"$10,000 worth of poker chips..."

Wedge Rock · #1 (**permalink**) 01-20-2007, 01:58 PM

My mother in law is the secretary at a local school. The school wants to do some renovations for which they need to raise money, so they were having a casino night, run by a local organization... She asked me if I wanted to volunteer. Its for a good cause, so I figured, sure, I'll help out...

Thursday night was "orientation"... you go down and meet the other guys, run through some games to make sure everyone gets the rules, etc. These were a nice bunch of guys, but there wasn't a card player among them... They were offering black jack, let it ride an "easy craps" table and some form of poker (there was talk of 7-card stud and SNG's if there was interest). I got the feeling that they already had dealers for poker and craps, so I'd be on a BJ table or Let it Ride.

So we sit down to deal (with crappy, old paper cards) and we are each issued some chips to bet with. 7g suited composites with an old worn hotstamp on them. And they were well used... they were in pretty bad shape. After the shoe took a lap around the table after black jack, we dealt LIR, and most of the guys didn't get that game. But we continued on... after a quick orbit, one guy suggests we deal out Hold 'Em. He was mixing up the betting structure for limit and NL. He dealt the hole cards, then flopped before a bet... he also laid out the turn and river (face down), which drives me nuts. Mind you, we each had 10 - 30 chips. But it was for a good cause, so I just kept quiet...

After the dealing session, they asked for help getting the tables out of storage... I was probably the youngest guy there, so I gladly helped them unload... they had 12 BJ/LIR half moons, and the mini "Easy Craps" table... I still don't know what Easy Craps is, but I suspect its some watered down version of craps with a higher house edge.

Anyway, while we are getting the tables out, someone notices that the tables have the name of another group on them... Turns out when this other group closed shop, the group I was volunterring for bought alot of their supplies, including the tables.

Where is this story going, right? Its a long way getting there... Patience...all will be revealed soon.

I overhear one guy say, we got their chips too... Those chips are probably worth $10,000 if you bought them new. They are 11.5 g "all clays".

I didn't say anything, because I didn't want to be a chip snob... plus like I said, I was the newcomer. But in my head, I'm thinking Tri-Colored suited composites or some other fancier looking slugged chip. The tables were nothing special (plywood, covered in wool, then covered in clear vinyl; no rail; banquet legs; under the vinyl on the LIR tables was sheets of paper with "betting circles" and the payout structure... pretty cheesy) the cards were old paper decks. I didn't expect much.

Friday night, I show up to deal. The sit me at a LIR table, but with no chip tray. They are going to bring me the chips (it was a state licensed event, so they have to keep records, etc.). I start shuffling the deck and find a boxed card... as I root it out, it turns out it is a "replacement".... the deck was full bleed and the replacement had a white border... so the players always knew where the Ace of Spades was... WTF? Spring an extra $2.50 and get new Bicycles from CVS...

When the "pit boss" brings me the small metal "cake pan" that sits in the opening cut in the table, my jaw dropped. I am staring at 80 solid orange Paulson H&C's. One side is stamped with the club name, and the other the club ID number. I look at the players, they all have Paulsons too. I kept eyeing the chips while dealing to see what mold they were, etc.

They were all in very good shape, though I did see a few knicked rims, there is no doubt that everyone of them would have stood on edge. And on break, I looked around and counted at least (at least -- their were boxes at the buy in table, and boxes int he middle in three different places... and some boxes were in milk crates, so I couldn't count them for sure) 50 boxes... the original Paulson boxes... 50 x 100 = 5,000 of the orange chips. That's the only chips they had in play. But at the end of the night, one of the members took them upstairs where they are kept. I so wanted to follow him and see what else they had.... any other colors? How many boxes total?

So that guys guess that the chips were worth $10,000 might have been exaggerated a bit (depending on what else was upstairs)... but it wasn't a ridiculous boast...

I turned in my membership application to the club before I left... These are chips... I mean "guys"...these are guys I could see myself hanging out with in the future...

Before anyone says it, no I did not get pictures... that wouldn't have been cool...snapping cell phone photos while dealing... Plus my cell phone takes crappy pictures.

MadeInDetroit · #2 (**permalink**) 01-20-2007, 02:12 PM

I think you should have drawn it out a little more.

That's cool...how long before you get upstairs?

Wedge Rock · #3 (**permalink**) 01-20-2007, 02:15 PM

I just wanted to underscore that everything up to the point that the chips were placed in front of me screamed low class. And then those Paulsons shone through like a beacon in the night.

I'm gonna volunteer to go upstairs any chance I get after I become a member...

MadeInDetroit · #4 (**permalink**) 01-20-2007, 02:21 PM

Good plan.....Let me know where to park the van.

punk1o1 · #5 (**permalink**) 01-20-2007, 02:35 PM

Great story but you gotta get some pics!! and chips....

tripod22 · #6 (**permalink**) 01-20-2007, 03:04 PM

What sort of club, a lodge or something?

Captn_All_In · #7 (**permalink**) 01-20-2007, 04:32 PM

Uh the Moose Lodge I am member at has thier annual Casino Night tonight. Very similar to what you described, BJ, Roulette, a variety of table games.

Last year I was asked to be a dealer for Hold'em, no big deal I can handle that. Well during the course of the conversation, another girl helping to run the show says to me, "Now we are going to have a meeting Thursday so we can teach you how to deal." I chuckle a bit and say that I won't need the training session, she gives me a funny look and says, "Oh do you play?" I respond with a nod, and she says, "Well do you have your own chips?" again I respond with a nod, and she says, "Well could you bring them then, because we will need a few more of the red, white, and blue chips." I reply with, "Well I don't use any of those colors." She gives me a quizzical look and then the guy I was originally talking to says, "No he uses real chips. They are way to expensive to use for our games tonight."

I almost fell out of the chair I was sitting in.....

Wedge Rock · #8 (**permalink**) 01-20-2007, 04:33 PM

I would have bought some chips and not cashed them, except they were $1 chips... plus they were taking inventory and would have noticed them missing... Maybe I should have, and just returned them at the next event...

It was a Knights of Columbus...