I'm going to WSOP this week. Any suggestions on best way to bring over $10,000 cash?

How much over? 10k rule is for international flights only. Domestic there is no limit, however they can and will bother you for larger amounts.

I was going back from Vegas once with 25ish, they asked where I got it from and, no joke, TSA dude wrote it down on a sticky note.

Don't go with over 15k

These police departments love bringing over dogs, claim the dog smelled drugs and then they confiscate it.

I've put 10k in my wallet before, folded it, put it in the bin and nobody said anything. And I had a 5k packet in 1 of the pockets in my backpack. That went through the xray machine as well and everything was good. But if you start trying to bring more, the more money showing in that backpack the tsa will notice, start asking questions and depending on the agent will get the police involved. That you don't want.

Presume you are flying internationally, don't try and lie about it if you are, just be honest on the forms. Dont be naive. You would be surprised just how much they know about the financial transactions of everyone entering the country.

bring a cashier's check and cash it in vegas or risk losing it to the TSA or some corrupt law enforcement agency that will make you prove your money is not guilty.

Why does the OP need to bring cash on a plane? Can't he just make a withdrawal once he's here?

You ever been to a bank and tried to withdraw 20k in cash? Its about the same process and has about the same chances of success as recovering that money from police seizure assuming you have a branch of your local bank in another state.

Carry whatever you are comfortable with on you in cash. For the rest, pick a bank that has branches is both your home town and Las Vegas. Wells Fargo, Citi, Chase, Bank of America, etc. Go to the hometown branch and get cashier's checks. Break the amount up in $5k increments, say four cashiers checks for $5k each. Call the branch a few days ahead of time and let them know you will be cashing up to $20k or whatever the amount is so they can have it on hand.

Or go to several branches and cash for $5k each. I've done it and they will put your ID and the check under close scrutiny but it is all perfectly legal. Things will go easier if the party cashing the checks has an account with the bank but they are cashing their own check so they will be able to verify it's good.

Just to be clear, it's perfectly fine to carry over $10k on international flights. You just have to declare it by filling out form 105.

I took $50k cash in my backpack from Vegas to LA with 2 ounces of weed I forgot was in my bag a few years ago. No one said nothing and I will never make that mistake again.

im confused ive never played in vegas? they actually make you pay cash? like non electronic stuff? lol . cant you just use your debit or credit card. Pretty sure thats what i did at the wpt Montreal

If you’re talking about buying food and stuff like that, obviously a credit card is completely fine.

But you need to buy-in to poker cash games and do any other gambling with cash, with a few exceptions.

My understanding is that you can buy in to WSOP events this year with a credit card, but the fees are exorbitant. You can also use a credit card to withdraw from the ATM, but there the fees will be even worse.

I think for domestic credit cards it's 2.95% which sounds a lot but is probably not that much higher than what they have to pay the credit card company and payment processor. A large entity like Caesar's certainly gets some kind of discount but I would assume they're also in the highest risk category. I would be surprised if Caesar's paid less then 2% all-in on an average transaction.

If you run a regular small business, you might be above 3%, especially if the average transaction amount is low. Stripe charges you 2.95% + $0.25. For a $10 purchase that amounts to 5.45%.

Buy BTC, go to Vegas and find someone that can exchange BTC for USD.

you wrote the instructions in backwards order.

seems like one of those American self inflicted problems most of the western world does 95% of money transactions digitally now and certainly the big ones. I buy a coffee I use a card there is zero charges certainly not a % of the total cost maybe 5-15$ a month to the bank. I almost won a main event ticket the other day I woulda showed up with a couple hundred in cash lol

I bet if I were to google why you still use stoneage technology I would imagine its because of a credit card monopoly

Great, but then he has under $10,000 now

The business has to cover those costs, not the customer.

If you buy food or drinks at the WSOP you can pay with your credit card without any charges. Buying into an event at the WSOP isn’t a purchase though but more like a financial transaction where your money goes into the price pool. The WSOP isn’t going to pay $200+ out of their own pocket for players to sign up for the Main Event with a credit card.

It is a material fact whether you are flying into the US or traveling domestically somehow.

If you are flying or driving domestically to the WSOP, carry a receipt for the withdrawal from your bank account with the cash and try not to do anything attention-grabbing on the way to the WSOP.

If you bring it, flying internationally, declare it.

Alternatively, if you want to leave say $500 to $X in your ATM accessible bank account, then carry $9500 and get the other $500 - $X out of an ATM in a casino.

Alternatively, don't carry that much in cash. To paraphrase The Departed, it doesn't add inches to your d**k. Call your chosen casino in advance and ask if they will cash $X in travelers checks or accept a wire for $X into their cage.

You would lose that bet, sonny. You think you can discern why some individual uses cash by looking on Google ? Your understanding of search engines is "stoneage", as you so cleverly put it.

lol, if you really think cutting an amount into increments under $10K is not going to flag you, either now or in the future, google structuring and AML That is precisely the wrong, needlessly suspicious, way to go about financial transfers in the US.

I think a buy-in IS a purchase, although I have not looked recently at coding for debit or credit transactions. There used to be a special code for such gaming-related transactions at Nevada casinos so they were not coded as 7995 and declined as illegal gambling purchases.

As others have mentioned, credit cards mean big fees for the merchant. I believe the US has traditionally behind much of the western world in terms of debit card usage; not sure if that's still the case. But even if they're not, purchase limits might get in the way. Here in Canada, I think $2-3,000 is a common purchase limit. Maybe we're unique in that regard, IDK. Also, madlex makes a good point as to whether this would even be regarded as a purchase by all financial institutions.

Fwiw, weed is legal in both Nevada and California, but possession in an airport is not legal. In Las Vegas, there are drop boxes at the entrance to airport terminals from the parking garages to deposit drugs you are not allowed to carry inside.

Not sure who has the concession agreement to empty out those green metal boxes.