Casino Patron Unsuccessfully Attempts to Cash Out $60k in Chips from Closed Playboy Casino After Over Four Decades
Picturesque Tale of a Casino Chip Swap Gone Wrong
Keith Hawkins, a man with an unusual quest, is giving the legal system a spin, trying to trade $59,500 worth of casino chips for the long-shuttered Playboy Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. In 2022, he bought 389 of these chips online. Unfortunately for him, he lost his initial court case, but he didn't throw in the towel - he appealed and just received a decision last week.
Hawkins thought he had a chance because when the casino closed its doors in 1984, it sent the value of any unaccounted-for chips to the Unclaimed Property Administration in the state treasury department.
Fast forward to the 90s, it was discovered that a former employee of the casino swiped boxes of unused chips. Law enforcement uncovered this delinquency in the mid-90s, and it appeared that a company tasked with destroying all unwanted chips dropped the ball. The bank recognized the chips, eventually drilling open this stashed box in 2010 to grab them. These lootings ended up being auctioned off in 2022 - the very chips Hawkins purchased.
In the ongoing case, judges are satisfied that there's enough evidence to prove that the chips Hawkins gobbled up were never meant to be cashed in, making them, for all intents and purposes, as valuable as a block of wood.
The Playboy Casino was open for only three vibrant, action-packed years before it shuttered in April 1981. Eventually, Donald Trump swooped in, buying the casino and turning it into the Trump World Fair that thrived for three more lustrous years.
- Despite his initial court loss, Keith Hawkins, the man behind the casino chip swap fiasco, has appealed and is currently waiting for a decision in 2022.
- Interestingly, the unclaimed casino chips purchased by Hawkins in 2022 were originally intended to be sent to the Unclaimed Property Administration, as the casino stopped operation in 1984.
- In the 90s, it was discovered that a former employee of the Playboy Casino had stolen boxes of unused chips, which a company tasked with destroying them failed to do, leading to their eventual auction in 2022.
- In light of the evidence, judges find that the chips Hawkins acquired were never intended to be cashed in, thus their value is comparable to that of a block of wood, destined for the casino-personalities, not the happy winners of casino-games, in the casino-and-gambling culture.
