The casino industry is a world within itself. They have a different language, dress code, morale code, and ... get this ... they even make their own money. This month’s topic will be about casino "money," and how a few casinos got caught in their own trap by failing to understand that chips, checks, and cheques are real money. This bonehead move cost them plenty while their Asian high rollers laughed all the way to their casino-comped limo, then continued laughing on the way to the airport, and laughed some more while flying in a casino-comped airplane to Macau, laughing all the way. No, this is not a Christmas carol; it’s the sad truth about another casino promotion gone terribly wrong.

As mentioned above, casinos make their own money; therefore, they can place any value they wish on each round lammer. Let’s look at the top three examples.

A "chip" is a round lammer that comes in several different colors and is used in poker and roulette games. The chips have no value until a player purchases a stack of them, and that’s when the "color" of the chip is marked to indicate the value of the stack. For example, if a player walks up to a roulette table and buys a stack of red chips and only wants to pay $20 for the entire stack (of 20 chips) of red, the color red is marked up as 20 because a stack of them is worth $20 (i.e. each red chip is valued at $1). If another person walked up, and bought a stack of blue chips and paid $100 for them, each blue chip will be worth $5 and the blues on that table will be marked up as 100 because a full stack of 20 @ $5 each is worth $100. Therefore, a chip is a non-denominational lammer (round non-metallic token).

A check/cheque is a (excuse me) chip with a known value. How do we know? Because it’s stamped right on the lammer and is payable on demand like a check that your employer might give to you. As a rule, white cheques are worth $1, red is worth $5, green is worth $25, black is always $100, and pink is always $500. If you have trouble remembering this, don’t worry ... it’s a check/cheque and the value is stamped right in the middle of it. Simple, huh.

OK, here’s where things get touchy. A non-negotiable (also known as non-negos) check or cheques is a check with a stamped value but doesn’t follow the same color code as the standard $1, $5, $25, $100, and $500 cheques, and they never leave the casino because they’re stamped "Non Value" or Non-Negotiable" on both sides.

These non-negos cheques are used by casino-marketing folks as enticers to bring business into their casinos and to stimulate them to gamble. For example, a casino host (with the General Manager’s’ approval) may offer a big player (or potential big player) a "match," meaning they will receive non-negos cheques equal to the amount of cash he or she is willing to place on account at their cage account and used as credit on the tables. Think of it as having one of those pre-paid credit cards that you have to put the money into the account and then you can use the card for the amount you have on account. Simple enough. Well, the casino does the same thing.

Now here’s how the non-negos cheque are supposed to work. You have, let’s say $50,000 cash on account with the casino, and they in turn give you $50,000 in non-negos as promised. When you run out of cash gambling, you get to use the non-negos. (Sometimes, a casino will allow a player to use a few of the non-negos alongside of their purchased checks during wagering).

We both know you’re not reading this story because everything is going to work out good in the end. You know there’s a hitch to this story and the only reason my stories don’t get old are simple; they are absolutely true (and usually always stranger than fiction). You can take what follows to the bank (just like the player did that I’m about to tell you about).

It was around December, a time when Vegas casino business drops off due to the Christmas holiday. That’s when our Asian brothers and sisters come to town because most of them practice the religion of Buddha (no Christmas), and they get great deals on travel to Las Vegas during the slow Christian holiday of Christmas. Casino hosts know this; and because travel is so cheap, they can solicit players, and there’s no better way, than with non-negos.