Wayne

What you have to remember is that roulette chips are non-denominational (That means any religion is welcome). The casinos concern would be that you buy in at the $1 rate then take some chips. Later you or an accomplice comes to the same table and buys in at a higher rate slips the previously taken chips in to the game and is paid out at the higher rate.

When a casino employee sees you taking roulette chips he doesn't know that you are a collector.

If you ask a tablemate to sell you some of their color, they are not going to understand nor will they understand that you want them to be discreet about it.

Once I got a poker dealer to sell me some drop chips that he wasn't supposed to. I bought in for $100 and he gave me a stack of chips with the drop chips mixed into the middle of the stack. As he pushed the stack to me, other players started to tell him of his mistake. Even after the dealer told them he knew about it they kept trying to explain his mistake to him. Fortunately the floorman wasn't within earshot.

In that case selling me the drop chips had no loss to the casino and no risk of cheating, it was just against the policy.