500 mark, the new chips bring me just 16 shy.  Now it has been a while since I've gotten some of these chips, so a lot of the pertinent details I've forgotten, but I'll try my best.

1.  The Adventure of the Seas Casino on board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.  I hope whomever was on this trip had a lovely time and visited some lovely places.

2.  Casesars Windsor.  The 4th "Detroit" casino, it's easily the most recognized structure of the Windsor skyline.

3.  Rivers Casino 5th Anniversary.  Just outside of Chicago.
4.  Rivers Casino.

5.  Hollywood Casino Kansas City.  This one is near the NASCAR track in KC.  Lots going on in KC these days.

6.  Plaza.  Downtown Las Vegas.  Stayed there in January when I visited.  You've been to Vegas too many times when you opt to stay downtown because you're bored with the Strip and "never stayed downtown before."
7.  Plaza Oscar Goodman.  Former Mayor of Las Vegas.  Read a great book about him - Of Rats and Men by John L. Smith.  No, not that John L. Smith.

8.  Casino del Mar - Puerto Rico.  I'm hoping this was from the same person as chip #1.  That would be a lovely trip.