Do Cash Buy-ins of More Than $10,000 Stop Play at the Tables?

If a player buys in at a table game for more than $10,000 in cash, will the casino make the player fill out Part I of an IRS form 8300 to Report Cash Payments over $10,000? If so, would play at the table stop until the form is completed by the player? Part I does not have that many questions, so it should only take about 2-4 minutes. Is it the same rule if the player goes to the cage to trade over $10,000 in cash for a slot machine voucher?

[Editor's Note: This question is answered by our guy behind the curtain, Andrew Uyal.]

Players are allowed to buy in up to $10,000 without giving any information or filling out any forms. If they want to buy in $10,001 or more, they'll need to provide some information to the casino staff.

As far as "Form 8300" goes, it's my understanding that the player's information is put into the rating system and the necessary tax forms and Cash Transaction Report (CTR) are auto-populated with information from the rating system when the player crosses that $10,000 threshold. Now, I'm sure there are places that do manual CTRs and taxes, depending on the jurisdiction, but most rating systems are designed to take out the guesswork.

What information does the casino need? Just the basics. Full name, of course, and a physical address, not a P.O. box, plus a phone number and occupation. The occupation is the one that trips up a lot of people. It's one of the newer parameters and if there's one people don't like to answer, it's that one. A lot of people are more comfortable providing their Social Security number (which is also necessary) than tell people what they do for a living.

Why? Possibly because some of their money was obtained illicitly? That's not for me to speculate.

That's why the casinos want that information. They're required by law to have some idea of the source of funds for players buying in over $10,000 in a single day. It's an effort to cut down on money laundering and using illicit funds as gambling money.

What happens if the player doesn't want to provide the necessary information? Ideally, the transaction that breaks the $10,000 threshold will be stopped and all cash-in transactions will be put in abeyance until the necessary information is provided (or until the next day, ssshhhh). Sometimes it's noticed after the player has already crossed $10,000. This isn't ideal, but if the information isn't provided, the play will be stopped and the player will be asked to leave, unless the casino is provided with the necessary information.

The rules are the same for cash-out transactions, by the way.

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stephen rosol Mar-22-2025

tommorow question

what about John Patrick, "so you want to be a gambler" show?

Vegas Fan Mar-22-2025

And the stopping of game play?

Wasn't addressed.

O2bnVegas Mar-22-2025

secrecy by banks

Where else could we get this type of info other than LVA OoD?  Yay.

My friend whom I do casinos with, out of the blue got a letter from her bank saying "We are closing your [checking] account".  She had been with this bank for decades.  Upon going in person to ask why, they gave no explanation. In no way would she be involved in money laundering, but she does have a hefty inheritance deposited with a financial firm, from which she has funds transferred to her checking account to withdraw and take on casino trips among other needs. She was able to open an account at another bank, where they told her that CTRs are now done for anything over $3000.  I suspect in the past she had withdrawn over $10K more than once, but never had anyone said anything to her about it.

I did a little Internet research about this and it seems banks are very closed mouthed about things like this that they think could trigger suspicion of money laundering or something else.

Question of the Day - 22 March 2025

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