In the Know: Casino chips

Any casino chips that the Resorts World Manila gunman tried to steal on Friday during what authorities described as a botched robbery attempt could not have been used in any other establishment, according to gaming industry insiders.

According to a ranking official of another resort casino, stealing chips from the VIP section of the casino — where the Resorts World incident occurred — made even less sense because the betting pieces used by high net worth clients are “nonnegotiable” or “dead chips.”

This means they cannot be exchanged for cash and may be used only within the premises of the VIP section. Players acquire these chips by making fund transfers to the accounts of the casino or junket operators, and can reclaim their funds after also via bank transactions.

Police authorities earlier said the gunman stashed P113 million worth of chips into his rucksack — something that was physically possible if he tried to steal rectangular chips worth as much as P1 million each, used by VIP players.

On the other hand, if the gunman attempted to steal negotiable chips used in the casino’s regular gaming floor by retail patrons, he would still have a difficult time converting these to cash because he would have to do this at the cashier of Resorts World in small amounts to avoid suspicion. —DAXIM L. LUCAS