[toots]

The whole chip cage thing just bugs me.

First, no chip runners. So, you either buy at the table - where they probably can't give you what you'd like (I usually like to have a rack of whatever color I'm playing), or they give you colored up chips that have to be broken.

Or, go to the cage when you get your name on the list, and stand around like an idiot with a rack of chips, waiting an hour for your name to get called.

Or, try to time it so that you buy your chips before your name gets called, only to find long lines at the cage, and have your name called (going, going, gone) while in mid-transaction.

Or, grab the seat, then walk over to the cage and risk losing the seat, 'cause they don't understand what you're doing.

All the while it's totally hit-and-miss that you'll get the floor's attention to scan your card. And half the time I go to "check out," they don't have any record that I checked in.

The worst was when I was playing into the wee hours at a yellow chip game. They were going to close the poker room for the new construction (finally finished) at something like 2:00 AM, but they said that the local cage would close at midnight, and none of the other cages in the casino would cash out the yellow chips. So, do I stay and play the last two hours, or cash out while I can?