Casino Credit Line (marker) question

[CBetc]

Hello all,

I've seen a few threads in the past, but never anything particularly definitive from those who've had it. But what type of impact does a typical casino credit line (a marker) have on your reports?

The two major casino chains in Vegas are MGM and Caesars Entertainment, and they both have general verbiage on a credit check. I presume it's an HP and not an SP? Assuming so, if a line is opened how is it reported? (Or is it reported at all? Some lines may only report if there's something negative to report on it.)

Beyond that, does anyone know how a casino credit line (marker) is coded and might impact your FICO or VantageScores? I could see it being flagged and penalized like a "consumer credit account" line (or worse), but it would help to know. Also, Caesars allows both an online request (https://nccreports.com/application/?caesarsentertainment) as well as doing it in person. Any thoughts on any reason to pick one over the other?

For reference, I have fairly good tier status with one of the chains, and matched status with the other. I haven't spoken to my host about this yet; wanted to ask here. Any info would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

A casino "credit line" is a little misleading.  Yes, it's a VERY short-term form of credit in that the casino will verify with your bank how much money you have in your account on a daily/monthly average.  They then get your routing and account number from you and at the end of your agreed on period, usually a week, they submit an ACH to your bank to get paid whatever you owe.  So it doesn't show up on your credit reports, unless of course you don't pay.  Then they will literally hunt you down like a fugitive and bring you to justice.  Read online about some celebrities who didn't pay their markers and see what happened to them.  It's a SERIOUS crime, not like ditching a credit card company or bank for a credit card or loan, WAY different.  It is THEFT, major felony.  My advice is to NEVER get a line of credit unless you are a large player, over $10k minimum when you go to the casino, but usually way more.  See, it's illegal to fly in the U.S. with more than $9,999 in cash on you.  If you get caught with more than that at the airport, they will confiscate it and then at some point you have to pay a 10% deposit of that amount to get a court date to prove the money is legal and you earned it.  So people that don't fly private, they can fly with however much they want, setup a "line of credit/marker" with the casino to avoid the legal and danger liabilities of traveling with large amounts of cash.  They check your credit, LexisNexis, etc to make sure you are a stand-up person or they won't issue the line of credit.  The alternative to doing a line of credit is to get the casino's bank wire info and just wire however much you want to risk for your trip.  Then you don't have to worry about doing something dumb and losing what you can't pay.  You can go to the casino cage after you wire the money to them and get however much out at a time that you want.  When you're ready to fly home and the amount you have left over $9,999, you can either have them cut you a cashier check or wire the money back to you.  I hope this helps and gamble responsibly.

[Shooting-For-800]

It is not illegal to fly in the US with more than $10k. 
People do it every second of the day.

It is illegal to enter the US with more than $10k without declaring you are doing so.

[Anonymous]

https://liveandletsfly.com/tsa-seized-legal-money-wont-return/

"Technically", you are right, but I know a lot more insight than you.  One of my best friends of 20+ years has been with Homeland Security and a Federal Air Marshall for about 25 years.  I frequently fly to Vegas and other places with over $10k, or at least I used to until my conversation with him.  Although I am a clean-cut appearing businessman, if for any reason they wanted to seize the money they can.  He told me many stories about people getting their money taken, that even to him appeared "legit".  It's like you can drive anywhere "legally" with as much cash as you want anywhere in the United States, but if you get pulled over by a police officer and they see the cash or search your vehicle for "any" reason and find the cash, they will most likely seize it and you are very unlikely to ever see it again.  Google all the police cash seizures that have happened over the last few years.  I hate it, but it happens.  Police departments actually depend on it to fund their departments.  It's disgusting, but it happens.

[CBetc]

Thanks. Yes, I'm aware of the ACH withdrawal for the amount and the will-send-a-bounty-hunter-to-break-your-knees tradition of having a marker. 

My real purposes, as others have said, is simply to avoid having to travel with cashes, or do the card purchase rigamorole. Although I do get my fees refunded in the form of free play due to my tier status, it's still annoying to deal with, and I'd rather have the convenience of handling it in other ways.

If it doesn't show up as a distinct line (unless you fail to pay), that's fine and great. I'm more concerned then about the possibility of a Hard Pull since I'm heading into a re-fi.