[BigAlK]

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Casinos are very tighly regulated by the gaming commission and have to abide strictly by their stated rules. Additionally, certain casinos (especially Harrah's) have agreements with the IRS as to the tax treatment of winnings.

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Although possible I doubt gaming commission regulations are the problem. I was in Vegas a few weeks ago and was involved in chops 2 different times (one 2 way and the other 5 way). In both cases the amounts to be "won" by each person were negotiated between all parties (not an exact chip chop) and the casino modified their payouts according to the agreement. While at one of these casinos (Binion's) I observed chops in other tournaments where the remaining players agreed to a chip chop and the casino computed the amounts for them. They were also publishing a list of the results in their Binion's Classic series and I observed at least one list of results where they had a note saying that the payouts for the top x places were the actual payout amounts based on a negotiated chip chop.

Although this is my only personal experience with this I've heard that chops in Vegas tournaments are very common and had the impression that the casino normally supports and assists as needed. It comes down to the difference between casinos with good customer service and those without. The amount of effort that would be required by Harrah's to assist would be minimal.