John; I'm glad that someone has asked that question publicly.

Personally, I think that the more chips issued from more properties ... the merrier ... PROVIDED the club has some assurances that short issues that are set-aside for "those on various lists" ... and for other favored people in Las Vegas ... do not exhaust supplies before the main body of chippers from around the country arrive in town. Many out-of-towners will not have their own transportation to get to the outlying properties that will be issuing 10th Anniversary Convention LE chips. Also, as Janice O'Neal has mentioned, it appears that some of these chip releases (if not all of them) are designed to attract convention goers away from the host hotel (Tropicana) to drop a few bucks in the tills of other properties while chippers are there picking up convention related issues ... including convention silver strikes as well.

Here's the problem as I see it. With 100 dealer tables (and quite a few tables that are shared with other dealers) ... close to an estimated 150 convention chip dealers will be competing for the limited number of 15 different convention chips of various denominations available at nine different properties. If each dealer purchases only ten chips of each denomination/design for his/her inventory (which is a VERY conservative estimate) 1500 chips will surely exceed supply.... and I understand that some shorter issues will be only of 750 issued. Limits of one or two chips per person will be extremely difficult to administer unless a coupon of some sort is issued by the club to redeem at a casino cage... that's IF a casino would agree to honor such a system. On the other hand, who can predict how many club members will show up at this year's convention?

If the LE chips are released before Wednesday of convention week .... chances are the issues of only 750 North LV chips will be all snapped up by Thursday. 750 chips is not an awful lot of chips for an INTERNATIONAL Convention of chip collectors who make their annual pilgramage to Mecca each year. Not everybody will coming to town for the Early Bird Welcome on set-up Wednesday .... but many ARE coming for the trade session(s) that are being planned for Wednesday... (some swap sessions I hear are being privately sponsored for those not attending the banquet) .... while the official club-sponsored swap session is being planned for after the banquet.

If the chips are not released until opening day on Thursday, convention dealers will not be able to leave their tables to go around town and to North Las Vegas to pick up new issues for their inventories.

I understand that there will be a $15 gift shop purchase requirement in order to obtain the Hard Rock chip this year. While I personally have no problem with that concept (as I can always buy $15 worth of Hard Rock pins) I'm sure there are those individuals who will resent having to pay even $2 above face value to ANYBODY in order to purchase any chip.

No matter what decision has been made by the club officers, I'm sure there will be flack generated from those who disagree.... or from those who will be disappointed by not being able to "complete" their respective sets.... or not being able to bring back a few sets for those "chip collecting buddies" who didn't make it to the big show in Vegas.

Having first-hand experience from the Orleans convention chip sell-out a few years back, (and that was only ONE chip) I can see where there may be a few problems with some properties this year who seem to have a past track-record of "special lists" and "arrangements" with those who are in the know.