Made another try at getting Year of the Dog chips from Commerce Casino this afternoon. No cashier had any, none seen at the tables. Bought a rack of $5 chips and looked through them. No Chinese Lunar chips of any year. Returned them to the Fill Clerk and asked her about Dog chips. And here is her story:

Management demanded all cashiers pull Lunar New Year chips, past and present (Rooster, Horse, Snake, etc.). I'm not sure what happens with them but the cashier thought they were all being destroyed, even the brand-new Dog chips. The only ones that circulated were those few given out in Lucky Red Envelopes on Chinese New Years. If and when any of those is brought back to the casino, it will be honored for a bet but culled in the back room.

Walking around the floor, I spotted a few Lunar New Year $25 chips still in racks (Snakes mostly, no Dogs).

I am perplexed but breaking off any future searches for Commerce Dogs, as I'm starting to believe that this is true. The Gaming Manager also told me, several months ago, that all the special chips were going to vanish (World Poker Tour as well as the Lunar Animals). Seems he was right.

My only thoughts --

1 - The remaining chips in circulation are all Bud Jones. Is there a conflict between BJ and Paulson as to mixing chips in one casino?

2 - Do the $5 Commerce Lunar chips contain some hazardous Proposition 65 substance such that the state, or a lawsuit, requires the casino to destroy them?

3 - Do Asians consider it "bad luck" to gamble with prior years' animals chips?

4 - Is the casino getting some sort of "redemption credit" from the manufacturer for every Lunar Year chip turned back in to them?