Casino’s can’t exchange $20’s for $100’s??? (1 Viewer)

[Rhodeman77]

Last night I was playing at the casino and 1/2 of the poker room including the Poker room cage were closed off while they replace the carpet. So players needed to either buy chips at the table or from the main cage on the second floor (Poker room is in the 3rd floor).

The problem that came about was the casino has a policy of only taking $100 bills at the table. So several players kept going broke and only had $20’s on them. To keep them at the table longer and the game moving myself and another guy would buy their $20’s with $100’s.

At 3am I finally leave the game and head down to the main cage to cash out. I hand over my chips and ask the cage person if he would trade the $20’s I had bought for $100’s and he said he couldn’t because of money laundering laws.

I ended up taking $1k in chips instead of all the $20’s back since I will be back anyways.

Is this a common practice for casino’s? I don’t understand why exchanging cash for cash is against the law?

 

[Shaggy]

I remember in Vegas several years ago having similar situations with smaller bills to exchange for hundreds. They would do it in smaller chunks. A few hundred at a time. The story they told was regarding money laundering as well.

 

[upNdown]

I've seen Breaking Bad.
I don't think that's how money laundering works.

 

[TheBigTater]

I understand the trading cash for cash policy at the cage but their policy to not take 5 x $20's instead of a $100 bill to buy chips at the table is pretty stupid.

 

[Coyote]

Large bills are the criminal's friend, not smaller ones. WTF?
There is discussion about the European Central Bank abolishing completely 200E and 500E bills and aligning itself with the US Fed (which issues up to $100 bills only, for that reason).

 

[navels]

Casinos in the US are required under the Bank Secrecy Act to take steps to prevent (and report) money laundering. One form of money laundering does involve turning smaller bills (from street crime) into larger just to cut down on the volume.

 

[Coyote]

Yeah, I only thought about professional, organised crime. Apparently, petty crime launders its way up

 

[krafticus]

I did that once at MD live. They could only do 400 and I needed a players club card to do the rest (was another 300-400). Thought it was weird, but they did it

 

[RowdyRawhide]

Last night I was playing at the casino and 1/2 of the poker room including the Poker room cage were closed off while they replace the carpet. So players needed to either buy chips at the table or from the main cage on the second floor (Poker room is in the 3rd floor).

The problem that came about was the casino has a policy of only taking $100 bills at the table. So several players kept going broke and only had $20’s on them. To keep them at the table longer and the game moving myself and another guy would buy their $20’s with $100’s.

At 3am I finally leave the game and head down to the main cage to cash out. I hand over my chips and ask the cage person if he would trade the $20’s I had bought for $100’s and he said he couldn’t because of money laundering laws.

I ended up taking $1k in chips instead of all the $20’s back since I will be back anyways.

Is this a common practice for casino’s? I don’t understand why exchanging cash for cash is against the law?

Sooooo if I understand this correctly......they would not exchange $20's for $100's....but...would exchange $20's for chips!??
WTF?

::


ETA: did they give large chips or just fivers?

 

[WedgeRock]

I've seen Breaking Bad.
I don't think that's how money laundering works.

 

[Jimulacrum]

Sooooo if I understand this correctly......they would not exchange $20's for $100's....but...would exchange $20's for chips!??
WTF?

::


ETA: did they give large chips or just fivers?

My thought exactly. And then you could swing right back to the cage and cash out the chips for the denomination of your choosing.

The whole premise of a casino operating on a cash-for-chips basis while players can place bets anonymously at the tables is an invitation to launder money. If someone's going to use your casino as a laundry, he won't do it by occasionally turning a not-really-significant number of $20 bills into $100 bills.

My credit union has a similarly silly policy. If I show up with a wad of $20s and want $100s, they won't do more than $100 at a time without processing it as a deposit-and-withdrawal, to "keep a paper trail," as a teller explained to me. But some banks DGAF and will let me walk in as a non-customer and do the same thing with no questions asked. You can guess which option I prefer.

 

[navels]

They're actually supposed to pay attention to whether people are cashing out quickly and report it if so.

 

[Coyote]

Terms such as "quickly" would make any person with a legal studies background laugh!
If money laundering in casinos were truly a concern, the day when you 'd be buying chips only with debit/credit cards would not be too far away...

 

[Rhodeman77]

The cage took my players card and ID and then told me I couldn’t have the $100 bills!

I took $100 chips instead.

If it wasn’t so late I would have gone back to the Poker room and traded the $100 chips to a few players for $25’s and $5’s then cashed back out. But I am there every week so it is t an issue to have the chips.

Most of the regulars carry large value chips anyways to avoid having to stand in the slow line at the cage.

 

[JustinInMN]

https://goo.gl/images/9HdEjT

 

[andy699669]

Large bills are the criminal's friend, not smaller ones. WTF?
There is discussion about the European Central Bank abolishing completely 200E and 500E bills and aligning itself with the US Fed (which issues up to $100 bills only, for that reason).

Switzerland 200 Fr. and 1000 Fr. bills are still available in circulation.