Sorry to be so late in contributing to this thread ... but I think that in addition to more collectors than ever before, seeking out relatively common chips on ebay, along with the proliferation of collector websites now offering chips for sale and the convenience of PayPal ... the associated costs of attending chip shows may be discouraging the "average" out of state collector from attending distant events.

Cost of travel, hotel accomodations, car rentals, etc. all adds up to the overall cost of purchasing chips at smaller shows than at the event-filled annual club conventions. Lots of folks would rather use that expense money to purchase new aquisitions on the internet. Brick and mortar retail store operations are discovering the same thing ... internet sales are cutting into their bottom line.

The "more advanced" collector (in my opinion) is more likely to attend the smaller chip shows because of the availability of better material being offered at shows than is usually the case on ebay.

Also, there are multiple commercial shows being run in Nevada every couple of months throughout the year to expect the same people (dealers included) to keep attending. Having said that, it is too expensive to put on similar shows on the east coast where a huge population lives. The A.C. Convention & Visitors Bureau puts out a statistic that something like 1/3 the population of the U.S. lives within a 300 mile radius of Atlantic City! Think about it ... that's from Boston to Washington, D.C. along the coast, almost to the Pennsylvania/Ohio border to the West. 300 miles is within easy driving range for most East coasters. I would venture a guess and say that other than the locals living in the Las Vegas area, most visitors to the Palms show were probably from California. The last statistic I'm familiar with from several years ago; approximately 1/3 of the CC & GTCC membership is from California. That may not be the case anymore.

No, I'm not suggesting that the convention be moved to the East Coast as there are other important considerations that make Las Vegas the hands down favorite. However, another enterprising experienced individual; someone like a Jim Munding, might want to explore the possibility of putting on a quality, privately-run East Coast casino collectibles show.

Unfortunately, I doubt that any of the A.C. casinos would provide the superb support that the Palms organization and Gene Trimble does for their quality annual show. Tom Plau tried organizing a major east coast show a few times at the Music Pier in Ocean City, NJ several years ago. The first show was o.k., but the follow-up events such as bad weather and low attendance and other considerations were disasterous. It's very tough to get space in an A.C. casino property on a weekend. Hotel rooms on a weekend in A.C....? Forget about it unless you are a rated player.

One mis-calculation that I believe Tom made for his Ocean City show was by having an open trade session the night before the show opened. Many of those who attended the free trading session did not return the following day when the show opened. Unlike Las Vegas, where most folks (other than the locals) stay overnight in a hotel ... East Coasters will drive back home and not come back the next day for a small size show.

Just my personal ramblings in response to your wonderment of lack of attendance at the Palms Show. Hopefully, next year might be better.