10k in hundreds is no problem, I carry 13-18k regularly becuase as long as you stay on the strip you are safe as a child in mothers arms - never use the in-room safes!! Never walk down dark alleys!!

^ oh man, that's wrong...

Can someone explain why to NOT use in-room safes?

Gnomes

They're hard to get in your pocket?

Yes, can we have some clarity here, what's wrong with the in-room safes? I've always relied on them, sometimes for more money than this, not to mention my passport and other stuff. Who the eff would attempt to crack the safe of a random guest? The cleaning ladies? And are they really that easy to crack?

What do you think happens the 20 times a week some guy checks out with his room safe still locked? They're not calling in the guy with the acetylene torch.

Gnomes

"When we returned, the front-desk clerk told us that the shower had been cleaned and the area around it repainted. As a result, we couldn't use the bathroom, so he assigned us another room. We packed up our belongings, but when I tried to open the safe, the code did not work and the display panel kept showing an error message. I called the front desk, and minutes later a hotel employee appeared with a hand held device that immediately opened the safe. He didn't ask us for, or need, the security code I had punched in that morning. I found the speed with which the small, easily concealed contraption unlocked the safe unnerving. I pulled out our valuables and discovered that some of our cash, about $500, had gone missing from the $2,000 that was there in the morning."

At Rio last year (I think, or the year before), someone claimed his in-room safe was emptied of $tenK's while he was out. Get a lock box when you check in and use that for the majority of your loot. In room safe is good for a day's walkin' around money.

Mind you, someone also posted a story about once being given the wrong lock box at Rio when he went to access it. He gave 'em his key, signed the little card, and they couldn't get his box open. So a supervisor wandered up and opened it with a master and handed him the box. Only it wasn't his box--gee, maybe that explains why his key didn't work in the box. He claimed they were quite nonchalant about it, like this sorta thing happens regularly, and when he tried to formally voice a complaint they weren't interested at all in hearing it.

So there may not be any really good solutions.

Sounds like the Bank Of Smith & Wesson may be the only safe place.

Carry a dummy wallet. Cheap thing with an expired CC, license, and $37 in it. If you get robbed hand it to em.

When i had a safe malfunction once, they sent two guys, one to open the safe and the other to witness it. Seemed pretty up and up.

nononononono, this is not a picture. A quote cannot be used as a picture so you have failed your game

Tell that to Tupac

I've had $50k in my in room safe many times, not a worry. Personally I think that is the absolute safest thing in the world. I do leave money on deposit at casinos but you'll need to open a credit line for that. I have never been too paranoid carrying large amounts of cash down the Strip in Vegas (10-20k) but I sometimes worry I am going to lose/misplace large chips, so I try to avoid carrying chocolates or watermelons outside of my hotel.

You've just demonstrated why it's not safe. It took one guy to open it, and he made no noise, caused no damage, and did it in a very short length of time. So one guy with the right device can apparently trivially open any safe in any room.

Not sure if it would be that easy. Two guys show up, one from building services and one from security. The guy from building services had the device. I would assume that the device is under lock and key and must be signed out in the presence of security.

Of course, there are ways around anything.

the guy this happen to asked the front desk if it was safe for him to put 30k in the safe. they said yes no problem. that night when he was playing poker his door was broke into and safe was opened instantly. this was obv a inside job. so DO NOT MENTION YOUR CASH TO ANYONE!

i personally have never had a problem with inroom safe, i keep my business to myself and try not to be flasy with my cash. i never ask anyone if its ok to put my x amount of money anywhere. and if i have a big roll i seperate it between, safe, luggage and lock box.

Just get cash from your bank and carry it...if you wanna be super nitty and paranoid get a cashiers check payable to Wynn Las Vegas and deposit it there and just carry chips

I have travelled extensively all over the world and have carried up to $18K with me in places that were much sketchier than Vegas. Of course, I've been to Vegas quite a bit, too. The most important thing is common sense. Be aware of your surroundings or make sure that aware people you trust are with you (if you decide to get wasted or something of the sort).

I don't know anything about hotel safes, but I always kept my money on me, as suggested earlier in a discrete money belt. I only take it off while travelling. A dummy wallet is also a good idea, as earlier stated. Traveller's checks will cost you money, but the 1% charge may be well worth the insurance and they're as good as cash once you make it into the casino. Never tell anyone where your money is, or that you have a lot of it. Always check your rear-view mirror or look over your shoulder when you are departing from a situation where people have seen you with a lot of money (a common occurence in Vegas.)

One note about a money belt: being that it's own your body all the time, it gets really, really funky. If you're a heavy sleeper, there may not be much you can do about this, as you'll need to keep it under your pillow, unless you are in a hotel, in which case you likely have a deadbolt ot your room. Powder your money belt with baking soda every night. This helps a bit. If you sleep lightly, hang it up, powder it with baking soda and make sure that it is exposed to sunlight for half an hour if you can.

You can also carry a method of self-defense, like mace, a taser or a firearm. Nevada has very liberal gun laws and will recognize an out-of-state concealed carry permit, according to a police officer I spoke with. Do not do this if you are not already comfortable with firearms. Check www.nra-ila.org for current gun laws.

As far as carrying cash, you do have to declare amounts over $10K when travelling abroad. Furthermore, you can have such amounts confiscated by law enforcement within the country if they have reasonable suspicion that it is the proceeds of or is used for drug trafficking, money laundering, etc. This is not likely to happen in Vegas. Outside of Vegas this is also easy to deal with if you just keep a tax form with you or a notebook with your live winnings records and explain that you are a poker player. This type of trouble is unlikely, since any cops you run into are not likely to be from an agency that deals with these types of laws. Still, asset forfeiture laws are strongly written and "innocent until proven guilty" only applies to incarceration or fines, not to confiscation, so be safe, not sorry.

Finally, chips are safer than cash. If your chips are stolen, there may be some hope that the culprits will be caught trying to cash in high-denomination chips. I believe that many casinos are starting to put RFID microchips into their chips.

The number one way to prevent theft, though, is good common sense and awareness of your surroundings.

when I was at Sheraton in Fallsview, the safe wouldn't open and they sent a maintenance guy and the hotel GM to my room to open it. The GM explained this is protocol that the GM has to be there and has the master key. turned out to be a dead battery which they changed.