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CURRENT CHIPS & CLUB CARDS |
When using the many excellent Internet chip guides, it is
sometimes difficult to determine exactly what chips are currently in use. As of October 19, 2007, the following
information was correct. This page
covers the eastern Upper Peninsula and the northern Lower Peninsula, as well as
neighboring Sault Ste. Marie,
Some preliminary notes:
Chips: I collect $1 chips, so the currently available $1 chips from each casino is shown here. You have to buy your chips at the table games
or at the cashier’s cage in the poker room (for those having a designated poker
room). Chips are not sold from the
regular cashier’s cage. In addition,
expect some confusion. If you ask for 50 cent chips or $1 chips, it is quite
likely the dealer will reach for Kennedy half dollars or $1 slot tokens; you
have to make sure that you want chips, not coins or tokens. Although the staff at all the northern
casinos are friendly, they do not like selling chips because it depletes the
supply at their tables. One thing is
clear, particularly at Indian casinos: the casinos do not like to buy new
chips, and the dealers have picked up the attitude that if they sell you ten
chips, they may never be able to replace them.
Of course, that’s utter foolishness, but it’s the attitude that prevails
when you seek to buy chips. An exception
was the Little River and Odawa casinos in the northern
Player’s cards: Each casino offers a players’ club
card. Some programs are shared by
multiple casinos. Each program generally
has different membership levels, representing the different levels of
perks. The basic cards are shown
here.
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THE YOOPER CASINOS + |
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KEWADIN SAULT STE. MARIE ( The Sault
tribe operates five casinos in the Upper Peninsula, and also operates the Greektown Casino in The
casino as Sault Ste. Marie is a couple miles east of I-75 on 3 Mile Road,
then north on Shunk Road (not Skunk Road – if you Mapquest Skunk
Road, you’ll end up about 7 miles away). |
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Left: original Kewadin
$1 chip, still in use Center & right: Newer Kewadin $1 chip (both sides shown)
$1 slot tokens are also used at the
tables, just like chips The
flagship casino in Sault Ste. Marie, formerly called Vegas Kewadin, has chips in American and Canadian
denominations. For American denominations,
the casino no longer uses 50 cent chips, but instead uses JFK halves. A variety exists for $1 American chips –
the casino interchangeably uses an old design chip, a newer design (both Chipcos), and $1 slot tokens.
Canadian 50 cent and $1 chip; good
luck finding a $1 chip in good condition! Its Chipco Canadians are available in 50 cents and $1 (as
well as higher denominations not addressed in this article). The $1 chips are among the worst chips in
the nation; they are brown and their design easily rubs off. Considering how infrequently tribal casinos
put new fresh chips on the tables (generally once every millennia), it is
impossible to get Canadian $1 chips in any collectible condition. Although
the American $1 chips and tokens are used at all of the Kewadin
casinos in There is
a single roulette wheel at Kewadin SSM, but it has playing surfaces on both sides of the
wheel. The Paulson roulette chips have
a gold hot stamp script “Kewadin.” Only one set of chips was visible during my
visit – the colors were white, green, light blue, salmon, dark blue, and
plum.
Pictured
above are Kewadin Gold free play tokens, with a
quarter for size comparison. There are
two tokens available, with different
inscriptions on each side. The two
views on the left depict the most recent issue. It has the newer Kewadin
logo with the sun, lake and tree. On
the right are both sides of the older token, featuring the older Kewadin logo. Both
tokens are in current use. The tokens
are distributed in rolls of 20, and given during various promotions at all
the Kewadin casinos. Rolls are also distributed through area
motels.
The Northern Rewards program is
used at all five Kewadin northern properties. |
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BAY MILLS ( Bay Mills is a small casino.
The casino’s employees know how to get there, but the rest of the
population might have a hard time because the route is not well marked. Signs lead you from I-75 to M-221, but they
don’t tell you where to go when M-221 ends (you turn left and go two miles). |
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Bay Mills
still uses $1 slot tokens (both sides shown).
It has chip denominations in American and Canadian currencies. There is the $1 Chipco
for the American spender, and Bud Jones 50 cent and $1 for Canadians. There is no longer a 50 cent American in
circulation – the casino uses JFK halves instead. It has a single roulette table, with Hat & Cane chips
hot-stamped with a gold shamrock. The casino’s name does not appear on these
chips. They come in green, blue,
orange, purple, pink and yellow. The
minimum value is 25 cents (25 cents is the common minimum value for Yooper
roulette games).
The FunCard
is used at Bay Mills and its sister casino, King Club |
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KING’S CLUB ( Kings Club, jointly operated with Bay Mills,
is a slots-only club and no longer uses chips. |
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CASINO SAULT STE. MARIE
( The charity casino at Sault Ste. Marie, The Soo has a single
roulette table, designated as Table B (the dealer told me he thinks the
backup set is marked as Table A). The
chips are Bud Jones models, and Table B’s colors are rose, light blue, lime
green, dark brown, grey, tan and blue. |
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Among
their low denomination chips, they have a $1 chip and a 50 cent chip (nothing
lower). The $1 chips in particular are
in horrible condition, so it’s not worth the trip for harvesters. Two other OLG
casinos have switched to new designs bearing the OLG
logo and the name of the casino (Brantford & Thousand Islands); perhaps
the Soo will follow suit soon. |
The casinos uses the same slot club card as most other OLG
casinos. |
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KEWADIN HESSEL
( The tiny Hessel casino was
undergoing some renovation during my visit, but apparently not an
expansion. |
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All are used interchangeably at the
tables: Upper left: older $1 chip; upper center & right: newer $1 chip;
bottom row: $1 slot token This
casino still uses coins in its slots (and the $1 slot token in the $1
machines). It does not have TITOs. Moreover,
the casino’s table games is limited to two blackjack tables. It uses the same chips and tokens as the
other Kewadin casinos. There are no roulette tables, and therefore
no roulette chips. |
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When I visited in October 2006, the tribe was up in arms
about this casino. Apparently the
tribal decision-makers built a beautiful new casino and hotel, and later
discovered that the new casino had been constructed on land not approved for
gaming. Since that time, the matter
has been resolved and the casino has moved into its new digs. |
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In October 2007, the casino was using the two standard Kewadin $1 chips and Kewadin’s
$1 slot tokens interchangeably at the tables.
There are two roulette tables with a common single wheel in
between. One side uses HHR chips with a round white inlay with the Kewadin logo in a red splash. The colors available are purple, pink,
maroon, brown, and teal. The other
side’s Paulson chips have the Kewadin name in black
hot stamp. Colors are salmon, blue,
yellow, green, pink, orange, and maroon.
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THE NORTHERN |
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VICTORIES CASINO ( Victories
was closed in June 2007. Its chips were
redeemable until September 30, 2007.
The casino has been replaced by a much larger facility about a quarter
mile away (look for the water tower). |
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ODAWA CASINO ( The Odawa resort
replaced Victories in June 2007. |
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Both sides shown The
casino uses $1 chips; there are no fractionals. Two
roulette tables are available. The
casino’s name does not appear on the chips.
One table has a three-spoke pinwheel design, and the colors are grey,
orange, blue, olive, peach, brown and yellow.
The chips at the second table have a 10-spoke wagon wheel design, and
I believe they come in the same colors.
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TURTLE CREEK ( Turtle Creek
is building a new casino with an expected June 2008 opening date. The Traverse Bay Casino Resorts consists of
these two casinos plus the Grand Traverse Resort in Acme, LEELANAU SANDS ( I did not
visit Leelanau Sands as part of this trip.
In July 2007 is was using the same chips shown below. |
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Both sides of chips shown Turtle
Creek continues to use the standard The $1
chips are available in two variations, wider and narrower rim print, as shown
below.
The rewards card is used at both
casinos |
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LITTLE RIVER ( The slots do not use
the TITO system, and still spit out real nickels, quarters and $1 tokens.
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Two
roulette tables are in operation – I do not have chip colors. Little River has $1 and 50 cent chips.
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I
have these Yooperland chips available for trade: JIM’S CHIP TRADES