Cashing out OBC in the casino

[hues of blue]

We are on the Reflection in a few weeks and have quite a bit of ocean board credit. If we don't use all of it, and it's the non refundable kind, is it possible to cash it out in the casino?

 

Thank you

Sherri

[AllHandsAstern]

They'll give you "promotional" chips, basically monopoly money. If you cash promo chips it goes back as OBC, but if you play promo chips and win your winnings come back as real deal chips you can cash for real deal money.

Had 400$ on the last night of my honeymoon cruise (on reflection!) And ended up putting in a 4 hour marathon at the roulette table trying to win my money back. Not sure if it's still the case but they had a single zero table so better odds for the players.

[hues of blue]

We aren't really gamblers, when we so play it's only slot machines.

[mac_tlc]

It can be done at slots but they have restricted the frequency/amount. It can vary by ship. Use the “room charge” option to download credits. I suggest not doing it multiple times in small amounts.

 

 

mac_tlc

[LeeW]

On Beyond they want you to play 50% in slots or they lock room account from further downloads.  Note that this is play, not win, so if you have $500 you need to run $250 through machine.  Winnings don't count.

[PTC DAWG]

2 hours ago, hues of blue said:

We aren't really gamblers, when we so play it's only slot machines.

Roulette requires zero skills…it’s actually pretty fun and easy going..

[Midlo]

Different ships seem to have different policies but the following has worked for me on one ship that has been revolutionized and one that has not.

At the roulette table, split your promo chips in half and play with a partner. Each of you bet small amounts, one on odd and one on even, or red and black. One of you wins and the other loses each round. The only way you lose is 00 or 0 . You will eventually end up with your winnings in refundable chips. Take them to cashier and convert to cash.

 

The other method is to go to any slot machine, follow instructions at cashier window or ask any attendant to enter credit in machine. When I did it I didn’t really need to play at all, just cashed out and took slip to cashier. 
 

Again, I know this may not work on all ships but it did for me twice on different ships in the last year. I have another cruise coming up shortly and again have a rather large amount of OBC so I hope it still works.

[baypeople]

Yes.  You can download your OBC directly into a slot machine.  Spin a few times and then cash out.  We did it in January at a rate of $20 per night.  We actually won a few extra dollars!

[NutsAboutGolf]

8 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

It can be done at slots but they have restricted the frequency/amount. It can vary by ship. Use the “room charge” option to download credits. I suggest not doing it multiple times in small amounts.

 

 

mac_tlc

 

This.  It's been a while since I've used a slot machine but the last three times they greatly reduced the amount you can room charge on the tables until your play qualifies for it.  Used to be $5000/day, no questions asked.  Now it seems to be $1000 and 2 out of 3 asked how much I expected my average bet to be.  Used to be a great way to earn credit card points but also, if you have an airline's highest annual fee credit card, they usually give you some credit toward your airline status if you spend enough

[Texed]

I think it would be easier to find a table game player and sell the "casino" chips to them.  I am betting (😅) they will gladly give you a 50% return.  😊

[DaKahuna]

 I normally take the easy way out.  Combine my wife and my promotional chips, walk over to the roulette wheel, place a bet and plan until I loose them all.  I usually walk away with more than I started with.  

 

[AllHandsAstern]

I second that, I was up 60$

[chisoxfan]

Frustrating that there is no simple answer to this question as it seems somewhat ship dependent based on age/ tech of slots? Here is what we found after posting for info on boards and being on Ascent a few weeks ago. My wife was (for some unknown reason) initially locked on her room key for slots. This was unlocked and she put in 100 dollars and played maybe 40 and cashed out. She was locked out again from adding more and we approached attendant/mgr. type. He gave us a voucher for 200 (charged to room) and said we could 'do anything' with it. In general, he said you needed to play 50% of NROBC on a slot or would be locked out from adding future money. He also stated (I think he was wrong) that this was 'per machine' and suggested that we play small amounts on each machine? He added that you needed to tap your card to receive credit on each slot which my wife did not do to that point. Having the 200 dollar voucher I said 'let's cash this out and see what happens'.... no problem cashing out but this locked out wife's card (so card info must have been on bar code). Interesting.... so my conclusion is that the voucher(s) from machine or cashier are coded with bar code to users room.  In theory this should give your information to each machine for slot play credit. Understanding this not sure why attendant insisted that card needed to be tapped for each machine.

With my wife's card blocked I was able to use mine and we(my wife)  played with the 50% play rule in mind. Bottom line is we probably cashed out 500 on 600 non refundable OBC and my wife enjoyed playing so all good. 

So as I think about this there is nothing to stop one from loading the limit (500 I believe) of NROBC on card and cashing out after one play.  They can't refuse to cash you out but can lock you out. So if your goal is to cash out NROBC you would be good. You could use each room key which should cover 1000.

Ironically, at time of booking cruise I told my wife she could gamble all our NROBC which she wound up not doing since at different points she had cash in hand and did not want to gamble 'real money'.

 

 

[Jimmym1981]

Just got off the Reflection 2 weeks ago and after speaking with the Casino staff, you can setup an account on a slot machine and if you want, cash out after playing a spin. However, you will be locked out from depositing any more OBC after since you did not play 50% of the OBC on the machine. I did not know this and was locked out, so I went and got the "Celebrity" chips from the Cashier which you have to play or lose...you cannot cash them out, only the winnings. I played $100 on red and got $100 cash back to cash out. Hope this helps!

Edited February 9 by Jimmym1981

[billc23]

10 hours ago, chisoxfan said:

Frustrating that there is no simple answer to this question as it seems somewhat ship dependent based on age/ tech of slots? Here is what we found after posting for info on boards and being on Ascent a few weeks ago. My wife was (for some unknown reason) initially locked on her room key for slots. This was unlocked and she put in 100 dollars and played maybe 40 and cashed out. She was locked out again from adding more and we approached attendant/mgr. type. He gave us a voucher for 200 (charged to room) and said we could 'do anything' with it. In general, he said you needed to play 50% of NROBC on a slot or would be locked out from adding future money. He also stated (I think he was wrong) that this was 'per machine' and suggested that we play small amounts on each machine? He added that you needed to tap your card to receive credit on each slot which my wife did not do to that point. Having the 200 dollar voucher I said 'let's cash this out and see what happens'.... no problem cashing out but this locked out wife's card (so card info must have been on bar code). Interesting.... so my conclusion is that the voucher(s) from machine or cashier are coded with bar code to users room.  In theory this should give your information to each machine for slot play credit. Understanding this not sure why attendant insisted that card needed to be tapped for each machine.

With my wife's card blocked I was able to use mine and we(my wife)  played with the 50% play rule in mind. Bottom line is we probably cashed out 500 on 600 non refundable OBC and my wife enjoyed playing so all good. 

So as I think about this there is nothing to stop one from loading the limit (500 I believe) of NROBC on card and cashing out after one play.  They can't refuse to cash you out but can lock you out. So if your goal is to cash out NROBC you would be good. You could use each room key which should cover 1000.

Ironically, at time of booking cruise I told my wife she could gamble all our NROBC which she wound up not doing since at different points she had cash in hand and did not want to gamble 'real money'.

 

 

Ship dependent for sure. I was able to cash out $1200 OBC last month on the Ascent without issue. No need to play 50% - or any - of the voucher. Recycle the voucher through a few machines without playing and do not tap your card - you are no longer tracked. I find it easier to combine vouchers so that only one trip to the cashiers window is needed. You can also take more than your OBC out to "gamble"  and cash it in too. Settled on your credit card at the end but billed as a travel expense. Some call this manufactured spending... And if your are locked out... that's a different conversation.

[chisoxfan]

12 hours ago, billc23 said:

Ship dependent for sure. I was able to cash out $1200 OBC last month on the Ascent without issue. No need to play 50% - or any - of the voucher. Recycle the voucher through a few machines without playing and do not tap your card - you are no longer tracked. I find it easier to combine vouchers so that only one trip to the cashiers window is needed. You can also take more than your OBC out to "gamble"  and cash it in too. Settled on your credit card at the end but billed as a travel expense. Some call this manufactured spending... And if your are locked out... that's a different conversation.

As I ponder  more on this I was initially thinking that the vouchers with their bar codes identified the user.

Likely, this is not the case and my wife was locked out because her first slot machine played under the 50% threshold. If the bar code identifies you that would potentially follow through the chain of machines played. So tapping your card to machines appears to be the only way you can be identified as you suggest (and mentioned by the attendant during our cruise). Maybe big brother isn't so intrusive (but guessing they still have the eye in the sky?) The only possible issue of not tapping your card would then be receiving slot play 'credit' which some value.

The take away seems to be that as long as you load up initially there is no play required and you can cash out (or play) the voucher at will. This is logical as there (currently) seems no way that you could load a machine and or voucher with NROBC (or reg OBC) and they could refuse to pay you.

However, if you cashed out of a machine without playing as you did I still think your card would lock?The only problem with this (card locking) is inability to add more dollars (OBC) to your play. Ultimately  I can't believe the attendants would not simply 'unlock' the card and allow more $$$ added if one asked. Also a couple has the option of using two cards.

At the end of the day any confusion seems to be generated by the cruise line. They don't want NROBC cashed out quickly in the casino although within the guidelines discussed this is something any passenger can do.

Sounds like the chip betting is different but my brain is taxed thinking about the slot side. I am sure experienced cruise gamblers are rolling their eyes at this discussion and this is 'old news'.  Hopefully for those 'neophytes' that want to cash in NROBC this is of interest.

 

 

[billc23]

8 hours ago, chisoxfan said:

As I ponder  more on this I was initially thinking that the vouchers with their bar codes identified the user.

Likely, this is not the case and my wife was locked out because her first slot machine played under the 50% threshold. If the bar code identifies you that would potentially follow through the chain of machines played. So tapping your card to machines appears to be the only way you can be identified as you suggest (and mentioned by the attendant during our cruise). Maybe big brother isn't so intrusive (but guessing they still have the eye in the sky?) The only possible issue of not tapping your card would then be receiving slot play 'credit' which some value.

The take away seems to be that as long as you load up initially there is no play required and you can cash out (or play) the voucher at will. This is logical as there (currently) seems no way that you could load a machine and or voucher with NROBC (or reg OBC) and they could refuse to pay you.

However, if you cashed out of a machine without playing as you did I still think your card would lock?The only problem with this (card locking) is inability to add more dollars (OBC) to your play. Ultimately  I can't believe the attendants would not simply 'unlock' the card and allow more $$$ added if one asked. Also a couple has the option of using two cards.

At the end of the day any confusion seems to be generated by the cruise line. They don't want NROBC cashed out quickly in the casino although within the guidelines discussed this is something any passenger can do.

Sounds like the chip betting is different but my brain is taxed thinking about the slot side. I am sure experienced cruise gamblers are rolling their eyes at this discussion and this is 'old news'.  Hopefully for those 'neophytes' that want to cash in NROBC this is of interest.

 

 

I wrote more about this in July 2023 if you're interested. Just a game to me - like phone phreaking was in the 60's/70's. Try swapping a new voucher of equal value with another passenger - not on your booking -  and you will then know if the voucher or tapping one's card is how tracking works. Try combining multiple vouchers from different passengers and see what happens. If you do get locked out it is usually released after 48/72 hours and you can always ask to be released. If you do not tap your card they do not know how much you gambled. Slot play credit doesn't apply if you don't gamble so nothing is lost.

 

[ggo85]

Just did it on Reflection.  Got $60 in OBC. Later tried to add $8 and couldn’t do it. Played $5 and then cashed out.  
 

Not sure if there is a total limit, limit per day or you can do it only once.  I recommend trying the max OBC you have before last day of the cruise and see what happens.  

[Midlo]

Just got off Equinox yesterday. Had $1500 in OBC non refundable so I tried my previous method in a slot machine with mixed results. I at first tried to transfer $1000 and it wouldn’t let me do it. Then tried $400 and it worked. I cashed it out but then got blocked. Used DH card and got another $600. Every time I tried after that I never got same result twice. What seemed to work was to charge an additional amount to room which was offset by the credit, then transfer to cash in casino. I did end up actually just gambling 50 percent of the transferred amount which is what they require to not get blocked and ended up winning a couple hundred dollars in less than five minutes. 
I wish I could give you a method that works but it seemed totally arbitrary. When I was blocked I asked a casino employee for help but it was not productive.

[dleahy4444]

I spend a fair amount of time at the casino, and always download money as a room charge to play with right at the slot machine. Can I do the same with a portion of my OBC if I intend to play that amount on that machine ?

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:

I spend a fair amount of time at the casino, and always download money as a room charge to play with right at the slot machine. Can I do the same with a portion of my OBC if I intend to play that amount on that machine ?

On most of the ships -  yes you can.   They will give you a little card with instructions at the Cashier.   

 

On some of the older ships like Solstice that isn't an option and you have to go to the cashier and ask for Slot Tickets in the amount you desire.   (usually increments of $100 or $20).   You can then use those in any machine.

 

 

[wrk2cruise]

If you are blocked because you haven't played the required amount.  Try this.  On many ships now they offer $5 of free play a couple of times per sailing.  To use the free play you have to transfer the promo $$ from your card to the machine but you won't be able to because you are blocked.  Play dumb and say you tried to use your free play but it wouldn't work.  We have seen them unblock people so they can use the free play.  Then you should be able to transfer more $$.

[mac66]

On our last cruise in early Feb, my wife put $100 of non refundable OBC in the slots just to try it.  Spun the wheels once and cashed out. The next time we tried it we were blocked. So I used my card and put the remaining balance of OBC in and immediately cashed out.

 

[Rjbobalou]

Quiet PLEASE

[RosieRoo]

I think they are catching on to this. Put $50 of non refundable credit into machine and cashed out at $32. Next time I tried to use my card I was locked out. They said you have to play at least 50% of what you load into the machine before cashing out or you get locked out.