Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US) an IOU for a gambling debt; also used fig. for any form of debt.

1883		World (N.Y.) 15 Sept. 5/1: I am going to put a marker in for this meal.
1887		F. Francis Saddle and Mocassin 225: Before half the deal was over, the whole bank of checks was gone, and Cuff was giving markers for hundreds as hard as he could go it.
1896		F. Hutcheson Barkeep Stories 106: ‘He’s a guy dat’s owed me a case an’ a half fer drinks fer free months an’ he’s kep’ out o’ de joint ever since I stood fer de marker’.
1931		D. Runyon ‘The Snatching of Bookie Bob’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 127: ‘Well,’ Bookie Bob says, ‘I will take your markers.’.
1944		D. Runyon Runyon à la Carte 104: The Sky finds he has no more potatoes [...] and he wishes to give markers.
1958		R. Prather Scrambled Yeggs 73: It looks like he takes the cure a few months back; he gets in so deep Drag cuts him off. He even comes out here and wants me to take his markers, but the word’s out so we tell him Christmas is next year.
1961		J. Scarne Complete Guide to Gambling.
1979		E. Torres After Hours 23: He must be up to his asshole in markers. Probably over a hundred large.
1988		D. Woodrell Muscle for the Wing 70: It was Shuggie’s game where I got the markers.
1996		S. Frank Get Shorty [film script] chili.: We’re there, Harry. You signed markers for a hundred and a half, you’re over sixty days past due and you haven’t told anybody what the problem is.
2000		G.V. Higgins At End of Day (2001) 158: Couldn’t seem to see his way clear, pay that one-thirty-seven marker he built up.
2010		(con. 1973) C. Stella Johnny Porno 16: He left markers all over the city. Bookies, mainly.
2020		S.A. Crosby Blacktop Wasteland 59: [H]e got a marker [...] at the club. They let him play and play until Skunk had the guy cut him off.

2. (US Und.) money.

2003

H. Hill A Good Fella’s Guide To N.Y. 123: Candy, markers, ammo, liners, stocking stuffer, sweetener, garnish, and pledges are all terms for cash.