... is probably best told by Gene, who posted below in response to Mark:

>> The two chips you are showing were made by you, a casino executive
>> at the time, and you got all of them and sold them into the hobby
>> for $15 each. I did my best to get you fired. You deserved it.

I have to leave shortly, so can only give you a quick synopsis at the moment.

My understanding is that the chips were produced by the Four Queens under Mark's direction at a cost of 75 cents each plus tax. They went in the cage at a total cage value of $250 (25 cents each times 1000 chips).

The dispute is over what happened then. I believe that Mark bought the entire production out of the cage at face value and attempted to sell them into the collecting community at a substantial profit. Three regular dealers ended up offering them for sale at prices ranging from $10-15 per chip.

After repeated inquires by me, Mark finally denied buying any of the chips out of the cage and also denied selling any to the three dealers who were in turn selling them to collectors.

I personally emailed each of the three asking who they got the chips from. One did not answer, one said it was an unidentified third party. One confirmed that the chips came from Mark Karrol for $10 per chip. I have no reason to disbelieve either of the two sellers who responded to my inquiries.

After the big dustup on the board, Mark (and the Pai Gows) more or less went into hiding. And now he (and they) are back.

----- jim o\-S