I can give an overview of my interactions with Borland, though others may have more complete information to add ---

I first "met" Bill though the mail as a result of an ad he placed in Gambling Times magazine around 1980 (no relation to Akeman's Gaming Times magazine). Borland had purchased certain assets (ie chips, etc.) from the bankrupt Silverbird casino, and he was selling Silverbird chips & tokens, plus other chips & tokens thru the mail. I subcribed to his chip & token mail lists and bought from him numerous times during the 1980's thru about 1990.

Borland was a maitre'd at one of the Dunes fancy restaurants, but was an entrepreneur on the side, along with his "significant other", Starr Warrick. His business, named Star Time Inc. had a division named "World-Wide Casino Exchange" that sold chips & tokens; published a newsletter (lasted 5 issues 1993-1995); distributed a "magalog" (Borland's term -- part magazine / part catalog, get it) with gambling items & books for sale; even a tourist-oriented LV business that would draw a characature of you with Vegas in the background; etc, etc. All of these businesses operated out of his apartment, except in later days "The Gambler" magalog may have had a storefront location.

I know he did have a genuine interest in chips & tokens, and casino history. So did Starr Warrick. I met them on 2 occasions on trips to LV. I was an eager collector with lots of questions. His info on chip molds, inlays, etc. was helpful in learning about chips before the days when much info was out there. I recall one trip when he explained how chips from the various distributors mostly came from the Burt Co., which I had never heard of before.

Borland's "Blue Book" was an ambitious project in its day, though it has been eclipsed by other sources now available. My early chip education I personally credit to Borland, plus excellent work from Howdy Herz' first book (Harvey's guide) and his early Sierra Numismatics chip lists. Remember, this is all pre-CC>CC.

I can't explain the circumstances or motives behind the counterfeit Borland "NEVADA mold" chips at all.

I think Borland did the closed LV casino commemorative chips (with the dates on them) purely as an homage to those casinos. He sold those sets, with no deception for around $2 per chip. (However, in the years hense, those chips have become problematic for new/ uninformed chippers and devious &/or uninformed chip sellers.)

Starr Warrick died in the late 80's (prox.) and Bill sold off her chip collection. (I still have most of his sales lists around here somewhere.)
Borland died in the early 90's it seems; don't recall the exact time frame. My impression is that much was sold off before his death, but that Jerry Wall (?) bought some or all of his business, incl. "The Gambler" operation. I may be wrong on that detail?

I think Gene T. summed it up pretty well, some months ago, when he said Borland did some good & some bad for the hobby.

In my book, he's not entirely an ogre for what he did with counterfeit chips, though it is a major blemish on an otherwise pioneering reputation in the chip collecting hobby.