I'm looking forward to a great 2025, including chipping plans to attend 3 chip shows -- the annual CCA convention in June, plus Reno in May and the fall SNCCC Gold Coast show.

Goal #1. Visit 5 new-to-me live game casinos:
Nevada is my main collecting area, though I have some other niches too. Looking at the Nevada list on ChipGuide, there are 1095 casinos (open & closed) excluding "Slots Only", but only 125 are shown as open. (Actually, on the list I keep, I show only 116 open casinos with live chips-used games; that is, with chips ... since that's what I collect.)

Of those 116 live-game/open casinos statewide in Nevada, I've physically been in 107 of them. And of the 9 I haven't been in, I have plans to go to 5 of them located in the Reno/Tahoe/Carson City area during a road trip for the Reno show in May. So that's my first goal -- visit 5 of 9 new live-game casinos.

Goal #2. Observe trend toward "ETG" hybrid / electronic versions of traditional live games (BJ, craps, roulette, baccarat):
This category of games on casino floors has been expanding in recent years. Honestly, I'm NOT a fan of them, as their acceptance has or may remove the use of chips on some casino floors. When I was compiling my live-game list above, I noticed quite a few smaller casinos that had chips in the past, but have converted to "slots only"; particularly smaller casinos and/or small-town casinos. Some are converting live game pits to ETG pits. It seems that some casino customers like/prefer/accept ETG's (electronic table games, the industry acronym for these games). These games can offer lower minimums, less cost to run (dealer salaries, etc.) and other differences vs. traditional games. Is this a trend that affects chip collecting? A strong possibility ... so I plan to observe and get "up to speed" on this casino trend in 2025.

Goal #3: Look for needle-in-a-haystack casinos that still offer "niche" denomination chips:
My collecting interests are for chips at $20 and less denominations -- that is, $1's and $5's primarily, but I do have some $20 baccarat chips and I particularly like snappers ($2.50 chips) and fractionals (50c and 25c). These are becoming increasingly scarce to find, other that as obsoletes on dealer tables at chip shows. According to a search on ChipGuide, for Nevada chips, the most recent chips were issued as follows (and none may be in current use for harvesting today):
Snappers: $2.50 issued in 2022, when Yaamava bought Palms. Otherwise, the most recent snappers are at GSR-Reno (2018) and Grand Lodge Casino-Incline Village (2016). Since BJ table $5 minimums are where snappers are found, it seems that the few tables that have low limits just use half-dollar coins instead... or even worse, have switched to 6-to-5 BJ pays (Yuk!). Have we seen the last of snappers on tables in Nevada??
Fifty-cent chips (50c): Jerry's Nugget-NLV put out a 50c hot-stamp chip in 2020. Also, The Pass-Henderson issued one in 2021 (though it's now "slots only"). Three Wendover casinos issued 50c chips in 2019. These are the only 50c issues statewide in the last 5 years. Seems that half-dollar coins may win vs. chips, as chips cost more that 50c to make.
Quarter chips (25c): Fremont H-C downtown issued a 25c chip in 2010 for their low-limit craps table, though harvesting them was difficult. Otherwise, it's been 20+ years since a Nevada casino issued a 25c chip. Sad to say, but casino-issued quarter chips may be extinct ... just as dime chips are no more.

I'll watch for these niche chips, but I'm not optimistic. Their time may have come and gone. Pics of the most recent 25c, 50c and $2.50 chips below-from MoGH/ChipGuide.

Still, I'm looking forward to chipping in 2025! A belated happy new year, everyone.