I have not been doing much at all about my chips and slots cards this summer. A combination of being busy and feeling lazy the past few months. Only a few visits to casinos around here and hardly any trading with folks since the convention last June - I think I OD'd a little on all the chipping fun while I was there. Maybe the cooler weather will revive my enthusiasm.

The Potawatomi Bingo Casino here in Milwaukee has finally put in its BJ tables and they are busy - even in the off hours. I saw for the first time a "Blackjack Reservations" booth that they use in peak hours. At these times you register at the booth and get a pager to hold while you are in the eateries or playing the slots. When a space opens, they beep you and you have ten minutes to get back to the booth, where they escort you to your seat. Anyone seen that system before? I was there on a Saturday morning before lunch, and all the tables were open, but not full. The 5-6 $5 tables were full with one or two "waiters" behind each one. I slipped into a $10 table and played for a little while, just to get some chips. ($10 is not a comfortable minimum for me -- $5 would have been better.) I lost $32 fast and bailed out.

While I played, I noted they had white/red/green/black ($1,$5,$25 and $100) chips but not 50 cent chips, coins or tokens. I wondered, how the heck do they pay off a $5 blackjack? I was surprised to see at my table while I was there that a $15 blackjack was paid $23. Is there anywhere else you have seen a casino giving an extra 50 cents on a payoff like this?They also had some inexperienced dealers. The young lady at mine admitted it was her second day.

As I was in a hurry, I cashed out, and went for the door. But I stopped when I went past the Slot Club Booth and saw they no longer charge $10 to be a member. I got my card, and it also is different in that the front has the person's picture, with name, number and birthdate printed on the back. With luck (and I had some -- more on that...) the card and chips I got are being shown here, unless I've forgotten how to post these visuals.

Having a card, I thought I would walk around and see if I could find an extra left in a machine. No luck there, and most players were not even using cards as they played. This may be a holdover to the old time when the cards were not free, and the players have just been used to not using them. I will have to check next stop to see if I can get a duplicate card on future trips or abandoned cards later for trading. None right now.

As I neared the end of my unsuccessful card hunt, I approached the exit, but a couple of rows of machines from there I found a $1 machine with 30 credits. Could this be true? I hit the spin button and it rotated! Free money! I pondered for a moment if I should cash them out (and break even!) or play them off. What the heck. I started spinning. They dwindled away, but before all went, I hit a good combination and won $50! I played the excess, pulled out the $50 and started the 20 feet to the cage. Before I could get there, a hand from behind tapped at my elbow. (Arghh! Busted -- what did I do!) I turned to find a custodial lady (one of those people who dusts and polishes the machines) who said, "Come here..." She took a step, pointed in the hopper of another machine and said, "Take those." There I found a couple more $2 tokens. I cashed in my $52 windfall in a bit of a daze, and walked out into the sunshine, $20 richer in a fashion I never would have expected.

If people are interested in chips from Potawatomi Bingo Casino, I can probably help. I will be out of town in Vegas from October 1-6, but after I return I can pick up the chips without a big hassle. At that time I may offer them for a smidge over face, plus postage. Or trade face up if you have something current I don't in $1 or less chips. Talk to you again soon. Jerry in WI (but not for long...)

I could not get the picture to work here. it is uploaded to Greg's board, but the file (called "potawatomi.gif") will not work. Please review your instructions on how to post an image, Greg. There is something that you have to do besides what you say, and I had the same problem last July when I posted, but I can't remember what it was.