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I posted the following on a website devoted to people who frequent Las Vegas urging them of the following Hooters Chip Scam. You are bidding on a copy of this letter. Two can play at this game, Hooters.

Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 10:51 pm Post subject: Hooters Casino Chip Scam.

Even I can't believe this one.

The Las Vegas Hooters Casino has a GREAT scam going on that I think the public should know about.

On opening night in January I asked to purchase several $5 "January Hooter Girl" chips to add to my collection. I was told the cage had none and that I must seek the pit area where they all had been distributed.

Their pit area is extremely small, that night it was PACKED and I couldn't imagine breaking up a full game to ask a dealer to sort through a stack of chips on my behalf. Of course that is before I knew that a $5 chip would sell for $40 on Ebay.

February passed with their $5 chips. So did March.

Last night, on March 31st, I called and asked if "Miss April" was going to be there today signing the April chips.

I was told by the main cashier that they weren't sure what time she was due to arrive so they also couldn't confirm what time the chips would be released. This month they are issuing $25 chips for the first time as well as their $5 chips. I was told their $5 chips would be released Friday, April 7th. Don't bet on it. CERTAINLY don't waste your time going to Hooters in hopes that you'll be able to purchase one. And I hope you won't support the sellers of these chips on Ebay.

This morning, April 1st, at 10 am I again called, asking to speak to the the casino cage supervisor. The supervisor of the cage said the chips would be released "later today".

I arrived at Hooters at 1 pm.

I immediately went to the cage and this was the following conversation:

Me: Can you tell me if the April $25 chips have been released yet? I would like to buy $100 worth.

Cashier: I don't know.

Me: Well. I called earlier and they said that they were being released today. Do you know what time that will be?

Cashier: I really don't know. You should probably ask the "pit".

Me: Who in the "pit" should I ask? Are you saying I should interrupt a game so I can buy a chip???

Cashier: I don't know. I just got on duty.

Ok. So after having been on top of this chip "situation" since January and knowing full well that Hooters was selling these commemorative chips to their employees instead of their customers I was a bit pissy and decided to take a small break.

I then asked: the maids, the porters, the gift shop attendants, the bartenders, the Hooters girls and any other employee I bumped into.

As I was about to leave this nonsense I finally walked up to the bellman.

" Sir, can you tell me if the April Hooters chips are being released today?"

"I'm sorry. I don't really know what you mean." This appears to be the standard response Hooters employees have decided to settle on when they are fully on top of the situation.

There was a man standing there listening to the conversation who turned out to be a manager and he says " You know, the $5 chips are coming out next Friday. I'm not sure but you can ask the cashiers and they will know."

I said, " I did and they DON'T know".

He was kind enough to say, "Come on.... Let's go. We'll get you an answer."

First he led me to the cashier cage; this time to the "family members only" counter. He asked and the cashier replied, "I haven't seen any. I think they're due out April 1st".

We both stared at her for a moment, hoping she'd snap to reality. She didn't. We both said, "It IS April 1st!"

The manager told her to yell at someone in the back. I didn't hear the answer but she then tells us "No. They're not out yet". This was at 3 pm, April 1st.

Next we walk over to the pit and the pit boss was apparently busy so the manager asks an unoccupied dealer if he knows anything about the $25 chips.

He says, gloatingly, "Well, I got one 2 hours ago but I don't know if any are left or not".

At that the manager say, "Let's go see the assistant Vice President. He's SURE to know."

We walked into a room filled with gorgeous Hooters chicks who were obviously in a pre-shift meeting where the VP was telling them the do's and don'ts of the evening. He turned around and acknowledged the manager.

When explained the situation the manager said he had no IDEA of when the chips were going to be released but "considering how much the $5 were selling on Ebay he would be amazed at how long the $25 last".

After nearly 3 hours there I headed home to find that they were already listed on Ebay and HAD been since an hour before I arrived at Hooters.

It is quite obvious to me that the main cashier is holding these back for employees (kickbacks) so I called the Gaming Commission, thinking this couldn't possible be legal.

It is.

But that doesn't make it right.

When you approach a cashier at a casino and ask to pay $25 for a piece of plastic that costs them 17 cents to make and they REFUSE, even though they are fully aware they have them in their drawer, there's a definite conflict of interest going on.

I have been posting extremely positive comments regarding Hooters Casino on this board since their opening in January.

I take it all back.

Every employee IN that place is aware of these monthly chips and have decided to break tradition with other casinos in their legitimate operation of selling these chips. The whole intention of chips like these are to MARKET a casino. Especially when a casino such as Hooters opens in a non-Strip location to mixed reviews you'd think one of their top priorities would be the satisfaction of customers over employees. This is not the case at Hooters Casino in Las Vegas.

In my opinion, when the Vice President of a company looks you in the eye and swears on a lie.....they can all go to hell.

Please do NOT support Hooters Casino or these Las Vegas "sellers" on Ebay. There may be one or two who are legitimate but if they live in Las Vegas they are most likely Hooters employees in cahoots with the cage.

If you stop buying from them they will be forced to stop this unethical practice and the outrageous prices will fall.