I was digging through one of his bargain bins at a Convention a few years ago - found half a chip - think it might have been El Rancho Vegas or some other "classic" Las Vegas item. And Mike smiled at me and said, "That'll be half price." Well, I put it aside and kept digging through the bin . . . and wouldn't you know it, at the VERY BOTTOM, there was the other half. I put them together, it was an exact match. Mike was grinning from ear to ear and said, "Now it's free."

I'd be digging through those bins like a mole, and every so often I'd pull up something and squint at it (the hot-stamping was often worn). And Mike would see that and stop talking to whoever he was with and look in my direction. "What did you find now?" Usually it was a California chip, maybe worn, but something I did not have. Sometimes I'd even find California chips in his "Nevada Only" bins to his amusement. I truly think he found more joy in watching me than in the sales he finally made.

Mike was instrumental in saving those chips-in-concrete - the Sands, Pioneer Laughlin and a few other casinos. How the demolition men knew to contact him with their unusual finds, I do not know, but if Mike had not seen the value in getting rare chips out of sidewalks . . . our hobby might not have those examples today.