About a week ago I was cashing out at my local casino, Harrahs New Orleans, and I see this sign warning me not to take casino chips out of the casino and that it is illegal to use them outside the casino for purchasing anything. Just wondering if anyone ever got in trouble taking or using casino chips outside of their casino?

Well you can't really use them for anything outside the casino anyway. But leaving with some is about as bad as tearing the tag off your mattress.

A lot of (all?) casinos post a notice saying that chips cannot be used as currency off premises. Harrah's NOLA might have added the warning about taking chips out of the casino because its a tourist town. Maybe too many visitors were flying home without cashing their chips or were trying to buy beignets with them

Anyway, you're fine carrying a few chips in and out. Having played at your casino, I can tell you they do things a little differently from what I'm used to in LV and CT. (Carding on entry, for instance. Probably a weak example but I can't remember others right now.)

Try asking them.

It has nothing to do with people using chips to buy a muffin down the street or bringing chips home with them. It's about people exchanging chips with each other to avoid tax reporting or create "winnings" as a way to launder money.

Might be a Louisiana thing. Harrahs New Orleans and L'Auberge Lake Charles are the ony US casinos that ever carded on when I tried to enter the gaming floor.

The only place I know where chips are used as currency outside the casino is Las Vegas.

Never gotten in trouble for taking chips outside casino but i did recently read a story on 2p2 about someone who lost 400K in casino chips in LA so it would probably be wise not to do so? Not in a super large quantity anyways.

Might want to read story about Nolan Dalla cashing in chips in vegas:

http://m.lvsun.com/news/2007/mar/09/...ger-good-cash/

Maryland Live cards upon entry.

Only if there could be any chance from your appearance that you are under 21.

My old tired self has walked right by others at MDL being carded a hundred times without them giving me a second glance.

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Maryland Live and Horseshoe Baltimore will card you on entry if you look anywhere near 21. At peak times, Horseshoe will even queue you if you are 35 and under to be carded.

The Patriot Act changed a lot of things about handling large transactions. Casinos are closely scrutinized, even much more than banks. The onus is on the casino to prove it wasn't obtained illegally to the government. That means it will be on the player to convince the casino. Keep in mind that by not cashing it, they can eventually declare the money earning and it is tax free. So they have little incentive to act, especially with someone who isn't earning the casino money. What trips up a lot of people is that they have heard of the $10,000 limit where the transaction must be reported. What they don't know is that the company is required to report lower amounts if they suspect it is a possible structuring transaction. The guidance from the gov't is that if you aren't sure, report it.

As a practical matter though, you aren't going to have a problem with a couple of hundred dollars of chips if you are playing at a 1/2 table, especially if you have a players card.

I've taken chips out of casinos a thousand times-- mostly relatively small amounts that I didn't feel like waiting in line to cash out when I knew I'd be back. Never been a problem. Never tried to use for anything.

Maybe 20 or 30 years ago, but not any more. Bellagio chips are pretty universally accepted by other casinos (or gamblers) but that's about it.

Well, except for hookers and tournament chips.

IME you can use Bellagio chips in all kinds of transactions that don't involve any kind of receipt. Tips, lap dances, line passes, and drugs are among the things i've seen people use them for.

Realize YOU can take the tag off YOUR mattress anytime u want. That it is illegal is a myth caused by a reading comprehension issue

Pretty sure he realizes that.

Never got in trouble, or used them outside the casino.


I have seen signs warning, assumed they were 'fine print' and used to cover the casino in cases when the chips were 'past redemption', or just simply required by law.

Never been carded at MD Live and I look like I am late 20's to early 30's although I am a little older. I just walk up and walk through. I think a lot of people doing the carding go off of attitude and body language for situations that may be on the borderline. If you look like you are worried about being carded or nervous at all, they will card every time. If you just walk up confident, like you have been there before, and are just looking to walk on through with no hold ups, they rarely card you. At least this is what I have experienced.

BTW - Taking chips out of the casino has never ever been an issue for us that are just bringing them back fairly soon to play with again. When you play the higher stakes, you don't want to be cashing out 5K to 10K every time you leave. I always cash about 2K to 3K and get the rest in large chips. No reason to keep throwing up red flags about how much you are cashing out. I don't always mean winnings either, so that is not a brag at all. You could be down 5K-8K or so at one point, buy in for 2K again, and run it back up to 6K. You might be down actually, but to them you are cashing out 6K.

I don't know the threshold at MD Live for them taking your name when cashing out a certain amount. Does anyone know exactly? That is why I never take more than 3K in cash and the rest in chips. You can always sell the chips to players at the table for cash during games as well, as another way of cashing out some without red flags.