Casino Gaming History and News

On this Saturday, June 22nd when our newsletter goes out, some of you may be over at the South Point Hotel and Casino enjoying the last day of this year’s Casino Collectibles Association show. We will be over there all day to 3:00 PM. So, if you are in Las Vegas, come by and see us.

This week, a few updates in Las Vegas. If you have not heard yet, the rumor out there is the SLS is going to change its name back to the Sahara Hotel and Casino and not the Grand Sahara Resort name. If it’s true, it will no doubt resonate with some people in a nostalgic way. We are going to have to wait and see on this one. However, we think this is a good move for the North Las Vegas Strip property.

In other news, the Stratosphere is continuing its transition to The Strat. A new show just opened recently called Celestia that is being billed as “Acrobatics, artistry, and illusion.” Lots of renovations and redesigns have been going on over there.

In honor of these two casinos, we are letting you know about our casino decks from the Stratosphere and Sahara that you can get in bulk quantity for a discounted price.

You can purchase a case of 144 Stratosphere decks for $72.00. That’s 50 cents a deck for a case of Stratosphere decks you can purchase clicking the photo below:

On the Sahara decks front, we have cases of brand new decks in one color or half and half. You can get a full box of orange, purple or half orange and half purple. One color boxes are $150 and a mixed box is $175. Purchase clicking the pictures below:

If you are just looking for some individual decks, we have Stratosphere decks for $1, used Sahara decks for $2.50 and new Sahara decks for $3.00. Those can all be purchased below clicking each picture as well.

Now Get Five $5 Commemorative Chips for $20 at Spinettis in Las Vegas: 

We are less than two weeks away from the annual Casino Chip and Collectibles Show at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Dates of this year’s event are June 20 to June 22nd.

While you are in town, make sure you stop by our store in downtown Las Vegas at 810 S Commerce Street, Las Vegas Nevada 89106. We have a huge surprise as we have added hundreds of new casino chips from the State of Nevada to our collector trays for sale. There is all newly updated pricing as well for the chips. 

Below you’ll see a few trays including our expanded Stardust Hotel and Casino and Luxor collection to give you an idea of some of the new chips we have in our trays.

If you aren’t able to make it for the show and you are looking for some Nevada casino chips to finish your collection, you can send me an email to marketing@spinettis.com and I can check to see if we have them for sale.

Those who are curious about the show can see the flyer below as well with all the information. We will be there in attendance as well.

New chip set:

We have a new 300 chip set available from the El Conquistador Hotel and Club casino in Puerto Rico that was open from 1965 to 2012. There are $5 (200 chips) and $25 (100 chips) in this set. Please take note we have some additional chips as well if you need more for your set and other denominations from there. You can purchase clicking the picture below. Price is $999.99 for it. 

Fallon has a population of just over 8000. It was 1896 when the town was founded by a gentleman named Michael Fallon, who had a ranch in the area where the city is today.

Like other cities in Nevada, Fallon has its own history of casino gaming. This week, we are going to dive into some of those casinos and show you our chip collection from there below.

With Nevada legalizing gambling statewide in 1931, one of the earliest casinos appeared in Fallon, Nevada by the name of the Owl Club. A matchbook from the place advertised the phone number as 42 W. Cigarettes, cigars, beer, wine, and candies could also be purchased here. Inside the old matchbook was a list of mile counters from the casino itself in Fallon. Las Vegas is listed as 383 miles away. The casino would end up closing in 1948.

Reportedly, the largest casino in Fallon, Nevada currently is The Stockman’s Casino which has been opened since 1960. The square footage of the place is over 8000 feet with 25 percent of the city’s slot machines at that casino.

For all the casinos currently open in the city, there are reportedly over 900 slot machines and a total of four different tables games you can play in the town.

Another casino still open to this day is the Bonanza Inn which opened up back in 1976. With over 5000 feet of casino square foot space, 200 slot machines, the resort has 72 hotel rooms. I even gave them a call to verify the stop did have 72 rooms and they said I was correct.

The second largest casino reportedly in Fallon, Nevada today is the Church Hill Springs Casino which has just over 100 gaming options between their electronic machines and table games.

So that’s a little history of casino gaming in Fallon, Nevada. Below you will find our entire collection of Fallon, Nevada chips for purchase. You can purchase each one clicking the picture.

Today, we are going to tell you about the $2.50 chip. Between the $1 and $5 chip, there are $2 chips, $2.50 chips, $3 chips, and even $4 chips.

Now, it’s time to tell you about the $2.50 chip. First, what is interesting about our collection of $2.50 chips, which you will see below, is that they come in a variety of different colors. In doing research for the $2.50 chip, the first thing that comes up, of course, is that it was used for 3/2 blackjack.

When a person would hit blackjack at the table with $5 wagered, the payout back would be $7.50 of winnings. Some would refer to the $2.50 chip as a snapper in reference to when you would hit blackjack. Because they are used less in gaming than the $1 and $5 chip, some people believe it is more likely that you will see a $2.50 casino chip in better condition than those of other denominations.

Reading around the Internet on a variety of gaming discussions, you will also hear about how using a $2.50 chip can lead to the casino rounding up on future bet wins during blackjack and lead to some additional payout.

Another place a $2.50 could be used is as the small blind on a poker table for a 5/10 limit poker game.

Below you will find our entire collection of $2.50 chips you can purchase by clicking the picture of each.

Hard to find Boardwalk Roulette Chip Set:

This is a mint set of 477 Paulson roulette chips from the closed Boardwalk Hotel and Casino. This set is of 477 chips. $3 per chip. Set must be bought together. However, I also have 2 extra racks of the plum which is the rack in front for $200 a rack as well. A few of them are warped, but they are all perfect, sharp edges. What makes it most interesting is they're all the letter B for the former casino Boardwalk Hotel and Casino that was here in Vegas on the Strip. If you are interested, send me an email to marketing@spinettis.com and I can place an order for you.

This week, we’ve gone through our website and lowered the price on a lot of our $1 obsolete chips. You can see that collection below and purchase each one clicking the picture.

But before we get to that, I want to dive into a few things on the $1 chip collector front. To make it easier now for those who just collect $1 chips, we are putting all the $1 chips current and obsolete into one big section. To easily navigate the $1 chip collection we have, you can now do that clicking the link here.

What is interesting about the state of the $1 chip is that many of the inlays are getting smaller on the chips. Why is that happening? Probably due to cost. See an example below of these $1 Binions chips for example.

Whatever the case may be, we got generous and decided to lower some of our $1 chips to $5 a piece. That collection is below for purchase by clicking each picture.

New Vintage Casino Hats:

We just got in all these vintage casino hats. If any interest you, send me an email to marketing@spinettis.com

Prices are as follows:

Circus Circus: $10

Treasure Island at the Mirage $11

Imperial Palace Blue $13

Imperial Palace Tan or White $15

Club Sahara $10

Every so often we like to tell you about some of the new items we have here in our store at Spinettis. So without further interruption, let’s begin and show you.

Many ashtrays for sale. If any of these ashtrays interest you, send me an email to marketing@spinettis.com and I will be glad to place an order for you.

Set 1:

Las Vegas Hilton $8, Silver City $10 Aladdin Ashtray with Grey Letters $8, MGM Clear Lion Ashtray $8, Showboat Ashtray $10, Aladdin Ashtray with Brown Text $8, Aladdin Ashtray with Gold Letters $10, Aladdin London Club $15, MGM Grand Lion Head $5 Golden and Golden Gate Ashtray $8

Set 2:

Sands ashtray with yellow and red letters: $10, Sands Ashtray clear with brown letters $30, Golden Gate blue ashtray $20, Caesars Palace clear blue ashtray with white text $10, Sundance ashtray $10, Caesars Palace clear red ashtray $10, Golden Gate green ashtray $20, Union Plaza ashtray $12

Set 3:

Four Queens ashtray $8, El Rancho ashtray $10, Castaways ashtray $12, Tropicana ashtray $10, Flamingo Hilton ashtray $10  

Additionally, we also have some brand new artwork that pays tribute to the Las Vegas movies The Hangover and Casino below. We also have ones for Marilyn Monroe and the Flamingo Hotel and Casino. The price on all these are $250. If interested, send me an email to marketing@spinettis.com or call us at 702-362-8767.

New Blackjack Layout:

Many of you will recall the Boardwalk Hotel and Casino that was on the Las Vegas Strip that closed back in 2006. It was located between Bellagio and Monte Carlo. We have a blackjack layout from there for your table for $149. We just got this in. If interested in buying, send us an email to marketing@spinettis.com. ITEM SOLD

Finally, our Las Vegas Rocks clock pays tribute to Las Vegas Entertainment legend Tony Sacca who worked in the entertainment industry for more than 50 years. The clock can sign the song Las Vegas Rocks every hour if you want it to. A very cool Las Vegas Strip clock for only $9.99. You can click to purchase it clicking the photo below.

In 1954, a casino and resort by the name of Showboat opened up at 2800 Fremont Street. It would become the first resort reportedly to be within Las Vegas city limits. J. Kell Houssels who was part of the Las Vegas Club and William Moore of the Last Frontier were responsible for the business being built.

Like many casinos and businesses that open at first, sometimes the plan does not go down as hoped. The Showboat was believed to have turned the corner when a gentleman by the name of Joe Kelley came in and came up with a marketing plan for locals that included 49 cent breakfast buffets.

At the end of the 1950s, Showboat would become the signature place in Las Vegas for bowling and lead to them hosting many PBA tournaments and championships. There were even tournaments organized that included free trips to Las Vegas itself. At the end of the 1970s, the casino and resort had the third largest bowling alley in the entire country.

In the 1980s, aside from bowling, the famous pro wrestling company AWA run by the Gagne family would hold wrestling matches at the resort. There were also roller derby matches from the Los Angeles Thunderbirds. These events were held at the Showboat Sports Pavilion which later became a bingo hall.

One of the reasons for Showboat’s decline in the 1990s was the emergence of more Las Vegas Strip Casinos. Some people believed that Showboat was on the strip, but they would later come to find out that it actually wasn’t. Harrah’s entertainment bought Showboat in 1988 and then sold it to VSS Enterprises in 2000 for 23.5 million dollars. 

The Showboat name was not sold in the deal by Harrah’s, so the resort was renamed to Castaways in 2000.

One matchbook claimed that Showboat offered an experience of old Las Vegas. Another said the resort had the most beautiful bingo parlor. There was also an RV park. One advertisement also called it the Flagship of the Boulder Strip.

Below you can find our entire collection of chips, cards and even an ashtray from Showboat. You can click on each chip and the deck of cards to purchase them.

We also have a Showboat ashtray for $10. Send us an email to marketing@spinettis.com if you are interested.