I have nearly 25,000 chips in my personal collection. To pick out my “Top 10 Favorites” is very difficult. I have a lot of very beautiful, very rare and very valuable chips in my collection but the ones I have chosen as my as my favorites all have a story behind them (and you guys know I love a story) as they represent some memorable point in my life or they continue to inspire me on to greater heights.

Listed below in chronological order of the date I acquired them are my “Top 10 Favorites” and the stories behind them.

1. High Sierra Casino - Lake Tahoe, Nevada - Green B Roulette chip. Date acquired September 1985 (This is 7 years before I really stared collecting chips or joined the CC>CC) My Father passed away on February 28, 1985 and my Mother had always wanted to go to Hawaii, but had not gotten a chance to go with my Father. In September of 1985, my Mother and I went on a 3 week vacation to California and Hawaii. On our trip we spent a couple of nights in Lake Tahoe staying at Caesars. After dinner, I got Mom back to the room and settled in and I went out to do a little gambling. I loved Roulette, go figure, so I wandered over to the High Sierra Casino to try my luck. They had about 5 Roulette tables at the High Sierra and that night I won on every table – I just could not lose!!! As a souvenir of my good fortune I harvested my first Roulette chip – the Green B chip. I went up to the room and Mom was already asleep, I went over to the dresser and put $800 down next to Mom’s purse, this was her portion of my winnings. In the morning when she woke up I told Mom about my good luck and told her to spend the money on anything she wanted. Needless to say everyone in the family ended up with a Hawaiian shirt!!! Every time I see the chip I think back about Mom and what a great time we had on our trip to Hawaii.

2. Claridge Casino – Atlantic City, New Jersey – Blue Satellite Design Roulette chip. Date acquired November 11, 1990. I was still not a member of CC>CC, but I was still a Roulette player. I was literally down to my last $5.00 and had played $1.00 on each of my five favorite #s on the Roulette wheel 25, 10, 27, 00, 1. The wheel spun and the ball dropped into 00, I had won $35.00. On the next spin I bet $20.00 straight up on 00 and spread the rest of the money around on my other favorite #s. The girl spun the wheel and the ball came to rest in 00 again. I had won $700.00. A strange feeling came over me as I asked the Pit Boss what the maximum straight up bet was. He said $200 on any number. I calmly placed $200 straight up on 00 and I spread a couple hundred dollars around on my other numbers. Before the next spin a new dealer came up to the table, I don’t know if this was a scheduled change or a move by the Casino to stop my lucky streak – I didn’t care who spun the wheel, as I gazed intently at the table in kind of a trance. The ball bounced slowly around the wheel and came to rest in 00 again. I had just won $7000.00!!! The poor girl who had spun the wheel was so nervous that she spilled the 31/2 stacks (70) $100 chips twice as she tried to pay off my winning bet. I let the $200 ride on 00. The next spin was 16 - the streal was over but I had won $7735.00 in 3 spins of the wheel To commemorate this feat I asked for a chip as a souvenir and the Pit Boss said go ahead and take one. I am no longer a big gambler – I now save my money to buy chips instead of betting heavily on the Roulette wheel. But whenever I see this chip I have fond memories of a great run at the Roulette table that turned $5.00 into $7735.00 in just 3 spins !!!

3. Bank Club - Reno Nevada – White chip Bank Club only no denomination. Date acquired April 21, 1994. I had been a card carrying member of the CC>CC for about two years when I acquired this chip fro Howdy Herz for $6.00. This chip is kinda plain and non-descript but I liked the look of it especially the Large Crown mold it had been produced on. This chip launched my Large Crown collection which now numbers over 700 chips and is still growing. Every time I see this Large Crown chip – I wonder which new Large Crown chip will join the Bank Club chip in one of my favorite specialized collections. The never ending search for Large Crowns continues.

4. Sands Casino – Atlantic City, New Jersey – Light Blue Daisy Design Roulette chip. Date acquired July 1994. I have over 4000 various Atlantic City Roulette chips, but I only have two chips of this first issue of Roulette chips from the Sands Casino. The Brighton which was the predecessor to the Sands produced what are considered to be the most valuable A C Roulette chips, but I have 20 Brighton Roulette chips and only two of these Sands chips. Once again this chip inspires me to continue to look for the chips that are undervalued by most collectors, but are highly prized and appreciated by me.

5. Casino de Monte Carlo – Monaco – Pink Chipco Roulette chip with Roulette Wheel design. Date acquired May 18, 1997. There are 14 designs and 9 colors of each of the Roulette chips from this series. I have 38 different chips from this series but only this single chip with the Roulette wheel design. This chip is special to me because I am old Roulette player (see chip #2 and #3 stories above) and I have always had the desire to go to Monaco and play Roulette in the grand salon of the Casino de Monte Carlo. When I see this chip, I always imagine myself playing Roulette at one of the most famous Casinos in the world. The dream continues ………

6. Palace Club – Reno, Nevada - #2 Purple Indian head Roulette chip. Date acquired March 25, 2003. This chip is truly beautiful and on that basis alone it might have made my top 10, but there is another side to this chip. I paid $300.00 for this chip and five years later I could have sold it for $8000.00 but I didn’t sell it, I keep it for my collection. Some people say – you must be crazy not to sell the chip. I told the potential buyer that the chip was not for sale and I was going to keep it for MY collection. When I see this chip it reminds me that I don’t collect solely for profit, but for the sheer joy of collecting and having the satisfaction of possessing a special piece of gaming history - if only for a short time.

7. Purple Krackle – East Cape Girardeau, Illinois – Purple chip with no denomination. Date acquired April 24, 2004. I got this chip from an old casino dealer who had worked at many of the illegal casino that operated in the Southern Illinois area in the 1930s – 1960s. I have traveled across the United States many, many times and picked up numerous illegal club chips. I have also had the good fortune to talk with people who owned and worked in the old illegal clubs from Mississippi to Hot Springs Arkansas and all points in between. When I look at this chip, I think back to all the places I have been and all the people I have had a chance to meet along the way. I still look forward to many more trips and chances to find more neat old chips and to meet some more interesting people. Meeting people and making friends is certainly a major part of the chip collecting hobby.

8. Showboat Casino – Las Vegas – Orange chip with unique hot stamped center inlay. Date acquired August 1, 2005. This chip is so unusual and interesting that I just had to get it when I saw it regardless of the price which was several hundreds of dollars. I have always liked odd ball sample, prototype and unusual chips. This chip symbolizes my fondness for “the road less traveled” and my love for the out of the ordinary chip.

9. Hard Rock Casino – Las Vegas, Nevada - Orange (new scanner doesn’t like this color) #2 Roulette chip. Date acquired April 5, 2006. I paid the most I ever paid for a single chip for this Roulette chip - a grand total of $1010.00 (including postage) and I probably paid $500.00 more than the chip is worth. Am I crazy - my wife certainly thinks I am – but you be the judge after hearing the rest of the story. I started collecting the Hard Rock #ed Roulette chips on March 26, 1995, when I made a trade with a fellow collector for two of the fourteen #1 and #2 Roulette chips. Over the next eleven years, I harvested, traded and bought eleven more of these chips, but I could not find an Orange #2 chip to complete the fourteen piece set of chips. The cost of the first thirteen chips was a little over $600.00 in cash and trade. Adding in the $1010.00 I paid for the #2 Orange chip the total cost of the fourteen chips was a little over $1600.00. The value of the complete set is now probably around $7000.00+. I ask you - was I crazy to pay $1010.00 for a single chip?? What I feel is special about this chip is that it completed the set and I got that feeling of accomplishment of pursuing a goal and finally reaching it after many years.

10. Main Street Station – Las Vegas, Nevada – Green Airplane design Roulette chip. Date acquired January 30, 2007. Since I completed the Hard Rock set of #ed chips – I needed another very special set to focus in on and hopefully complete – that set is the fourteen piece Airplane and Balloon set of Roulettes from the Main Street Station. I have about half of the set now and I don’t know how long it will take to get the rest of these chips. This chip represents the ongoing quest for those elusive chips that you just have to have.

Well that is it - my list of my “Ten Favorite Chips” – not because of their beauty, their rarity or their value but rather what they remind me of and what they mean to me.

Take care,
Jerry