I am sure that many have already posted about the great convention we had this year. I picked up a record 820+ chips including 60 old South Dakota (most from one dealer), 60 wet chips, 200 foreign (thanks to a dealer wanting to get rid of his foreign - each for the same, very reasonable price), 140 manufacturer samples(same dealer as before), 80 poker chips, 120 illegal club/UFC, 60 Nevada and 30 duplicates (some intentional and a few by mistake). The rest of the chips are miscellaneous ones.

But that is only the chipping portion of this great week. The South Point is a great property with a terrific buffet (at very reasonable prices), good casino (lots of $5 minimum tables), good poker room, and very nicely appointed rooms. The convention space was great and (good or bad???) prices on a lot of chips were lower this year. Most of the dealers I talked to had at least a reasonably good year. They seemed to have lowered expectations but met those expectations.

Personally I had a horrible trip gambling wise. I did make the second round of the BJ tournament but didn't make the final when one player (who had no chance of advancing) took a hit and got a 7 which would have given the dealer 21 and he then would have beat everyone. I had the most chips unplayed and would have advanced. Oh well, there is next year. In the poker tournament I won only one hand in about 2 hours before losing all of my chips. I then went to the poker room and won one more hand in the next 2 hours. Geez what luck - and it wasn't bad play but just no decent hands. The few times I got something decent like A-Q the flop comes 4-5-6 suited. That was my luck the whole trip. I did not have one winning session the whole trip at Pai Gow, BJ or poker. That is until I made a serious effort after the convention ended to cash in on the matchplay coupons in the Las Vegas advisor. I used almost all of them and had incredibly good luck. I made almost $350 from them. It still wasn't enough to make it a green trip but I ended up close enough to break even so it didn't matter.

Now the real fun begins - I get to spend a few months putting away my chips and getting ready for next years convention.