It was one week ago that I found out that my good friend Rich Burgel had passed away. I last saw Rick at the Casinorama Show on Friday Feb. 2nd. I went to Rich's Table and talked to him for a while and bought some chips from him. (see scan below) Little did I know that this would be the last time I would see Rich alive. He looked like he was suffering from a bad cold and he was congested and not talking very well. Later that afternoon Rich closed up this Table and left. On Saturday he did not attend the Show and a friend of his came and cleared out all of his chips and other stuff he had for sale. I called him on Sunday afternoon to see how he was feeling. My call went to his voice mail. I called him again a couple of times on Monday and Wednesday before I left Vegas. I left a couple more messages asking how he was feeling and to get in touch with me. He probably had passed away before I left the last message on his phone.

Like everyone else, I was shocked and saddened when I heard he had passed away. At least I got to talk to him one last time on Friday morning at the Show. Every time I came to Vegas I would go to Rich's "Lost Vegas" store on Las Vegas Blvd. I would spend hours talking to Rich and looking thru chips he had in the store. Rich always made sure that I got to see every Roulette chip that he had for sale. He would call or email me with pictures of the chips he had set aside for me. Over the years I bought 1000s and 1000s of chips from Rich. When I came to Vegas twice a year we would go out to eat - breakfast, lunch or dinner. Rich was like me - he enjoyed a good meal and a good time. We also talked on a regular basis by phone - sometimes for an hour or more. We talked about chips, politics and life in general. When I was in Vegas Rich always took me around and showed me sites in Vegas and introduced me to some of his friends. We always enjoyed each others company and shared many, many fun times and stories about Miami, New Jersey, Delaware, California and of course Nevada. I will never forget Rich and the good times we shared over the years.

Rest in Peace my old friend.

Take care,
Jerry