How Do You Pay at a Casino?

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How you pay at a casino depends on whether you are playing online or at a physical venue. Usually, both casinos make you pay for credits upfront, but you can play on credit as well if you are in good standing with the casino. (We wouldn’t recommend doing this though.)

Online casinos usually offer players many ways to make deposits, including bank cards, wire transfers, and e-wallets, to name a few methods. These sites have to offer variety to ensure they meet the needs of as many players as possible because it is an online transaction.

However, brick-and-mortar casinos are usually less liberal with how you pay for your chips. Generally, most casinos give you two options: cash or card payments. As mentioned above, you can apply for credit, but we’ll get into that later.

Below we explain how you go about paying a casino whether you are playing online or at a regular old land-based casino.

how do you pay at a casino

How to Fund Your Account at a Casino Site

As mentioned above, there are many ways to fund your account at an online gambling site. Usually, most casino sites in the United States have a standard list of deposit options, which includes the following methods:

  • Visa
  • MasterCard
  • Bitcoin
  • Skrill

Only some casinos offer you the chance to pay with American Express cards, wire transfer, or money order services, such as Western Union. Casinos understand that you prefer your funds to reflect instantly, so they tend to lean more towards banking methods that are processed immediately. Of course, they also like getting your money as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, deposit options that take time, such as wire transfers, are usually reserved for withdrawals. So, when you join a gambling site, expect your deposits to be processed instantly, but your withdrawals take a couple of days or so. Casinos need to verify that they are paying the right player.

How to Pay at a Physical Casino

Generally, paying at a physical casino is relatively simple because there are limited options available to you. Think of it as visiting any physical store and paying at a teller – you can pay with cash, or you can pay by card.

Some land-based casinos won’t allow you to pay by card, but there will be ATMs conveniently situated around the casino so you can withdraw cash.

Many casinos situated in tourism hotspots, such as Las Vegas or Atlantic City, will also accept traveler’s checks to make life easier.

You can see a trend with all of these options, though – and that is a strong focus on ensuring that you pay before you play. However, there is a way you can play even if you don’t have any money on you.

how to deposit at a casino

Applying for Credit at a Casino

Many land-based casinos allow you to apply for casino credit if you don’t have any cash to play. This service is only available to players who have a good status at a casino. I.e., you’re in one of the higher tiers of their VIP program.

The great thing about casino credit is that many casinos provide players with cash interest-free. As such, the loan is usually short-term. The amount you can apply for depends on several factors, including your status in the VIP program, your credit status, and your average income.

Some casinos have a 24-hour clause on any loans they give you. Many casinos also have rules on which games you can use these funds on. Generally, you are limited to slots and table games.

Know that, like with any loan, you will need to pay back the money. The time you will have to pay back the cash is dependent on the casino you play at and which state you are situated in.

Overall, we don’t recommend that you ask for casino credit. One of the rules we always suggest you follow is never to play with money you cannot afford to lose. If you are applying for credit, you are applying to use money you don’t have. This in itself is an issue. Also, you risk running up a debt that you cannot afford to pay off, which nobody needs in their lives.