Happy Monday everyone! Always my least favorite day of the week... So what's better than to think about a getaway to Las Vegas on a Monday? Today I'm pulling up a unique item from a hotel/casino that no longer exists. These are my favorite Silver Striker chips to collect because they're now part of history.
The Westward Ho Hotel and Casino opened it's doors in 1963 and was an old west themed casino. One interesting fact is that it was a family owned casino, one of the few in Las Vegas. They advertised as "The World's Largest Motel" since it was essentially a two story structure spread over 15 acres on the Las Vegas Strip. For decades if was a huge financial success drawing in gamblers on a tighter budget and offering table games with low limits and of course many, many slot machines including Silver Strikers! Here is one cool token from one of those machines:
About the round:
Casinos: Westward Ho Hotel and Casino
Mint: Lancaster Mint
Value: $20 gaming value
Date produced: 1995
Composition: 99.9% silver surrounded by brass ring with 24 Karat Heavy Gold Electroplate
Logo side: Westward Ho Casino
Design side: Eagle Crest
Silver weight: about 0.6 troy ounces
I didn't remember I had this particular token until yesterday, I had forgotten all about it. I love the gold plated silver, although I'm still unclear on what "heavy gold electroplate" really means and how it's different than standard electroplating. But I love the eagle on it, that's why I bought it in the first place on eBay many long moons ago! These are fun to collect, and I've been hooked for years now...
The Westward Ho Hotel and Casino in it's glory days!
The Westward Ho Casino was featured in "Leaving Las Vegas" that starred Johnny Depp in 1996. It's a pretty good movie if you haven't seen it. But all good things must come to an end, in 1997 Dean Petersen, who ran the casino along with his siblings Faye and Murray, passed away. The business was place up for sale the very next month. It was purchased by a company meaning to renovate it but it never happened. Eventually it became unprofitable without the Petersen's running it and it was closed for good on Nov. 17, 2005.
Since then many companies have tried to buy and renovate the property but nothing ever materialized. Until this day the property sits unused and has yet to be demolished. Currently a McDonald's restaurant is located on part of the land facing the Strip, and that's the only business operating on the property. But if you happen to have about $100 million US you could purchase the place and build your own new hotel/casino for probably another $500 million US. If you choose to do so I wish you good luck!
The gaming business is a tough industry to compete in, I'm sure glad it wasn't my chosen vocation! Las Vegas history is full of now defunct casinos. The Silver Striker tokens live on as reminders of these former landmarks in sin city.
Thank you for stopping by to read my post, I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any suggestions, questions, or comments please feel free to leave the below. Thank you everyone for all your support, I greatly appreciate it!
And my disclaimer:
Gold and silver stacking can be a fun hobby but isn't for everyone. You can lose money. I'm not a financial advisor and this isn't financial advice, please always do your own research before spending your hard earned money.
References:
https://www.silverstrikers.com/Web/Catalogs/SilverStrikes/Nevada/WestwardHoLVnv/Westward-Ho-LVnv-Page-04.php/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westward_Ho_Hotel_and_Casino
Re-blog lottery
Now for the winner of the re-blog lottery! Today we had 33 people re-blog my post, thank you so much! You guy are the best! The people who re-blogged were:
Voluntary daily reminder list for those who request to be on it:
If you want to be added to the list as well just feel free to ask!
Thank you everyone! I have been working to improve my engagement and all of you have really helped out! If you have any recommendations or suggestions please feel free to let me know. I'm always looking to improve my posts.
Good luck to everyone!
And since I didn't post yesterday today I will do two spins of the wheel, so two winners today!
And the Wheel of Names results:
You will receive 3 HSBI units!
Now for today's re-blog lottery! You just need to re-blog my post you will be placed on the Wheel of Names for a spin to possibly win 3 HSBI units! Just one prize for the lucky winner. An upvote is not required but is always greatly appreciated. Bots aren't allowed to win the prize. Contest ends at 14:00 (2 PM) California Pacific time tomorrow. If I somehow missed your re-blog please let me know and I'll add you to the next draw.
What are HSBI units? They are units that you can purchase to sponsor someone and you in turn receive a unit as well. This way we both benefit! They give you occasional upvotes on your posts for a lifetime, and the more you accumulate the more often you receive upvotes and the bigger they can be. You can read some more here:
If you have more questions feel free to ask.
