Hard to say. I'd suspect they needed additional $1 chips for the new games (roulette, let-it-ride, 3-card poker, and live poker).

They did not use the 50cent too often - except for BJ, roulette, and tokes. None of the poker games used the chips - they dropped coins for the rake where it was a fractional part. Although with the loose action, it wasnt often that it didnt go to full rake.