Large THEFT! Rio Hotel Las Vegas 6/29/07

[DanS]

On legal grounds, you can probably kiss the bulk of your money goodbye.

I think a bigger concern is the way Harrah's treated getting you set up (or not) with a new room.

Dan

[MicroBob]

[ QUOTE ]
broke through the glass case and stole 10-10k chips,

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this one actually seems pretty weird too.
I have no problem believing that the cameras simply didn't notice him. Seriously, those guys only have so many cameras and are just roving around from location to location trying to spot suspicious stuff...and also can get into daydream-mode I imagine.

But the fact that the guy ONLY took 10 chips seems weird.
There weren't more 10k chips to take?
He didn't grab a handful of 1k chips and stuff them into his pocket?

To go so far as to try a smash-and-grab hoping that nobody is looking and then only scoop up 10 chips strikes me as odd.

[cbloom]

BTW is Rakeking an affiliate and this post just a scam to get traffic to his myspace page?

[Sparks]

The fact that he "posted up" or whatever $40K upon arrival means almost nothing. What shred of evidence is there that he actually put that amount of money in the safe?

How could Harrahs possibly consider compensating him for any amount he claims to have lost, and I mean even $750? Why did they offer him even that?

[Arnold_O]

i'm glad this dude posted what happened, it's a good reminder of what can happen if we are not careful.

on another note, i hope this scum bag thief gets his eyes stabbed out in a prison riot.

[MicroBob]

sparks - exactly.

I can check in with $40k with the host. Throw it in a lock-box at the Bellagio or just hand it off to a friend in a different room.
Then leave the wrappers for the $100 bills lying around and the door open and then claim that somebody took it all.

"Hey Rio. I got robbed. Pay Up!!"
Easy way to double my money.

I'm not saying this is what the OP did.
Just that it seems like it would be pretty easy for them to get scammed on an almost daily basis this way by people showing their money to the front-desk, going to their room, then coming back a couple hours later to claim that all that money they had just shown the front-desk host-guy somehow got stolen.

In the OP's situation though it certainly sounds like an inside-job and they need to investigate anyone who would have had access to the information or how much money he checked-in and what room he was in.


I can think of some alternative ways it might not have been an inside-job though. Trying to think creatively on some of these:

Thief is looking over his shoulder as he's checking-in.
Sees that the guy has significant cash.
He either eyeballs or overhears the dude's room-number at check-in...OR he follows him to his room.

While maid is cleaning the room he puts some play-doh or clay or something on the door to prevent it from closing all the way and then hops right in after the maid leaves.

This guy would need to be knowledgeable enough about the safes though but it sounds like it isn't that difficult.


OR....the thief goes back to a different part of the front-desk claiming to be that guy.
He gives his name and room-number and says that he locked his wallet in the room too so doesn't have ID or something.
They give him a key and he heads back up there.
Note that if something like this did happen there's no way the Rio would let you know they screwed up and gave the key to your room to somebody else.

I saw some hidden-camera segment on 48 Hours or Dateline or some show where a guy went up to various front-desks in LV and was able to sweet-talk his way into getting them to give him a key to a room that wasn't his.

I think he got flat-out turned away for the key by just one place.
But other times they just looked at him, determined he looked pretty honest, and seemed to have no problem just giving him the key to the room that he claimed was his.

Another time I think they had security escort him up to the room which he says he's fine with.
So he walks into the room that isn't his, grabs the black suitcase in there and says, "Here's my suitcase" and the security says okay and leaves (on that one I think he claimed that his wife had his wallet so he had no ID on him).

These weren't rooms of total strangers though. They were rooms purchased by somebody else affiliated with the program and then his challenge was to try to sweet-talk his way into the room that wasn't his.

He made it look pretty damn easy on that hidden-camera segment.

[bryan4967]

Las Vegas C.S.I....really....



(BS)

[StueyIvey]

Based on the name dropping and pictures in his myspace i have to say this might be the biggest poser i've ever seen.

Make money in rakeback biz, lose money playing poker but make poker "friends".

I chalk this up to trying to get publicity to get people to his myspace/rakeback site. Something just doesn't add up.

[Rottersod]

[ QUOTE ]
Vegas C.S.I. demonstated how easy it was to open the safe , They are still doing an investigation, but the code was changed and relocked open. Like I said many times , I am not saying it was the smartest thing to do to leave that kind of cash in a hotel room safe, and No I am not giving Harrah's an easy out , I am giving them a chance to make it right. I have turned down many media news interviews and only posted on here because my friend Allen Kessler suggested it might be a good idea. I am not an idiot that just fell of a truck , I trusted that the safe was secure and if it was more than 30's ish I would have used the Cage safe but like many said , they are not secure either from what I have learned. Harrah's will not get off easy, I am giving them a chance to make thing right. I am not a media hound or this would of already been all over the news by now in Vegas. I wanted this to be handled Professionally and Quietly within the Harrah's Management. I am guessing that was not a good choice on my part. My main website and other Pro's suggested that I do not go to the media and I followed that advice. I appreciate the feedback and I am very thicked skinned, but don't reply with stupid things like I deserved to be stolen from, no one deserves to be stolen from that works hard in grinding it out in a world that is tough enough as playing live poker.

Have a winning day! -EF

[/ QUOTE ]

OP, what you need to understand (and I think you do at some level) is that Harrah's is a huge corporation and the Rio management is only one small part of their machine. The fact that your Diamond status got you a room on a floor that could be accessed easily and a safe that can be opened easily shows that Harrah's is not overly concerned with losing or keeping you as a customer. There are some properties where a high cash customer will be treated as such but you aren't in that category even though you play higher than many. The fact that your host didn't think this was even worth his time for 2-3 days should tell you everything you need to know and I doubt that you will receive your $32k back from them any time soon. If they do decide to give it to you it will have to go through a large number of management layers and get signed off by some VP of Operations and the Controller/CFO or some such person.

My advice to you is hire a good, local attorney and get some legal advice and decide what to do next. The local press won't care about $32k being stolen. The poker press will publish it but it will be forgotten within a week. Be prepared to go into the waiting mode as letters get sent back and forth and negotiations take place.

Here's a tidbit to keep in mind: Hotels that install in room safes don't just decide to do it on a whim and not think about the consequences. They have their lawyers figure out all the angles beforehand and they make sure that they are covered against losses. Even if the only liability notice that you claim to have seen was not in plain view there will be other ways for the hotel to get out of paying back money. Something as simple as a signature on your check-in registration card where it says that the hotel is not responsible for more than $750 for valuables left in the in room safe and thet they recommend that valuables be left with security will cover them from liability. I used to work for large hotel chains and we never had to pay out much money for things taken from the safes.

BTW, the reason that hotels don't put much surveillance in hotel hallways is that it opens themselves up to liability. IOW, what isn't captured on video can't be proved to have happened. Think about that.

Good luck to you and please hire an attorney.

[shaniac]

[ QUOTE ]
Las Vegas C.S.I....really....



(BS)

[/ QUOTE ]

SVU was busy.