Given some of our content has focused on sharing players cards, we have continued to get more questions about the topic over time. Here’s a recent example of a question we’ve received:
if you have a players card and someone else gives you their players card to use, is it legal?
John K.
Generally speaking, we’re not working in the realm of the legal. There are usually not going to be laws on the books governing how people use a players card. Instead, this is going to be an individual business’ rules on what’s allowed and what’s not. Like any other private business, a casino can choose to no longer do business with someone who violates their rules.
An easy example that comes to mind is a Costco membership. They’ve recently been in the news for cracking down on people who share membership cards – they were more lax in the past, and are now monitoring it more closely.
The same goes for streaming services like Netflix and Disney+, which have been implementing password sharing blocks to discourage people outside the same household from using the same account, which costs them money.
In the case of the casino, the biggest issues tend to be the use of someone else’s free play. Casinos use this to encourage players to come back, and if it’s not the player they’re enticing, they tend to look quite negatively on it. The most extreme example was a picture of a sign at one casino saying any jackpots won when someone else’s card is in the machine will not be honored.
Ultimately, each casino has their own rules on the topic, and you can verify by visiting the players club. Some want each player to have their own card, but can link two accounts to share. Some are cool with husbands and wifes, but not unrelated people.
There’s plenty of scenarios we’ve seen, so if you’re ever unsure, we recommend checking before proceeding, in case you run afoul of their rules and they take a hard position on it.
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What casinos allow same-sex couples to share the same Players Club account? In most cases we’ve found it easier to each have our own individual accounts, but when we’ve asked about sharing the same account most staffers behind the desk we’re mystified by the question.
Hey Larry! We don’t have any specific data on this unfortunately, so you are taking the right steps – asking the right questions, and opting for separate accounts if they’re not able to offer sufficient guidance.