Here are the Curacao chips I was able to bring back. I took a flight over from Aruba for the day. The casino in Curacao are not very chipper friendly. There were some situations that made chipping very very difficult...especially for the day traveler! First off, the casinos all open at different times. below are some problems that I ran into.

1. Chips are not sold at all throught the cage. you MUST get them only from the tables.

2. Posted at every casino at both Aruba as well as Curacao is that all chips MUST be redeemed before leaving the casino. I saw this posted at all casinos. Some casinos even had it posted on the door as you come in as well as at the cage, on the security dest and aty the tables!!

3. Tables open at various times...one casino opened the "tables" at 11:30am. That was the San Marco. They opened one black jack table and unfortunately the dealer didn't speak english, nor did the other locals at the table. My lousy spanish was useless as they only spoke Popiamento! Thats the local language which is comprised of Portugese, spanish, french, dutch and various strange dialects known only to a few desert dwelling nomads. Anyway, they only had a few chips at the table and many were used since there were 5 players. Most of the $1.00 chips were so worn the hot stamp was comnpletely gone! Soooo...I played; commubnicating via the international language of the black jack table. This language is known simply as: "ScatchOrWaveOff". This language is complimented by the international response of grin or moan. In my case, the above forementioned communications were then followed by another international action known as: "The WalletReach".
Anyway, to make a long story even longer, i ended up playing for about an hour and snuck off a couple $1.00 chips here and there as I found a chip in good condition. Let me tell you, these ended up being some very expensive chips!!

4. Most casinos there do not have craps tables, just Black jack and carribean stud and an occassional roulette table. The black jack tables dont stock many $1.00 chips at all. If they are running low, they ask you for them out of your stack. I had a pit boss in the Plaza ask me if I had any $1.00 chips in my pocket! after i got done stumbling over my tongue, i pulled a few out (leaving the remaining few there as if they didnt exist). He gave me a look, in which i just smiled and shrugged. Luckily, he smiled back and all was well.
5. I think dealers in the southern carribean are all on downers. Ive never seen table play at a casino go so slow!! Its like they were only allowed to deal so many hands in an hour and dare not go over their allocated number. I think smiling was also restricted.

The nothern casinos on Curacao were different. They were at the resorts. I went to the Sheraton which i soon discovered didnt open their tables until 7:00 pm. Now theres a problem! My flight back to Aruba was at 9:00pm and the airport was at the other end of the island. Did I mention an island with a restiction on the number of street signs or markings on a road? Okay...off to the Princess Casino! I arrive at 6:00 and discover that they open the tables at 6:00 pm. (Carribean time)Did I mention that they have restrictions on promptness? You see in the Carribean 6:00 pm actually means anytime after 6:00 pm. So, at 6:45 they open a roulette table. I shmooze with the pit boss (boss-ette). She speaks english!! Alright!!! I finally get a few $1.00 chips from her and even a couple $5.00 chips. She actually opened a locked black jack chip box and took out chips. Another first for me to see. She took the money and shoved the cash in the chip box and relocked it. I explained (begged) and tried to convince her (pleaded)of how i was a collector and really wanted, needed and must have chips for souveniers of my wonderful trip to Curacao. Well the Chip-Gods had pity on me and she said to me with a heavy Jamacian accent "hold on baby, I will get you some old ones" She left for the back room and then came back with the obsolete red ones! OH JOY!! I told her i loved her and slipped her a $5.00 bill and blew her a kiss as I left.

5. Cash out!! WHAT A NEW CONCEPT FOR THEM. You see, they do not want the chips leaving the table. None of the chips. Not even one! When you cash out, you give them all the chips, and they write you a cash out ticket which you can then take to the cashier cage. Cashier cage....hmmmm, did I mention that the cashier cage is actually the slot change booth? Yep! BELIEVE IT! They expect the chips to stay at their dedicated table. No taking chips from one table to the next. If you want to play at another table, you lay down additional cash, or go to the cashier cage(he-he)and get the cash and then lay it down at the next table (assuming its open).

I'm sure that night time things are different. Well maybe they at least have a few other tables open.

In Aruba, there were some craps tables, so no problem getting chips as long as you're there at night. They dont have the tables open during the day unless you are at one of the two casinos that are by the cruise ships (Seaport and Crystal Casino)

Okay...thats all for now. Stay tuned for more exciting stories from the Dutch Antillies