So someone I know has credit at a local casino which means he can obtain cash at the cage to play when he arrives. Apparently however he is not allowed to use that cash in the poker room. I'm wondering if the casino rigorously enforces that rule or if any of you have credit at a casino and have used markers to play poker and have faced any repercussions.

My first trip to Vegas I was worried about carrying cash on me, so finagled a 5k marker. Sat down at a blackjack table in the high stakes room and took out 2k against it. Played 5 hands of $100 blackjack, colored up, and left. Paid back the marker when I left Vegas with a check. I had some hiccup because my bank didn't clear the check right away, but other than that, smooth sailing. YMMV, but I don't think most casinos really sweat people gaming the system a little. (As long as you pay back the marker, otherwise you go to prison!)

A marker (Line of Credit) at a casino almost always has some kind of restrictions associated with it. Specifics are typically based on the type, or tier/level, of customer you are. Bigger customer = less restrictions. Almost always, marker funds are supposed to be spent exclusively at the property granting the LOC. Less often, but not unheard of, certain games will be excluded.

Not sure how you'd define "rigorously enforces", but when the players card gets swiped at the poker room it will be flagged in the system. If the casino prohibited poker from marker funds they will know, but probably not real-time. Most likely scenario, at some not too distant future point in time, the casino will cancel the LOC and immediately process any outstanding check/ach settlements.

How could they know. Consider I have $500 in my left pocket and tap LOC for $500 and put my right pocket. I play hour of black jack using LOC in right pocket. I break even and have $500 LOC in right pocket and $500 in left pocket. I go play poker and buy in with $500 from left pocket.

Ho hav I violated LOC? How does casino know if I did or not? Cash is fungible

They don’t “know”, but this isn’t really a court of law thing. If you take out a LOC and play 1 hour of blackjack and 20 of poker, they’ll draw their own conclusions. If you take out $5000 and only play $500 worth of blackjack and then go buy in at poker for $4500, they’ll draw their own conclusions.

You’re asking them for a favor and agreeing to their terms, and if they think you’re taking advantage of them, they’ll just stop being nice.

As with anything, it's best to be up front. If you're super serious about the LOC then you will most likely be assigned a casino host as well .. or even just ask for one to call you. They will know how things work and it's in their best interest for you to enjoy your stay. IMO .. DO NOT .. call the Players Club hot line, they are robots and will not offer you anything outside the company line.

I agree that typically 'chips are chips' if you wandered into a poker room with casino chips they would convert them into chips you can use to play with. But I also agree that they want 'gaming' from an extended LOC and you may be having a chat with someone if you are playing a high volume of poker compared to slots/pits. Then you would just be bypassing their cash advance 'system' where they can fee you heavily. GL

Many years ago before I got into poker, I played a great deal of blackjack and had markers all over Vegas and the US for around 30-50k each. When I started playing poker, the host informed me that markers weren't to be used for poker. The idea is that the casino is basically giving you an interest free loan to gamble with in games they have an edge. I could fly in without needing to bring cash, play, and then had 90 days to settle with them afterwards. So clearly it is not in their interest to have me using that money at the poker tables. It was a professional courtesy thing that I honored. Of course, the host knew what I was playing at all times.

There's a big misconception regarding casino markers, they're not really a loan or LOC, it's more like a cash advance from your bank account. So even though it works like a loan, it's more like giving the casino a post dated check that they will take out of your account when it's due, usually in 30 days. So of course they don't wanna do it for poker, what's in it for them then?

They are still making some money off of you, you are an asset to the casino if you help fill up and sustain poker games from which they are taking $150-$200/hour off the table.

But I don't think poker players need a marker to pay the $5 rake though

Its not the point. You're still gambling at the casino. It would be nice if you didn't have enough cash on you or busted in the game to have access to cash at hand to buy back in. You still have to pay the casino back within a certain time period whether you lose it at slots, blackjack, craps etc. Why would poker be any different?

The casino wants to win your money AND get repaid. It’s easier and safer to win it from you at slots or blackjack.

Markers are not risk free for the casinos. Even though when you sign one you are essentially signing a check against your checking account which they will then submit to your bank for payment if you dont pay it back in the designated time frame. Butlots of gamblers lose the money and then dont keep enough money in their bank for the check to clear, and the casino is out its money. So they arent very interested in taking that risk for you to use that money for poker where when you lose another player gets the money vs the casino.

Yes, it is the point. The casino makes only $5 per pot. Why on earth would they care if you don't have enough cash at hand to buy back in? When you lose, you lose the money to another player, not the house so how is it the casino's best interest to offer markers for poker players?

Well, in most poker rooms it's only $4, as $1 goes to the jackpot (though many places charge an administrative fee on the jackpot funds).

That said, there is no downside to the revenue from poker games, while pit games sometimes have rather large payouts. Poker provides a steady stream of about $100/hr cash. During a busy period, that adds up fast.

There is also the point that poker players are customers and will gravitate to where they're treated well. Casinos that forget that tend to lose players to casinos that remember it.

I seriously doubt that is enough to get a casino to change their policy very often, but I do think it's enough for some casino to soften their policy at some point.

$4 may be the typical or average in Vegas but across the USA $5 or more is common. Any admin fee on the promo is next to meaningless to a large casino overall.

Casinos are not concerned about the downside of house games. The play the long game and are deep enough to handle short term variance.

On average of that $100 per hour only <15% comes from you. And even less depends on your playing because losing one player from a full game doesn’t reduce per hour rake proportionally. And if poker has a list you mean nothing to the rake.

OTOH every dollar you don’t lose on the tables or slots is a profit the house won’t see. Very seldom are all slots or all of a particular table completely full. The more money they front you the more they will make on average. This is not true for poker

You completely missed my point. Some casinos value customers more than just money. The funny thing is, when a business looks for and implements what benefits their customers, they tend to make more money. So, it wouldn't overly surprise me to find a casino that would soften the rule on the use of markers.

There are ways to show a customer appreciation without providing them with an interest free high-risk loan. The risk of default on a casino marker is probably higher than on your average junk bond.

There's not much difference between a casino handing out markers and investing in high-yield bonds when it comes to risk/reward profile.

Name one.

No what I did was refute your erroneous facts and pointed out your logical fallacies. You understated typical rake and implied an over estimate of a players contribution. Your intent strongly appeared to equate casino makes similar returns on poker and house games.

I did not address in any way your discussion of casino customer care.

This is bull ****. I hate to break it to you, but the casinos are in it for one thing and for one thing only and that's money.

“It looks like you’re not good at blackjack, here’s a handy guide on card counting to help you out. Keep at it buddy”

OK, y'all win. All casinos view all people as cattle being prepared for the slaughter. I play mostly in poker rooms anyway, seldom in the poker room of a regular casino and almost never any pit games. In poker rooms, I've seen a wide range of how customers are treated. In general, the ones that have more respect for players do far better and I've seen the crappier ones close. I was extending that experience when I said "I wouldn't be surprised".

I realize you were trying to make a point, but what the smart casino wants is as great a share of your wallet as possible. Therefore, they don't want to slaughter the sheep, they want to take as much wool as possible. If they can convert the gambling money from discretionary spending to essential spending, that's a win. They want poker players to spend as much time at the table as possible. Smart ones know that giving things that cost them nothing is optimal. Respect costs nothing.

I think you are grossly overestimating how much casinos make from poker.

Just remember, not only does rake go to paying dealers a minimum wage, ot also has to support the wages of the floor staff, the cardroom management (who do not work for free), cashiers, brushes, and the minimum wage of the cocktail servers. Finally that rake also pays for all of the free beverages ordered by the players at the table as well as the comps paid out on the loyalty card program.

Casinos make very little on poker. Many poker rooms are loss leaders or break even at best.