After over 40 years of chip collecting I still get a kick out of the hunt and acquisition. It has always been a thrill for me to find vintage chips. Every now and then I find something I know nothing about and start to wonder if I will ever know the BIG 2 Ws, WHERE & WHEN. If I did not meet Mr. Bendinelli and ask the right questions, I think it is very possible we would never know the BIG 2 Ws on these cool BENDI California illegal chips.

I went to meet 79 year old Bendi Bendinelli’s at his house to pick up some Lake Tahoe chips. He was a casino dealer most of his working life (35 years) at Harrah’s Tahoe, Harvey’s, Sahara Tahoe and Caesars Palace Las Vegas. We got to talking about his gambling life and he told me how he ran a one table poker game in 1983 & 84 in the back of NOBLE’S SALOON, 21178 Calistoga Rd., Middletown, California. So…….. I said “ Do you have any chips from there?”. He brought out a box of 97 L molds, 58-$1, 38-$5 and 1 $25. The denomination is on one side with his first name on the other. I bought the 97 chips he had. Bendi told me he would look for more chips. He also said they tossed out a lot of things a few years back and the other chips might have been in the things they tossed out. As of today no more Bendi chips have been found.

They are now listed on the CHIP GUIDE.

It was not a licensed game but did run for about a year and was open to the public. NOBLE’S SALOON opened about 1937 and is still open today with no gambling.

These chips are FOR SALE, $3 shipping on any order.

Having big fun Steve