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Poker rooms make chips more difficult to cash

Cashing-poker-chips-at-most-Las-Vegas

There has been a recent change to the method of cashing their chips for poker players who have played on the Las Vegas Strip, making it less convenient and more intrusive.

Several casino owners on the Strip, including Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts, and Wynn Resorts, have decided to stop accepting poker chips from other gaming establishments and only cash out poker chips from their own facilities. The move recently went into effect at the Strip's Caesars and MGM-operated casinos.

The regulation change was confirmed by a representative for MGM Resorts, which operates four poker rooms within its Strip casinos. Competing properties' policy to cash out only their own poker chips was confirmed by a Wynn and Encore representative.

Additionally, the Grand Canal Shoppes' largest poker facility on the Strip, run by The Venetian and Palazzo, is revising its poker chip exchange policy. According to a spokeswoman, as part of their commitment to anti-money laundering compliance, The Venetian Resort Las Vegas will no longer exchange casino chips based on poker play from other casinos.

In response, Caesars Entertainment, the host of the World Series of Poker and operator of three poker rooms inside Strip casinos, stated that only its branded poker chips could be used at its casino cages. Caesars Entertainment locations will not cash the chips from poker play at other casinos, and its own chips from poker play will not be accepted anywhere else, according to stand-up placards placed across the company's casino properties in Las Vegas. Before leaving the establishment, players are instructed to redeem their poker chips.

According to Nevada gaming officials, the modification was "industry-driven." Mike Dreitzer, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said that they think this change was a good idea and a great example of (our) industry actively addressing anti-money laundering concerns.

Because it is more difficult to implement AML regulations in a setting where players can and often do exchange chips for cash (and vice versa) without the involvement of a casino, money launderers target Las Vegas poker rooms.

According to several casino industry personnel, the current cash-out policy modification for poker chips does not (yet) apply to chips from other table games.

There was a time when poker and regular casino chips were freely exchanged throughout Las Vegas, even as a de facto alternate currency among local merchants. It was not unusual to be able to use casino chips to make purchases at local gas stations or grocery or convenience stores, for example.

A long-time Las Vegas resident and professional advantage player who goes by the pseudonym LV Bear recalled a time when, as a teenager, “I could get a few red chips from my mom and, even though I was underage, could take them to the corner grocery store and make purchases for the family with them. No one thought twice about it. Of course, that was back in the days when casino managers and owners like Jackie Gaughan were just regular people who were out and about in the community, not just faceless corporate officials hiding behind layers of security guards.”

The Las Vegas Strip has ten poker establishments. Aria, Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Horseshoe, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Resorts World, Venetian, and Wynn are among the casinos that house them.

Source:

“Big change coming for Las Vegas poker players at Strip casinos” , David Danzis, lvrj.com, July 14, 2025.


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