Leaving chips at table risky?

[shadroch]

Originally Posted by aslan

Most large casinos have doormen and taxis at the entrance, especially those with hotels. You can always have the casino call you a cab where they don't have a stand out front.

I used to walk around with 5K or 10K in my pocket. In Vegas you're pretty safe in the daytime, but if you get into a session until 2 or 3 or 4 in the morning, the streets and self parking facilities take on an all together different character. I leave my money in the bank or hotel safe now. Just carry enough for a session. Also, its worth it to leave your car with the valet service; then you don't have to sweat the deserted shadowy streets and long hallways and empty parking lots. Know your casino. I wouldn't be caught dead walking back alone to my car from Circus Circus with a sizable bankroll. On the other hand, a valet service or cab at Mandalay Bay is fine with me.

If you make a really big score, the casino may have safety deposit boxes. You can leave your chips or money and come back in the daytime to get it. Archie Karas had millions in chips at Binion's for a couple of years (until he lost it all). He would only take out ten thousand dollars at a time to gamble. The chips are not taxable until you take them out and cash them in. At ten thousand they become reportable to the IRS when cashed, so always cash out less than $10K.

As an Advantage BJ Player, you do not want the casino to have access to your car. Never valet it at the casino you are playing in.
The rest of your advice is dubious, at best. What you are suggesting could be a felony. Structuring transactions to avoid CRTs is money laundering and
I have serious doubts a casino would allow you keep chips for any length of time like that. Perhaps once upon a time, but not in this Brave New World we live in.

[Nynefingers]

I'm glad I saw this thread. I never even considered the risk. I come from a poker background where leaving chips is not only the norm, but it is all but required. If you take your chips, you are giving up your seat and you may end up on the waiting list for the next hour. You can't take part of your chips because ratholing isn't allowed in NL/PL games and sometimes in fixed limit games. Leaving your entire stack is the norm. Of course, I always count my chips before leaving (poker or BJ) but I will now be taking my chips with me when playing BJ.