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Casino Cards Rookie

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Casino Cards Rookie
« on: August 14, 2017, 09:52:47 AM »
 

NetZipper

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Hi all.
I recently became fascinated with playing cards. More specifically casino branded playing cards.
While poking around on eBay, I found a banded case of what appears to be Late 60's early 70s Caesars Palace playing cards made by Bee. (USPCC)

Haven't a real clue of the value but I have a feeling you folks can assist me with that.
 

Re: Casino Cards Rookie
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2017, 01:43:38 AM »
 

Don Boyer

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Hi all.
I recently became fascinated with playing cards. More specifically casino branded playing cards.
While poking around on eBay, I found a banded case of what appears to be Late 60's early 70s Caesars Palace playing cards made by Bee. (USPCC)

Haven't a real clue of the value but I have a feeling you folks can assist me with that.

Welcome to the forum!  Glad to have you on board.

As far as the value of a sealed case, well, it's hard to tell without knowing exactly what's in the case.  It could be a box full of cut cards, canceled decks or souvenir decks for the gift shop for all one knows!

I can tell you that UNOPENED, UNCANCELED casino decks that were originally intended for table use tend to fetch a nice premium over most other casino decks - they're generally very well made and in the best possible condition one can find them.  It's rare to find such decks - they generally only become available in that state when the casino is changing colors or patterns and is discontinuing a particular color/pattern from use, thus making it no longer in play on their tables.  Whatever decks remain (and they usually wait until there's not much left) are made available to interested third parties - and even then, they're not easily found.

Some casinos don't even release canceled decks anymore, as I learned on a recent trip to Las Vegas - the Wynn and Encore casinos are among those, though I was able to obtain decks from the Luxor (where I stayed) and the neighboring hotel in the same chain, Mandalay Bay.  Canceled decks are generally sold pretty cheaply in the gift shops of the casino, usually for about a buck or two.

Little known fact: in the state of Nevada, by order of the state's Gaming Commission, all the casinos send their used decks in bulk to state prisons, where prison laborers work for below minimum wage re-sorting the cards into complete decks, marking and cutting the cards to deface them (so as to clearly identify them as canceled), repacking them into their boxes and resealing them with new sticker seals that label them as "used in actual play" at a given casino.  The prisoners are carefully supervised - possession of the casino cards outside of the work area is considered contraband.
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