For years, gaming regulators have created barriers between debit or credit cards and slot machines so that gamblers wouldn’t drain their bank accounts or ruin their credit ratings.
While they’ve allowed automated teller machines at casino properties, regulators have never crossed the line of enabling players to put their cards into a slot machine to access money directly. 
But now, a Las Vegas company is proposing a change in state gaming regulations that would allow the use of a prepaid card for slots that puts casinos one step closer to a player’s bank account.
The biggest trade-off would be that jackpot winners could be safer when they leave casinos because they wouldn’t have wads of cash that would make them vulnerable to robbers and thieves. Still, problem gambling advocates are concerned that any new easy access to funds may also make it easier for compulsive gamblers to try to chase their losses.
article by Richard N. Velotta, VEGASINC
