UK Player looking for best advice for getting/using/cashing money in Vegas

I am looking for advice on the best way to manage money in Vegas given I have to get it there in the first place. What are the optimum strategies for getting my BR into the country and casino? What about the best/cheapest way to exchange my GBP for USD anf vice versa ? Can I do this without ID at the casino end? And, once there how best to manage buy ins/cash outs. I have read all kinds of conflicting information on these topics. In the UK (my tax domicile) there is no tax on winnings, how do I avoid having tax taken at source in the US assuming of course I manage to ride the curve up :)

If I keep my BR under 10,000 to avoid any declarations then looking and reading suggests that I should be using 25$ units at most, to give me a high probability that I can survive running into the bumpers. I have a few other questions regarding our planned trip, but will start other threads to explore (Mini Team/effect of counters/player at same table etc.)

I am certain I will expose other more detailed questions that the forum might be able to answer. basic plan is as follows:

3 person team (Myself/Wife/Son)
2 spotter/players, playing basic strategy with adjustments for KO Novice 1-5 spread off table minimums or other if the forum has better simpler ways to overcome house edge. They will have 200x minimum as a BR.
1 Player expectation is to play at the levels above prob 25$ Units with BR of 10,000$

Any comments or suggestions welcome, we have over a year to plan this so plenty of time to train etc.

Cheers
Anton

You can bring or transfer ANY amount, but must declare at point of entry if you are carrying more than ten grand.

Best method is to wire transfer from your bank to US Casino's cashier. Then sign markers against that money when you arrive.
US Casino usually absorbs all costs of transferring funds between Pounds and Dollars. Also since casino has a hefty sum that is in your name, they are more likely to Comp you to rooms, food, beverage, etc.

US Casinos do not act as collections agencies for foreign governments. Your tax obligation to Inland Revenue in the UK is a matter between you and the Inland Revenue. Casino will produce an estimate of your winnings and losings but it is an estimate only.

You can transfer more than ten grand out in winnings, but if you are traveling out of the country, you must declare any amount over ten grand to US authorities. If you have the casino transfer it by wire then there is no need for a declaration.

As to card counting in a team.... good luck. Enjoy your visit to Vegas.

FleaStiff,

Many thanks for your reply. Are you saying that the casinos will cover any currency exchange and ET fees for the money I send over to them? I am assuming that these funds would then act as front money and I would draw cash against them, right?

As to comps we don't really understand the comping culture or how it works. I could not find any detailed information online to allow me to understand where to go and what to do to maximise the potential. Can anyone point me at definitive guides or resources or it is something that my PA could/should do directly with the casinos?

Any anecdotal information on how much to transfer in to get rooms, food, flights etc. would be useful. We will probably have about 100K USD that could be transferred over assuming non-prohibitive fees. Is this considered big money in Vegas for BJ players? I suspect not! We would expect to play with about 80K of this maximum and our expectation would be to get the BR at checkout to BE worse case and 1.5 x Starting BR best case :). (2 spotter/players x 1-5 spread 5$ unit x 200 max bet = 10K USD + 1 x 1-8 spread 25$ unit x 400) I may have the math wrong on the BR (not a mathematician) but reading suggests (Don S etc.) to make sure you have the BR for the game you are planning :)

If things get bad, we can downside the units :(

Again any insights help or advice appreciated.

Cheers
Anton

>Are you saying that the casinos will cover any currency exchange and ET fees for the money I send over to them?
NO. I can not speak for the casinos, I can only tell you what the usual procedure is for most of the larger casinos. They absorb the charges on transfer and currency conversion, but they keep the interest that it earns in the meantime.
> I am assuming that these funds would then act as front money and I would draw cash against them, right?
NO. It would be the basis of a Front Money Account in your name, but you would NOT draw cash against the account. You would go to a table and draw cheques (a/k/a Chips) against the account, not actual cash. IF you want to draw actual cash against your own account that would be done at the Cashier's Cage in limited amounts. The casino wants you to gamble with your money there, not take it out in cash and perhaps wander off to other casinos with it. So if you want cash they frown and make a delay of it, but if you just want chips to gamble with go to the table and sign for them there. Your host can help you too. And you will "probably" be assigned a host after you send the wire transfer.

>we don't really understand the comping culture or how it works.
No one does.
>I could not find any detailed information online to allow me to understand where to go and what to do to maximise the potential.
You never will. ALL casinos tend to be reticent to ever put anything in writing or to even make oral commitments about their comp policies. If you email a host that host will probably not commit the casino but will only indicate the casinos normal practice. Remember the casino will usually only look at your ACTION. That is what you actually BET. Not whether you win or lose. And they will focus on what you bet rather than be fixated on the total that you have transferred to them. You can transfer one hundred grand but if you only bet five grand, they consider you a five grand bettor. Most casinos focus on your total time gambling and your average wager to calculate your "Theo" which means your theoretical "value" to them, ie what you are likely to lose. You can always get free booze while gambling, generally get high quality booze if you ask for it and your action merits it. You can generally get your room, your meals and your bar tab taken care of at check out by talking to your host prior to check out. You can always ask for meal comps during your stay if you've given their computer some time to built a history on your action. Some of the top casinos in Vegas would like to see fifty dollars in the Black Jack circle but most casinos would be impressed by seeing 25 routinely bet. This would usually mean you would get a buffet comp and might even get a comp to one of their better restaurants.

>Can anyone point me at definitive guides or resources ...
No. Its really an ever changing system. Many casinos have tightened up their comp systems recently. Some casinos are well known for suggesting that you contact their own travel agency before you book your next trip. (This means if you stay with us and let us book your room and your airplane, the casino will pick up all or a substantial part of the airplane fare for your next trip but probably won't commit to it in advance). Usually anyone who gets such a "suggestion" will get atleast five hundred dollars off his airfare and will be Room, Food and Beverage comped on their trip, but again, do not look for absolute guarantees. Casinos are loathe to do more than "indicate" their intentions.

I can certainly tell you that even if you avoid the high roller rooms, if you put anywhere near 80k in action, you will be RFB for certain and probably be RFBAirfare as well.

If you email a host at your desired casino and mention an approximate amount of 80K in action, you will probably get an email that mentions RFB and perhaps explores paying for some of your airfare on the first trip, but most likely they will only actually be doing that when you check out. They want to see your action and your character before they make promises.

FleaStiff,

That's a great reply and certainly demystifies some of the stuff we are looking at. As an outsider it really does seem like a black art to find out some of this stuff. e.g. I have been sliding 20-50$ across at checkin for years and only today picked up the 20$ Sandwich term! Always did well at checkin :)

I expect that the two spotters would be playing fairly consistently for probably 6-8 hours a day, in 2 hr sessions or so. We expect that they would play at a very slight advantage to the house using the simple HE minimisation strategies. In the UK the rules are 4 Decks 70-80% penetration, S17 ENHC DOA DAS Multlple Splits 3:2 NI NS HE = 0.43674%
so the more liberal vegas rules should be slightly better than we get here. Using 5$ units 1-5 Spread would see over 80% of their action invisible as they would be at 25$ < 20% of the time. so, conservatively 6hrs x 60 Hands Hr x .8 x 5$ Min x 10 days = 14,400$ of Action would be invisible and only HIgh bets of 6hrs x 60 Hands Hr x .2 x 25$ Max x 10 days = 18,000$ of action would be counted. Am I on the right track here?

All of my bets would qualify but clearly I am going to play less often for more money. Still researching what I can expect to play, working my way through Don S. Arnold S. etc. to try and put a picture together that fits what we are trying to do.

It is certainly clear to me that we would be putting a reasonable amount of action through the BJ pits in the 10 playing days. We will also be partying and visiting a number of shows too :) Ghost Bar here we come again :)

The trip will coincide with a couple of life events for our family which will also give us some cover as 10 days in the same BJ Pits might be challenging.

May be this is the wrong forum for this discussion if that is the case Mike S. then I apologise in advance, please suggest the best forum or site to discuss the finer points of our proposed trip and how we might make it the Trip of a lifetime to Vegas both on and off the tables. We like the Bellagio and the Venetian been to both 3 times in the past as well as the Mirage (All business conferences no table action).

As always any help or advice is much appreciated.

Anton

Bellagio and Venetian would look for long sessions (3, 4 hours preferred, but will still take note of two hour sessions).
However, I doubt they would have five dollar games and certainly would not "see" a five dollar bet. Each of those casinos would take notice on bets at the 25 dollar level and up. Particularly on a Friday or Saturday night, they might want to start seeing some fifty dollar bets. I'm not sure. Bellagio is probably a bit better than the Venetian.

This in and out stuff obviously won't get rated at the same amount as if you were engaging in steady play.

Mirage would look at lower amounts being bet.

Since you are going to pretend not to know your spotters, their play will be against their cards only and your play will be against your players club card only. You expect to win far more than you gain in comps so good luck to you. If you just sit there for a session and don't wong in and out, you will do better on comps but not as well against the count.

FleaStiff,

Thanks for the further information. I am using 25$ units but would be very likely to be betting larger on a 1-12 spread. so there should be plenty of 100+ bets out there. The main reason for the size of BR is to ensure we have enough to ride the fluctuation.

Will keep up the research.

Cheers
Anton