Mel, I enjoyed the wonderful hospitality that you and Lisa showed me and it was worth making the long drive to your house! I'm glad John Yee didn't bring a gun with him as he watched me pulling out the good obsolete cards from your stacks!
By the way, I thought I'd share a little info on the early Vegas slot cards since you mentioned the Mint. I know of at least three clubs that had ticket dispensers attached to the machines: The Mint, Golden Nugget, and Dunes. The cards these casinos issued were like membership cards that the player used in order to redeem the tickets for cash and prizes. I personally signed up for cards at the Mint and Golden Nugget in 1986, so I am confident in this. The Dunes I somehow missed, but a friend of mine has one and he told me that $1 machines and up had the ticket dispensers. (Just like the Mint and Golden Nugget). I believe the first "modern" Las Vegas slot card that was read by the machine itself was the Frontier circa 1985. This was the black card with a picture of longhorn. This first issue has yellow writing and the second issue has orange writing. The second "modern" Las Vegas card was the Gold Coast in 1986. It is a very rare Red card that has "data card" on the reverse. I once had one as I signed up shortly after opening, but somehow lost it over the years. Damn it!!!