Gambling has a lot of rules and traditions.
Some are more serious than others. You are not, for example, supposed to put your elbows on the surface of a table game like blackjack or any similar card game.
That one might get mentioned by the dealer, but it might also be overlooked. In other cases, there are some rules that tend to be very strictly enforced.
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You’re not allowed to use your phone at a table game. While cards are actually being dealt and the game is in play, a player might get one warning before being removed.
In between hands, the rules can vary. During a shuffle in a blackjack game, for example, it might be enough to simply turn around so you were not facing the table.
A more strict dealer might ask you to move away from the table.
There are also very strict rules regarding gambling chips, which are used in place of cash. You’re not allowed to touch your chips during gameplay.
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Once the game is over, and the dealer has settled all accounts, you can then touch your chips to place your bet for the next game. You can also, during those in-between times, rearrange your stack, as many gamblers like to organize their chips a certain way.
Now, all the major casinos on the Las Vegas Vegas Strip have made a major rule change that involves how certain chips are handled. It’s something that any card player is going to need to know about.
Image source: Beck/AFP via Getty Images
Las Vegas Strip changes quirky poker rule
Poker is very different than other table games. When you play blackjack or three-card poker, or any other card game on the casino floor, you are playing against the dealer.
When you play poker in a poker room, you are playing against the other players. The casino takes a cut off the top but is not an active participant in the game.
The popularity of poker has ebbed and flowed over the years. There was a time when it seemed like ESPN was televising poker about as much as it showed baseball.
Poker's popularity has fallen since those days, but it has retained a core audience. Most major Las Vegas Strip hotels have a poker room, and Caesars Entertainment has maintained its association with the World Series of Poker (WSOP), offering rooms branded to the popular tournament.
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Earlier in July, many of the casinos that offer poker rooms quietly ended a program that seems like it would have been a nightmare to manage.
“Multiple casino operators on the Strip, including Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts International, and Wynn Resorts, will only cash out poker chips from their properties, ending any preexisting arrangements for accepting poker chips from other gambling parlors,” The Hanford Sentinel reported.
Las Vegas Strip casinos keep their chips
In all other cases, vouchers and chips never traveled between casinos. In fact, a slot voucher from Harrah's can't be cashed in at Caesars Palace, or any other Caesars Entertainment (CZR) property. The same applies for all of the various MGM Resorts International (MGM) properties on the Strip.
Wynn and Encore, as well as the Venetian and Palazzo, have also adopted the same policy.
Caesars has posted signs around the poker rooms at its Strip properties.
“As of July 17, 2025, Caesars Entertainment properties will not cash other casinos’ chips from poker play, and our own chips from poker play will not be accepted elsewhere. Please redeem your poker chips prior to leaving the premises.”
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Both Caesars and MGM will accept chips from their owned-and-operated casinos.
It remains the best policy, however, no matter where chips might be redeemable, to cash in your winnings (or whatever you have left) before leaving a casino.
