We are excited to share another article written by one of our club members for our Facebook Page.

My 5 Golden Rules to Gambling

Over the years in this hobby, I have listened to others tell stories about casinos and chips from the past. The 5.00 chip pictured below is from Jackpot Junction in Morton Minnesota and is not rare and from my most recent trip to the casino about two years ago was still on the tables. One of the advantages of growing up in Minnesota is that the legal age to gamble is 18. This is where I learned how to play Video Poker from my mom and Blackjack from my grandfather. When I see this chip for sale or in someone’s collection, I am instantly brought back to my teenage years with my mentors who taught me these 5 Golden Rules of Gambling which I still practice today.

#1. Only gamble what you can lose. Since my mom worked at the bank, she put a limit of the max amount I could take out of an ATM on any given day. Funny thing is I still have that limit but a little higher than when I was 18.

#2. Never Split 10s on Blackjack. As my grandfather would say, why would you split a great hand to possibly make two crappy hands. Back in those days we played at tables with lots of inexperienced players and my grandfather was not shy about letting know how bad they were playing with a nod from the dealer in agreement.

#3. Grab a bite to eat if you are running bad. If our luck was running bad, we would get together, and all go grab something to eat to change our luck. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but it is still something I do today.

#4. Walk far away from a machine. This one comes from my grandfather who told me that once I left a machine to walk far enough away from it so you can’t hear it or see it. He told me you do this because there is no worse feeling than watching someone hit a jackpot on a machine you just lost on.

#5. Max bet on Video Poker. My mom was persistent on this rule and one that I follow religiously today. I will cash out if I don’t have enough to max bet. She would say if you hit a Royal Flush without it loaded you will be kicking yourself for it.

The 5.00 Jackpot Junction might be worth face value to most collectors but to me it is priceless. I think this is why I love collecting chips so much is that they can tell a story or hold a memory from the past. Casinos come and go but if we continue to save chips from destruction, who knows how many memories, we are saving for someone else.

By Paul Schaffer
CCA LM-7745-264