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In the chips
Sleep, meals and time forgotten when collectors line up for gambling sets
By ELAINE ROSE Staff Writer, (609) 272-7215, E-Mail
For Jerry Birl, losing sleep in pursuit of collectible casino chips is not an issue.
Thus, the Millsboro, Del., man was determined to be first in line on Saturday late last month when Trump Marina Casino Resort began selling a new five-chip set commemorating Atlantic City's 150th anniversary.
So determined, that he took the last ferry to Cape May Friday night and drove 55 miles to Atlantic City, prepared to stand in line for as long as it took to buy the chips. The set - one red $5 chip, two blue $10 chips, a green $25 chip and a black one for $100, all illustrated with scenes from historic Atlantic City - were to go on sale at 2 p.m. by the cashier's window on the casino floor.
He arrived at the Marina at 10:30 p.m. Friday and parked himself at a row of slot machines near the booth, trying his luck while keeping a watchful eye on the "cage," as the cashier's window is called. He even hit a $300 jackpot.
After a midnight break to play roulette and eat a sandwich, he resumed his spot at the slot machines. It was 2:30 a.m. and Birl had been awake since Friday morning. A half hour later, two more avid collectors, Virginia and Jack Heiman of Haddon Heights, walked up to the nearby cage.
"'Hey guys," Birl yelled to them, "the line starts over here.'"
The three chatted to pass the time and about 6 a.m., with the line growing, someone got scraps of paper from the cashier, wrote out numbers, and gave them to people in the order they had arrived to vqalidate each person's place in line. Birl was No. 1, the Heimans were Nos. 2 and 3.
Eight hours later, there were more than 100 people in the line - all waiting to shell out $150 for a set of chips that would be held, traded and prized - but probably never see action at a gaming table. Only 150 of the sets were issued and the resale value was almost guaranteed to double by nightfall.
Everyone in the line was either a collector, the spouse of a collector or hoped to make a profit from the 148 sets being offered for sale (the other two were withheld to offer as prizes in a contest).
Sleep still wasn't the foremost thing on Birl's mind, he said from behind baggy eyes a few minutes before 2 p.m., when the clerks at the window began dispensing the treasure.
"I'll get a good night's sleep after I get home," he said.
The Heimans were also among the sleepless. Virginia Heiman said she spent all day Friday at Trump Marina, then drove home in the middle of the night to pick up her husband, who got about two hours of sleep. She was awake all night.
Casino collectibles are hot these days, and Birl, who has about 20,000 chips in his collection, and the Heimans were not the only ones to line up - with coffee cups in hand - before dawn to make sure they got a set of these rare chips.
"I came in at 4:30 this morning, and they were all lined up," a Trump Marina employee said.
Fortunately, there was no patron No. 149 to reach the window only to find that the person in front had bought the last set. So management let the about those who wanted line up again for seconds, and several took advantage of the offer. Others headed to their rooms or cars to finally catch some sleep.
Less than two weeks later, about half a dozen sets of these chips were listed on eBay, with asking prices up to $300.
Jack Heiman said he would keep his set in his collection and hold onto his wife's set to trade for something else he really wants.
Growing hobby
Gaming chips are the most popular casino collectible, because they have a clear monetary value. But some people also collect slot-club cards, ashtrays and other items associated with the gaming life.
If it has a casino name printed on it, someone collects it, said Archie "Mr. Chips" Black of Brick, founder of the Casino Chips and Gaming Token Collectors Club. He started the nationwide club in 1988 with about a dozen members. Now about 3,000 people have joined, and the group has a convention every year in Las Vegas.
"I joke it's a good thing the casinos don't put their names on the ice machines in the hotel, because collectors would walk off with them," Black said.
That cocktail napkin you threw into the trash after your last visit to a casino bar is worth money to someone. So is that swizzle stick you left in the ashtray or that book of matches from the gourmet restaurant that you used to light your candles. Slot-club cards are a hot item, and the "old" ones from the early 1990s are especially valuable.
Except for the chips, most of the items sell for only a buck or two. But rest assured, someone wants them.
Gaming chips are the most sought-after casino collectible, because they don't lose their value, Black said. At least in Atlantic City, you can always cash them in for face value, even if the casino goes out of business.
Black has a $100 chip from the Boardwalk Regency (now Caesars Atlantic City), but he has no intention of going to the cage to get his money back.
"I'd be a fool to do so. I just got a four-figure offer for it," Black said at a meeting of the Atlantic City Casino Collectibles Club held recently at the Sands Casino Hotel.
Most casino managers like the chip collectors the same way the United States Postal Service woos stamp collectors. It costs less than $1 to manufacture a gaming chip, and the ones collectors snap up aren't used in an attempt to win the money back.
"We think of it more as an advertising vehicle than a profit venture," said Todd Moyer, marketing director for Trump Marina. The chips circulate all over the country and "it's a mini billboard (for the casino) that's in everybody's hand."
Most gaming chip collectors started out accumulating other collectibles, but they like the casino atmosphere and gradually shifted to gambling memorabilia.
Ron Leis of Ventnor started collecting chips 35 years ago when he lived in Nevada. But when he moved to Atlantic City in 1980 to take a job at the Sands, he had to give up the hobby because casino employees weren't allowed to gamble. When those regulations were eased in 1992, Leis' collection started to grow again. He can't count how many chips are in his collection, but says the number is in six figures.
Leis expanded his collection to include slot-club cards. He claims to have 300,000 of them, neatly stored in boxes of 500 and labeled by casino. They're cheaper to acquire than chips.
"You can go into any casino and get one imprinted with your name" for free, Leis said.
It's impossible to have one of every chip these days, so most collectors specialize, said Russ Diaz of Brigantine. Some concentrate on one gaming jurisdiction, others go for chips with pictures of sports stars or entertainers. His specialty is chips from the World Series of Poker, especially after he won a seat in that tournament last spring.
Diaz and his wife, Nancy, started out buying antique slot machines. About 25 years ago, they bought a blackjack table that had belonged to Bill Harrah, and set it up in their home. To make it look authentic, they placed some chips on it. Then they got more chips. And more chips. And more chips.
"We literally turned our garage into a chip room," Nancy Diaz said. "The table is disassembled. We don't have room for it because the chips took over."
To e-mail Elaine Rose at The Press:
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