9a. How to Handle Money?
Date: Sun May 6, 2007 8:07 pm ((PDT))OK, I'm green, but I'm going to the casinos more now and I do get a
little nervous at the amount of cash I might be carrying around. Can
someone give me some good tips--hotel safe, travelers checks (I don't
like them), ATM machines (hard to find and usually the wrong bank in
case you wanted to make a deposit), or what??? Thanks
Others have posted a few suggestions that may or may not fit your style, such as setting up credit lines with the casino, depositing money up front, either of which requires you to get a marker to "draw" your cash whenever you need some more. Travelers' checks, if you have access to free ones, are a good choice. But I usually just carry cash, and here's how I do it:
First of all, splitting it as suggested is excellent strategy - some in my shirt pocket where I can get at it easily, some in a jacket pocket if I wear a sport jacket. I buy pants from Travelsmith (a couple of other companies offer these) that have a zippered safety pocket too - pretty much impossible to have that pocket picked. Also, some of their pants have elastic expandability, which is great when I'm vacationing and eat too much 
If I need to split up even more (depends on how much I'm carrying), I have an ankle wallet I bought, a money belt, and a fanny pack.
I sometimes put some in a remote pocket of my carryon bag while traveling, or if I'm wearing a winter jacket with zipper pockets, put some in one or more of those pockets -- but I'm always just a little afraid I'll leave the jacket or carryon somewhere. But I suppose whenever you take it off your person, there's a chance you'll forget it.
When I get to the casino, I put it all in the casino's safe deposit boxes, which are almost always available at no charge -- although that requires a visit to the box whenever I need more -- but it's usually a break I should take when I've lost everything I had on my person. At some casinos I feel comfortable with the room safe box, and may put some or all in that box depending on how much I'm carrying and how comfortable I feel with the appearance of that box, and with the remote possibility that someone in housekeeping has a master code or something (probably not likely, but I don't know).
I will sometimes visit the casino safety deposit box before I even go up to my room.
If you get a big hand pay and aren't comfortable holding that much, you can ask the staff who pay you to stay with you and call security, and they can accompany you to the safe deposit box or your room, or you can even ask for a payment by check if you feel better with that. If you are using a credit line, your winnings can be applied against what you've drawn so far, and even put on deposit to get more credit.
The excess, if you have some when you leave, can be paid to you in cash or by check.
I never submit a PIN number for the use of ATM machines, because I don't want to be tempted to get more cash than I decided up-front was my trip money. That's just me.
Remember, any tickets the machine prints to pay you are just like cash.
Of course, the final warning is to be cautious wherever you go, even if you're not carrying that much -- just be a little street-smart, and avoid unsafe areas. Be careful whether someone is following you, be careful in parking lots, watch if someone follows you onto an elevator that seems suspicious, down vacant halls in the hotel (or elsewhere), odd hours (eg, early a.m.), and on and on.
I also don't think you should be extra comfortable just because you're in a more upscale casino / hotel -- while they may have more security, they may also have more thieves.
In the end, getting mugged is not something you can completely guarantee against, and in the end, there's always a possibility you'll lose some cash.
All you can do is improve your odds - just like when you're playing.
--BG
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