Using Markers in Casinos

I’ve used casino credit on a semi-regular basis for more than two decades. While I’ve learned many things over the years, I don’t consider myself an expert on using casino credit. Still, I’ll share what I know (or at least think I know) and perhaps it’ll be useful to some of my readers.

Generally speaking, if you want a $10,000 line of credit at a casino, you must have at least $10,000 in a bank account somewhere. You can have $1,000,000 in stocks and bonds and own your fully-paid-off home, but if you don’t have at least $10,000 in a bank account, you’re going to have trouble getting a line of credit for that amount. You must also have good credit, which means you pay your bills and pay them on time.

In addition to being credit-worthy, the casino may well want to see evidence that you are willing to gamble at a level consistent with that credit-line amount. If you are a quarter single-line player who normally plays 4 hours or less and have never lost more than $500 in a single day, it’s hard for a casino to justify giving you a $10,000 line of credit. But if your worst loss at that casino was, say, $6,000, the casino will gladly provide you the opportunity to lose more next time.

Once you have established a line of credit, you are then able to borrow money from the casino. When you borrow that money, you will be asked to sign a “marker” which is a legal IOU (similar in many ways to a check which is not deposited immediately). A marker is an interest-free loan. If you pay it back in the time agreed upon (often 30 days, but the time period can vary greatly), you can take out another marker later. If you fail to pay it back on time, the casino may submit the marker to your bank for payment. Some casinos contact you before they do this. Some don’t.

There are several advantages to using markers:

a. You don’t have to carry cash to and from a casino. There are security reasons for this as well as practical ones if you’re traveling across the country to gamble. Taking large sums of cash through airports or while driving has perils. (Several Gambling with an Edge episodes with Bob Nersesian have discussed this in some detail.)

b. If you have lines of credit at several casinos (all obtained with the same bank account), you may draw on more than one of them at the same time. This can provide cash at 0% interest to get you through a short term money problem. However, as I’ll mention later, this practice has the potential to develop into a major disadvantage.

c. Some casinos have offers for credit players only. Casinos like to see that you have the wherewithal and willingness to sustain some losses. A line of credit proves to them that you do. So casinos will give you extra opportunities to lose more money. Casinos think of their customers as net losers, and that’s certainly true for most players. Winning players can make out well by using these credit benefits.

d. Some casinos give rebates on markers for losers — if you’re a good enough customer and ask for them. If you can get, say, 10% back on your markeys when you lose while keeping all of your winnings, that’s a great deal. Under that arrangement, you should ALWAYS take out a marker — even if you have a thick wad of cash in your pocket.

There are also several disadvantages to using markers:

a. You need to fill out a credit application. This necessitates releasing more personal information than many players wish to share. Video poker players have learned to live with W2-Gs and so are less reluctant to give out personal data than are many table game players. Table game players who wish to play unrated and remain relatively anonymous cannot use credit.

b. The days when casinos would send goons to hurt you if you didn’t pay your markers are over (at least in mainstream United States casinos). But markers are legal instruments and not paying them can get you into plenty of trouble nonetheless.

c. As with life in general, using credit wisely requires some financial savvy and discipline. Many players lack one or both of these. For these players, getting credit at a casino can lead to bankruptcy. The advantage of getting a lot of 0%-interest money to help through a short term financial problem can quickly become a very large disadvantage if the financial problem doesn’t remain short term.

d. Problem gamblers have gotten buried using credit. Enough said.

e. If you have a joint line of credit with a spouse and one of you is considering a divorce, that person can withdraw quite a lot of money without the other being aware of it. Depending on which side you’re on, this may be considered an advantage or a disadvantage. Messing with an about-to-be-ex’s credit is a tasty morsel for revengeful people.

f. Speaking of divorce, if you have several casino lines of credit, your spouse’s attorney could use this information to “prove” that you are a degenerate gambler who, therefore, shouldn’t get child visitation, etc. If your marriage is on the rocks, you should probably wait to take out casino lines of credit until the situation is resolved one way or the other. (As a personal aside, the prior couple of paragraphs are NOT autobiographical. When Shirley and I went through our divorce 6 months ago, the property settlement was agreed upon in 15 minutes without the use of attorneys. Shirley knew that gambling was the source of the family wealth — not the reason for the divorce. Some knowledgeable friends tell me I gave her too much in the settlement. Maybe. But there were considerable assets and avoiding paying lawyers $200,000 to split the estate dwarfs however much I overpaid. Since she doesn’t have any income other than Social Security, I would have had to pay for both attorneys.)

g. Casinos in Las Vegas share data via an organization called Central Credit (unless you’re a big whale whom they wish to keep secret). In general, casinos can use this organization to find out where else you play and what your credit history has been at those other casinos. If your “cover story” doesn’t jibe with the records in Central Credit, your cover is blown. Unfortunately, Casino Credit also has a history of selling player financial data to others. They paid a fine in 2010 and promised not to do it anymore, but . . . .

h. You really need to gamble at the casino from whom you get a marker. That may seem obvious, but it’s possible that you have a line of credit at, say, Bellagio and you need the money to gamble at Caesars. If you don’t give Bellagio at least some action after withdrawing a marker, you are said to be “walking with a marker.” Casinos get irritated at this. They are NOT in the business of providing interest-free loans so the money can be used elsewhere. They ARE in the business of helping players gamble at their own property. Walking with a marker can cause your line of credit to be cancelled. It’s also possible this is something that’s included in the data reported to Central Credit. If so, doing it at one place can make it tough to get credit anywhere.

i. An exception to the previous paragraph is that gambling at a different property within the same corporate family is often not considered walking with a marker. For example, I have a line of credit at Bally’s — and have used that money to play at Paris or Planet Hollywood with no play at all at Bally’s. This has not been a problem.

As a final note, using markers, if done properly and judiciously, can be very beneficial for certain types of players. But it’s important to understand the specific rules related to markers at your casino and to understand the limitations and potential pitfalls of using markers. And it is also important to know yourself and whether you can responsibly handle these instruments.