Hi Marv ----- perhaps you don't know how close to home your suggestion is. When Sonoma Joe's first issued some of their special event chips, they periodically put them in play on the poker tables (in 2x2 flips). The dealer would put the chip into the pot and remove an equivalent value of regular chips. The winner of the pot won the special event chip, too, and could either keep it, replay it or sell it to the chip collector sitting next to him [g].

I guess the process was either too time consuming or something, because later issues were available in bulk from the cage, with no apparent limits.

Mel Jung might know better exactly how/why this was done, as I know he was present for at least one of these events (and had the owner sign the flip of the last of one of the chips when it went into play). ----- jim o\-S