Okku's Historical Casino Videos & Random Fun Stuff (3 Viewers)

I'm finally back in Vegas! Finland was super fun, being able to enjoy vacation for 4 weeks and getting my mind off things. Although, it's time to get back to reality. Over the 4 weeks that I was there I did buy some chips that I really wanted and somethings that I thought were pretty awesome, so it was nice to come back to some goodies. Of course some of them had to be TRKs and then I got some surprise goodies, plus some illegal casino chips! The first time I've ever had illegal casino chips and I believe that these are from the 50s from a place called the Terrace Club that was in E. St. Louis, Illinois. Really awesome stuff and I'm very excited about them. This was a mini mail haul video unboxing them and showing them to you guys. I hope you enjoy and if you have a favorite or know anything more about them, let me know!! Super excited to get back to chips, school, work and reality!

Enjoy:

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Today we talk about how a pretty awesome set of World Trade Center Casino chips just sold here on PokerChipForum. These chips were never actually used in a casino because the place never opened as it failed to acquire a gaming license. This 800 chip set was once for sale a few months ago, but it didn't sell and it did now. Congrats to the new owner I'm sure they will enjoy it and get to play with some awesome chips. These are bud jones chips so they are different than Paulsons and TRKs but they are still pretty cool. The colors of the $1s are my favorite and then the $25 is probably right behind it, with the 25 cent chips because custom made.

Enjoy:
 
Today we talk about the history of the Frontier casino in Las Vegas. It all started in 1942, with the Last Frontier hotel which was the 2nd hotel/casino located on the Las Vegas Strip. Opened by R.E. Griffith and his nephew, William J. Moore next door to the El Rancho Vegas. It had a very western theme which attracted many that visited Las Vegas. Moving into the 50s, the name would change to the New Frontier and Elvis would have his first ever Vegas performance there. Liberace and Judy Garland also would be performers at the Frontier properties. Then, Howard Hughes took over in the 60s and changed the name to just the Frontier where things would get larger and move more towards a modern look. Phil Ruffin would take over into the late 90s and then the casino would be imploded in 2007 after closing a few months before. Incredible thing to have stayed on the strip in the same location from the 40s up until 2007 and moving with changing times! Hope you enjoy!

Here's the link:
 
Decided to take all of my quantity TRKs (stuff I have a barrel or more of) out just now to see what exactly I have and if there is any possibility of making a mixed TRK set to play with. I'm sure some of you guys would be able to see something out of this, most likely an easy set for one or two players to play with yes. As far as a set to play with 6, there might be something. Just wanted to show you guys and it's crazy to see how many chips you can get in a year/year and a half of collecting! Hope you guys enjoy!

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Today we talk about cruise lines chips or what are called WET chips! Similar to casinos on land there are casinos that are based on cruise lines which are open from in a certain time frame as well as a certain distance from land. Aside from the other activities on a cruise ship, casinos were and still are, a major hit on them for those that don't have access to them all the time. People all over the world have had the chance to build some of the worlds nicest sets with these chips too! Chips from the Starlite Cruises, Royal Venture Cruise Line, Regency Cruises are just to name a few. These bright colors and amazing, simplistic inlays matched with normal 39mm and 43mm sized chips make for some crazy looking sets! Hope you enjoy!

Here's the link:
 
Today we'll be talking about the popular Normandie club that was located in Gardena, California at the location on South Vermont Avenue before moving to 1045 West Roserans Avenue from the years of 1947 up until 2016, before changing into the Lucky Lady Casino. The Normandie Club was originally opened up by Russ Miller who was a former doorman at the Embassy Club for Ernie Primm. Miller would acquire the Western Club, built in 1940 and would later turn it into the Normandie Club. Once the Normandie Club was up and running it would join the Embassy Club which was opened in 1938. Lots of you who know already will immediately think about TRK or TR King Co, the famous large and small crown chips that many places in California used and I think all early clubs in Gardena did. Business would stay steady at the Normandie through the 60s and into the 80s when they would move the club to 1045 Rosecrans Avenue. After moving locations the Normandie would introduce 7-stud and Hold'em to the casino as well as Blackjack, Pai Gow, and Super 9, which was a fast-paced game that resembled baccarat. Russ Miller and his wife Mary would leave the Normandie to their four sons just before the year 2000. At this time, it would be the oldest card club in the state of California and it would have a very special place in history. The club would be open until 2016 when Larry Flynt would purchase the property and would have liked to turn it into a Vegas-style resort. With doing so, he also changed the name to the Lucky Lady Casino which is still open today.

I have got to say, this was a very fun video to research and produce. I knew that these Gardena clubs were popular, but I never noticed how much of an impact they made on the LA county and California as a whole. Being that Gardena was at one point called the "Poker Capital of the World" means that they were doing something right! Hopefully you guys enjoy the video and learn something, let me know what you think! Thanks.

 
Today we talk about how the collector chip market just keeps going up and up! I swear every week the chip prices are getting higher and it's on things that everyone wants. The recent TRK craze in the past few months has led to Nevada Club $20s selling for over $70 each and recently a Circus Circus $100 Prize Units chip just sold for over $1,500! Simply incredible and it shows that the hobby is not over, not in the slightest. I think this is the beginning of another wave. People who are learning about it all over the world want to enjoy the history in casino chips and seem to really want these chips. I've been enjoying the past year seeing the prices go up and I'm sure they will hit a limit sometime, but when will that time be.

Here's the link:
 
Today we'll be talking about the Overland Hotel/Overland Casino that was located in Reno, Nevada from the early 1900s up until 1977. Originally starting as a hotel and then later converting into a casino it was in Reno for a long time. It's first glimpse of gaming was in the 30s and then it would finally get into gaming fully in the late 50s and early 60s when Pick Hobson purchased the property. He did a full revamp, did the interior, opened the first floor for the casino and the place was filled with early-Comstock décor. This is another casino that many love to build casino chip sets out of and they are some of the most awesome chips, although a very simple inlay, that Reno and the world saw and still do! Chips from 10 cents all the way to $100. Later Harrah's would lease the Overland and the casino closed the next day. Then, getting demolished to make way for Harrah's parking garage.

Hope you enjoy!!:
 
Hope you've all been well, today we are going to be talking about the difference between Leaded and Non-Leaded casino chips. The main difference is the weight and that's because the lead was mixed in with the rest of the mixture, as well as sometimes having that center circular piece of lead. It was used to add weight, but back in the days nobody took into account the possible health effects that lead could have on the body. Now a days and after 2006 no lead as been used in any chips. Although these chips aren't manufactured with lead anymore. People still love the leaded casino chips, the weight, the slightly different sound and feel of them is what makes them popular. They are vintage, they are cool and they are BRICKS!

Here's a little FYI if you are wondering if chips have lead or not. If the chip weighs above 10/10.5g it's most likely leaded. If it weighs above 11g for sure leaded. Post made by @lherron back in 2015 which you can find here.

-pre '98 most colors were 47% lead (lol...)
-'98-'06 most colors were >1% lead.. except for 7 colors which were still the old 47%
-post '06 basically zero lead

Similar to other manufacturers, there was an option when ordering if the customer wanted to order chips that were heavier or lighter. There are many examples of TR King chips from the same eras being different weights. For example a Jerry's Nugget $1 Small Crown chips weighs around 11.2g and another chip from the same era, same manufacturer may only weigh 9 or so grams. The thing to look for on chip order cards is the words "weighted", that will let you know that they were leaded. Now, this isn't on all chip order cards, but TR King Co. I've seen it many times.

Here's the video, hope you enjoy and have a great labor day!
 
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Here's what David Spragg had to say about leaded chips and different manufacturers using what mixture in their chips. His feedback on the video that I made.

"Up until the 1980's SOME chips (where customer requested super heavy) contained a piece of lead shot in the center. (Mostly Christy Jones H&C inlaid chips).
Weighting was also achieved through lead powder, tungsten powder or brass powder. The word 'weighted' on an order card could refer to any of these 3, it does not necessarily mean lead.

Additional to this lead, certain color dyes also contained lead.
I have no idea where the 47% came from, per chip it averaged 47ppm (parts per million) when tested for a CA class action lawsuit 20 years or so ago. Some colors were found as high as 200ppm.

In around 1998 lead as a 'weighting' was stopped and some color dyes were replaced.
By 2006 all color dyes either contained no lead or in the case of 7 it was reduced to below the legal amount (19ppm?).
I'm not 100% sure it is totally absent from every dye right now."

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Additional to this lead, certain color dyes also contained lead.
I have no idea where the 47% came from, per chip it averaged 47ppm (parts per million) when tested for a CA class action lawsuit 20 years or so ago. Some colors were found as high as 200ppm.

I don't think the 47% figure has at all to do with the dyes. I thought that the lead powder that was added was found to be 470,000 ppm (or 47%). Of course, this means 47% of the material, but it could have been a different % of the total weight depending on what else was in the formula.
 
I don't think the 47% figure has at all to do with the dyes. I thought that the lead powder that was added was found to be 470,000 ppm (or 47%). Of course, this means 47% of the material, but it could have been a different % of the total weight depending on what else was in the formula.
Not too sure, but I think people have learned a lot about this today. Some people on ChipBoard didn't truly understand it either and I believe that it's been a good day for everyone. Going into the specifics was great and hearing the ppm specs, time frames etc. It'd be awesome to see the pictures the Spragg mentioned about, I think that would be very exciting.
 
The 47% figure comes from a letter that the CEO of GPI wrote to their customers, in which he stated:

Until 1998, these clay chips all contained approximately 47% (that is 470,000 Parts Per Million, or “PPM”) of lead in order to give them the weight that dealers and players were used to. Since 1998, the Paulson chip has had significant reductions in its lead content resulting in chips sold between January 1998 and November 2006 having a lead content of a few thousand PPM to a maximum of 6,500 PPM (0.65% in weight) for most of the approximately 70 colors of the available palette with the exception of 6 colors for which no acceptable formulation had been found until the second part of 2006.

Since November 2006, none of the chips manufactured have had lead levels that exceeded 6,500 PPM (0.65% in weight). Directly as a result of our continuous reformulation processes, we are pleased to report that all Paulson chips manufactured since October of this year have a lead content of less than 50 PPM (0.005% in weight).

In addition, prior to this letter, there was a TV station that hired a lab to test Paulson chips for lead. Reportedly, the lab determined that the chips contained 47% lead.

All of the above information comes from Key West (a reseller of ASM/CPC chips), who has posted it here: https://www.keywestresortcasino.com/the-great-casino-chip-lead-scare.html

There doesn't seem to be first-hand information about where the 47% number came from, since Key West is a secondary source and not a primary source, and the primary sources may be gone (or at least not on the Internet). But it's conceivable that the lab hired by the TV station found 47% and that the Paulson CEO simply repeated that number in his letter without performing any further analysis on their own.

That was in Nov 2007. Paulson said that all newly-manufactured chips were down to 0.005% lead as of Oct 2007. By Aug 2008, the Arizona Department of Health Services had tested Paulson's chips and found that they had "concentrations of lead significantly lower than those reported by the television station". It's not clear that the TV station and the AZ DHS were testing the same chips. This information comes by way of a Aug 2008 report in the Las Vegas Sun: https://m.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/aug/01/gamblers-be-warned-lead-vegas-companys-poker-chips/

However, I suspect the following:
  • The 47% was what one lab found, but labs are full of crap.
  • The CEO didn't dispute the 47% figure and in fact repeated it, because Paulson didn't have any way to test it themselves or perform any other sort of analysis to determine what the actual figure would have been for chips that they manufactured ten years previously, and their main task at the time was to send out a reassuring letter to their customers.
  • A subsequent analysis by the AZ DHS was probably more rigorous, and while we don't know what number they came up with, or even which chips they tested, it was "significantly less" than 47%.

    ... and so, accordingly:

  • The "47%" figure is just a bunch of crap.
Alas, I have no way to prove my suspicions.

None of this, however, is relevant to ASM or CPC chips. The TV station's lab tested Paulson chips, the CEO of Paulson wrote about their own chips, and the AZ DHS tested Paulson chips. Nobody else's chips were mentioned in anything connected to the 47% figure.

None of the information we have at our fingertips is primary sources, so there's no good way to even know whether 47% is even being accurately reported (did the lab actually say 470,000 ppm, or was that a misunderstanding?) or, for example, whether the 47% refers to the entire body of a chip or just the minuscule amount of dyes used to color the chip. Diligent research, probably using actual paper records in actual libraries, and possibly including FOIA requests in order to turn up the relevant government documents, might shed more light on this particular subject... but cursory google searches probably won't.
 
Today we look at what I'm accumulated in one and a half years of collecting casino chips. It's been a journey so far and its not anywhere close to being done. I currently have somewhere around 1150-1200 chips. Not all of them are individuals as I do have quantity of a couple things which make up that number. My favorite stuff is still the TRKs all day long, but there are a bunch of other cool things I have. The illegal chips are up on that list and I am going to be looking for more of those in the future. Building an illegal casino chip set sounds like an awesome thing, imagine playing with chips that mobsters used to play with...... NOW that's what I'm talking about! Thanks for always watching, sharing and commenting. Your supports truly means the world to me and I can't wait to see what more this hobby brings! Thank you!

Here's the link:
 
I've been thinking about how we could share the stories of those that have been collecting chips. Those that have been "in the game" since the early days of casino into the 2000s, 2010s or even those how are just getting into the hobby. How things have changed, the most insane sets they have ever owned or even what their favorites memories are. It would be awesome to share those stories with the community, the hobby and the world. I feel like over the past year or two have been insane for the hobby as far as gaining momentum and seeing prices increase rapidly.

With that in mind, I'd like to propose a podcast style series I'd like to start. I'm still thinking about what I'd call it, I was originally thinking "Chip Talk". If anyone has a good title that would be awesome!

If you'd like to be interested and would want to see this happen, let me know! I would love to sit down for 30 minutes or an hour talking about how people got into the hobby, what they love about it and everything chips. I could probably talk for hours like most of us. Also, if there are people you'd like to see on the series, let me know too. I can get in contact with them and hopefully set up a time where we could sit down and talk. These would get uploaded to my channel and it would be awesome to have pictures if anyone has been documenting their collection from the very beginning up until now. I'd be very excited to do this and would love to share with you guys!

If there is anyone on here, tag them here and let's see all the names you'd like to see!
 
Taking a quick closer look at leaded casino chips and how different manufacturer used to do it. In this video I show that indeed Christy and Jones did actually have a piece of lead in the middle of the chip to add the weight. Paulson, TRK, Jack Todd Co and other manufacturer could have possibly done the same thing or they could have mixed it into the mixture for the chip itself.

Here's the link:
 
Didn't have time to post this out this morning, but today was my birthday! Finally turned 22 and this past year of being 21 was so much fun. Although it wasn't a normal year, it was so much fun. Making videos, working, meeting and getting to speak with new people and everything that I've learned made it one to remember that's for sure. All the connections made make it that much better. Thanks to everyone who watches the videos, supports me and shares them with others! It's greatly appreciated and I can't thank you enough!

 
With my recent acquisition of a few illegal casino chips I really got interested in them and wanted to learn more about them. I've known a little bit of the history, but haven't actually gotten to learn about how these clubs operated, who operated some of them, the games they had, the environments and details like that. So with that, I'm going to be looking into more illegal clubs/casinos and making videos about them. In my new video, we talk about Illegal casino gaming and the beginning of it here in the United States. It most likely started somewhere in the 1800s, but got more popular into the early 1900s-1930s and then would slowly fade away into the 50s and 60s when police would begin raids and Vegas was starting to really gain attention. Some popular faces you may think about can be Meyer Lansky, Al Capone, Bugsy Siegal, Sam Giancana and many others. Many popular illegal casinos were located in the South of the US, Northeast and places around Chicago. So, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Missouri. This is the intro to a new series that I'll begin highlighting certain illegal casinos talking about their history, who was behind them and what kinds of chips/operations they had happening at these clubs. I hope you enjoy!

Here's the link:
 
Today we are talking about the Mount Charleston Lodge that was/is located an hour away from Las Vegas. Unfortunately it burned down on September 17th of 2021, but will be getting rebuilt. Its origins take it back to the late 1800s and to 1905 when it would be established by E.W. Griffith. Back then it started out as 15 wood-floored tents and a corrugated iron dining room and was originally called Charleston Park Lodge. Into 1915, the camp would continue to get developed and by then it was fit for visitors. As time went on the lodge would eventually get purchased by Warren Bailey, who also went by Doc Bailey. Bailey owned the Hacienda at this time. This was most likely around the 50s at this time considering the Hacienda was built in 1956. In the mid 40s people were able to gamble up on the mountain. Its stated on ChipGuide's website that the lodge had a casino that opened up in 1946. With what seems to be possibly a roulette chip and $1, $5, and $25 casino chips. In 1961, it would burn down and reconstruction would begin in 1962 before being finalized in 1966. In 1995, another quote on quote casino would be added to the lodge. This time as said on ChipGuide it says that the chips were $5 chips and they were Parking Chips or Redeemable for a $5 food or beverage. Mount Charleston Lodge was a place for those who love the outdoors, skiing, snowboarding, the cold and hiking to get food, drinks and a place to relax. It will be missed, but I think once its rebuilt it will be better than ever. As long as people are living on the mountain, in Las Vegas and Nevada the lodge will remain on Mount Charleston. Enjoy!

Here's the link:
 
Today we talk about an interesting topic. A certain set of chips that used to belong to Michael Ginsberg, who was an executive at Microsoft in the 90s. Ginsberg was a young guy when he got this position and took advantage of it pretty quickly. Telling his co-workers and others that he was an "investment genius". That wasn't truly the case. He was able to get money from people at his work. Five gave him amounts ranging from $375,000 to almost $900,000 and one trusted him with almost $5 million.... Ginsberg told one woman who gave him nearly $500,000 that she could be "rest assured" that her money was "in good hands," it actually ended up in the hands of the swanky Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas that very day. So, this shows that he wasn't truly an investment genius and he had a pretty bad gambling addiction by the looks of it. Interesting that he had gotten a personal set of chips, if I'm understanding this all correctly, which are actually really nice for what they are. Ginsberg's widow discovered that their joint bank account held less than $6,000 and that their credit card bills totaled about $200,000 and that he had written checks for amounts between $25,000 and $100,000 made out to different casinos in Reno and Las Vegas.

Here's the link:
 
Today we talk about the Riviera casino that was located in Las Vegas, Nevada from the years of 1955 up until 2015. It opened in the same era as casinos like the Dunes, Sands, Flamingo, Desert Inn, Royal Nevada and Sahara. It would be the first official high-rise resort that would be apart of the Las Vegas strip. Located at 2901 Las Vegas Blvd S it was in a prime spot. It's said that the Riviera looked like it belonged somewhere along Miami Beach. The Riviera officially opened up on April 20th of 1955 and inside of the Clover Showroom it was Liberace with actress Joan Crawford who made opening night special! At this time Liberace had to be the man making the most money at any Vegas property when he was getting paid $50,000 a week, compared to when he was at the New Frontier, he was only making $750 a week. In 1985 some of the Riviera's most famous shows would get added to their lineup. Those shows including Splash, which was an "aquacade of music and dance", La Cage and then in 1987, the topless comedy revue Crazy Girls was added. The Riviera was in many movies like Oceans 11, Diamonds are Forever, Casino, Austin Powers, The Hangover and Jason Bourne to name a few. Into 2015, the Riviera was bought by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and closed on May 4th, 2015 at noon. It was imploded in 2 phases. The 1st implosion took place at 2:35am on June 14th of 2016 which took down the 24-story Monaco tower and on August 16th of 2016 the Monte Carlo tower along with the other remaining buildings were imploded. If you have any memories put those in the comments below, share this video with your friends and thank you for watching!

Here's the link:
 
Today we talk about the Riviera casino that was located in Las Vegas, Nevada from the years of 1955 up until 2015. It opened in the same era as casinos like the Dunes, Sands, Flamingo, Desert Inn, Royal Nevada and Sahara. It would be the first official high-rise resort that would be apart of the Las Vegas strip. Located at 2901 Las Vegas Blvd S it was in a prime spot. It's said that the Riviera looked like it belonged somewhere along Miami Beach. The Riviera officially opened up on April 20th of 1955 and inside of the Clover Showroom it was Liberace with actress Joan Crawford who made opening night special! At this time Liberace had to be the man making the most money at any Vegas property when he was getting paid $50,000 a week, compared to when he was at the New Frontier, he was only making $750 a week. In 1985 some of the Riviera's most famous shows would get added to their lineup. Those shows including Splash, which was an "aquacade of music and dance", La Cage and then in 1987, the topless comedy revue Crazy Girls was added. The Riviera was in many movies like Oceans 11, Diamonds are Forever, Casino, Austin Powers, The Hangover and Jason Bourne to name a few. Into 2015, the Riviera was bought by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and closed on May 4th, 2015 at noon. It was imploded in 2 phases. The 1st implosion took place at 2:35am on June 14th of 2016 which took down the 24-story Monaco tower and on August 16th of 2016 the Monte Carlo tower along with the other remaining buildings were imploded. If you have any memories put those in the comments below, share this video with your friends and thank you for watching!

Here's the link:
Good job Oscar!
 
Today we discuss an interesting topic that I was thinking about. Being that the last year and a half has been pretty big and a change for the chip community. Seeing prices that we've never seen before for some chips, seeing some of the most interesting racks we've ever seen and finding new things. It has been insane, to say the least. Supply for things in quantity is going down, but the demand is through the roof. People are buying individuals to be able to complete a barrel or a rack if they need to and paying top premium prices to do so. Higher end chips are still holding value, but the demand for this just isn't there right now. Everyone is after the quantity things, buildings sets and trying to get as many as they can.

What's the craziest prices you've seen recently? Let's share some pictures or thoughts!

Here's the link:
 
Today we talk about a set of chips or lammers that were posted online, specifically TheChipBoard. These chips or lammers being said that they were from Al Capone's Cotton Club that was located in Chicago, Illinois at 5342 W. 22nd St., Cicero. It was said to be one of the most popular bars and speakeasies that the Capone family ran. Now, this set is specifically interesting because it has a note/letter written by the City of Cleveland Department of Public Safety, Eliot Ness, who was the director. Saying that this was a set of chips or lammers that were taken from the last or final raid that they did on the Capone mob. Very interesting stuff and an awesome letter! Hope you enjoy!

What's your thoughts about these? I'd love to hear!

Here's the link:
 
Was going to have a fun video uploaded today showing off some of the most insane TRK sets on here and the internet, but the file corrupted during rendering sooooo I'll see what I can do and possibly have a video up tomorrow or later tonight. Sucks, but what can I do......
 
Today I quickly show you guys some of the newest TR King casino chips that have been added to my collection. As you guys know I enjoy TRKs very much and it doesn't matter if they are small or large crown. As long as they are nice looking and have some good history behind them. Along with that, I've been trying to record a new multi part video series going over the "Most INSANE TR King Casino Chip Sets Ever" and I'm going to have to record the first part again because my microphone died mid recording. So, those should start coming out soon and hopefully the first part is out this weekend or on Monday. Thanks for the support as always, you guys are amazing and enjoy!

 

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