# Would it be illegal to use counterfeit money in a strip club? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 1, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-illegal-to-use-counterfeit-money-in-a-strip-club/319551 "2005-09-01T04:30:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cstamets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/958977/32.png) [@cstamets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cstamets)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-illegal-to-use-counterfeit-money-in-a-strip-club/319551/41 "2005-09-02T02:24:07Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Do the bars in question allow you to trade the Stripper Fun Bux back in for legal tender at the end of the night? If not, I suspect there’s part of your answer. You buy $100 in Stripper Fun Bux and you only spend say $80 of it. No refund, the club’s up $20. > > I wonder if perhaps the performers are only reimbursed a percentage of the SFB they collect too; if so there’s another good reason for clubs to do it. It assures them they get their agreed-upon cut of anything the performers collect. They’re mainly for credit card users. Instead of getting a cash advance, you buy the “stripper bux”. Of course, they’re not redeemable for real cash. So the club makes out when you buy “bux” with money you didn’t have - spending money you otherwise wouldn’t have spent. Plus, they’re a guaranteed sale, since there are no refunds (of course, you can save the unused bux for next time - making the club more money). I don’t know if the clubs don’t reimburse the dancers full face value or not, but that would be another way to make a few dollars. However, it’d probably make the girls mad. Some clubs might actually be worried about that. Why would a customer buy the fake money? To save on cash advance fees and interest rates on their credit card. I doubt anyone ever buys those bux with cash. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-illegal-to-use-counterfeit-money-in-a-strip-club/319551/42 "2005-09-05T07:02:19Z")
IANAL, but I’m pretty sure that the reasons a strip club can legally issue scrip are because the club does not: 1) make scrip that imitates real US currency in color or form, 2) try to pass off their scrip as US currency, and further 3) usually redeem their scrip for cash. Though this last doesn’t directly impact the legality issue, I’m sure it gives them a hedge should someone try to challenge them on a legal basis for issuing “foreign currency,” using the rate of exchange between scrip and US currency as a basis for the suit. They issue it because, as others pointed out, if you don’t spend it all, the club keeps the difference, unless you come back to their fine establishment at some other time. This encourages you to spend it all, which makes you spend more than you would otherwise, in most cases. It’s also not “real” money which makes it more likely that people will be generous in their tipping. Tourists to foreign countries often overspend because the prices and the form of the cash make them underestimate the actual cost of the goods and services they purchase. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-illegal-to-use-counterfeit-money-in-a-strip-club/319551/43 "2005-09-05T07:23:47Z")
> [@Gfactor](#): > > When you waive the bills at the stipper, you are making an offer. In effect, you are saying: “Come here and I’ll give you my Jackson.” Is that what the kids are calling it these days? ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-illegal-to-use-counterfeit-money-in-a-strip-club/319551/44 "2005-09-05T14:25:52Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Is that what the kids are calling it these days? Apparently that is what these kids thought: [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0902052lap1.html](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0902052lap1.html) I committed a similar offense when I seven, but instead of lap dances, it was games of bowling. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-illegal-to-use-counterfeit-money-in-a-strip-club/319551/45 "2005-09-05T14:42:36Z")
Okay, a little hijack here. Suppose you have those Christian Fundamentalist $10 bills? Theyr’e the ones that, when folded in four, look just like real currency. When you open it up, though, it says “Disappointed? You wouldn’t be if you’d accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Taylor!” The idea is that they leave them lying around and people pick them up and get a message from Jesus. I wondered, when I picked one up, if it was illegal just to leave it lying around. But suppose you were to give one to a stripper at the rail, perhaps in some sort of evangelizing effort? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-illegal-to-use-counterfeit-money-in-a-strip-club/319551/46 "2005-09-05T14:51:32Z")
Oh what a tangled web I steer clear of by not having the inclination to visit premises where someone will affect sexual interest in me while secretly despising me and hoping I’ll fork out large amounts of cash for the privilege. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-illegal-to-use-counterfeit-money-in-a-strip-club/319551/47 "2005-09-08T02:41:21Z")
This [article](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0902052lap1.html) may be of interest. > [@](#): > > Their damage for sitting through 41 consecutive songs (82 dances)? Almost $2500. Everett and Wakji, who between them could only come up with $550, explained to cops they “did not know that a new dance started with a new song.” But that excuse didn’t sway the cops, who hit them each with a felony charge for falsely obtaining services. It seems that the police will, in fact, hit you with felony charges for not paying for strippers’ services. I’m sure it would be even worse if you were using counterfeit bills. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-illegal-to-use-counterfeit-money-in-a-strip-club/319551.md?page=2)