I made it out to the convention - well, sort of. I had a wedding I had to attend which required a 6 AM flight on Friday morning, so I was basically only able to make it to the first day. Being a newbie, I foolishly thought that would probably be enough time to work my way through the show.

WRONG!!! I was at the door when it opened for pre-registered folks and stayed till they kicked me out, and still barely made it to all the dealer tables. And that was just a quick visit to each mostly looking for things I had in mind, not spending time rooting through all the bins and stacks and stacks of binders looking for bargains or new casinos to collect.

That said, I still had a blast, spent way more on chips than I expected , and got to meet a lot of friendly dealers and chippers who fielded my questions and helped me learn more about this great hobby. And I had the pleasure of almost making it to the second round of the blackjack tournament too!

I signed up for the first-timer mentoring program but ended up missing my connection with my mentor. Not that it matter too much, since I barely had enough time on Thursday as it was. Thanks to everyone who set that up, and since I'm still probably at least a halfway first-timer, I might sign up again next year!

One of the things that amazed me the most, aside from how helpful everyone was, was the amazing variety of chips, especially REALLY NICE CHIPS, that were on display and available at the show. With online auctions being such a big marketplace these days, I was a little worried that I was flying halfway across the country to shop the same selection I could find on Ebay from home. But I saw so many great chips that I've never once seen on the big "E" - I picked up several R-7/R-8 chips (and an R-10 pair of dice) that I had been fruitlessly looking for online for months and months.

All in all, it was a great experience, and I'm glad I came out, even if it was only for basically one day. If you're a chip collector and you've never been, I heartily recommend it...being a casino chipper without going to the convention seems like being a gambler who's never once taken a walk down the Strip in Vegas. I'll be back!