Everi - Are Digital Wallets in Casinos Safe?
August 12th, 2025 at 10:02:54 PM
permalink
Everi
Are Digital Wallets in Casinos Safe? | Benefits, Risks & Smart Tips - Gamble Smart
Gamble Smart wrote: We have been using it at Winstar for the past year, it's been great. Everything is backed by FDIC, just like your bank, so it's all protected. All your interactions with the virtual wallet are essentially a bank account in your name, not something the casino holds.
Are there fees to deposit and withdraw?
GS: Not typically for deposit, but there could be a small fee for ACH withdrawals. No charge to withdraw at a kiosk though.
GS: Each casino will have it's own app if they have this available. Not many casinos have it just yet.
*********************************************************************************************************************
Who is buying Everi?
Apollo
The $6.3 billion transaction is scheduled to close Tuesday. The deal allows Apollo, owner of the Palazzo, Venetian, and Venetian Expo in Las Vegas, to acquire IGT's gaming and digital business and Everi, and combine them into a single enterprise. - June 26, 2025
What happened to Everi Holdings?
Apollo has successfully completed its acquisitions of International Game Technology PLC's Gaming & Digital Business and Everi Holdings Inc. for approximately $6.3 billion, creating a leading global entity in gaming, digital, and financial technology solutions, named IGT. - July 1, 2025
Are Digital Wallets in Casinos Safe? | Benefits, Risks & Smart Tips - Gamble Smart
Gamble Smart wrote: We have been using it at Winstar for the past year, it's been great. Everything is backed by FDIC, just like your bank, so it's all protected. All your interactions with the virtual wallet are essentially a bank account in your name, not something the casino holds.
Are there fees to deposit and withdraw?
GS: Not typically for deposit, but there could be a small fee for ACH withdrawals. No charge to withdraw at a kiosk though.
GS: Each casino will have it's own app if they have this available. Not many casinos have it just yet.
*********************************************************************************************************************
Who is buying Everi?
Apollo
The $6.3 billion transaction is scheduled to close Tuesday. The deal allows Apollo, owner of the Palazzo, Venetian, and Venetian Expo in Las Vegas, to acquire IGT's gaming and digital business and Everi, and combine them into a single enterprise. - June 26, 2025
What happened to Everi Holdings?
Apollo has successfully completed its acquisitions of International Game Technology PLC's Gaming & Digital Business and Everi Holdings Inc. for approximately $6.3 billion, creating a leading global entity in gaming, digital, and financial technology solutions, named IGT. - July 1, 2025
August 13th, 2025 at 6:05:22 AM
permalink
My real concern would be, what protections against fraud do I have? FDIC only provides protections against the bank's insolvency, which is certainly nice, but not really my main concern.
Debit cards generally have low daily withdrawal maximums so fraud risk is minimal. If I have a $1k limit on my card, I might lose $1000 or $2000 before I figure out that there's a problem but I'm not going to lose $10,000 or $100,000. And it seems like the main use case is the ability to bring large amounts of money to a casino without having to carry large amounts of cash.
For example, say I notice a must hit by that's close to $10k. Being able to access 10s of thousands of dollars on the spot is nice. Someone else being able to access my 10s of thousands if they somehow get ahold of my card and PIN is not. In general, I consider PIN numbers to be a fairly low level of security.
Debit cards generally have low daily withdrawal maximums so fraud risk is minimal. If I have a $1k limit on my card, I might lose $1000 or $2000 before I figure out that there's a problem but I'm not going to lose $10,000 or $100,000. And it seems like the main use case is the ability to bring large amounts of money to a casino without having to carry large amounts of cash.
For example, say I notice a must hit by that's close to $10k. Being able to access 10s of thousands of dollars on the spot is nice. Someone else being able to access my 10s of thousands if they somehow get ahold of my card and PIN is not. In general, I consider PIN numbers to be a fairly low level of security.
August 13th, 2025 at 7:11:26 AM
permalink
My local casino issued a new club card early this year and I asked if it had wallet capabilities, they said no. It could store free plays and meal comps on it and count points; but the entire system was updated from several years ago. Now I have a notice that they are issuing new club cards mid-year, so I can pick one up now. I don't know if it will have a wallet feature, but now I know to look for Everi and the kiosk in the video if that's what's happening. I kind of doubt they will have a wallet feature, but who knows.
With a digital wallet, you're still going to run into $10K limits with the CTR if you try to cash out at the kiosk or put too many bills into the machines to load the card. The card may have lower limits like a $2500 maximum balance so it doesn't make the casino work harder for the CTR forms. I don't really know. If you're bringing more than that, you'll need a line of credit at the cage.
With a digital wallet, you're still going to run into $10K limits with the CTR if you try to cash out at the kiosk or put too many bills into the machines to load the card. The card may have lower limits like a $2500 maximum balance so it doesn't make the casino work harder for the CTR forms. I don't really know. If you're bringing more than that, you'll need a line of credit at the cage.
August 13th, 2025 at 8:00:22 AM
permalink
A card with a $2500 max balance is useless to me. I always have that much cash on me if I'm at a casino (I'm there to gamble, after all).
Not all casinos offer credit lines. This is what I do at large properties in Vegas but my local casino doesn't have them. The card would be useful for occasional times when I need a lot more cash than usual. I might usually have $5k on me but once every month or so I might need $20k or $50k or whatever. Maybe there's a good slot play or maybe there's a bigger than usual poker game going. I've certainly not played in a big game because I didn't have enough cash for a few buyins on me. It would be nice to have that readily available without having to carry that much with me all the time.
Also it would be nice if you could get TITOs or chips directly from the funds on the card. The whole point of this is to make the transaction cashless. Otherwise this is just a less convenient debit card with extra fees.
Not all casinos offer credit lines. This is what I do at large properties in Vegas but my local casino doesn't have them. The card would be useful for occasional times when I need a lot more cash than usual. I might usually have $5k on me but once every month or so I might need $20k or $50k or whatever. Maybe there's a good slot play or maybe there's a bigger than usual poker game going. I've certainly not played in a big game because I didn't have enough cash for a few buyins on me. It would be nice to have that readily available without having to carry that much with me all the time.
Also it would be nice if you could get TITOs or chips directly from the funds on the card. The whole point of this is to make the transaction cashless. Otherwise this is just a less convenient debit card with extra fees.
August 13th, 2025 at 8:17:48 AM
permalink
At the Hard Rock casinos in Florida they have a U-Wallet that has a maximum balance of $2,000 when you sign up and you can ask for an increase to $10,000. If you want more than your limit onto the card, you'll have to get a TITO from the winning machine instead. I don't know how you load a $50K jackpot onto these cards. I'd have to take a check from the cage, or do what a lot of these YouTuber slot payers do and get $1,000 & $10,000 TITOs.
