Planning the "Strip Chip Run"!

Hi all,

As part of our upcoming trip to the West Coast, with the help of the other half I'd like to collect a $5 chip from each strip casino in as short a time as possible! (Don't anyone go mentioning 'Ebay'!)

Now, we're there for three nights but I thought it might be a good idea to throw out a question to the Vegas experts here as to what the "optimal" approach should be to getting through as many casinos as possible! The plan in each casino is to drop 20 bucks at a BJ table, pocket one chip and then play either one hand to break even or walk away 10 bucks "down".

The missus reckons I've bitten off more than I can chew, but I reckon with a fortifying yard of margarita in hand we can assemble a grand and unique souvenir and find time for a bit of a sit down and something to eat, too!

So, scan your mental map of Vegas! Ponder the merits of the monorail! Assess the perils of splitting up as in all good horror films! Draw me a diagram! All suggestions welcome!

Darryl

Err - the question is...

Why???[:I]

[fozzyo]

Originally posted by MarkJ
Err - the question is...

Why???[:I]

Because the chips are there?

Surely the question is: "why not?"

Frankly, I don't want yet another fridge magnet for a souvenir and where's the fun buying 'em off Ebay? Considering the Adult Disneyland that Vegas is, a three-mile walk punctuated with the occassional game of blackjack comes across as rather tame!

Surely we all do something gloriously pointless from time-to-time? Hell, isn't that what holidays are for? [8D]

Darryl

As an aside, the idea first came to me when reading about the world record being beaten for "fastest time for visiting all Tube stations in a day"!

Pointless? Definitely. Fun? For those that did it, absolutely!

And your plan is flawed, you buy two $10 chips. You stick $10 down, what if you should double down or split & split again, and split again, and double after split or are you not concerned with playing to optimal strategy? You'd be better off playing baccarat and sticking your $10 on banker in that case.
If you want to get a chip for every casino go to a tacky shop on the strip and buy em all!
How long are you planning on this taking? Do you just definitely want strip casinos, not slightly off strip (New Orleans, Rio, Hard Rock etc)?

Infact, stuff it, go to http://www.lvtalk.com and ask on their forum, I know some have doen this sort of thing before

Ah, daywalker, just the sort of lateral thinking I'm after! Baccarat is a possibility, but it would have to be mini-baccarat and it might not be an option in all the casinos?

My intention is to buy 4x$5 chips, allowing for a split and a double on my 20 investment! If I get a double split, double-double, I'll find another tenner if needs be for the potential rewards and whether the dealer is showing a 6 or not!

Slightly off-strip casinos will be considered a happy bonus, but not essential! As for buying a bag o' chips from an LV shop, I'd say that rates with why I'm not using EBay. Think of it like Panini stickers. What was more fun? Finding one of the few stickers you needed for your collection in a packet or off a mate? Or sending off to the publisher to fill in the gaps? How you do something is the key!

Darryl

Originally posted by randalf

Ah, daywalker, just the sort of lateral thinking I'm after! Baccarat is a possibility, but it would have to be mini-baccarat and it might not be an option in all the casinos?

My intention is to buy 4x$5 chips, allowing for a split and a double on my 20 investment! If I get a double split, double-double, I'll find another tenner if needs be for the potential rewards and whether the dealer is showing a 6 or not!

Slightly off-strip casinos will be considered a happy bonus, but not essential! As for buying a bag o' chips from an LV shop, I'd say that rates with why I'm not using EBay. Think of it like Panini stickers. What was more fun? Finding one of the few stickers you needed for your collection in a packet or off a mate? Or sending off to the publisher to fill in the gaps? How you do something is the key!

Darryl

lol

OK, mini bacc will be a problem in some places you're right but as you're willing to lay down more than 10/20 if needs be you may as well stick with BJ as you know it'a available everywhere. Also bear in mind some casinos have $10 or $15 mins and you won't see any lower (MGM, Ceasers, WYNN, Bellagio etc).
Now with the bit I don't want to help you with - planning on how to do it! It's a nightmare task, I wouldn't enjoy it myself.
Honestly, I'd suggest you go over to LV talk as I suggested before, people have done exactly this and I reckon you'd get more people in the know over there, this does bring with it a number of clowns too but you can easily ignore them.

Good luck

How many Casino's are there in Vegas including the ones off-strip? Isn't that gonna cost you a packet and take WAY too long?

Paul

[mcmbenjamin]

The chips at the Hardrock normally feature a band so they are neat. You know you could just go to the cage and hand the teller some money and ask for a $5 chip without playing. See you are basically a 'pure profit' customer. You would give them $5.00 in exchange for a chip that cost maybe $0.01 but is a nice memory. Silly as it is, I have about %50.00 in various Vegas chips in my change cup. Nice memory and great idea!

Checking out the map at vegas.com, I'm looking at about 28 casinos I'm interesting in getting to. Of course, if it starts to become a chore I will be man enough to admit defeat and go have a beer somewhere instead!

As for cost - anywhere between 80 and 300, unless I get extremes of luck either end! I also reckon I'll get a picture holding each chip outside each casino, to make a fun photo journey of our time in the area.

Ben> I admire your pragmatistm but it removes that element of chance that Vegas is all about. To simply buy a chip removes the chance, no matter how slight, the whole lot will cost me nothing!

Mind you, no matter how far into the challenge we get, I reckon the two days in San fran afterwards shall involve a lot of sitting down and resting the feet!

Darryl

Originally posted by randalf
if it starts to become a chore I will be man enough to admit defeat and go have a beer somewhere instead!

And there was me admiring your spirit. Admit defeat - you big girl's blouse

[Bazz]

Randalf, Randalf... I think I have come up with the perfect solution, [^] infact you can collect all the $5 chips you want and you don't even have to pay for any of them

It is so simple I don't know why I didn't think of it before [i]

All you need to do... wait for it, this is a killer [|:)]

...is to buy me a return "J" ticket and book me into a Penthouse at Bellagio for two nights (yes, only two nights!) and I will obtain all the $5 chips from the 28 Casinos you require.

This is a limited time offer so please reply ASAP so that I may prepare my itinerary [y]

Your life long friend,
Bazz.

In fact - to do it in the fastest ever time I think there are probably 25 or so V-flyers who would be willing to endure the hardship required to travel in J and get teh necessary $5 chip for you - in fact - and I cant speak for everyone - Im even happy to contribute $20 to the scheme.

As you said

"Pointless? Definitely. Fun? For those that did it, absolutely! "

Now come on, as Barry says - what are you waiting for???

Mark, bazz, your selfless offer to do the legwork for me brought a tear to my eye but alas, I must respectfully decline your offers of help!

Sailor> Sounds like I *have* to do 'em all now to uphold my honour!

Darryl

As a final endnote to this thread, I would like to state for the record that over two leisurely half-day sessions we accrued 22 distinct casino chips, from the Mandalay Bay up to the Wynn / New Frontier. It involved a fair amount of walking but nothing too heavy and we got to see the insides of various casinos from opulent (Wynn again) to middling (Bally's) to a bit grubby (O Shea's).

It ended up being a good way to see a lot of the strip venues and the "poshest" casinos didn't necessarily provide the "best" casino experience! In fact, the "Bally's Party Pit" playing blackjack was a highlight!

Next time, we might collect the remaining north strip chips and downtown... or more likely we'll stick to one hotel and stay there!

Darryl

[Scrooge]

Originally posted by daywalker
And your plan is flawed, you buy two $10 chips.

Where do you find those at ?

Glad you managed to get 22 of them, quick and easy way to get some souvenirs.

Did you end up winning or losing from it ?

I think its a perfectly sensible thing to do..
I have a "lucky" $5 Bellagio chip (sorry Dave) in my travel wallet at all times.
...Bugger all luck it provides mind you!

Good luck in your quest.

Dean

A quick word on the "cost" of each chip. We didn't keep exact records but I'd estimate it worked out around the face value for each chip. We would have a run of three/four casino's where the chip was effectively "free" and then a couple of venues where the 20 bucks down would disappear within seconds!

More than one casino was used a "pitstop" where we played blackjack "properly" and these are bound to have skewed the profit/loss results slightly. However, this did include the mitigating factor of free drinks!

Darryl