Hi Dave; Thanks for bringing to my attention the incorrect ebay ending date of my Will Espin sale that I had written about in my original post .... which I've since deleted. As for your response, there is much truth in what you say. This chip probably is being manipulated, but not by me. Those of you who subscribe to my A.C. New Issue Service and have received a copy of my Special Edition newsletter about this chip, know exactly the full story behind the issuance. Dave, you've received that newsletter. Are you saying that I've misled anyone?

While I'm not aware of the offer that was made to you, I have no reason to doubt your claim that you were offered 25 chips from a pit boss at $8@. This happens all the time..... especially at Tropicana. Why do you think they only made 500 of these chips, when they could have sold a thousand or more with no problem? In retrospect, perhaps you should have taken up that pit boss on his offer.

But, putting all this aside, the simple fact is that this chip, with 500 issued, still remains as the toughest $5 LE issue to get. While the $5 Caesars Golatta chip was also a 500 issue, that chip had wide distribution to chip collectors. Obviously, by your own account, the in-house speculators have absorbed a sizeable number of this extremely limited Will Espin edition.

I too, don't like what I'm seeing, and plan to make dramatic adjustments on my offer to subscribers.

David; As you know, I've published the Tropicana President's name and address in my special mailing to well over 100 subscribers to voice their objections to Trop's chip issuance policy. Tropicana is the only property in town that transports their LE chips from the main cage to the poker room cage, where they can be hidden, or put aside, significant quantities of chips on reserve for the privileged few .... and it is my opinion that does not exclude in-house employees. I wonder how many chip collectors who are so concerned about this abuse, took the time to write to Trop and register their complaints? To ignore it, will only encourage similar events such as this in the future.