Other than me, has anyone else noticed something unusual about the newly released $5 Rockabilly commemorative chip at The Orleans Casino Hotel Spa, as shown here:

First and foremost, no edge inserts! This is a solid red chip. The only other exception to their standard 4-blue inserts for a $5 chip, was a Y2K Limited Edition $5 release with 4-orange inserts. But for a live action $5 chip, this is the only Orleans chip without any inserts.

Why?.... well, this commemorative chip is intended to be re-used each year at the VIVA Las Vegas, Rockabilly Weekend event in April. It seems that the plan is to pull the chips after the event is gone and to put them in lock-up until the event the following year. Since it is a "commemorative" chip and not a "Limited Edition" chip, should they ever run low and need more, the Gaming Approval process is simplified, as the artwork is already approved.

In order to make it easier for the cage to pull these commemorative chips after the event, the lack of red inserts allow the cage personnel to easily locate these and pull them!

At the present time, nearly all of them have been pulled from the tables, however, the cage has NOT yet, received instructions to stop selling them from the window. So technically, they are still available. The original supply was 8 racks (800 chips) or $4,000 in face value. I have no idea how many went to collectors or to the New Issue Service people, but I am aware of a purchase of 250 chips at the cage ($1,250). The chip is made by GPI (Paulson) with the new "B-Connected" logo of Boyd Gaming as the mold pattern. A large hat and cane logo is imprinted in UV ink on both inlays, which are the same, to denote manufacturer.

As noted previously here, The Orleans also issued Rockabilly Weekend room keys, as did the Gold Coast, which is used for overflow rooms. This is a very, very large event at The Orleans. This group takes over the entire Convention area and break-out rooms. The meeting rooms at the bowling alley (3) become tattoo parlors, the entire North parking lot is used for a massive car show, the Showroom is completely used for the 4 days, as it the lounge across from the buffet.

In the past, this event was hosted at the Gold Coast (in 1999 the Gold Coast also had a commemorative Rockabilly Weekend $5 chip). But for the past 5 or so years, it was moved to The Orleans.

I have chips available at $8 each, as well as room keys. The Orleans key (top image) is $2 and the Gold Coast key (bottom image) (which is in very limited supply) is available for $4. Shipping is free and "friendly" PayPal is requested.