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Remember the coin buckets

Discussion in 'Misc. Vegas Chat' started by Ty, Sep 10, 2013.

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  1. Ty

    Ty ?

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    Our first trip to Vegas was in 1994, stayed at Excalibur. This was the first time my wife or I had ever flown and our first visit to Vegas. We were on a somewhat tight budget.

    We saw the coin buckets as Free souvenirs. We would collect one from each casino we went in. We, along with 90% of the other people, could be found walking down the strip with a half-dozen or more. Fun to think back on.

    Our last visit to Vegas was in 2007 and ticket-in-ticket-out was pretty common. Don't recall seeing any buckets, but don't recall looking for any either.

    I still have one, in the garage, housing the funnel I use for adding oil to the car.

    Anyone know when the buckets became a big thing?
    What did they use back in the Rat Pack days?
     
  2. jackincols

    jackincols Guest

    Can't be sure about the Rat Pack era, but before those buckets you talk of that were made of plastic, they were made of heavy cardboard type material. That's the one's that Vegas memorabilia collectors want.

    I had about 30 of the old, wide squat purple Stardust buckets that were actually given to me. A young fella at the end of a yard sale was getting ready to toss them as none sold. I ended up selling them on eBay, getting between $5-$10 each for them.:evillaugh
     
  3. Hurr1cane310

    Hurr1cane310 Tourist

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    I did the same thing on my first visit to Vegas when I was 14 years old. I wish I still had them. I had one from every major casino at the time and it would be cool to go back and look at them.
     
  4. sybgal

    sybgal VIP Whale

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    I still have a stack of them from various casinos from our 1st trip..before they started using the auto tickets. Glad the buckets are not needed anymore.....hated carrying them around.
     
  5. xizor

    xizor Tourist

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    I just ditched a stack of them I collected downtown around 2000 or 2001. They were taking up space in my garage and not in good enough shape to sell.
     
  6. grosx2

    grosx2 Have fun storming the castle!

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    Take 'em to Pawn Stars! :thumbsup:
     
  7. redzone

    redzone Low-Roller

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    The buckets didn't do much for me but those racks did. There was nothing like sitting and scooping coins out of the metal container and racking them up. Sometimes you would have a stack of racks beside the machine and still scooping.

    I remember sitting with my hand under the chute and not looking at what I hit and see how long they would keep falling. Those were the days when you could enjoy your session at the reel machines.
     
  8. seneca7

    seneca7 Low-Roller

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    This thread brings back a lot of memories. I sure remember lugging those buckets up to the cashier, after a nice win at the slots. Remember those little packets of moist towelettes that you'd use to clean your fingers, afterwards? The more packets you had to use, the bigger the win!
     
  9. BlackJackLady

    BlackJackLady High-Roller

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    Loved the buckets - Used them for money management. Every win half would go in one "save" bucket, the other half in the "play" bucket. When the play bucket was empty it was time to cash in. Usually walked a way a winner that way. Now with Tito I usually play it all back unless I get a major win and cash out immediately.
     
  10. Happily

    Happily High-Roller

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    They still have buckets at MGM Grand near that Sigma Derby racing game. Brought back memories.
     
  11. waverunner

    waverunner ------VEGA$------

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    As a slot player since the late 70's, i would first get a roll of coins by the change girl who would roll her cart around each bank of machines. Then using the roll of coins i would wait till the coin tray would be about halfway full (before the coins would overflow) to empty them into the bucket. If i was lucky, i would have a couple/three buckets full to take to the change booth. Same with dollar trays. On a good day i would have a few stacks of trays to bring to the booth. In the old days, you would also need either gloves or wet naps to wipe off the copper/silver/handle from your hands. There was no such thing as paperless, you actually had to handle real money and everyone HAD to pull the handle.
    I still have a bucket from Aladdin and Stardust from the early 80's along with a program from S & R from the Frontier Hotel. I also still have my receipts from the Marina Hotel, the Desert Inn, Sands Hotel and La Quinta Inn (before NYNY/Monte Carlo were built).
    I usually go solo, so in the early days if you were lucky to find the right machine, you could NEVER go to the bathroom. It was just something you trained yourself to do......."scuse me while i :cry:
     
  12. makikiboy

    makikiboy VIP Whale

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    I think some DT casinos still have those plastic buckets, I think MSS might still have them.

    What I also remember was those old ladies downtown wearing those thin gloves so their hands don't get dirty from the coins. hands used to get pretty dirty handling all those coins.
     
  13. woodsie

    woodsie VIP Whale

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    The D has 'em on their second floor. It's a real time warp to go in there.

    My first trip was in 2002 and buckets still dominated. Went back in 2009 and they were nonexistent except the few niche joints downtown.

    I have to imagine that TITO has been insanely profitable for the house.
     
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