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Taking chips home instead of cash

Discussion in 'Misc. Vegas Chat' started by JRRestoule, Aug 20, 2021.

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  1. Legion

    Legion High-Roller

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    CTRs are way overrated.. Nothing to be worried about. Better shot at hitting the mega millions then getting caught up in IRS-CTR drama.. This isn’t 1950.. People who really gamble 10k is a drop in the bucket
     
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  2. Legion

    Legion High-Roller

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    Doesn’t matter, place yourself in the casino is all that matters. Casinos can’t just arbitrarily grab your chips now
     
  3. Renaldow

    Renaldow VIP Whale

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    I changed what you quoted with your message. I read the case and changed my response to reflect that. What you quoted is old. Sorry, we were probably cross posting. But I agree that's what the court ruled.
     
  4. Beebs17

    Beebs17 Tourist

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    Technically chips are not cash. They are not freely transferable and cannot be exchanged for goods and services. I often cash high value chips, and often do it days after playing. I provide my players card, as they usually know how many 5k and 25k (20k at Borgata) chips that I have outstanding, but they don’t need to call a pit or speak to a manager. I’ve never had that happen. The biggest issue I’ve had is when the amount of chips doesn’t match my win/loss in the system, then they often don’t want to provide a wire or check for the amount, but will only provide actual cash.

    But back to the original question. Chips are not monetary instruments under banking regulations, but, the customs agents don’t know that and you don’t want to get into an argument because you are guaranteed to lose and might have to go to court to recover it, which would cost more than what you are surrending. Keep it simple, you are allowed to have more than 10k, you just have to declare it. It’s not an issue whatsoever. And there is no issue with carrying large amounts of cash, don’t just flaunt it or be stupid with it.
     
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  5. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    Some casinos have a rule that the chips can not leave the premises.

    Hmmmm
     
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  6. Jsmile898

    Jsmile898 Addition By Subtraction and Better Off

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    Hmm. Whenever I play at CP I always cash out at the end of the day and they always ask me what game I've played and which tables. They have to go and get the paper that records my how much I left with. One time when I went to the cage the next day, they had to call somewhere to verify that I played the previous day. It almost felt like half an hour for them to do this. They take this very seriously.
     
  7. Rookies11

    Rookies11 High-Roller

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    Why wouldn’t you open a LV Bank Account?

    Who doesn’t have one of those?
     
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  8. Jsmile898

    Jsmile898 Addition By Subtraction and Better Off

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    Thats another good option. I believe RBC/Royal Bank has US chequing accounts with a network of ATMs to deposit cash. You just have to wait at least a week for them to verify your deposit if you want to withdraw the cash later in Canada.
     
  9. Ty

    Ty ?

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    This.

    I had the cage at the Cal call the pit when I cashed a $500 chip.
     
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  10. ngrund

    ngrund High-Roller

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    I've posted this story on this site before, but I still laugh about the time I was at a small casino in bumf..k, Mississippi and the cage actually had to call "upstairs" for permission to cash a black chip.
     
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  11. Bubblehead

    Bubblehead Low-Roller

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    Tunica, back in the 90's. Same here.
     
  12. woodsie

    woodsie VIP Whale

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    I'm aware of the fact that there is a non-zero chance of just about anything but you are talking about one or two orders of magnitude more difficulty than passing a fake bill or a dumb chip.

    If I wanted to pass fake RFID chips, I'd have know how they implemented it on a technical level, likely steal some serial numbers for certain denom chips from their database, and hope like hell that those serial numbers aren't "checked in" at some other location in the casino when I try to cash them and what's left after all that is STILL harder than counterfeiting bills and dumb chips.

    I didn't say impossible, I'm just saying you might have a better time trying to match 10 out of 10 on Keno.
     
  13. ngrund

    ngrund High-Roller

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    in the '90s I could almost understand that, this was 2018 (when $100 is the new $20)
     
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  14. irishdave

    irishdave VIP Whale

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  15. 44inarow

    44inarow VIP Whale

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    I'm a legal/compliance guy, I don't traffic in fakes!
     
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  16. Nick61

    Nick61 MIA

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    The key terms being "monetary instruments". I believe the language that U.S. Customs uses is by my memory, virtually identical. It's a deliberate incredibly broad description, which legally means just about anything the government wants it to mean. And I'm reasonably sure casino chips also easily qualify as a monetary instrument.

    I was watching that border customs show on the National Geographic network. It's called "To Catch A Smuggler." The show primarily is based on people that are caught trying to smuggle cocaine through airport customs, as incredibly stupid as that notion sounds. But they catch plenty of people doing it.

    At any rate, they always hassle people carrying large sums of cash when they discover it. And that's even if they're within the legal limits, which is carrying under $10,000. They say it's legal to carry up to that amount of cash. Yet I still see them incessantly question many people who have say $8,000 dollars on them. In fact, I've watched them basically shake upside down every orifice of that traveler, just to ensure they didn't miss anything that would possibly put that traveler over the 10K limit. For example, if you have 8k in cash and say a cashiers check for $2500, you've got the equivalent in "monetary instruments" of $10,500. And you sure as heck better have declared you were over 10 k, or you could have a real legal problem. They can legally seize that money from the individual, who is then left with the challenge of proving in court the revenue sources of where that money came from. And if you failed to declare you were over the 10 k limit, at minimum you'll be paying a substantial fine, not to mention the cost of your legal fees in order to recover your funds.

    You got to wonder sometimes if they could say, well this dude has 8k in cash on him. While that Rolex watch he wears, along with the rest of his jewelry look brand new. Thus, he's guilty of carrying "monetary instruments" in excess of 10K. I mean seriously, could jewelry be considered a monetary instrument? I would almost guarantee if it were for example loose diamonds, they would say that constitutes monetary instruments.

    Again, in the episodes I've seen, anyone they discover with an unusually huge sum of cash is questioned in a suspicious manner. IMO, anyone they see with a substantial wad of cash, is automatically suspected of being either directly or indirectly connected with drug smuggling.

    And I don't want people to misread my point here. I'm a huge supporter of Law Enforcement, my father was a police officer. But these Customs Agents are a little bit different birds. They have a ton of leeway in terms of personal discretion. They can legally make your day reasonably unpleasant if they choose to. I recommend you talk to them very respectfully, so hopefully they take mercy on you.

    One other important point: Initially at Border checkpoints, there are NO defense lawyers allowed. By the time you get to speak to your lawyer, you've already been officially charged with something, you're already in trouble.
     
    Last edited: Aug 25, 2021
  17. NotFromConcentrate

    NotFromConcentrate It’s a Cassowary :)

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    My experiences with high-denom chips are limited… though I recall one instance (at Plaza) where I was playing unrated (just killing time) and ended up winning just over $500… and when I coloured up the dealer said she can only give me black chips if I don’t have a players card. Which I assume to mean they probably wouldn’t have given me a $500 chip at all as an “unknown” player.

    Thus, I suspect in your scenario that had you been playing unrated they might not have given you the higher denom chips at all. Though I’m sure this varies from casino to casino. Either way, it’s unlikely that you’d have ended up with high denomination chips and no way to cash them in my opinion.
     
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  18. Ty

    Ty ?

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    That sounds like a great idea for frequent non-US Vegas visitors.
     
  19. The Rumor

    The Rumor VIP Whale

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    that strikes me as a house rule. Certainly, I've had $500s from one day that I used another day or took to the cage on the Strip and no one bats an eye. It's up to their internal control policies there.
     
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  20. 44inarow

    44inarow VIP Whale

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    That's sort of the point, though. If they have to "discover" it, that's when they get mad. Whereas if you just declare it, you're generally good to go, especially to/from Vegas. It's sort of like getting admitted to state bars, where you have to declare everything on your record, no matter how minor. A friend of mine once got a moving violation in college; that had to go on the list. Even things that are formally expunged have to be disclosed. And for what it's worth, it's legal to carry pretty much any amount of cash, it's the declaration that trips people up.
    Indeed, house rule. As long as you're not going back a month later, worst case they can call upstairs and see where you were playing.
     
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