The house always has the edge in gambling. That’s true of anything you can play in a casino, with the exception of a select few video poker games. It’s also true of extracting cash to use on your favorite slot machine or table game. Common sense should tell you that it is wise to come to the casino equipped with a generous wad of cash – preferably one already broken down into conveniently small denominations, so that you can play all night without having to make a pit stop at the cashier’s long queue. If you are running low on funds, however, it can be very tempting to draw a cash advance off your credit card. I am here to tell you: don’t do it. Ever. If you are unwary enough to gamble with borrowed money – which even sounds like a bad idea, if you think about it – you should prepare to be assaulted with a host of hidden charges. Not only will your card issuer smack you instantly with an interest rate charge (minus the accustomed grace period), but you can expect that the casino will also skim a hefty fee off your advance amount to cover the cost of the transaction. We’re talking about as much as four or five percent, here!
Take a credit card cash advance of five hundred dollars. First of all, this amount isn’t going to get you very far in a casino. (But that has to do with my overall low opinion of gambling for money, which is an entirely different topic.) I picked a random casino to inquire about their cash advance fees, and found out that the house would collect a fee of twenty-one dollars and ninety-nine cents, or four point four percent. The credit card company will charge a additional three percent, or fifteen dollars and sixty-six cents. You do the math… you’ve plunked down almost thirty-eight dollars in fees without even one shot at the one-armed bandit. If you are playing the quarter slots or the five dollar blackjack table, imagine how much fun you have just deprived yourself of! This is to say nothing of the exorbitant interest charge for your cash advance, which you will not realize until you receive the bill in the mail next month. If you are only making the minimum payment on your credit card account every month, it could take you a few years and a few hundred dollars in fees and compound interest to pay off that five hundred bucks for a few hours of unwise gambling.
The “buy now, pay later” mentality is the error that has single-handedly led so many consumers to financial ruin with their credit card habits. If Americans have learned nothing else from the horrific financial situation our country is currently facing, we should have processed the fact by now that paying cash is really the best option. Credit cards are a valuable lifeline, and I certainly would never advise against using them in the case of real emergencies. You just can’t beat the convenience and safeguards of plastic when you are in a bind. Wanting to hang out with your buddies and gamble on a Saturday night will never count as an emergency, however. If you like to party at the casino, do yourself a favor and leave your credit card at home so that you are never tempted to make a stupid decision.
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