Step 1. Put bills into the machine
Step 2. Resist the temptation to press any button other than "cash out"
Step 3. If step 2 fails, repeat step 1.
(I have to do step 3 sometimes ... )
I try to make it not look too obvious that i'm just checking coins...I don't know what they'd do if they found out I'm not actually gambling, and I don't want to find out!
I think they might get suspicious if you just went to the cage and asked for halves, since every machine accepts bills now...
My plan of action is similar to synapse's but I'll add:
1a. Hope machine accepts bill
Back around Thanksgiving I put a $100 bill in a machine and it didn't register! I called a tech over and explained what happened. She looked inside and couldn't find it. They brought over a floor manager and they filled out a form called a "customer variance" and said they'd know in "a couple of weeks" after an audit had been done. After two weeks of sweating it and figuring my C-note was history I got a check in the mail.
I've never had a machine eat a bill like that and now I'm nervous every time I put one in.
I suppose you could ask for rolls at the cage but I never have (except at my work casino). It's easier to just drain machines. I'll take a half dozen or so at a time out of the tray and jingle them in my hand for the telltale silver "ring." It's usually too dimly lit to look for anything other than silver, though proofs still stand out and I do notice a 2002-2006 once in a while.
Do not worry about going to the cage... i have done this awile, searching for silvers. Sometimes when I get a funny look, I merely say " If I use coins, the money lasts me longer." Check out my post in the "treasure leads" forum... Although some of you might not be blessed enough to have a multi- room casino like Foxwoods
cyberdan, my reason for going to the casinos is because I order boxes of halves from the bank and rather than return the newer coins to the bank I take them to the casino and get bills for them.