You have to take into consideration location, denomination, aesthetics, popularity of the particular casino, condition and smaller factors that may drive a price up or down. For example, when I was in Aruba in 2006, the Casablanca was using 2 chips as promo chips (for people that booked the Westin through some particular method). I only had a little cash on me, so I bought one of each, with the OK from the Pit Boss. They were both Chipco's, one being the Venezuelan $5 chip and the other was a faded peach colored chip. I asked about it and met the person who had ordered all of the Casablanca chips going back to the opening in the then Hilton hotel. He said they were supposed to be the opening day chips, but they were one of the series that had the bad resin that faded horribly. At a glance, I assumed it was Venezuelan denomination or an ncv, but found out back at my hotel that they were $5 rack chips, that were unknown at that point. I never made it back to the Casablanca that trip, so I came home with only one. I have seen acquired another, but I do not know of anyone else that has one. They were not sold with the Casablanca rack that was sold to an internet chip seller, and became popular on Chip Talk. That means only 2 of these chips are known to be in existence.

I have never received an offer for this chip, but you know it isn't worth anywhere near what a similar chip would be worth if it was from the Sands, Las Vegas. But, it's worth a lot to me, and that's what matters.

Michael Siskin