While at the Golden Nugget in Laughlin, NV last week, I was inquiring about LE chips that I had missed. The ladies in the cage said there were no more of the special edition chips in the casino, and all had been destroyed. Their statements were affirmed by the lovely cage manager who echoed the same thought, but with a lot of drama that she was happy management has decided to do away with all LE chips. Also, while at the Four Queens, the dealers made you play to get the new $1 (small insert chip). It was the same scenario at Binion's across the street. Pit boss was adamant about no chips from the table regardless of if you played or not. I just went in the poker room, bought in for $100 and sat there sifting through all the chips picking out the ones I needed. Then, I had to leave in a hurry and cashed out the remaining chips.
More casinos are adopting a "get tough" policy about selling chips from their tables. Nevada gaming rules also do not allow chips to be sold from the cage. It appears someone has been enforcing the code violation or they are not interested in letting a person collect their chips. Even, a nice tip is no longer appreciated. I guess the times are changing.