When I first visited Las Vegas in September of 2004, I thought I would just get some chips as "trophies" from each of the casinos I visited/played in (I was just starting out playing Texas Hold'Em), but then I thought, everyone gets the $1 chips and the $25 chips are much too high for me, so I settled on the $5's. I also didn't want limited, special, anniversary edition chips because they were made just for the purpose of being a memento, a novelty, or a keepsake for tourists or visitors (just my opinion), so, I collected just the house chips.

I realized after returning home, that I had so many from my first Las Vegas trip (32 - yes, all from different casinos... yes, I did visit that many in one week) and liked the way they all looked and felt, that I decided to collect from all the Las Vegas casinos/resorts or gaming establishments that had $5 chips by returning to Las Vegas again at least once a year. At the time, I didn't have a clue about chip-collecting as being a hobby; people buying, trading and/or selling them; no idea of clubs; no idea about club magazines or chip guides; and definitely, no idea about conventions and chip shows. Yes, I knew about guns, coins, stamps, comic books, books, butterflies, sports cards and memorabilia as being collectible hobbies, but not chips.

After returning home from another successful Las Vegas trip in September 2006 and believing I finally collected all the remaining $5 house chips from all the Las Vegas casinos, I decided to check E-Bay to get an idea of what I might have (approximate values, conditions). To my surprise, there were many $5 chips that were listed/shown to be from Las Vegas and from casinos that I didn't have or even heard of. Several were listed with many bids where the bidding was well over $100. I chose one chip (don't remember which one) and contacted the seller to inquire more about the chip, it's value and from the casino it was from. James Campiglia was the seller. He gave my more information that I could possibly want (that I remember) and then told me about his chip guide - he autographed it and I bought it. After several weeks of buying a chip or two from him, he told me about the . I checked out the web site and became a member shortly afterwards. Then, Doug Saito e-mailed me about whether or not I was interested in attending the ChipChat auction that was going on before the chip convention. Auctions? Conventions? Okay... Before I knew it, Greg Susong invited me to the ChipBoard and I've been hooked ever since... Thank you James, Doug and Greg for your help, knowledge, and your chips!

So, you tell me "when" and "how" I officially discovered the "Chip-Collecting Hobby"?!

Regards,
Thomas (R-7788)