Last week before setting sail to Progreso and Cozumel, Mexico and Belize, I happened to get into a casual conversation with Mr. Frank Toti. He of course is one of the owners of The Orleans and other Coast Casinos properties.

What a wonderful discussion we had! First off, he confirmed that in the first several weeks of operation, The Orleans did use a $1000 chip that was quickly pulled because it was confused with the $25. It's bright green inserts were the same shade as the overall green color of the $25's. After a couple of weeks they were pulled and the current $1000 chip was put into play.

He called the cage and asked if any of the original chips were still around and the answer was no, but he will look further. However, he is pretty sure that all were destroyed!

I had heard that The Orleans had a $5000 chip and that it was only used when they held Special Events. The Special Events were Asian related and included Asian musical personalities and a special (roped off) gaming area (just outside Big Al's, across from Terrible's liquors).

When I asked what color they were he was not fully certain so he took me opver to the cage. He asked a teller to go get "one of those 5000 dollar chips". She did and handed it to him. He showed it to me and I would describe it as:

Robin's egg blue with four creme (or very, very pale yellow) inserts. House mold and the conventional gator playing the horn logo. All are dated 2003. They are made by Paulson, as are other Orleans chips.

Anyway, my discussion with Frank Toti was very enjoyable and he has a personal awareness of chip characteristics and properties and other gaming equipment expertise.

Jim Follis