First off, had a great time. This was my 2nd convention. First was in 2019. I showed up for 2 half days (my wife wasn’t happy about day 2). I wasn’t even a member yet, and I bought lots of cheaper chips from the bins and a few mid-range nicer chips from dealers I don’t even remember. That was great for me at the time. Later, I realized how many people offered me some stellar deals that I passed up because of my self-imposed spending limits and lack of intrinsic knowledge and no real reason to trust in the club or the dealers (who could have been commie pinko gypsies out to rob me for all I knew!). Example: I passed on a set of 3 or 4 Fountainbleu chips for $400 or something like that. Joined the CCA after the show. Looking back, I didn’t really “meet” anyone in the club. I didn’t really have names to put faces to, and certainly no one was interested in seeking me out.

Fast forward to 2021 and I’ve acquired all but 127 of my targeted $5 Nevada chips. I have a half-dealer table (what?!). I have chips OTHER people want (how did THAT happen?). I somehow managed to acquire 80% of a very low run of rare chips, which I think is cool, even thought they’re not in primo condition. I’ve been trading and buying and selling with a lot of you for 2 years now. Many of those names I was able to put faces to, shook/bumped a lot of hands, and cemented a link of friendship beyond the electronic front. Very thankful to all of you who sought me out or greeted me warmly when I introduced myself. Many more people who were there but I didn’t get to meet personally. That will have to be rectified next year. I would not hesitate to send you a chip before receiving payment. Quite different from the wariness I had before.

Anyway, enough gushing (was that enough words for an article?). Here are the chips I acquired from the show. My thanks to Jay Sands, Mark Freitag, and Larry Hollibaugh, for being gentle with me on price, and to the Circa for being open, I guess. Honorable mention to Andy Hughes for making the building project chips available prior to the show.

P.S. Down to 119 casinos to go…. My want list is in my signature. Let me know if you can help me knock some off the list.

Pictured below:
$5 Greg-Mar Lodge, Topaz Lake
$5 Star, Winnemucca
$5 93 Club, Caliente
$5 Bank Saloon, Gerlach
$1 (Free Play) The Vault, Las Vegas
$5 The Casino, Las Vegas
$5 Circa, Las Vegas
Club Building Project, chips #1 and #100