The card rooms are one-and-the-same, a small room near the center of town, with a railroad track running along the north side of Yosemite. I had heard of the difficulty in getting a chip out of the place, but tried anyway, The lady in charge (maybe Jo Bell herself?) said NO CHIPS sold t o collectors, didn't matter what denomination. Possibly there was a local ordinance prohibiting chips from leaving a casino? Some years later, Mike's moved to a new location on the west side of town, next to the Cow Track Lounge. I went in late one night and bought a few chips (of the newer series) from the manager (an Asian man, this time). Pretended that I had gotten a cell phone call just then, and scurried out to my truck to "talk." Then gunned it on outta there.

Never went back for more but sold all the chips I bought from Mike's. I remember the man was wearing a name tag on his shrt, "Mike," and asking if he was the owner. He said no.

Think the only way to get out with a live chip from the old location was to play some cards with the lady, and hide one or two and make your exit. Hence, few chips from the place got into collectors' hands. Collectors hanging off the passing freight train might have been able to snag one!