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 - 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.

 

March Update

Six new chips to add to the blog, courtesy of my brother (@ATRoss14) and the internet.  They are:

1.  Soaring Eagle - Mt. Pleasant, MI - new house chip.  My brother stopped by the Eagle a few weeks ago and brought me back the new house chip.  I haven't been to Soaring Eagle in years, instead opting for Detroit and Battle Creek, but I'm sure nothing has changed.  Automatic shuffle machines, high table minimums, unfriendly staff and lots of smoke.  Put that on a billboard!

2.  The Mirage - Las Vegas - 25 Years.  The Mirage opened in the middle of the Las Vegas strip in 1989.  It helped kicked off the new era of modern, upscale Strip casinos.  I've always liked gambling there and once even saw Steve Lyons wandering around.

3.  Hard Rock - Las Vegas - Puma.  How could I not get a chip with a sweet pair of Puma kicks on it?

4.  Hard Rock - Las Vegas - Eminem.
5.  Hard Rock - Las Vegas - Hootie and the Blowfish (New Years Eve 1996).

Just your standard 'musician on a chip' chips.

6.  Riviera - Las Vegas - older house chip.  The Riviera Casino is set to close May 4 (just two days after the Kentucky Derby!).  So I went back and looked for some of their older house chips and found this one.  I've never stayed at the Riviera, I'm sure I've played a little there but really, I only remember that there was a Burger King in their Food Court.  And I never ate at their food court.

That brings my chip total up to 470.

April Update - Vegas

It's been a while since I have been to Las Vegas myself, but the blog is always very appreciative of others who go and bring back a chip or four.  Aunt Winnie recently completed a stay out there and brought me back these four wonderful chips:

1.  Max Casino
2.  Max Casino Grand Opening

The Max Casino is the new name of the Westin Causarina, a slightly off-strip casino that was once named the Maxim Hotel and Casino.  Tupac was shot in front of the Maxim in 1996.

3.  Downtown Grand

The Downtown Grand opened in October of 2013 and is the former Lady Luck Casino.

4.  Planet Hollywood - Britney Spears

Brit Brit is performing a show at the PH called "Piece of Me."  She's got about 1.5 years left on her two year deal, so there's still time to get your tickets.

Casino Chip Show - Battle Creek (part 2 of 4)

The second batch of chips from my brother (@ATRoss14) are all horse racing themed.  2014 will mark my 10th straight trip to the Kentucky Derby, so these are pretty cool to me.  They are:

1.  Riviera - The Run.  Undated, limited to 1,000 chips.

2.  Riviera - Kentucky Derby 2001.  Limited to 800 chips.  This race was on May 5 and won by Monarchos.  Giacomo in 2005 was my first Derby and the only year I haven't won a bet in the main race.

3.  Palms - 2005 Kentucky Derby Winner Giacomo.  Limited to 1,500.  Hey, what do you know, I was at that race.  Talk about your foreshadowing.  Giacomo was roughly a 50-1 shot and touched off a string of long shots winning the Derby in recent years.  Mine That Bird (50-1), Animal Kingdowm (21-1) and I'll Have Another (15-1) have all cashed tickets for me.

4.  Palms - 1977 Belmont Stakes Winner Seattle Slew.  Limited to 1,000.  The second to last Triple Crown winner, Seattle Slew accomplished that feat in 1977.

5.  Palms - 2004 Kentucky Derby Winner Smarty Jones.  Limited to 1500.  This was the year before I started going and the thing I remember most about this mega-favorite winning the race was an episode of the Nick and Jessica Simpson show where they went to the race and bet on Smarty.  At 4 to 1.  Big time.

6.  Palms - 1977 Preakness Winner Seattle Slew.  Limited to 1,000.  See #4.

7.  Palms - 2004 Preakness Winner Smarty Jones.  Limited to 1,000.  Wonder if the Simpsons made it to Baltimore for this race?  Smarty would finish second at the Belmont in 2004, narrowly missing out on the first Triple Crown since 1978 (Affirmed).

8.  Palms - 2003 Kentucky Derby Winner Funny Cide.  Limited to 1,500.  Funny Cide was a 13-1 winner in Louisville and won the Preakness before finishing third in the Belmont.

9.  Palms - 1977 Kentucky Derby Winner Seattle Slew.  Limited to 1,500.  The race that started Seattle Slew's march to the Triple Crown.  Seattle Slew was an incredible 1 to 2 to win the Derby.

May Update

Four new chips added to the collection that I bought online.

1.  Aladdin - Lionel Richie.  Hello?  Is this the chip you're looking for?  From New Year's Eve 2004, this chip was limited to 5,000.  The opposite side is a "Coming in 2006 Planet Hollywood" design.  I'm kind of surprised it took me this long to get the Lionel chip though.  Always a strong jukebox play at the Pub.

2.  Aladdin - Grand Opening.  This is the 2000 second opening of the Aladdin.  It originally opened in 1966 and was imploded in 1998.  It reopened two years later and then in 2007 finally changed to Planet Hollywood.

3.  MGM Grand - Ty Murray.  This is another of the red/white edge chips that looks just like their Grand Opening, Julio Cesar Chavez and Betty Boop chips.  He's a 9-time World Champion rodeo cowboy and he's married to Jewel.  Not sure which accomplishment the chip is commemortating.

4.  Pioneer Club - Vegas Vic/Hoover Dam.  The Pioneer Club has a series of chips with the same Vegas Vic back and a historic Vegas fact/photo on the other side.  This one is for the completion of the Hoover Dam in 1936.  But I really like the Vic side of it, so I chose to go with that one.  The Pioneer Club was a downtown casino that closed 20 years ago.

Monte Carlo BrewPub

When the Monte Carlo fist opened on the Las Vegas Strip, they had a Brew Pub/Restaurant in the back near the tram stop.  I don't remember much about the place, but they did put out a commemorative chip for each of the six beers they brewed on site.  Each one was limited to 1200 chips and for the longest time I only had the Brewmaster Special.  But thanks to eBay, I was able to get the other five giving me the complete set.  They new five are:

1.  High Roller Red
2.  Silver State Stout
3.  Jackpot Pale
4.  Las Vegas Lites
5.  Winner's Wheat

Being I am mostly (but not always) a Miller Lite drinker, I would have probably been a fan of the Las Vegas Lite.  The area where the BrewPub was has been a couple different things in the last ten years but is now a sports bar called "The Pub."  Which is probably pretty much what they wanted the Brew Pub to be originally.  The new place has 300 beers on menu.  Seriously, look:

http://www.montecarlo.com/files/restaurants/the-pub-beer-menu.pdf

That's a lot of beers.  But none of their original microbrews.

Casino Chip Show - Cleveland

This past weekend I was able to attend my second casino chip show, this one just outside of Cleveland.  I was expecting it to be bigger and grander than the one I attended in Battle Creek, but it was probably a little smaller.  And there seemed to be more non-chips on display, things like; ash trays, key cards, dice, signage and other stuff of that nature.  Nonetheless, I was able to come home with 8 new chips.

1.  Casino M8trix, San Jose, California.  Kind of cool looking chip from the new M8trix Casino.  The 8 in the name is in red so at first glance, I read the chip as "Casino Trix."

2.  Rivers Casino, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  My first chip from the Keystone State.  Pretty basic looking.

3.  Rio - Danny Gans.  Danny was called the "Man of Many Voices" and for a while advertisements for his show could be found on virtually every cab and bus in Vegas.  He performed at the Strat, the Mirage and the Rio before dying in 2009 at age 52.  I had no idea he was a pro baseball player and only stopped playing due to an injury to his Achilles tendon.  The theater at the Mirage is named after him.

4.  Holiday Inn Casino Boardwalk - Grand Opening.  The Boardwalk opened in 1995 - it seemed way older than that.  Had a great Strip location between the Bellagio and Monte Carlo.  Also had a fake roller coaster on top of their main entrance, long before casinos started putting actual roller coasters inside.  It was imploded in 2006 and the City Center now sits where I used to play $3 blackjack.

5.  Blue Man Group - Monte Carlo.  The Blue Man Group moved to the Monte Carlo after fairly lengthy runs at the Luxor and the Venetian.

6.  Stardust - Legendary Old-Timer Bill Boyd.  This chip was put out in 1998 and limited to 2,000 chips.  Bill Boyd is a four-time winner of the 5 Card Stud event at the World Series of Poker. 

7.  Tropicana - Folies Bergere 35th Anniversary.  Maybe that's why the Trop smells like old people - they have the same acts for 35 years.

8.  Flamingo, New Orleans.  I really like the look of this chip, with the small font and dark colors.  Good job Flamingo, NO.