The first day of the Chinese New Year this year falls on January 23, with February 4 ushering in the Year of the Dragon -- the most powerful and only mythical sign in the Chinese Zodiac. As in previous years, a number of Las Vegas casinos will celebrate the event not only with decorations and festivities (see our upcoming "Spotlight" feature), but also with the issuance of a limited number of "lucky" $8 commemorative chips.
Here are the properties that we know of who'll be selling Year of the Dragon chips at the casino cage (some properties, including Harrah's, only issue them to VIP guests), together with any restrictions that we learned of when we called around.
Bally's: Hosts will issue $8 commemorative chips to Asian guests starting on Chinese New Year; if any are left over, they'll be made available to the general public in early February, with a limit of one per person.
Bellagio: Year of the Dragon $8 chips will be available beginning Jan. 23. The cage hasn't been informed yet as to how many chips they'll have and whether or not there will be a limit on purchasing them.
Caesars Palace: As with Bellagio, chips will be available from Jan. 23 but they're not yet sure of any limits on purchasing.
MGM Grand: Ditto the response from Bellagio and Caesars.
M Resort: Year of the Dragon $8 chips will be available from 9 a.m. on Jan. 20 on a first come, first served basis, with a limit of five chips per person.
Palms: The chips will be available at the cage from Jan. 23 and any limit depends on how long the line is, we were informed.
Rio: Again, they'll be available from the 23rd and are not sure of any limit, but informed us that they only had a very limited quantity for sale, so get there early to avoid dissapointment.
Venetian: Chips have been ordered, but last year they were only made available to VIPs and that may be the case this year, too -- they're not sure yet.
Wynn: $8 Year of the Dragon chips will be available from Jan. 23, with no limit on purchase.
The Four Queens downtown has issued commemorative chips for Chinese New Year in the past, but not recently; they're not sure about this year. The LVH (former Hilton) has also issued commemorative chips in the past, but this year, due to the name change, among other things, they won't be having any.
