Taking home casino chips for home play (1 Viewer)

Chef1231

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Hello all, very new here. Lurking around for a bit and watching tons of videos on youtube from Hobbyphilic. I used to play pretty heavy years ago and just recently got back in to it. Last time I was playing you could buy Paulson chips online and it wasn't a problem, now I can see that has changed. I am looking for a set of chips to play with at home and have spend around $100 or a little more on samples. I guess the long and short is.. Can I just go buy a few hundred $1 chips from a local casino and bring them home to use? It would seem they would be Paulson and less then I can buy them online for.
 
Hello all, very new here. Lurking around for a bit and watching tons of videos on youtube from Hobbyphilic. I used to play pretty heavy years ago and just recently got back in to it. Last time I was playing you could buy Paulson chips online and it wasn't a problem, now I can see that has changed. I am looking for a set of chips to play with at home and have spend around $100 or a little more on samples. I guess the long and short is.. Can I just go buy a few hundred $1 chips from a local casino and bring them home to use? It would seem they would be Paulson and less then I can buy them online for.
According to one member, it’s the only way to go.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/a-bunch-of-scrub-donkeys.45506/
 
This guy harvested Bellagio, then took them back.

kadrik bellagio.jpeg
 
Is this illegal or just frowned upon?
 
FWIW casinos use a lot less clay Paulsons these days and when they do they are grand overlays or RHC. THC Paulsons are not as common any more. None of the casinos near me have chips that I would use even if they were given to me for free.
 
FWIW casinos use a lot less clay Paulsons these days and when they do they are grand overlays or RHC. THC Paulsons are not as common any more. None of the casinos near me have chips that I would use even if they were given to me for free.

Actually, casinos are still using a LOT of Paulson's. In my live BOLO collection from Nevada casinos (100 of them), more than 90% of them are still Paulson, with only the odd Bud Jones plastic or full face printed ceramic. RHC dominates, for sure. But there are still nice THCs in Vegas on the Strip.
 
Actually, casinos are still using a LOT of Paulson's. In my live BOLO collection from Nevada casinos (100 of them), more than 90% of them are still Paulson, with only the odd Bud Jones plastic or full face printed ceramic. RHC dominates, for sure. But there are still nice THCs in Vegas on the Strip.

True, especially in Vegas. I played more 20 years ago then only got back into poker in the past few years. Not that I was into chips back then, but it seemed that all of the casinos that I went to used THC or house Paulsons which is why I still have the notion that those are “the real” poker chips. Now that I am playing again those same non-Vegas (Atlantic City and a Florida) casinos either use non-clay chips or the use the overlays. Hopefully my experience was just regional to those casinos and arenas I frequented then.

Since OP hadn’t played in a while and just getting back into it, my intention was more prod him to go out there and see what his casinos use since my experience was underwhelming upon my return.
 
Having never harvested myself, I don't have much value to add here beyond regurgitating what others say.

I think it's definitely frowned upon. And, perhaps depending on how you look at it, illegal as well. Some have said that you're really borrowing the chips when you exchange cash for them. Leaving with them in your backpack is essentially walking out of the casino with casino property.

They're not selling you the chips; it's 0% interest loan.
 
Having never harvested myself, I don't have much value to add here beyond regurgitating what others say.

I think it's definitely frowned upon. And, perhaps depending on how you look at it, illegal as well. Some have said that you're really borrowing the chips when you exchange cash for them. Leaving with them in your backpack is essentially walking out of the casino with casino property.

They're not selling you the chips; it's 0% interest loan.
Definitely illegal in the eyes of the authorities (aka gaming commission boards and regulatory bodies), who consider it theft of casino property.

That said, most casino employees don't care (and some will actively assist you, especially for tips), unless an enforcement agent happens to be nearby. Some casinos/cardrooms do enforce their policy, especially for chips that are in short supply or cost more to replace than their book value (typically fracs and $1 cash checks). Some look the other way on chips/checks leaving the premises but not chip racks/trays.
 
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Hello all, very new here. Lurking around for a bit and watching tons of videos on youtube from Hobbyphilic. I used to play pretty heavy years ago and just recently got back in to it. Last time I was playing you could buy Paulson chips online and it wasn't a problem, now I can see that has changed. I am looking for a set of chips to play with at home and have spend around $100 or a little more on samples. I guess the long and short is.. Can I just go buy a few hundred $1 chips from a local casino and bring them home to use? It would seem they would be Paulson and less then I can buy them online for.


Good idea for the $1 chips. But it gets quite expensive if you want the $5/$25/$100 chips.
 
Casinos probably appreciate the uncashed $5, $25 and $100 souvenirs that never make it back to the cage... but thousands of missing 1s every year probably just bugs them.
 
I spoke to the director of Casino Operations one time in my local Card Room about this exact issue. He is the one that approves of all purchases of Cards, Chips etc. I was trying to encourage him to purchase a new denomination for a game that this room did not have at the time. Granted, this was a few years ago, but he told me what they pay for chips from what I remember of the conversation it was waaaaaaay less than $1/chip. They need to buy new chips from time to time whether or not someone is harvesting chips. I suppose it might get a bit inconvenient, but it is all part of the job and if they are making money on people walking out with their chips they are not going to get too bent out of shape about it.
 

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