Playboy Casino Atlantic City Deck

[agera94]

Hey guys, I've had this deck lying around for a while and decided to open it today.The cards themselves are very thick and springy. They have an interesting finish, bordering on a smooth and air cushioned feel. But, I know nothing of this deck, however after a bit of googling, I came across dealing deuces website. The information provided on the site suggests it is incredibly rare and came from a closed down Atlantic City casino, and they're selling it for $100.

My question is, is it to be believed? I can't really find any other information about this deck, and I know that DD has had some issues with legitimacy in the past.

Some images for you:

http://gyazo.com/9f473d0ee0e286bf6573f167bc708b69
http://gyazo.com/cea78a9e85901720aa74a8e5e131e26a

Cheers

[Don Boyer]

A brief history of the casino, from UNLV:

The Playboy Hotel, Atlantic City was developed and built in 1981 by Hugh Heffner’s Playboy Enterprises and Elsinore Corporation. Playboy already operated a casino in London and was looking to exploit the new Atlantic City gaming market.

Las Vegas architect Martin Stern, Jr. had already established himself in Atlantic City with proposals for Del Webb’s Sahara Boardwalk, another MGM Grand, and Bill Harrah’s Marina (of these the Marina was the only one that was built). Stern designed a green glass tower with a three-level casino for Playboy, but had to shorten the tower from its original 33 stories to 22 after the Federal Aviation Board claimed that it would impede local air traffic.

The casino suffered financial difficulties from the start, and was eventually sold outright to Elsinore Corporation. The name was changed to the Atlantis Hotel and Casino in 1984, but the property went bankrupt in 1985. Donald Trump bought it in 1989, and closed the casino to operate the property solely as a hotel named the Trump Regency. The property was re-opened in 1996 as the Worlds’ Fair at Trump Plaza, but after three years of failure, the entire building was demolished.

A brief bit about that partnership with Elsinore:

While Hugh Hefner and his bunnies are still alive and well, the casino bearing the same name as his magazine, Playboy Casino, is no longer. The Playboy faced many obstacles even before its opening in Atlantic City. Facing monetary concerns and needing $135 million in financing, Playboy Casino took on the Elsinore Corporation as a partner. The casino was issued a temporary permit by the Casino Control Commission (CCC) on April 4, 1981 and the cocktail bunnies opened the casino doors for business on April 14, 1981. While the casino showed a profit for the summer, they were still in need of a permanent license. The CCC questioned Playboy and Elsinore’s “suitability” for licensing. In the end, the CCC granted a permanent license to Elsinore and denied one to Playboy due to concerns about Playboy’s London casino operations. As a result, Playboy sold its shares to Elsinore.

So you have an uncanceled casino deck that's roughly thirty years old, perhaps a little more.  The casino went out of business and it's Playboy memorabilia, so I'd imagine it has some real after-market value to it (more if it was unopened, naturally).

But Dealing Deuces' prices on casino decks are insanely high, plus retailers always charge more than the "street value" because they're out to make a profit.  How many times have you seen a Bicycle Black Ghost 1st Edition on sale for $200-300?  Not at eBay, mind you, but at a retail website?

So you have a deck of some worth, just not likely as much as DD would like to charge.

You should drop a line to JMRock - he's the resident vintage-deck expert.  He has a topic in here on vintage decks - if you posted this image there, he'd likely pop in and have a few words to say about it.

[runIt]

Hey guys, I've had this deck lying around for a while and decided to open it today.The cards themselves are very thick and springy. They have an interesting finish, bordering on a smooth and air cushioned feel. But, I know nothing of this deck, however after a bit of googling, I came across dealing deuces website. The information provided on the site suggests it is incredibly rare and came from a closed down Atlantic City casino, and they're selling it for $100.

My question is, is it to be believed? I can't really find any other information about this deck, and I know that DD has had some issues with legitimacy in the past.

Some images for you:

http://gyazo.com/9f473d0ee0e286bf6573f167bc708b69
http://gyazo.com/cea78a9e85901720aa74a8e5e131e26a

Cheers

Well, these are not the ones that fetch a huge amount like DD claims. Typically the ones that have solid backs (not diamond-backed) are. Let me show you the one I got recently: http://www.ebay.com/itm/PLAYBOY-SEALED-NEW-Deck-CARDS-UNOPENED-Atlantic-City-Casino-ORANGE-/190795578284?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c6c4d7bac

Another example would be this deck (silver slippers - diamond backed)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Silver-Slipper-Casino-LV-Vintage-Blue-Diamond-Playing-Cards-Used-in-the-Casino-/170992080745?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27cfec1769

doesn't fetch as much as the solid back as this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Silver-Slipper-Casino-Vintage-Black-Deck-Mint-Condition-Unopened-/190777830812?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c6b3ead9c

I don't have much info yet for the diamond-back ones, I would be happy to know about them more from a fellow vintage deck collector.

[digipunk]

I totally agree with runit

There are 5 series of Playboy playing cards:

• Bicycle Playboy decks (blue & red)
• Bee Playboy decks (solid back, green & orange)
• Bee Playboy decks (diamond back, green & orange)
• European Playboy decks (solid back, non-USPCC, same design with #2, many colors except green & orange, without tuck box)
• garbage Playboy decks

2 years ago, the diamond-backed Playboy decks in dealingdecues were sold for $49.9 or $59.9 (I forget), now they just raised the price to $99.9

EDIT: To my knowledge, the official Playboy Atlantic City decks are #2.

[agera94]

Hmm, very interesting information thus far. Could it be possible that DD is trying to pass off the diamond backed version as the proper straight coloured back?

I'll definitely keep an eye out for the straight coloured back version.

[DJT]

I totally agree with runit

There are 5 series of Playboy playing cards:

• Bicycle Playboy decks (blue & red)
• Bee Playboy decks (solid back, green & orange)
• Bee Playboy decks (diamond back, green & orange)
• European Playboy decks (solid back, non-USPCC, same design with #2, many colors except green & orange, without tuck box)
• garbage Playboy decks

2 years ago, the diamond-backed Playboy decks in dealingdecues were sold for $49.9 or $59.9 (I forget), now they just raised the price to $99.9

EDIT: To my knowledge, the official Playboy Atlantic City decks are #2.

I actually have 3 sets of the Fournier playboy decks (4 in a set), and they come in a sort of tuck box that encloses all 3 decks.  I was told they were from the London playboy casino from the 70s...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playboy_Club

I will try and post some photos of the 4pack set.... I believe they are solid back with playboy symbol brown in color with a green and white box. Each deck inside of the 4 card tuck box is wrapped in paper with a circle cut out of tuck box.