Atlantic City’s Former Playboy Casino Chips Now Worthless

Article by : Erik Gibbs Sep 16, 2023

• 
• 

The New Jersey Casino Control Commission has given the green light to close an $875,000 account designated for redeeming chips from the former Playboy Hotel and Casino. This decision comes after the state Division of Gaming Enforcement determined in July that the account should be closed.

However, the Commission’s approval was needed for the closure to proceed. Gaming regulators discovered that the account was still active when an individual recently attempted to cash in chips.

James Plousis, the chairman of the Casino Control Commission, stated during the meeting that enough time had passed for former Playboy patrons to have redeemed any outstanding gaming chips and slot tokens.

The Unclaimed Property Administrator will hold the remaining funds, with the possibility of requiring state legislation to direct the money to another program or fund.

The history of the Playboy casino dates to the early 1980s when the project was initiated by Playboy Enterprises, which later partnered with Elsinore Corp.

In 1982, the Casino Control Commission denied Hugh Hefner’s application for a plenary casino license but approved Playboy’s partner in the joint venture, Elsinore. Consequently, Playboy sold its casino interest to Elsinore, leading to a name change to Atlantis.

Elsinore was mandated to deposit $875,000 with the state Treasury to cover redemptions of Playboy and Atlantis chips, reserved for all casino bettors these establishments owed money to.

However, no time limit was initially set for chip redemption.

The recent ruling states that the chips were improperly disposed of when the property closed three decades ago. Green Duck Manufacturing, tasked with destroying the chips, was unaware of how they ended up buried at a construction site in Hernando, Mississippi, in April 2008.

The Commission could not have foreseen this unexpected unearthing and circulation of the chips among non-patrons when it established the dedicated account for chip redemption, explained Chairman Plousis.

The inability to correctly dispose of unused Playboy gaming chips in compliance with regulatory guidelines was the direct cause of their unexpected discovery.
Plousis added that when they established a designated account to redeem these chips and slot machine tokens, eventual redemption cases needed to be considered.