For this answer we turned, of course, to the inimitable Max Rubin. Here's what he had to say on the subject (our apologies to Circus Circus, but he does have a point).
What you're describing is legal, but it's not considered cool or kosher by the casinos (or your spouse, if you happen to get snagged). And if you're not careful, it can get real ugly real fast.
The benevolent casinos will give almost anyone with a good record of paying up at least 30 days grace to clear their markers and in a lot of instances, you can take up to 90 days without repercussions, as long as you’re making some "good-faith" payments.
All that said, you should ask yourself the question, "Is it worth it?" The answer, in a word, is "No." If you're extraordinarily lucky, you can find a AAA investment that pays 6% or so a year. So now, let's say you try to float a $10,000 marker for a month. In one year you’d make a whopping $600, so in a month, for all that aggravation, you'd haul in a nifty $50, and you can get ten times that in value just by subscribing to the LVA.
And that's if you put the money into a blue-chip bond. Which you won't. Let's say you decide to rob Peter (or in this case, the Rio) in order to play the Palms and you lose. All of it. Now your life is going to get a lot more interesting than you'd be planning all these years.
If you're a regular Joe, after a month or so you will get a nice letter from the Rio and perhaps a friendly call from your host reminding you that the marker may have slipped your mind. Another month and the calls start getting just a trifle snotty and after three months it’s not just the calls and letters that get downright hostile. So does the casino.
See, in Nevada, gambling debts are collectible (not so in California) and when you sign a marker, you’re signing a bona fide bank instrument (a check, actually). If the casino determines that you're "NG," meaning "no good," then they'll hand the marker over to the friendly Clark County District Attorney, who'll then issue a FELONY WARRANT against you for passing bad paper.
Now the fun starts. Anytime you're stopped for a ticket, try to leave the country, apply for a license, etc., you’re heading to the nearest slammer, where you'll sit until you pay off the marker, plus a 10% handling charge that goes to the DA's office. If the marker's big enough, they won't even wait for you to slip up, they'll just come to your door at dawn, put you in shackles, and haul you off to the Gray-Bar Hotel, where you'll sit and stew and make some phone calls trying to get your hands on some fast money, or else you'll be forced to eat a meal that's almost as bad as the buffet at Circus Circus. And even if you can rustle up the money and walk away free again, you’ll have a felony bad-check arrest to put on your resume, and as your fourth grade teacher so wisely admonished you, you never want anything bad to show up on your permanent record.
Our advice? Spend your energy learning how to gamble smarter and getting the best bargains. If you try to play cute with the casinos, there’s a chance that you just might wind up taking on the guys with suits and badges, and that is never, ever, a good idea.
Max Rubin is the author of Comp City -- A Guide to Free Vegas Vacations, in addition to being co-host of CBS' "Ultimate Blackjack Tour," and one of our very favorite people.
