Going to the casino cage - good idea?

I recently needed some cash, and rather than paying a high fee at an ATM to withdraw my own money, I decided to investigate the availability of cash at the casino cage. I discovered that I had "check-cashing privileges" at the window, presenting a blank check from which they could, I assume, acquire the routing and transit number and my account number. In a few minutes I walked away with $600, with no fee assessed. A couple of days later the $600 debit showed up in my checking account, as if I had in fact written a paper check. I was told that since I was now "in the system" that I was entitled to the same benefit, up to some limit that I have forgotten since it's more than I would ever need in a casino.

The good side is - no more ATM fees for the few times I need to get some cash.

But is there a downside?

Obviously the casino can track the withdrawal, and can cross-reference it with whatever information they acquire at the table. Are they intelligent enough to correlate these two different threads, are they clever enough to draw any conclusions, and are these conclusions, accurate or not, anything to worry about, beyond the obvious fact that anyone over the age of thirty already should be paranoid about - everything you do, say, think or imagine is being recorded and will, sooner or later, be used against you.

Quote: racquet

But is there a downside?

The casino usually uses the info on your check with a service that tells it about your credit worthiness, in addition to setting the system to process your checks electronically. Once everything checks out and (probably) seems consistent with the casino's own experience having you as a gambler, they're happy to take your checks. I don't see a downside.

At least, that's my experience also. And, yes, where I have done this with casinos, they approved me for a daily dollar limit far in excess of any amount I ever expect to need.

But, lately, I've been thinking about applying for approval to take out markers at casinos I frequent. I never expect to be anywhere near the $10K trigger for mandated financial reporting. I get to play using casino money. And, when I settle up before I leave town, it's just between me and my friendly casino, almost like when I settle up my hotel bill.

Casinos want you to have easy and painless access to your money. The easier you get your hands on it the faster they deposit it into their accounts.

I would trust casinos if not more than regular banks with personal information. Of course if court ordered requests are served you’re not even safe in Switzerland any more.

I'm nowhere near marker-quality. I remember one time where the chips needed for a marker arrived with much attention and preening on the part of the markee,, along with someone I assume was a host. I doubt they'd bring out a tray loaded with eight green chips and twenty red ones to satisfy my marker.

The less they know about me, or the more I can fool myself into thinking that there is still SOMETHING they don't already know about me, the better, so if it's just a convenience factor and does nothing to add to the level of surveillance they already have in place, it works for me.

Atm fees are usually 2 or 3 dollars if you can't use your own ATM. I would prefer to just pay that in a drive through opposed to parking, waiting in line, waiting for them to do the check, then walking back to the car. 39 minutes of my time is worth 3 dollars.

Now if you are going to the casino anyways then that is the best option.

But to answer your question. They don't care about you not playing but the question that may be important is, does them using your players card make a trip? If so you are killing your adt and will lose more than $3 in comps and free play.

Quote: racquet

I'm nowhere near marker-quality. I remember one time where the chips needed for a marker arrived with much attention and preening on the part of the markee,, along with someone I assume was a host. I doubt they'd bring out a tray loaded with eight green chips and twenty red ones to satisfy my marker.

The less they know about me, or the more I can fool myself into thinking that there is still SOMETHING they don't already know about me, the better, so if it's just a convenience factor and does nothing to add to the level of surveillance they already have in place, it works for me.

This is a marker.I generally take them at the cage, but did take $500 at a table once. Not sure what the minimum is.

Some background information on fees in Biloxi. My bank, Wells Fargo charges $2.50 per ATM non WF withdrawal. My Credit Union charges $1.50. Then on top of that Harrah's charges $5.99, Treasure Bay and Palace $4.00. All this on a $500 withdrawal. Pretty stiff. But I can go to the Wells Fargo branch and write a check from my Credit Union, no charge. That's a good deal!

I think it's been 5 years maybe 6 since I've taken money out from an ATM at a casino. And I don't think I've taken out money more than once or twice.

The fees really add up, unless you go to the casino once a year and only need $500 or so. But if you're making a withdrawal 3-4 times a week, that's $24-$32 per week....that's $104 to $138 per month.

I know people that'd make at least 3 withdrawals a day, even if they didn't need to....every day.....

I can be pretty paranoid about privacy and protecting personal information; for example, on Facebook my birthday and location are fictional. I wouldn't even get a player's card for years due to concern about what is on my driver's license.

Over time I have relaxed about casinos. Maybe since they face real fury from players just for revealing in any way publicly that someone ever darkened their doorsteps, even to a spouse by trying to contact you without your permission [if you're worried about that and careful]. They seem to have developed an effective culture for protecting your information.

That's not to say it could possibly be 100% secure, but relatively speaking, it seems to be better.

So I would say 'relax' when it comes to having given financial info to be allowed to take markers.

If there is any downside you can definitely expect, it would come into play if you are a bad boy and get in over your head, tempted by the ease of taking markers. The legality is carefully crafted into taking advantage of the laws regarding writing bad checks. I won't go into it here, just say that I have been blogging about it.

In the UK you can draw cash using a Debit card at the cash desk - since you type in your PIN etc. the casino takes little risk. I don't know the upper limit but £1k seems possible. I've also withdrawn cash at a casino in Belgium with no fee by the casino (my Debit card also has no fee for using ATMs and I think the casino counted as an ATM). fwiw Most UK casinos take foreign notes (especially USD or EUR) although I'm not sure their rate of exchange is as generous as it used to be a few years ago.

The downside is it shows up on your bank statement, so in theory this might affect your credit score.

It is always best to "get known" at the Cage.

If you bring even a cashiers check to the cage and try to 'cash' it there can be delays and phone calls, so make it clear that you want chips (actually checques) for your check that you brought with you rather than carrying a large amount of cash.

If you already have some financial history at the casino its real easy to 'telephonically "write" a check to the casino once you are there.

Just about anything will be lower than the atm fees and atm temptations.

It is always good to be known at the cage. And yes, IF you are given bills they will watch you real close, but if you are given Checques they will only watch your first buy-in to see that it was hefty. After that your account will always run smoothly.