Monday, Aug. 3, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Despite the proliferation of credit cards, Apple Pay and Square readers, Las Vegas’ gaming business has remained largely cash-based.

Though the days of players carting around buckets of quarters are, for the most part, long gone, “the gaming business will remain a cash-heavy business,” said Douglas Florence Sr., vice president of strategic operations at eConnect, a security software company, and former head of surveillance at the Mirage.

So what happens to the money gamblers lay down on tables or feed into slot machines?

The Nevada Gaming Control Board sets standards for casinos about how money must be watched and secured. Some casinos set their own stricter standards as well.

Following Benjamin

A player puts a $100 bill into a slot machine. Using optical and magnetic sensors, the bill acceptor reads the bill to verify its authenticity and record its dollar amount. Once the bill is verified, the player is given a corresponding number of credits. When the player is done betting, he can cash out any remaining credits on a barcoded voucher. Like cash, the vouchers, when fed into another slot machine, are stored in a drop box to be counted later.

Drop time

The $100 bill, along with other cash and vouchers, stays inside the drop box in the slot machine until the money is collected, called “a drop.” Some casinos do drops every day, while others spread them out, focusing on one section of the casino one day and another the next. The method depends on the amount of play the machines see, said Derk Boss, a gaming consultant and former senior casino executive at Bally’s, Tropicana Entertainment and the Palms.

Regardless of how often they do drops and counts, casinos have to report drop and count times to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, so agency staff can conduct surprise audits.

Drop personnel

At least three people are needed to do a drop, according to Gaming Control Board standards. Large properties often have a team of employees, sometimes 8 to 12 people, carry out a drop. A couple of members unlock machines, while others pick up the boxes. Meanwhile, security officers or slot personnel stand by to ensure the cash remains secure during the drop. One person is required to stand by the cart on which the boxes are loaded at all times.

Drops and counts for table games are fairly similar to those for slot machines. The big difference is there are no bill acceptors for table games, which means no first-level electronic counterfeit detection. So dealers try to catch false notes the old fashioned way, checking them with a counterfeit detection pen and holding them under a blacklight. Table games also are dropped more frequently, typically at least once a day, which means that a person who passes a counterfeit note at a table usually is found more quickly than someone who passes a phony note at the slots.

Security cameras, which monitor almost every square inch of the casino floor, provide an extra layer of security. Still, there are at least a few blind spots in any casino. So surveillance agents monitor the drops — some in real time, others on video every couple of days, Boss said.

Counting

Once the box arrives in the count room, it is monitored closely. Count rooms are equipped with multiple video cameras and audio surveillance. Employees typically aren’t even allowed to bring coffee cups into the room unless the cups are clear, Boss said.

In the count room, the $100 bill and other money is run through a currency counter that counts and sorts it. If the counter finds a damaged or counterfeit note, it rejects it. Depending on the needs of the casino, the currency counter in the count room can be small and sit on top of a desk or be large and free-standing. The more advanced the machine, the more complicated counterfeit detection techniques it typically includes. If any currency slips by the bill acceptor on the slot machine, it’ll be caught in the count room.

Counterfeit detection

If a counterfeit note makes its way to the count room, it usually is spotted fairly quickly, Boss said. Members of the count team often spot false notes without having to rely on the currency counter. When a counterfeit note is found, the casino’s surveillance team can look through video footage to try to identify the person who passed it. Finding counterfeit notes from slot machines in the count room is rare, Boss said, because false notes usually are rejected by the bill acceptor on the slot machine

Final count

Vouchers also are typically run through the currency counter to ensure the amount read by the slot machine and the amount counted in the count room match. At the end of the count, the currency counter produces a report that shows how much money was in each slot machine. Those totals are sent to the casino’s accounting department, which includes it in the totals for the day.

Sent out

Once the money is counted, it is loaded onto a Brink’s truck and sent out. “People ask, ‘Where are your large vaults?’ MGM Resorts International spokeswoman Yvette Monet said. “That’s a total myth. Just about everything is electronic.”