Question of the Day - 01 February 2006

This has proven to be a tricky one, since some of the casinos came back with totally conflicting information about whether or not they'd be issuing commemorative chips, even though we began the research for this answer only a couple of days prior to the Chinese New Year, which of course begins today. We'd like to extend our thanks to Gene Trimble-Slabfree of thechipboard.com, whose help with this research was invaluable.

As your question indicates, some casinos issue chips in $8 denominations specially for this occasion, since the number eight is considered particularly lucky in many Asian cultures. These are especially collectible and, like the other denominations, can be purchased from the main cage of the participating casinos.

To the best of our knowledge, the casinos that have already or will be releasing limited edition chips for the Year of the Dog are as follows:

• Four Queens: Released its $5 commemorative chips on Jan. 27. There's a $100 limit per person and they're going like hotcakes, so they may be sold out by the time this answer goes live. Their $8 chip went on sale yesterday, with a five-chip limit per person, and is of particular interest: It's the first-ever brass-centered chip to be issued in Nevada and will no doubt be highly sought-after.
• Palms: Was one of the earliest casinos to issue these commemorative chips, in $8, $25, and $100 denominations. They're already sold out of the popular $8 versions, but the $25 and $100 ones were still available yesterday, with no limit on how many you could buy.
• Las Vegas Hilton: Has Year of the Dog chips in $5 and $25 denominations, limited to two sets per person (i.e., two $5s and two $25s each).
• Wynn: We were informed that their $8 commemorative chips will be available as of Feb. 2.
• Harrahs: Will today release their $5 Year of the Dog chips, with a five-chip limit per person.
• Rio: Has $5 commemorative chips available, with a five-chip limit.
• Paris & Bally's: Although calls to their respective cages resulted in denials that any commemorative chips were being released, we have it on good authority that they were delivered to both casinos before noon on Jan. 26. However, as only 500 were made for each property, they will most likely only be given away to VIPs and not made available to the general public.