(at least in Las Vegas) plus the restrictions put on the casinos in Nevada by the NGCB has really made a negative impact on this hobby, that's for sure. I've taken back MOST of my Hard Rock Las Vegas duplicates plus all of the higher value Hard Rock Vegas chips that I once had. I have cashed in Hard Rock & Palms chips from several collectors over the past couple of years & will be doing so again this weekend...uncirculated $5 & $25 Hard Rock chips plus a great West Coast Chopper set from the Palms. My Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas pin collection is bigger than my HR chip collection. There does still seem to be a fair amount of interest in the older, rare high-end Las Vegas chips. There are plenty of new casinos opening up, but most just don't have the same appeal to collectors that Las Vegas seems to generate. Who knows -- maybe we're just in a low point of a cycle. I believe that this hobby will always have a core group of collectors & I believe that the possibility exists to expand our hobby through the work of the MoGH & ChipGuide. And those "Illegal of the Day" posts that Gene makes (and Ed & the rest of the IOTD team) have the potential to get people interested in this hobby, too.

Steve B