It’s hard to believe. In school, you learned that one of the things the Founding Fathers wanted to make sure would not happen in the new United States was “debtors prisons.” In England, people could be jailed for debt. Well, welcome to Nevada in the 21st century, where you can go to jail if you don’t pay a debt to a casino. Yes, it’s true. If you take out a casino “marker” and don’t make good on it when the casino expects payment, a warrant can be issued by the Las Vegas (Clark County) District Attorney for your arrest, wherever you are in the world. Therefore, you need to protect yourself against this quirk in Nevada law.
When a player takes out a marker, that player is “borrowing” chips from the casino. A player undergoes a credit check and if approved, receives whatever the number of casino chips the player’s credit standing will allow. A casino marker is understood by most people to be an “IOU” to a casino. However, that’s not how Nevada law sees it. The law considers a casino marker the equivalent of a check from your checkbook. The casino will usually hold this “check” for 30 days, after which the check will be deposited in your account. If it “bounces,” the player is considered to have passed a bad check in whatever amount the marker represented. This is considered a serious felony. Consequently, if the player does not make good on the check, the casino will refer the matter to the DAs office and a warrant for the player-defendant will follow.
As a result of this unique Nevada process, people all over the country may find themselves in a major bind. It’s common for people with a marker warrant to get arrested when getting on a plane, or a cruise ship, or during a traffic stop. A Nevada casino marker lawyer can help in negotiations at all stages and usually stop bad things from happening. If you are involved in a casino marker dispute or inability to pay, call casino marker attorney Gabriel L. Grasso. With over 30 years of criminal defense experience and having handled millions of dollars in marker debt, criminal defense lawyer Gabriel L. Grasso can help you turn things around, no matter how hopeless or frustrating a marker debt may appear.