... (opinion, that is), based on what I have heard, that these chips were produced specifically for sale to collectors, with the intention of being removed immediately from the casino and sold at a substantial profit.

Whether or not any were ever used on a table, I don't know. It is my understanding that all or nearly all were bought out of the cage at one time by a single casino employee, identified by all three sources from whom I have heard as Mark Karoll. One of these sources, of course, is "The Rat", who posted the name here on the board (and no, I don't know who "The Rat" is).

I would not call them obsolete. I have heard nothing which indicates that the Four Queens wouldn't accept them at the cage and give you 25 cents for each one turned in!!

It seems to me, JB, that the "primary reason" for the existence of these chips was to allow someone to produce a low cost, short run chip at the expense of the casino -- and to allow that someone to obtain these chips at even LESS than it cost the casino to produce them -- all for the sole purpose of allowing that someone to sell them to the collector market at a substantial profit.

It also seems to me that this could only have been accomplished by someone on the inside. Which lends credence to the information that Mark is the "someone" involved. His ongoing failure to come on the board and deny his involvement also supports this conclusion (in legal terms, we would call this an adoptive admission -- the failure to deny such an allegation when an innocent person would do so is legally admissible evidence supporting the substance of the allegation).

I will have more to say about this subject, perhaps tonight or tomorrow. ----- jim o\-S