Welcome to the hobby. It's great fun and very addictive! There are lots of great people in the hobby and I agree with Greg, come to the convention at the end of June and talk to the dealers. There will be dozens of dealers with tables full of casino related memorabilia. Find a dealer or two that specialize in what you are looking to collect and pick their brain. They will be glad to help you out.

As far as the uncirculated chips, here's how I approach it, I go to the casino cage at a non busy time such as very early in the am. Politely ask the person in the cage if they have any uncirculated chips (whatever you collect $1.00, $5.00, $25.00 whatever, be specific). Most of the time they say no right away. I then ask if they have any in the "back" that are uncirculated condition. I show them 2 or 3 extra dollars and tell them I will give them a couple of extra bucks if they can find them. That usually gets either a welcome "OK, I'll check" or "No, sorry, all we have are what is here in the cage or on the tables". Either way they are mostly glad to help.

If you don't want to do all the running around and hustling from casino to casino, you can ask one of the new issue services to get them for you. Several of them post here on the board. I use Chuck Smorse ("The General") and for a small fee on each chip that you request he will get all the chips that are released in the Las Vegas area for you. I have been using Chuck for about 8 years or so and he is very reliable and trustworthy.

Hope that helps, and enjoy the ride!
Todd Barrett
#5068-91
Ramona, CA