Front money

As I am from the uk I have been thinking up
ways that I avoid paying fees when I change my
bankroll from £ to $ and back again.

I'm aiming to bring around $10000 which could
cost me up to $500 if I were to change it all into
cash and/or travellers cheques.

So here's my idea - bring the bankroll but keep
it as £ sterling either as cash or travellers
cheques. Then request front money in $ dollars
using the £ as a deposit ie. giving it to the cage.
The casino would then give me a marker to the
equivelent amount that I could use to play with
during my stay. At the end of my stay they give
me back in £ any cash that I have left.

Does this sound like something a casino would
be likely to agree to?

From their point of view they have zero risk as
they will have my cash from the start.

Has anyone heard of this type of arrangement?

I would especially like to hear from anyone
outside of the states and how you take large
amounts of cash to vegas.

Jon

I think the casino does have risk. In that system, they have currency risk based on the exchange rate shifting during the time that they're holding your funds as collateral.

I would hope to take a marker that was reasonably
less than the value of the deposit to allow for this.
Also I would be taking say $2000 per session max
leaving most of it in the cage.

I could perhaps have a low limit say $2000 that if
I reached this amount I would not take any more
markers and just cash out.

Evenbob is going to challenge you to a duel. That's his style of writing, copyrighted I think.

Quote: odiousgambit

Evenbob is going to challenge you to a duel. That's his style of writing, copyrighted I think.

I assume you are referring to the truncated line.

I can explain. I'm typing this on my android
phone and it seems to be extremely difficult to
do if I use the whole screen.

Perhaps Evenbob has the same issues. I will
admit that I did indeed copy him and it has made
typing on this site so much less painful.

Thank you Bob. Where do I send the check for
the intellectual property rights to?

Quote: jonfourtwenty

Has anyone heard of this type of arrangement?

Jon

I think it's a good idea from your perspective, but a quick search has turned up nothing. I doubt a casino would take you up on this offer... It's a bit of a bookkeeping nightmare, and one thing modern businesses like is fixed processes for handling transactions. This would be an 'exception', and unlikely to be accepted.

I think you should put most of the money in a safe, and change ~$2000 at a time at a commercial bank, who will give you a much better rate than the casino. If you lose that, go for a walk, and change some more at a later time.

IANAL, but you should probably declare the money you are bringing on the way into the country, so you don't look so suspicious bringing it out.

Quote: dwheatley

I think it's a good idea from your perspective, but a quick search has turned up nothing. I doubt a casino would take you up on this offer... It's a bit of a bookkeeping nightmare, and one thing modern businesses like is fixed processes for handling transactions. This would be an 'exception', and unlikely to be accepted.

I suspect you are right about it being too much
paperwork.

Still, I guess if I were a more desirable customer
they would probably find a way. Seems unlikely
since I'm obviously someone that is going
through the mill to save $500.

I will try emailing the casino (monte carlo
probably, but not booked yet) and see if this
scheme is feasible. Hopefully they would have
encountered this scenario before.

Just to let you know, On the flight into the US you are given some forms to fill in. On one of these you have do declare if you are bringing more than a certain amount of cash into the country. I think its $10,000. Not declaring it and being found with it is reason enough to be denied entry to the country.

Quote: Croupier

Just to let you know, On the flight into the US you are given some forms to fill in. On one of these you have do declare if you are bringing more than a certain amount of cash into the country. I think its $10,000. Not declaring it and being found with it is reason enough to be denied entry to the country.

Thanks for the heads up and I am familiar with
this requirement. Last trip I seem to remember
some customs officials asking everyone in our
gate at the departure lounge in gatwick if they
had more than $10000 on them so they could
give them some forms to fill in. I guess people
tend to have more cash on them when flying
direct to vegas.

I have been in casinos close to the border in both Canada and USA that handle that situation all the time. If you exchange money and win they will allow you to exchange back to the original currency up to the maximum of you original exchange at no charge and also credit the original exchange charges back. I think that this only applies to a same day/evening transaction.

Not sure if they will do this in Vegas but I expect you can get some accomadation from them.

Most large casinos are perfectly happy to receive wire transfers and to establish Front Money Accounts for players who will be showing up well after the wire transfer is completed.
You then sign markers for your own money at the tables.
Usually conversions are handled upon receipt of your money so you will get a statement of Dollars being held for you and all draws against such funds will be in Dollars.

The casino cashier not only enjoys doing this but the player gains from it too since the casino will notify their host staff as to the amount on deposit and your host will know just how welcome to make you feel.

The ten thousand dollar limit for entering or leaving the USA is for physical possession of currency. You can have a receipt for a wire transfer on your person in any amount whatsoever, its the physical currency limits that they are interested at Customs.

Quote: Croupier

Just to let you know, On the flight into the US you are given some forms to fill in. On one of these you have do declare if you are bringing more than a certain amount of cash into the country. I think its $10,000. Not declaring it and being found with it is reason enough to be denied entry to the country.

I have always wandered what happens when you declare you have more than $10k. Do you have to pay something?

The custom declaration is for money laundry prevention, since you cannot track cash. You can keep the whole sum, but you will need to declare where's the money from, and what you want to do with it.

I live in the US and often gamble at the Fallsview casino because they have Ultimate Texas Holdem. I leave my Canadian money there as front money and there is never a charge. I would recommend you get a line of credit, if possible, and then you can gamble in their currency and only worry about taking a percentage loss on the net amount if you lose.