Just returned from Vegas with a nice pile of chips and strikes. My experience with most cage cashiers was that of patience and friendliness, even when other customers were steaming in line behind me. A cashier (Barb) at the Rio went so far as to look through a pile of racks from the vault to find one Rio Rita strike with the hotel depicted on it, thank you Barb. The Hard Rock was the only place where I found the cashiers to be a little collector negative. They must get bombarded daily, so it is somewhat understandable. I found hitting the individual tables that were quiet was the best method of getting chips.
I have been told that it is illegal, but a few casinos sold strikes directly from the cage, even though they still had live strike machines on the floor. Thank you also to those who were kind enough to do so.
We stayed at the Rio, which was wonderful. Nice pool, friendly staff, and great room for $39! Just a short jaunt to the Palms where I had the opporunity to meet Gene Trimble, the highlight of my trip. What a nice hotel the Palms is, will definitely consider staying there during the convention next year.
While at the Rio, I collected a "RIO PACKAGE" of Rio collectibles. It mainly consists of a nice metal Rio room key, slot card, $5 13th Anniversary chip, pen, price list for stocked fridge, matches, all kinds of paraphenelia from with Rio logo from the hotel and room, bathroom toiletries with Rio logos, and to top it off an unactivated $5 Rio calling card! I would like to trade this package for 8 $5 uncirculated Nevada LE's. If interested, please email me with what you have and I will send you a complete list of items included in this great collectors extravaganza.
Now, after two long, long nights of hitting casino after casino, a day of rest around our pool. A couple of gin and tonics and I will be a new man as I dream of my next trip to Las Vegas.