History of Casino Decks

[bathcrew]

Hi,

The following link shows many interesting informations. Indeed, there are many types of golden nugget :
https://sites.google.com/site/cardconjurer/playingcards/vintagecasinoplayingcards/goldennugget

Good job from the author!

Best regards,

Bathcrew.

[fredv]

Hello,

there is a work in progress to upgrade this with many new information, statistics, histories, pictures ..

Maybe it will be released before the end of summer

Fred.

[Don Boyer]

We've had countless articles here written about the Golden Nugget series of decks.  Perform a search for them from the home page and peruse them yourself - you might find even more quality information on the subject.

Perhaps we should even begin a bit of consolidation of the various topics...  I find it better to keep each deck to a single topic for future readers like yourself to find them more easily.

[iDoctor]

It would be great if you consolidate some popular topics, like Golden Nuggets or other vintage Vegas cards. There are a lot of different articles and sources but at the same time it's not easy to find correct and complete information. Above mentioned source, for example, is incomplete and doesn't contain certain info (about stamps and certain production years) and pics of some GN decks (f/ex Hotel and Casino in red).

[fredv]

iDoctor,
the work is still in progress and may be published sometime this year .. if Lee and I have more time

As far as Golden Nugget cards are concerned, i think we have a quite exhaustive view of which year for which color. We have a survey with around 200 decks (seen on ebay, or in collections), and we are less and less surprised about new items we can find.   If you have a collection of GN you may help if you want ..

About other Vegas vintage cards, yes it could be interesting, even if there are not many casinos with as many differences as Golden Nugget ..

Jerry's Nugget, for example, are quite easy : two colors, one year of production. Period.
Most of other Vegas Casinos 70's cards are like that .. Only Golden Nugget have more than 6 colors and years

[iDoctor]

Fred,
First of all thank you for your work, it's very useful and looks nice. Hope you will have enough time to develop it further. As for my interest, I would say you much thanks if you info me about exact production's years of each generation of GNs. From my side I may help with some scans and images which are not presented there at presence (f/ex 2nd generation in brown or Hotel and Casino in red).
As for other vintage Vegas decks, you are absolutely right that they have less differences than GNs. At the same time, I'm sure for some of us it will be interesting and useful to have general database and forum in one place. Might be, it's my personal interest as vintage Vegas decks collector, but I hope not only mine.
P.S. For example, I couldn't find any info about exact years of printing of the purple (Arrco style) Carson Nugget's cards and other info about them. It seems to be between 1959 and 1965, but I'm not sure.

[fredv]

I don't think there are many vintage Vegas cards collectors .. The story of these cards is not well known and nowadays many people prefer collecting newer cards mostly because it's less expensive and we can buy more and play with them 

I have 2nd generation brown and red hotel and casino, what would be interesting is a list of all decks you have with the code of the ace of spades .. to be able to feed the survey i could give you an access ..

Send me a PM and we'll be able to study that ..

About the purple Carson City i have only seen it once but i never really studied these cards.

[sliverboi]

Jerry's Nugget, for example, are quite easy : two colors, one year of production. Period.
Most of other Vegas Casinos 70's cards are like that .. Only Golden Nugget have more than 6 colors and years

Hi Fredv,

I don't normally post here and mainly a lurker. However it itchs me to post when people mention vintage casino cards as its my favourite collection. I believe the other casino that has lot of colors apart from Golden Nuggets, will be Desert Inn. I have 3 pairs (3R & 4B) of sealed red and blue Desert Inn and personally seen other colors like Green and Gold on eBay before.

As for the Purple Carson City Nugget printed by Arrcco Playing Card Company, I do have one sealed. I can provide photos when I borrow a good camera from my friend. However that will only be the tuck box as all of my Vintage Casino Decks are sealed. I have the USPCC printed pair as well.

As for Golden Nugget, if I am not wrong I have all the colors less the first generation Purple & Orange as well as second generation Red (both the "Gambling Hall and Roaming House" and "Hotel and Casino"). Other than that I should be able to help out with the photos.

Having Dunes in the project will be great if possible. I too can provide the photos if you need them.

Hey iDoctor, I initially thought you are River Tsai because of the display picture you are using, as that photo was taken by him. Maybe can try seeking River Tsai's help when it comes to Vintage Casino Cards because he is very knowledgeable and have a wide range of decks (I used to ask him alot to understand more of Vintage Cards).

[iDoctor]

Jerry's Nugget, for example, are quite easy : two colors, one year of production. Period.
Most of other Vegas Casinos 70's cards are like that .. Only Golden Nugget have more than 6 colors and years

Hey iDoctor, I initially thought you are River Tsai because of the display picture you are using, as that photo was taken by him. Maybe can try seeking River Tsai's help when it comes to Vintage Casino Cards because he is very knowledgeable and have a wide range of decks (I used to ask him alot to understand more of Vintage Cards).

Hi, Silverboi,
Thank you for your post. I'm really quite charmed by vintage Vegas cards and I'm on a long way of collecting them. My avatar (you were absolutely right, taken from River Tsai) shows my key interest. Unfortunately I have no contact with him and will be glad to get it, if possible.
Always yours, iDoctor

P.S. First GN generation had purple?? Please, PM me photos if you have..

[fredv]

Hello guys,

i think we are on the way to creating something nice
Maybe we can start with listing all the types of cards we want to study .. i will contact you via PM as soon as i have enough time .. we'll talk about that and try to list which cards we want to follow .. Nuggets, Desert Inn, Imperial Palace, Caesar Palace, Dunes, Silver Slipper,  all these mythics decks !

And yes there is a purple Golden Nugget deck, the rarest, the most expensive one .. the only one i'm still looking for   (last one was around $300 for a used one)

[sliverboi]

P.S. First GN generation had purple?? Please, PM me photos if you have..
[/quote]

Hey iDoctor, sad to say, like I mentioned, I am missing the purple as well as the orange GN. Its way too rich for my blood especially for the current market. The rarest GN I have is the blue one and that had caused a big hole in my pocket.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention that I have a borderless second generation Green GN and wonder if you guys have any idea about this deck?

And fredv, I have attached a photo of the purp Carson City Nugget. Don't know if your interested in taking a look again =p

Cheers,
sliverboi

PS: Sorry for the bad quality of the photos as I am using my handphone camera to take. Hope I can take better photo when I borrow a quality camera from my friend.

[iDoctor]

P.S. First GN generation had purple?? Please, PM me photos if you have..

Oh yeah I forgot to mention that I have a borderless second generation Green GN and wonder if you guys have any idea about this deck?

[/quote]

Wow, Siverboy, it' fantastic!
I've never even seen this bordless GN! Thanks a lot for your photo. The only one idea cames to me. As this deck is wrapped in individual transparent cello, it might be a part of a 2-decks gift set. Similar sets were in use at that days in Vegas casinos, including Silver Slipper (their set had blue and green cards) and MGM Grand (brown and gold cards). All these cards were individually wrapped in cello and had a common paper box for 2 decks (sample photo attached). In this case this deck should has similar deck in red (or other color?) But what about the producer of this deck - Whitman Publishing Company? Just wow..
As your Carsons is sealed, I've added some photos from inside for your pleasure. It was my pleasure to meet you here.
Yours, iDoctor

[sliverboi]

The only one idea cames to me. As this deck is wrapped in individual transparent cello, it might be a part of a 2-decks gift set. Similar sets were in use at that days in Vegas casinos, including Silver Slipper (their set had blue and green cards) and MGM Grand (brown and gold cards). All these cards were individually wrapped in cello and had a common paper box for 2 decks (sample photo attached).
[/quote]

Hey iDoctor, maybe you might want to check on your attached files? It seems to no work for me. Yup I too think that the borderless green GN is from a 2-decks gift set as I have quite a couple of casino gift sets myself. Namely the MGM, Sahara (3rd ed?), Frontiers (4 boxes of One way back, still finding the Two way back design) and Dunes.

I am definitely interested in looking at what's inside the purp Carson City Nugget deck. Please try to re-upload the photos again 

And also its been my pleasure too to know vintage casino cards collectors like you because comparing vintage card collectors and modern cards collectors, vintage collectors are really little.

Cheers,
sliverboi

[iDoctor]

The only one idea cames to me. As this deck is wrapped in individual transparent cello, it might be a part of a 2-decks gift set. Similar sets were in use at that days in Vegas casinos, including Silver Slipper (their set had blue and green cards) and MGM Grand (brown and gold cards). All these cards were individually wrapped in cello and had a common paper box for 2 decks (sample photo attached).

Hey iDoctor, maybe you might want to check on your attached files? It seems to no work for me. Yup I too think that the borderless green GN is from a 2-decks gift set as I have quite a couple of casino gift sets myself. Namely the MGM, Sahara (3rd ed?), Frontiers (4 boxes of One way back, still finding the Two way back design) and Dunes.

I am definitely interested in looking at what's inside the purp Carson City Nugget deck. Please try to re-upload the photos again 

And also its been my pleasure too to know vintage casino cards collectors like you because comparing vintage card collectors and modern cards collectors, vintage collectors are really little.

Cheers,
sliverboi
[/quote]

Hi, Silverboi
It's done (I've reduced photo file sizes), hope everithing is Ok now. I've also sent you photo via mail to be sure.
Yours, iDoctor

P.S. I've found one purple GN sold on eBay in 2012 ($649). Photo attached.

[Don Boyer]

Gentlefolk, as it appears that you're turning up some grade-A material on casino decks, I've moved your topic into "The Source - Card Collecting 101".  It's where we keep the best reference materials on all card-related subjects.

Please, keep up the good work!

[iDoctor]

Thank you, Don.
To appreciate this let me show one very specific deck from my collection. It's Dunes 1st run (Bee, 1965, but after June 22). This deck is rare as it is, but this one is especially rare. Usually the color of the box and color of the cards inside were the same (either blue or red). But this deck was mixed during the production. The box is red, but all cards are blue (excepting 3 red cards). It has come mixed from the producer. Hope, you guys like it 

[Don Boyer]

Thank you, Don.
To appreciate this let me show one very specific deck from my collection. It's Dunes 1st run (Bee, 1965, but after June 22). This deck is rare as it is, but this one especially rare. Usually the color of the box and color of the cards inside were the same (either blue or red). But this deck was mixed during the production. The box is red, but all cards are blue (excepting 3 red cards). It has come mixed from the producer. Hope, you guys like it 

It's a cool find, not something you see all the time.  Now, was this a "floor-used" design or was it produced as a gift shop item?

[runIt]

Thank you, Don.
To appreciate this let me show one very specific deck from my collection. It's Dunes 1st run (Bee, 1965, but after June 22). This deck is rare as it is, but this one especially rare. Usually the color of the box and color of the cards inside were the same (either blue or red). But this deck was mixed during the production. The box is red, but all cards are blue (excepting 3 red cards). It has come mixed from the producer. Hope, you guys like it 

If you want to see a rich and vast collection of Vintage Casino Decks, people from Taiwan and China are the ones you should look for. River Tsai, Ares Xue to name a few.

PD: I am a vintage casino deck collector myself, but not as great as the two mentioned.

[Don Boyer]

If you want to see a rich and vast collection of Vintage Casino Decks, people from Taiwan and China are the ones you should look for. River Tsai, Ares Xue to name a few.

PD: I am a vintage casino deck collector myself, but not as great as the two mentioned.

If you know them, please - INVITE THEM!  If they aren't interested or don't know enough English, perhaps you can get permission to load photos from their collections here.

You don't have to be a great casino-deck collector to contribute - you just have to have the decks.

[iDoctor]

Thank you, Don.
To appreciate this let me show one very specific deck from my collection. It's Dunes 1st run (Bee, 1965, but after June 22). This deck is rare as it is, but this one especially rare. Usually the color of the box and color of the cards inside were the same (either blue or red). But this deck was mixed during the production. The box is red, but all cards are blue (excepting 3 red cards). It has come mixed from the producer. Hope, you guys like it 

If you want to see a rich and vast collection of Vintage Casino Decks, people from Taiwan and China are the ones you should look for. River Tsai, Ares Xue to name a few.

PD: I am a vintage casino deck collector myself, but not as great as the two mentioned.

Yes, River's Vintage (especially - Golden Nugget) collection is the best I have ever seen. Unfortunately, I'm not in contact with him. I can only post here the link to his Flickr account River1219, where you can see a part of his outstanding collection: https://www.flickr.com/photos/39778534@N08

[iDoctor]

After some hesitations I've finally decided to write a post about one more wellknown casino cards. Brown Wynns. eBay is crowded with buy- and sell-offers of “Brown Wynns – the famous Theory11 Cards”. As mentioned on Theory11 website: “Brown Wynns … the next Jerry's Nuggets - or the closest thing to 'em.”

But – there is no Theory11 logo of any kind to be found on this deck. Why? It's not a deck created or produced by Theory11.

There were three different types of Bee Wynns in existence: Signature, Icon and Encore. They were available in a dozen of different variations of types, colors and indices (I've got 9 of them in my collection).

The most common ones were Signature Wynn cards (sometimes called Scrypt). They have the word 'Wynn' written on them, and are available in Red, Blue and BROWN. They were used on the gambling table at the Wynn's casino in Las Vegas. They are very standard Bee Casino diamond-baked cards, nothing interesting.

[iDoctor]

The next - Icon type of Wynn’s decks - have a solid back color (white-bordered) with the Wynn's 'W" icon printed on either end. They were also used on the gambling table at Steve Wynn's casino, but were recalled by the USPCC (because, as they said, Wynn complained about their proclivity) and sold off through USPCC outlet store, uncancelled (so you can find them on eBay both cancelled and uncancelled).

Icon Wynns were available in Red and Blue and BROWN.

The Brown Wynn deck was just one of the Icon Bee Wynns cards, the same as all other Wynns. These cards are not and have never been Theory11 cards. They were sold once in ridiculous release windows over at Theory11 and due to this reason became the most popular and expensive among all Wynns.

[iDoctor]

The third - Encore type of decks - is the rarest of Wynns. This deck was created to commemorate the opening of the Encore, the Wynn's sister casino. They were made with the Wynn's 'W' icon, but diamond-backed again.

They were originally to be used in both Wynn’s casinos, but the cards could not be used at all. Why? Because the 'W' icon had been mistakenly placed in the middle of the deck, creating a one-way design.

Hence the second, funny name of this rare misprinted deck is "Oh Crap, we didn't think of that".

[iDoctor]

And to conclude - Icon and Signature types were available not only in three colors, but in two different indices also (Standard Index and Jumbo Index Tech Art). So there are a lot of Wynns and plenty of Browns.

That's all. Thank you!

[Don Boyer]

They were also used on the gambling table at Steve Wynn's casino, but were recalled by the USPCC (because, as they said, Wynn complained about their proclivity) and sold off through USPCC outlet store, uncancelled (so you can find them on eBay both cancelled and uncancelled).

Icon Wynns were available in Red and Blue and BROWN.

The Brown Wynn deck was just one of the Icon Bee Wynns cards, the same as all other Wynns. These cards are not and have never been Theory11 cards. They were sold once in ridiculous release windows over at Theory11 and due to this reason became the most popular and expensive among all Wynns.

What did you mean by "proclivity"?  Proclivity to what?  Proclivity is roughly synonymous to "tendency", as in a tendency to do something, behave a certain way, have some unexpected effect, etc.

The most noteworthy reason why Theory11 started selling the brown Wynn decks in the first place was that some cardists noticed that the cards had better handling - oddly enough, better than the other colors of the same series.  Theory11 ran out of them perhaps about two years ago, giving away the last of them during a Holiday Season purchase-based giveaway - I believe it was that if you bought at least $75 worth of merchandise with at least one shippable item, you got the Brown Wynn deck for free; other decks were available at higher purchase points while supplies lasted.

We probably have more information about it in our posts from that time period - we often run special threads just for the period between Black Friday and early January.

All in all, some excellent work, iDoctor!