Once again, I hope the “Illegal of The Day” posts has stirred the interest of a few new collectors enough to bring them into “our” world of illegal club chips and the vast history that is out there on them.

So far, I think we have seen it all!
Some clusters of illegals could even be considered “fiefdoms” within the states they were in. Rum runners, bootleggers, murder, mayhem, crooked politicians, crooked judges, etc, etc.

My second goal was to give illegal chip collectors, Club names for known initial chips in their collections. The initials and ID’s from the record cards for many I’ve shown should be in TGT but without the actual Club name. The authors only had the record cards without that info. Hopefully the next edition will catch up.

The research I’ve shown is from many sources. Some was mine from over the years; some was from my memory of life experiences. Some was educated guesses. In 6 months, March of 2011, will be my 50th anniversary in the world of poker. 20 years in N KY and 30 years in LV.

Much of the research was from other sources. Much from other collectors of illegal chips. Much from reference books written by other Club members. Much of it came from researcher extraordinaire, my “Friend Of The Hobby.”

I keep every tidbit of information I get, no matter where I get or see it. Sometimes enough tidbits will finally fall together into what is needed for an ID.

Not all research on old chip records will turn out to be an illegal operation. Some were just plain old home game chips. Not really a disappointment as we have the information.

Enough of that:

Indiana:
Macau
Ron Raven
760 E. Beardsley
Elkhart
1981

I have the $1, $5, and $25. Looking for the $100 if anyone has a trader or one to sell.

An Indiana collector did the research on this one. Credit to DS. He is welcome to post his name or remain anonymous.

The Hub mold on these were the last hub mold made. Notice the side of the hub, closest to the hot stamp slants in. It is really no longer a rectangle. I used to have a Burt record showing the dates all old molds were made and when they went N/A, and new ones made. I loaned it without making a copy and never seen it again. My bad! Won’t ever happen again! I think this hub mold was made in early 1970’s, from memory.

Even though they are home game chips, the buyer used al alias when buying them.

Thought you might like to know more about the Macau chip I asked about. The correct name is Don Ravenscroft and not Ron Raven. Apparently a mistake on the records or Don not wanting his name used. Donald Chaucy Ravenscroft Sr. was a repairman at the TV repair shop that the chips were sent to in 1981 in Elkhart, Indiana. He apparently had them for private use since the only business he started was a refridgeration service company. He died in 1987 and his wife and children have all passed away since then. The widow of a cousin (Also a Donald Ravenscroft) told me Don Sr. never had a gambling place she knew of. She had no idea where the Macau name came from.

My note: I think DS is correct. Most TV repairmen could not afford to play in a game with $25 and $100 chips.