A marker is a short-term loan. You apply in advance, the casino checks your bank details, and you can then draw chips at the table against the line and settle later.
It is genuine debt with a repayment date, typically 30 days, and it is enforceable. In several jurisdictions an unpaid marker is treated as a bad cheque rather than an ordinary civil debt, which carries consequences well beyond a collections letter.
The reason casinos offer credit is the same reason any business does: it increases how much is wagered. Playing on borrowed money removes the natural stopping point that running out of chips provides.
One detail that surprises people: markers are usually issued against a bank account rather than a credit line, and the casino may present the unpaid amount directly to that account after the repayment window. That is why the paperwork asks for bank details rather than a card, and why an unpaid marker escalates faster than most consumer debt.
Where the numbers come from
Related terms in casino floor
- Commission — A percentage charged on winning bets that would otherwise favour the player.
- Push — A tie in which the bet neither wins nor loses and the stake is returned.
- Natural — A hand that wins immediately on the first cards dealt.
- Shoe — The box holding several shuffled decks from which cards are dealt.
- Cut card — A coloured plastic card placed in the shoe to mark where dealing stops.
- Penetration — The proportion of a shoe dealt before the reshuffle.
Where an entry quotes a number, that figure comes from the computed sections of this site rather than from another glossary, so the definition and the derivation cannot drift apart. Each entry links to the page where the number is worked out.