Hi Don
Yes the player had to surrender the chip to get the money.\
The reason for the chips was because it always took at least 2 hours for them to verify the jackpot and some people couldn't wait that long. They could come back later or the next day to get their share of the jackpot.
Jim Perlowski and I used to play in the morning tournament that they had at the Fiesta and we tried to get the whole box when they closed thier poker room.
Don