Harvesting Chips on a Road Trip (2 Viewers)

[Timmah]

My suggestion would be to make friends with the table games/poker room staff. Sometimes honesty is your friend. Let them know you collect chips. Our poker room sells you chips directly without having to go to a cage. You could probably get a rack of $1s at a time. For snappers, find a dead BJ table and chat up the dealer. See if they’re friendly. Tell them you collect chips and want to buy a barrel of snappers. See what happens. Worst thing they could say is no. You can get all the nickels you want at a craps table. Tips to the dealers can help your cause. This is coming from someone who’s been in table games for over 25 years. As long as you’re not crippling the game with your harvesting, we really don’t care.

 

[iLovePoker]

I'll clarify my post.

1. Go to craps table and buy in about +/- $500
2. Wager on numbers
3. Maybe win? Probably lose.
4. Pocket chips as needed (maybe a barrel a session

Repeat until you have enough chips or you can no longer afford to buy in realize it's -EV.

Good Luck !

Thanks for clarifying! I was actually about to ask about that. What’s the best way to bet that isn’t too -EV but still gets you the most fracs? And are we talking about $2.50 chips, or is it even possible to get actual quarters? I read that in baccarat, you can collect quarters if you bet on Banker.

I can tell you in regard to Prairie Meadows that the poker "room" is on the main casino floor and you can buy racks from the cage no problem. I could potentially meet you out there, depending on the date you come through.

There is plenty of seating near food/racetrack area to hang out and I guarantee cameras are not looking for/scrutinizing chip harvesters. The chips are pretty plain, but they're RHCs. The last fresh $1 chips came in around 2018/2019, so not crispy new, but they're okay and would clean up fine.

You're not gonna get $2.50 chips easily...only way would be playing tons of $5 blackjack over time. My suggestion for a frac is to find a $1 chip somewhere along the way that is different enough from another $1 chip elsewhere that you prefer and label over the top. For example, get racks of a white $1 chip you like and then find a blue $1 chip somewhere and over-label a rack of them as quarters.

That sounds great! I’ll definitely hit you up when I’m heading down there. And yeah, that’s kind of my backup plan too, if I can’t harvest fracs, I’ll try to find two different singles and repurpose one.

I don’t harvest per se, but I have never had a cage question my request for a specific breakdown of chips.

A fair number of casino players are either superstitious or just habit-bound/OCD. So people making off requests for specific breakdowns should not be a problem.

If necessary you could try several different cages to get to the numbers you want.

P.S. The few casinos I play in more regularly do not even offer the option of buying chips from the dealer. They make you go to the cage. (Sometimes you can buy chips from other players if they have some in their backpack.)

That would be the ideal situation. I’m definitely going to try that at the cage, but most of the casinos I’ve been to usually send you to the tables to buy chips. And I imagine dealers might get annoyed if I ask for a whole rack of ones, maybe even loop in the pit boss. I’ve been to around ~150 casinos across the U.S. and Canada and collected a $1 chip from each. Back then I wasn’t a chipper, just trying to build a cool collection from the places I’d visited and more than a few times, dealers gave me suspicious looks or even called over the pit boss when I asked to buy just a single $1 chip.

From my nation wide RV travels and stopping at a ton of casinos, here are a few of my tips as condensed as I can make them (most are not new or revolutionary):

• A casino with a poker room gives you your best shot.
• The craps table is the next best shot at high volume at minimal time invested.
• Fracs are not as available as us chippers would hope.
• Check the Chip Guide to make sure the casino its worth the stop.
• 99% of the time if you ask at the main cage you will get the answer "we don't sell chips at the cage, you have to get them at the tables".
• Have a wife tag along with a big purse that is mostly empty (we call it her "mule hauling" purse) if case you get luck with a big score.
• For me, honesty with the dealer(s) works best....telling them you love their chips and want to "borrow" them and use them in your home game...sometimes, they will give you ideas on how to get more....or help you sort out the good chips!!
• Don't feel bad asking for chips....the worse they can say is no.
• Most of all, be nice/polite/friendly to the dealers and cage folks (tips help too). Alter all, you are asking a favor from them!!

Good luck with your hunt and please leave some chips at the Indiana and Illinois casinos....I'm headed that way myself next month!!

Great tips, thanks a lot! I’m cracking up at the mule idea, haha. My wife would probably be too embarrassed/scared to help since it would feel “illegal” to her. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do for love...

I’ll definitely check the chip guide too. At first, I figured I’d just take whatever decent shape chips the casino was willing to give me, but if I’m hitting that many casinos, I can probably afford to be a little more picky. And yes, my plan is to just be honest with them and tip for sure.

If you’re heading there next month, it sounds like you’ll beat me to it! My trip is planned for June. If you end up doing some harvesting along the way, I’d love to hear how it goes. Good luck!

My suggestion would be to make friends with the table games/poker room staff. Sometimes honesty is your friend. Let them know you collect chips. Our poker room sells you chips directly without having to go to a cage. You could probably get a rack of $1s at a time. For snappers, find a dead BJ table and chat up the dealer. See if they’re friendly. Tell them you collect chips and want to buy a barrel of snappers. See what happens. Worst thing they could say is no. You can get all the nickels you want at a craps table. Tips to the dealers can help your cause. This is coming from someone who’s been in table games for over 25 years. As long as you’re not crippling the game with your harvesting, we really don’t care.

The only thing is, I’ll only have a short amount of time at each casino, probably about an hour or so. If buying chips from the cage or poker room doesn’t work, my backup plan is to sit at an empty blackjack or craps table, play a few hands, tip around $20, and then pop the question. It might come off a little manipulative, but honestly, I’m not sure there’s a better way to go about it.




I’m curious how different the harvesting game would be in Vegas. I’d assume it’s easier, but do any of you have experience with it?

 

[moose]

I'll clarify my post.

1. Go to craps table and buy in about +/- $500
2. Wager on numbers
3. Maybe win? Probably lose.
4. Pocket chips as needed (maybe a barrel a session

Repeat until you have enough chips or you can no longer afford to buy in realize it's -EV.

Good Luck !

Lol. I can never sell this rack of Joker's Wild, as I estimate it cost me about $900 at the craps table.

 

[moose]

From my nation wide RV travels and stopping at a ton of casinos, here are a few of my tips as condensed as I can make them (most are not new or revolutionary):

• A casino with a poker room gives you your best shot.
• The craps table is the next best shot at high volume at minimal time invested.
• Fracs are not as available as us chippers would hope.
• Check the Chip Guide to make sure the casino its worth the stop.
• 99% of the time if you ask at the main cage you will get the answer "we don't sell chips at the cage, you have to get them at the tables".
• Have a wife tag along with a big purse that is mostly empty (we call it her "mule hauling" purse) if case you get luck with a big score.
• For me, honesty with the dealer(s) works best....telling them you love their chips and want to "borrow" them and use them in your home game...sometimes, they will give you ideas on how to get more....or help you sort out the good chips!!
• Don't feel bad asking for chips....the worse they can say is no.
• Most of all, be nice/polite/friendly to the dealers and cage folks (tips help too). Alter all, you are asking a favor from them!!

Good luck with your hunt and please leave some chips at the Indiana and Illinois casinos....I'm headed that way myself next month!!

Cargo pants FTW

 

[moose]

That would be the ideal situation. I’m definitely going to try that at the cage, but most of the casinos I’ve been to usually send you to the tables to buy chips. And I imagine dealers might get annoyed if I ask for a whole rack of ones, maybe even loop in the pit boss. I’ve been to around ~150 casinos across the U.S. and Canada and collected a $1 chip from each. Back then I wasn’t a chipper, just trying to build a cool collection from the places I’d visited and more than a few times, dealers gave me suspicious looks or even called over the pit boss when I asked to buy just a single $1 chip.




The only thing is, I’ll only have a short amount of time at each casino, probably about an hour or so. If buying chips from the cage or poker room doesn’t work, my backup plan is to sit at an empty blackjack or craps table, play a few hands, tip around $20, and then pop the question. It might come off a little manipulative, but honestly, I’m not sure there’s a better way to go about it.

Many places have a policy of not being allowed to sell chips to non-players so asking the floor first for permission is often a necessary formality. You can say they are for tips for the waitress or just your personal collection but unlikely you would be able to get more than 5 chips at a time, so tipping $20 first is a waste of your money. Even the craps table will never sell you more than a barrel because if they are short chips then they will need to call for a fill and that is more work/paperwork. I would save tips for a particularly helpful cage. I have on occasion had helpful cage staff go in the back and get me new racks still in the Paulson cardboard boxes lol. Sometimes they care and sometimes they don't care at all. As others have stated, honesty is really the best shot. I've had poker room managers help me pull racks from the cage when they know what I want them for. I've also had waitresses bring me free drinks while I sat at an empty poker table while I sorted chips.

This was a pretty sweet day! RIP Flamingo poker room.

 

[iLovePoker]

Lol. I can never sell this rack of Joker's Wild, as I estimate it cost me about $900 at the craps table.

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Wow, those are awesome! The Bally’s chips are looking sharp too, really great looking chips all around!

Cargo pants FTW

This made me laugh way more than it should have, lol.

Many places have a policy of not being allowed to sell chips to non-players so asking the floor first for permission is often a necessary formality. You can say they are for tips for the waitress or just your personal collection but unlikely you would be able to get more than 5 chips at a time, so tipping $20 first is a waste of your money. Even the craps table will never sell you more than a barrel because if they are short chips then they will need to call for a fill and that is more work/paperwork. I would save tips for a particularly helpful cage. I have on occasion had helpful cage staff go in the back and get me new racks still in the Paulson cardboard boxes lol. Sometimes they care and sometimes they don't care at all. As others have stated, honesty is really the best shot. I've had poker room managers help me pull racks from the cage when they know what I want them for. I've also had waitresses bring me free drinks while I sat at an empty poker table while I sorted chips.

This was a pretty sweet day! RIP Flamingo poker room.

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That’s some really good advice, thank you! I didn’t realize there’s paperwork involved when dealers need to refill chips. That definitely changes my approach. I don’t want to cause any trouble for anyone.

And OMG those Flamingo chips are insane, I’m so jealous! Getting chips still in the Paulson boxes is an absolute dream.