Most casinos strongly encourage players to use their loyalty cards when gambling. From the casino’s perspective, it allows them to track play and award comps more judiciously. Players just like getting free stuff. But sometimes they go too far. From the LVRJ:

It turns out there is some money that casinos don’t want.

A Los Angeles couple was wrapping up a whirlwind weekend in Las Vegas last month when Caesars Palace security officers discovered the tourists had played thousands of dollars in counterfeit bills and cashed out to receive genuine cash, according to an Aug. 1 indictment.

Chen Chiang Liu and Min Li Liu were charged with passing counterfeit $100 bills through slot machines at Caesars. They subsequently exchanged the comforts of their resort room for a jail cell.

The Lius possessed more than 400 counterfeit $100 bills when they visited Caesars Palace between July 26 and July 31, according to the indictment.

The couple unwittingly helped security officers with their investigation. While stuffing counterfeit bills into slot machines, the pair played rewards cards, which, experts said, are tied into a database that includes personal information about each registrant, including each player’s home address.

“In this case, what I think got these people caught was their greed,” said Douglas L. Florence Sr., a surveillance and gaming operations expert. “They wanted to get their points, and they wanted to get money. They narrowed down the list of suspects.”

Caesars officials declined to comment on the investigation. But according to a federal complaint filed July 30, security officers identified 13 slot machines that accepted a total of 60 phony $100 bills. After discovering each machine was played with the same player’s card, officers reviewed surveillance cameras and identified the couple.

Florence said any counterfeiter who passes the bills in a casino while using a player’s card registered in his or her own name is either stupid with greed or “flat out wants to be caught.”

The player’s card launches investigators over one of their first hurdles and makes the next step that much easier. “It’s now a matter of surveillance proving they put (counterfeit) money in,” Florence said.

The Lius were stopped when they tried to leave Caesars on July 30, the complaint said. The U.S. Secret Service, which is tasked with handling of investigations regarding counterfeit money, was called in to help with the investigation.

Agents searched the Lius’ Cadillac Escalade and found three red bags stuffed with about $30,000 in counterfeit $100 bills, the complaint said. Chen Chiang Liu told the Secret Service that the money was a debt an acquaintance paid back to him, according to the complaint.

ReviewJournal.com – News – Phony money alleged

You’ve got to admire the temerity of someone who uses a player’s card to document their criminal conspiracy. This might be one of the dumbest casino heist schemes ever hatched, and that’s saying a lot.

Of course, you could also throw in a wisecrack about having your shrimp cocktail and eating it too, but it’s too easy.