Are Casino Chips Worth Money
Many casino cages will cash a limited number of low-denomination chips from other properties, especially if the casinos fall under the same corporate umbrella (Station Casinos, MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, etc.), but they don't like to. There are practical reasons behind casinos' reluctance to accept 'foreign' chips. Oct 22, 2018 Green chip: 25 units or $25. Black chip: 100 units or $100. It is suggested to play with three or four basic chips if there are up to 10 players in the game. The casino industry has been a pinnacle of direct-response mail marketing for decades, driving incredible amounts of traffic to their locations and generating revenue on a routine basis. One of the most common items in a casino is the poker chip, used as currency in many different games.
Free betting vouchers and gaming chips issued by casinos not liable to gaming duty. Gamble in the operators’ casinos did not have any value in money or money’s worth nor were they “stakes. And after living here for a long time, we can tell you that casino chips of $100 or less are just as good as cash and are used as such on occasion outside the casino. Also, casino chips have been collectibles for decades; a major chip-collectors club meets every year in Las Vegas to buy, sell, and trade them.
Documents obtained from a Freedom of Information request revealed that casino staff watched as about $800,000 worth of chips changed hands in two incidents at the River Rock Casino in Richmond, B.C., in May 2010.
Another two incidents, also involving a total of about $800,000, were caught while underway at the Gateway Casino in Burnaby, B.C., in August, the documents show.
Passing any amount of chips from one person to another is strictly prohibited and casinos post signs to that effect.
Casino security personnel noted the incidents and the casinos reported the activity to the B.C. Lottery Corporation, but police were not informed, according to the documents.
The attempted transfers occurred during a three-month period in which a combined $8 million worth of other suspicious or unusually large transactions took place at River Rock and at the Starlight Casino in New Westminster, B.C., the documents reveal.
An RCMP investigator told CBC News that authorities suspect the intense activity was part of a money-laundering initiative by gangsters.
Form of currency
The chip transfer incidents lend credence to police concerns that chips are becoming a form of currency for people involved in organized crime.
Are Casino Chips Worth Money
Depositing large amounts of cash will attract the attention of bank employees, who are quick to inform police.
Chips can be an ideal currency for people who generate high cash flows illegally, according to Douglas College criminology professor Colin Campbell.
'The fact that [chips] are acquired in a casino and can be redeemed in a casino allows bad guys to money-launder,' said Campbell.
Gaming chips are issued in denominations up to $5,000 and it is not illegal to take them out of casinos and is difficult for authorities to control how the chips are traded before they are taken back and cashed in.
'It's not improbable for organized crime to have a number of associates simply purchase chips … then cash them in at a later time,' said RCMP Insp. Barry Baxter.
Minister responds
The B.C. minister responsible for gaming, Rich Coleman, said Wednesday that he is concerned about the information revealed in the documents, but urged people not to make assumptions.
'I have requested additional information about the cases in question, to ensure that proper procedures were followed and that the integrity of casino security is upheld in the province,' Coleman said in a release. 'My understanding is these are not all alleged cases of money laundering and I encourage people to avoid jumping to conclusion.'
B.C. NDP gaming critic Shane Simpson said the activity revealed in the documents is unacceptable.
'I think it's a stunning revelation, some $8 million of unexplained transactions in a period of three months,' he said.
'It's just unacceptable for anybody to suggest you can walk into a casino with $500,000 in $20 bills and cash them in in some way and there's nothing suspicious about it. Try doing that at your local bank and see what happens.'
Chips are the currency of casinos and poker games around the world. Walk into any brick-and-mortar casino and you’ll see more than a few chips. Even the sound they make as they clink together is as timeless as the bright lights of the Vegas Strip.
There’s a lot of money in Vegas, but it all starts with those little round chips you see circulating the casino floor. So why do casinos use chips instead of cash? At first, you’d think it would be easier to deal with cold, hard cash. There would be no need to constantly cash in and cash out. The casino wouldn’t have to hire cashiers simply to exchange chips for cash. Things would run easier, wouldn’t they?
Well, casinos use chips for a few reasons, and it’s not just tradition. Let’s take a look.
1. Psychology
The primary reason casinos prefer chips over cash is because chips add a little mental separation between the gambler and his valuable money. It’s a little easier for you, the gambler, to place a big bet because it’s just chips. Logically, you know what those chips represent. But since it’s not actual cash in your hand, you feel slightly less inhibition towards taking bigger risks.
Basically, it’s a matter of psychology. You can also think about it like this. If you wanted to place a $500 bet on blackjack and all you had was cash, you would have to sit there and count out the currency. It might be twenty-five $20 bills or a small wad of fresh, crisp hundred dollar bills. It’s very real and it’s staring you in the face. It gives time for what you’re doing to really sink in.
But if you use chips, all you need to do is throw a single, purple chip down on the table. It doesn’t look like much. It’s just a single, lonely chip sitting there in the middle of a green felt sea. All it takes is a second and the money is gone.
2. Security
Chips provide casinos with an extra layer of security. Casinos control those chips and have a number of tricks they can use to discourage or foil those with criminal intent. A few years back, a man parked his motorcycle in the Bellagio’s valet area, ran inside with a gun and robbed a craps table for $1.5 million worth of chips.
The Bellagio noticed that a good portion of the thief’s ill-gotten gains consisted of $25,000 denomination chips. A few days later, the Bellagio announced to the world that it would soon discontinue all of its current $25,000 chips. Those chips would all become worthless after the deadline set by the casino.
This put the thief in the awkward position of having to cash in a lot of valuable chips in a short amount of time. He was later caught trying to sell his chips via the TwoPlusTwo.com poker forums. The “buyer” reported the attempted sale to police and the bandit was later caught.
Some casinos also add RFID (radio frequency ID) chips to their chips. This allows them to keep track of their high denomination chips and easily detect frauds. If someone comes in with a bunch of clever counterfeits, those chips won’t authenticate and the casino won’t mistakenly cash out a bunch of fake chips.
If a bunch of RFID-enabled chips are stolen, the casino can determine (depending on the circumstances) exactly which chips went missing. The casino can then remove those individual chips from its inventory and render the stolen chips worthless. All the while, no other chips are affected.
How Much Are Casino Chips Worth
3. Convenience
One reason casinos use chips is a simple matter of convenience. In fast moving games, it would be a nightmare to wait for players to fumble around with dollar bills for every single bet. Money gets bent, it doesn’t stack easy, it’s hard to track and it takes up a lot of space.
High stakes games would complicate these matters even further. Just imagine trying to play a game of $4,000/$8,000 fixed limit Holdem with a bunch of hundred dollar bills. It simply wouldn’t work. Chips make things easier for everyone.
4. Data
This last point applies specifically to casinos that use RFID-enabled chips. The vast majority of casinos haven’t gone full RFID on all their chips, but the industry seems to be slowly trending that way. Casinos that use 100% RFID-enable chips can collect vast amounts of data.
RFID chips allow casinos to catch dealer mistakes, to catch players who attempt to sneak in extra chips to the table after betting has closed, to track how chips move around the casino and more. Casinos can use this information to streamline profits, track trends and avoid losing money to crooks.
One day, casinos may even use RFID chips to identify how skilled specific players are. Casinos could then use that information to determine appropriate comps for individual players. Or, they could figure out who the card counters are and encourage them to go play somewhere else.