In light of Marcus Morris’ arrest over fraud charges related to unpaid debts, Kendrick Perkins shared his own experience with casinos on the Road Trippin’ podcast. Perkins gave some fascinating insight into the inner workings as he explained how the system works.
“So let me say this as a guy that used to be a big-time gambler at casinos like four or five years ago,” Perkins said. “I actually had an addiction in gambling. I actually went up to the casino and signed myself that I would never gamble again. Not that they made me, I did it.
“I was a blackjack type of guy,” Perkins continued. “And what happens with these markers, when you take a marker out from the casino, is basically you’re getting a marker and you have 30 days to pay the marker back.
“If you don’t pay the marker back, then it’s labeled as ‘fraud’, or you writing a bad check,” Perkins added. “Because when you go and you take the line of credit, basically what they’re saying is, you knew that you didn’t have the funds.”
Perkins revealed that over the last 10 years, this has become a criminal charge. He added, though, that casinos usually do not press charges.
“The casinos don’t want to go that route with you unless they feel like you disrespected them,” Perkins said. “Disrespect meaning lack of communication, or you can’t call and say, ‘You know what, hey, give me another 30 days and I’ll pay the marker off,’ or ‘Give me six months and I’ll pay the marker down,’ or whatever.”
Perkins says if you choose to ignore them, then you’ll be in trouble, which is what appears to have happened with Morris. He was initially denied bond as well, but is now out of jail.
Morris is said to have first gotten a marker for $115,000 from the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in May 2024 and a $150,000 marker from the Wynn Hotel a month later in June. The checks he gave them bounced, and the fraud charge eventually came in after he didn’t repay them.
“This is bigger than just the payment, and it’s not fraud,” Perkins stated. “So, people was like, ‘Oh, he committed fraud.’ It’s not fraud; it was worded that way, but this is what happens when you have a casino debt. Take it from someone that actually had a casino debt.”
Perkins is happy to have gotten over his gambling addiction. He stated that you can very easily find yourself down $100,000 in a day, and this is indeed a cautionary tale.
Morris was fuming about how he was treated and made it clear that the situation should have been handled better. He added that he had built his career on morals and character.
Not long after Morris’ arrest, former NBA player Gilbert Arenas also found himself behind bars. Arenas was accused of hosting illegal high-stakes poker games at his mansion in Encino, California.
While Morris remained enraged about his situation, Arenas hasn’t been taking things all too seriously. It got to the point where Stephen A. Smith warned him of the drastic consequences of treating federal charges as a joke.
