I spoke with the man in charge of the chip program at the AC Tropicana today. In short, he said...

• he would talk with the pit people in charge at the next release to try and improve customer relations
• thinks a 1:00 release time is better than 12:00 because it's too hard to get the chips out for a 12:00 release when they are opening the tables at 12:00
• thinks 5 per person is fair to everyone - based on input he has received from other chip collectors
• might come down to the next to release to see what is going on, and
• finally, does NOT care if I ask other people to buy me chips as long as they are NOT playing a game at the time I ask them. Translation - Don't go and pull someone off a craps table, but anyone standing around or walking by is OK to ask. Asking 10 people to buy chips is no different than showing up with 10 people.

I would call this a step in the right direction.

Scott