How Do Casino Markers Work
I'm opening $6000 lines of credit at each of the two hotel/casinos at which I will be staying during my trip. I plan to get a marker for $2000 the first time I sit at a table, and immediately play with about $500. Win or lose, I intend to go to the cage and exchange about $1000 in chips for cash that I can use for miscellaneous expenses and gambling at other casinos. This is ok, right?
I'm particularly interested in the following sentence from one of my credit approval letters: 'Please keep in mind that casino credit is not available for use in the Poker Room or the Race and Sports Book.' I'm guessing that this just means that marker signing does not go on in these locations. I hope its ok for me to get chips in the casino using a marker, and take these chips to the poker room.
What are Casino Markers and How Do They Work? Casino markers are one of the methods used by gamblers to finance their betting activities. It is interest-free. That’s why many consider using a casino marker rather than taking out personal loans or using peer-to-peer loans. Those who use casino markers must first build credit by filling out. The casino does a credit check and then uses a formula to determine how much a player can borrow. Markers can be for a few thousand dollars to millions. If the player wins, great, they pay back the marker amount, which means return the chips initially borrowed, and cash out whatever is left over.
BTW, what prompted you to get away from taking cash? Cash is easy, efficient, and eliminates the need for unnecessary contact with people you don't really need knowing your stuff. All you end up doing is making more work for yourself and creating more opportunities for multiple cashiers to make you feel uncomfortable until you hand over some tips.
You can turn those chips into cash, or use those chips anywhere on a table game, in the sense that once you got the casino chips, you can use them anywhere in the casino. So, you can go back to the cage ('cashier') and turn them back into cash - to use them in to race or sports book, or poker room - which you can, after conversion.
Casino money is good anywhere in that casino, or convertable in cash via the cage, - to use anywhere in the casino AS YOU SEE FIT - so as long as you will pay it back.
If you even wanted to be slick, you can use that advance as a 0% interest rate short term loan, if you were to practice bad faith about about casino patronage - and which the house would catch on to.
My position is that at this day and age - with ATMs and Bank Credit lines all over the place - that Markers are a bit of an old-school gimmick to patronize customers that work as a hook, so don't abuse it.
That is to say, don't use it as a short term loan. Aside from that, gamble with it ANYWHERE in the same casino, even if you converted it back into cash to use at the same casino's sports book or poker room.
As a dealer in the casino in the LV area, the small $500 to $1,000 markers that were occasionally used by pretentious middle-class players who pretended that that were wealthy old-school high-rollers - when they were either middle-class workers at most, or were broke but still had a good but fading credit rating, went to either no table action or into default arears, particularly in these new days of the ATM machine where they check your actual bank account balance.
To this I also often wondered, 'who were they trying to impress?' The Asian immigrant dealers who couldn't care less about these 'Amelican show-off plicks' snapping their hands for service like wanna-be high-rollers after getting a $500 marker - and showing up at tables demanding 'service', or the drunk tourists that they sat next to??!!
If a man with a $2,000 a month mortgage cannot pull out even $500 from an ATM machine to play his Blackjack, then why would a casino even consider giving him a $500 marker?
And if a man is truly rich enough in terms of world-class amounts - then WHY does he have to BORROW it in order to gamble??
When you consider that the $500 or $1000 cash advance via a casino marker is actually less than a typical house rental or mortgage fee, are we stating that this amount is more convienient 'as borrowed' than an ATM withdrawl IF HE ACTUALLY HAD that needed money??
If you don't has the discretionary cash at hand to gamble, to the point where you actually need CASH LOANS from A CASINO to GAMBLE in the days of ATM machines and global banking, then something is serious wrong with both your gambling habits and with the casino loaning to you.
My position is this:
1. If you are financially comfortable enough to gamble, then you certainly don't need to BORROW from a casino to do so; and
2. If you are NOT comfortable enough to gamble, then you also certainly don't need to BORROW from a casino, in order NOT to do so. That's different.
Jerry, I'm just not comfortable travelling with $10k or more in cash. I've brought out $6k on previous trips. Even that was a bit awkward, as my bank frequently didn't have enough hundreds for the withdrawal and had to load me up with smaller denomination bills.
Dan, I wasn't thrilled about the prospect of the credit line and paperwork that go along with it. I tried to find another way. My first notion was to wire some money from my bank account to the cage. It took quite an effort to find anyone at the casino who knew anything about this, then I finally found someone who faxed me three pages of instructions (small type) on how to go about it. More trouble than I was willing to pursue. It just seems like the casinos are more readily set up to handle credit. ATMs and debit cards have limits on the amount I can access, plus there are fees that go along with every transaction.
It appeared to me that casino credit is just the best way to get largish amounts of money to Vegas. If I'm not a winner when all is said and done (ha!) I'll just write a check for the deficit when I leave. I'm certainly not trying to impress anybody (although I've heard that credit is a good way to get the attention of a casino host). If anyone has a better idea about how to get funds to Vegas, I'm interested (for next trip).
I have to go through airport security, and $3000 in cash is a wad, no matter how well you try to hide it. Then I get to Vegas, and have to hope my cab ride does not have any issues. I also have to make sure my bankroll does not get lost. Of course, patting my pocket a dozen times just points to where my money is. Finally, on the morbid side, if something were to happen to the plane going out, or coming home, $3000 does not end up in my children's inheritance.
ATMs with their high casino fees are a cash cow for the ATM holders. They are not a viable option for getting cash for all but serious emergencies.
I think you all are missing another aspect of casino credit.
I have to go through airport security, and $3000 in cash is a wad, no matter how well you try to hide it. Then I get to Vegas, and have to hope my cab ride does not have any issues. I also have to make sure my bankroll does not get lost. Of course, patting my pocket a dozen times just points to where my money is. Finally, on the morbid side, if something were to happen to the plane going out, or coming home, $3000 does not end up in my children's inheritance.
ATMs with their high casino fees are a cash cow for the ATM holders. They are not a viable option for getting cash for all but serious emergencies.
I agree that Casino Credit is more of a way to get money from your bank account with no fees or hassle, rather than being a lending institution as we commonly think of one.
I do something fairly simple. I get a cashier's check from my bank for the amount of my bankroll (the check is free). I also contact the cage via a host. They want a copy of the cashier's check a few days early (I fax it out). They can then call the bank and verify it. Once I get to the casino, I deposit it at the cage. I use small markers ($500) to withdraw my money to use as I see fit. If I win a lot, I put that on deposit after covering the existing markers. At the end of my trip, I clear all the remaining markers and get a check for the remaining amount. Very easy and very convenient.
I don't like carrying large amounts of money while traveling and the ATM fees are horrid. This method helps me out.
If anyone has a better idea about how to get funds to Vegas, I'm interested (for next trip).
Wells Fargo, Bank of America and other national banks have branches in the Las Vegas Valley. It is not the most convenient way to do it, (especially if you come in on a Sunday, or after hours) but you avoid traveling through the airport with large wads of cash. It also means it is possible, (but again, not convenient)to make a deposit before you leave, saving you the stress of toting the bundle of Benjamins back home.
Markers are great as long as you stay within your means. It is a convenient way to track your losses for IRS purposes too. Think of it as an extension of your checking account, because that is exactly what it is. If you don't pay it back, BAM, the casino presents the marker as a draft against your bank account.
That's a good point. It's just that - as a dealer - I has seen a lot of horrible marker disasters, especially when used as a 'high-roller' pretense, but a million 'no problem' banking transfers, including many with banks, real estate offices in Las Vegas, and with Western Union. When I moved to Las Vegas, I had my NY City bank (Chase) wire $80,000 to buy a condo over the phone to my broker's office, with a verbal interview to establish who I am.
So you can:
1. Wire from bank to bank branch, to the city your going to, if your bank has branches in both your hometown and LV.
2. Now.....If it is difficult for a Casino's own Cage to handle fancy bank transfers, then this has GOT to tell you how very rare this action is - or the casino your dealing with is a dive, and NOT the Venetian!
3. But....the Venetian or the Wynn or the Bellagio has GOT to be experienced in this money transfer area. If I may ask - what Casino had a problem with a bank transfer??
3. AMEX traveler's checks ( or 'cheques', as they refer to them ) - cashed at any nation Bank or Western Union office.
4. Contact Western Union about your situation, especially if you have both a valid driver's license and a passport.
5. The biggest table buy-in I ever did was about $2,000. I cannot see buying into a table for more than $10,000, unless your an International Billionaire who co-starred in an Austin Powers movie and you're staying at Caesars Palace or the Wynn with Dr. Evil. C'mon now, Illegal Mexican Immigrans transfer $2 Billion a year out of the country from Tobacco shops in our country's inner city slums, and we can't get you to transfer about $10K in cash within the country for a good bit of table action in Las Vegas as a fellow American?
6. Card counters used to strap $30,000 in cash on their bodies with duck tape going between Las Vegas and Boston. Now, with the body scanners, that would be spotted. But you could buy about $10,000 in cashable postal or Western Union Money orders at $500 each, and that would fit into your wallet - numbering 20 in count. No casino cage, Hotel, or Money office would have a problem with Bona fide Money orders and passport/driver's id.
How Casino Markers Work
Just some ideas.
What Is Bingo?
Bingo is a game that is played with large groups of people. The number of people that can play a session of bingo is almost limitless. In Las Vegas, there are large bingo parlors that seat hundreds of people.
Each player plays against every other player, rather than “the house.” The house only provides the game and maintains the integrity of the play. The house also verifies the wins and awards the prizes to the winners.
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Bingo, as America knows it, was invented in 1929. Since then, bingo rules have evolved slightly. Each state, however, has developed laws that can vary the regulations of the game. Often these laws are more about prizes and integrity, while the rules of play stay quite standard. For instance, the rule that “Bingo” must be announced by a player who believes he has won is almost universal.
How Does Bingo Work?
Each player has a bingo ‘card’ that is a matrix of five squares by five squares. Across the top are the letters “B,” “I,” “N,” “G,” and “O.” Each of the twenty-five squares is filled with a number.
How Does Bingo Work?
The Bingo Caller usually sits in the front. Above him is a big board (often a light board) that notates the numbers that have already been called. The caller also has a basket or tumbler that randomizes the balls. Each ball is marked with a number.
Bingo Rules
Bingo games generally have 75 balls in play. Each letter in “Bingo” corresponds to certain numbers. “B” represents the numbers 1-15. “I” corresponds with 16-30. The letter “N” owns 31-45. “G” takes the numbers 46-60, and finally, “O” finishes the sequence with 61-75.
Playing Bingo
The caller will grab a ball and call the letter and the number on the ball. For instance: “I-21.” He will usually call that out a couple of times. As he does, the players that have that spot on their cards will mark it.
Often, the bingo cards are made of paper and the players mark the spots with fluorescent “markers” called daubers. This marks the spot without covering the number from view. After giving a few seconds, the caller will repeat this procedure with the next ball that he draws from the tumbler.
Winning at Bingo
This continues until someone manages to fill their card in the pattern that was designated at the beginning of the game. When that happens, that player calls out “BINGO.” At that point, a runner or the player takes the game card to be verified. Either the caller or someone else, acting as a judge, verifies that the bingo has been reached. If so, the player wins the prize that was also designated at the beginning of the game.
How Do Casino Markers Work
Bingo is usually played in sessions with several games played over the course of two to three hours. The games often progress from simple patterns at the beginning. The evening usually culminates with the final game of the session being a “blackout” game which needs every spot marked. The prizes will usually correspond in value to the progression of the complexity of the patterns.