1. What do you collect?
Chips, dice, ashtrays, postcards, matchbooks, swizzle sticks, china, glassware & menus, old keys (not card keys), cards, toiletries, dealer ties & aprons, lighters... let's just say--darn near anything that has a Nevada casino name on it ! (not card keys, not slotcards, not tokens, not silver strikes...though we do have some of all of those things, too! )

2. How many chips, etc. do you have?
Haven't counted for a long time, but I'd guess...1300-1500 chips, several hundred ashtrays, 800-1000 matchbooks, several hundred postcards, a few hundred swizzles, a few dozen lighters, one toilet seat inlaid with chips, one casino parking ticket, one casino yardstick, one peephole thingy, one keno ball, one room number plate, a couple of thermometers!

3. How long have you been collecting?
First trip to Vegas was in 1981, picked up two chips and a dozen (or so) ashtrays...which sat in a box for several years. Started collecting, on purpose, about 15 years ago.

4. What got you started in collecting?
Spotted a "Joe W. Brown's HORSESHOE CLUB" ashtray at a local flea market. Had never heard of Joe W....thought the 'Shoe was always Benny's place, hubby thought so too. Bought the 'tray for about a quarter. Looked in a couple of Vegas books we had, couldn't find any mention of Joe W., and more-or-less forgot about the tray.

A few months later we found a postcard from the Horseshoe, showing the $1,000,000...wait a minute...that says Joe W. Brown's Horseshoe Club too! Who in the heck was this guy??!
Bought the card for a buck or two, and tried again to find out who Joe W. was. Still no luck

Our next trip to Vegas, we ran across a Joe W. Brown ashtray in an antique shop. Asked if they knew who Joe W. was, and the shop owner told us the story, and showed us the Joe W. Brown's Horseshoe Club Craps game. He told us that he and the Binion kids had helped stuff the contents into the game boxes. Cool story!

A day or two later we were in the Gambler's General Store, and saw Art Anderson's Casino Ashtray book. Looked up the Joe W. tray, and the story was there (along with a value of $12-$15 for the tray...WOW!). The story was so cool, I had to buy the book. Having spent $20 for the book, to get the story of our .25 ashtray...I pretty much had to start collecting ashtrays, to justify buying the book!