The one chip I never got my hands on was the steel gray 100,000 chip at Bellagio. During that trip after I had accumulated over two hundred grand in melons, I tried to get one, both at the Baccarat table and at the cage. I was refused. They said, We'll give you one if you want to bet it, not just to hold.

I recall one dealer telling me that the 100,000 chips are the prettiest thing you will ever see in your life. Well, I don't know about THAT, but casino gaming wise, I might agree!

My limits at casinos have always been standard ones, which at that time the limit at Baccarat was $15,000. (these days $20,000.) so I don't know if what they were saying was that they were willing to raise my limit for that trip since I had won so much, or if they were just giving me an excuse for not coloring me up. Plus, even though I ended up with close to three hundred grand in winnings at Bellagio alone, that is not enough to get your limits raised much, even if I had deposited it all at the cage instead of walking around with ever increasing stacks of melons. I think with a $250K line you might be able to bet $25K or $30K per hand max, and I know that back then friends of mine with million dollar lines were able to bet $50K per hand, which still, is only about 3X the normal limits of any player.

There is also a difference between limits for credit line players, and cash deposit (front money) players. While a million line may get you a $50K per hand limit, I knew of a guy back then who wired in $5M (and lost it all) at Baccarat, who was allowed to bet no more than $50K a hand. In other words, a credit line will get you a higher pro rata bet limit compared to front money, probably because they figure that a credit line will or at least should get the casino repeated chances at that sum of money, while front money might end up being a one time thing.

There was a period when the Rio, before Harrah's bought them, would allow anyone off the street to bet $100K on Baccarat. Once Harrah's took over, the limits went way down.


I actually used to bet more when I had less, although that doesn't make a lot of sense. Back then, I'd bet fifteen grand a hand regularly, at least a few times a session, and nowadays, not so much. Part of the reason might be that long hiatus from gaming that gave me more time to reflect on the value of money. Part of the reason might just be that the richer you get, the more conservative you get. Sometimes anyway.

In any case I'm pretty f'ing happy that this trip is turning out to generate some decent winnings. Anything under five figures for a multi-day trip, I mean - that's nowhere! Onwards to the next resort, LATER TODAY!