Sam Boyd's California Hotel on Ogden Avenue can be a frustrating place to get nice, clean chips from. It has nothing to do with the cage people; they are fantastic. It's more that their chips tend to stay in use for a very long time. You can sometimes scour all the usual sources waiting AGES for a nice, clean $1 California Hotel chip to come along. Throw in those of us who collect H&C variations and $1/$1.00 variations, and it can be a lonely place looking for that one particular California Hotel chip.

This chip is that one chip you've been looking and waiting for. $1.00 hot stamp that is supurb, short canes variations, which is the toughest of the two to find, and has seen very limited table use. As Bullwinkle J. Moose would say, "Hot Diggity!"

Most of the chips that come out of West Las Vegas are from casinos that may not have lasted very long, but were likely the only chips they ever had (with Town Tavern being the exception!). Chips from such classic West Vegas casinos like Love's & Lee's, Cove Hotel, Town Tavern incarnations and El Rio Club all have their difficulties with their actually having any hot stamp on them or being able to stand up on edge without being propped up next to a stapler or your beer stein of choice.

Luckily for us collectors, some of the ones from the New Brown Derby survived in really nice shape. This one up for auction has a great looking hot stamp, and can stand on edge sans crutches! A sharp-looking dark brown in color that is NOT a Borland special. If you are into collection every variation, there is a dark brown & a VERY dark brown chip (this is just dark brown), so regardless of what you specialize in Vegas chips, this will nicely fill a hole you have in your collection.

The link to all my auctions is below the CATNAP kitten below. Thank you very much for looking, and best of luck!