Casino Control Commission to discuss Playboy chip fund
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ATLANTIC CITY — The state Casino Control Commission is expected to discuss what to do with $875,000 from a closed account dedicated to the cashing in of chips from the former Playboy Hotel and Casino during its meeting Wednesday.
The commission is scheduled to meet at 10:30 a.m. at its headquarters on Tennessee Avenue.
It’s unclear where the money remaining in the account will go.
The matter was originally scheduled to be discussed at the commission's meeting last month, but it was tabled.
At the time, commission Chairman James T. Plousis said there were still things that needed to be worked out.
Division Director David Rebuck wrote in a ruling that the fund was meant to benefit original patrons of the casino who had winnings and was not an open-ended invitation for subsequent acquirers of such chips to cash them in.
“At this time, any such chips are most likely to have been obtained by gift, inheritance or sale from the secondary market,” Rebuck wrote in his July 7 ruling. “The fund held by (the state) Treasury was meant for the benefit of the original patrons who have winnings to claim.”
From Atlantic City to Mississippi, chips from the former Playboy casino have a crazy history.
The history of the Playboy casino in the resort dates to the early 1980s. The hotel/casino project was initiated by Playboy Enterprises, which later took on Elsinore Corp. as a partner.
In 1982, the Casino Control Commission denied the application of Hugh Hefner, CEO of Playboy Enterprises, for a plenary casino license while granting the application for licensure of Playboy’s partner in the joint venture that operated the Playboy casino, Elsinore.
As a result, Playboy sold its interest in the Playboy casino to Elsinore. While the property stayed open, with Playboy’s license denial, the property had to undergo a name change. The property then became the Atlantis.
Elsinore was ordered to deposit a fund with the state Treasury in the amount of $875,000 to cover redemptions of Playboy and Atlantis chips. The money was reserved for gamblers who were owed money by Playboy or Atlantis, with such debts represented by gaming chips. Gamblers could redeem their chips with the Treasury until the fund ran out of money.
No time limit was placed on the period for redemption, according to the ruling.
The agency ruling states the chips were not properly disposed of when the property closed three decades ago.
In April 2008, a construction worker was digging a path connecting the police station to the community center in Hernando, Mississippi, and hit a massive concrete slab that housed the multimillion-dollar jackpot.
According to reports, officials with Green Duck Manufacturing, the company charged with destroying the chips, did not know how the chips ended up buried at the site.
Earlier this month, the state Division of Gaming Enforcement closed a $875,000 account dedicated to the cashing in of unused chips from the former Playboy casino, which later became Trump Plaza. Division Director David Rebuck wrote in a ruling that the fund was meant to benefit original patrons of the casino who had winnings and was not an open-ended invitation for subsequent acquirers of such chips to cash them in.
Playboy chips can be found on eBay, Amazon and secondhand sites like all-chips.com.
