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A New Jersey appellate panel shut down a man’s attempt to cash casino chips from an Atlantic City casino that closed 41 years ago. Keith Hawkins tried to receive $59,500 worth of chips from the former Playboy Hotel and Casino, which closed in 1984.
Hawkins claimed he bought the chips—389 of them—in an online auction, but said he didn’t know where they’d come from originally. However, the body responsible for redeeming chips for the long-shuttered casino said that the chips were ones that should have been destroyed, and therefore weren’t eligible for redemption.
Hawkins turned to the court system, seeking to reverse that decision, but to no avail.
The origin story of the chips
New Jersey state police verified that the former property hired a company that was supposed to destroy the chips from the casino. However, some chips survived.
Court documents reveal that a former employee “had pilfered several boxes of unused chips some time around 1990 and put them in a bank deposit box.” The chips were found in 2010 after the employee in question filed for bankruptcy and stopped paying for his box. The bank later auctioned them off, with Hawkins being the winning bidder.
Hawkins presented the chips to the Unclaimed Property Administration (UPA), and got turned down because they “had not been issued to patrons in the normal course,” according to the Press of Atlantic City.
Why the court ruled against Hawkins
The court backed up the UPA, writing that:
“UPA maintains it was not free to release those funds to a claimant presenting chips that were never issued by the casino.
“Accordingly, because claimant did not present chips issued by the casino, he was not entitled to the funds.”
The Press of Atlantic City also reported that the New Jersey Casino Control Commission closed an $875,000 account set aside for the belated cashing-in of chips from the former establishment.
It’s been 41 years since Playboy Hotel and Casino, and yet, news from the property continues to arise. Is the last we ever hear about the facility? At this point, who knows.
