TO: MR. GENE TRIMBLE

FROM:
DATE: 5 September 2002

Dear Gene,

When I purchased the small denominated chips from the Casino d’Enghien-les-Bains in France, I didn’t give the small denominations much thought as I just assumed they were used for paying out small commissions associated with Baccarat. Then after I received your e-mail, I began to realize those denominations are much too small for Baccarat commissions and so I started wondering where the chips are used. It kept bugging me, so today I called the Casino d’Enghien-les-Bains and asked your question.

The first lady that I talked with couldn’t understand my English so she switched me to another person who clearly understood my question. The problem is I’m not sure I clearly understood her answers. In other words, if some time in the future somebody tells you my explanation is wrong they are probably right. Anyway here is the explanation that I got from the Casino d’Enghien-les-Bains as best I understood it.

0.25 Euros

The lady told me that the 0.25 Euros are paid out at the roulette table anytime the roulette wheel hits the zero. Since in the US the zero would pay out 36 to 1, I can’t figure out how 0.25 Euros would ever be needed for a payout connected with the zero in roulette. When I questioned the lady about this, the only answer I got was this is European roulette, which has different payouts than in the United States and that these 0.25 Euros are needed for payouts everytime the zero on the roulette wheel is hit.

0.20 Euros

The lady that I talked with said the 0.20 Euros are used to pay commissions associated with a casino game called Punto Banco. She said this game requires a 5% house commission that is paid in a manner that is similar to Baccarat.
I mentioned that I’ve never heard of Punto Banco and she replied that the game is unique to Europe and is similar to, but not exactly like Baccarat.
0.10 Euro

The lady that I talked with said the 0.10 Euros are used in conjunction with paying house commissions for a casino game called Bank, which I believe in France is spelled Banque. This lady mentioned that the game of Banque is very old and is unique to Paris. She mentioned that you will not find Banque played anywhere else in Europe or even anywhere else in France, other than in the Paris vicinity.

I asked if she could explain more about how the 0.10 is paid out in conjunction with this game. She explained that it is related to commissions, similar to Baccarat, but that the game of Banque is very different from Baccarat and is very complicated. She went on to explain that it is much too complicated to explain over the telephone, but she offered to teach me the game if I would like to revisit the casino.

I hope the above answers your questions regarding the use of these chips or jetons, however, as I mentioned earlier, I may not have completely understood this lady’s explanation. Anyway, hopefully some explanation is better than none.

Best regards,

MM/hjm