Stealing Chips

[slik]

A month ago or so, a player left his chips (about $800 in a 1/2 table) to take a break. When he came back they were all gone. He told the floor, and they checked the camera, which showed a thief taking all his chips. The casino reimbursed him so the story ends ok. Not sure if they ever caught the thief.

[DesertCat]

Tell the floor immediately, they will check the tape and the thief should be 86d immediately and probably permanently. A girl at Casino AZ did it as a joke on a friend so they only banned her for a year. Criminal charges could also be filed.

[Mark1808]

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Tell the floor immediately, they will check the tape and the thief should be 86d immediately and probably permanently. A girl at Casino AZ did it as a joke on a friend so they only banned her for a year. Criminal charges could also be filed.

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The thing is many times these people are just joking. There is a guy I just know from the casino that took some chips from me and gave them back laughing and I never noticed. I am wondering if these guys do that [censored] to see what they can get away with or are they just trying to be funny? I guess I am trying to see how prevalant this may be. Usually my chips are protected but they can become exposed easily when raking a big pot and getting involved in the very next hand.

[FISHCAKES]

About 2 months ago I was at The Borgata playing $5/10NL. To my right was a young guy with about $2000 and to his right a middle aged regular with about the same size stack. At the half, middle aged guy gets up to use the bathroom and the kid racks up and the seat stays open for about 20 minutes. Guy comes back and didnt play a hand unless he was the BB. We finally get a new player and he asks the middle aged guy to make a little room. When he goes to slide his chips over he notices that a whole stack of green is missing. He asks the dealer and us but none of us saw a thing. He calls the floor and they call security. Sure enough the kid swiped them. Guy asks for the floor to reimburse him and they ask him to fill out some forms and tell him that it has to be reviewed. Turns out that the kid was clocked in on his players card so they know who he is.

I would assume that they made good on his money but for some reason the guy wasn't very confident that they would. He also asked the floor for a room so that he could stay and collect his money the next day but they couldn't do it which I found pretty foul considering that it was a Sunday night and I know there were vacancies because I checked in a little while before without a reservation. They didn't even offer the poor guy a meal comp. I hope he got his money, not sure what happened to the kid the floor said something about not wanting to call the State police for whatever reason.

I have never caught anyone touching my chips but I would probably get pretty heated if I did and if the guy claimed to be joking it wouldn't make much of a difference. If I caught a pickpocket with his hand in my pants and he said he was kidding he's still a thieving scumbag, just one that got caught

[that_pope]

I obv don't steal, but I do touch others chips frequently (and no, not after I won them in a pot). At Casino AZ, I am a regular in the 20/40 game, and am familiar with a ton of people. We also have tableside dining there, so people are turned away from the table a lot, and eating. If someone is eating, and it is their blind, I ask them if they want their blind, and if they aren't a total [censored] or someone I have only seen once or twice, I will usually put it in for them, and they usually say thanks. This helps speed up the game for me, and I have never once been given a dirty look or someone commenting on that.

But I don't give off a vibe as a cheat, and I am very helpful at the table. On the same accord, I usually go get people chips with their money, because the cage is like 10 feet away, and it speeds up the game again. 90+% of the time, I have more chips in front of me then the amount they are buying, so if I did 'steal' their money, my chips that are left on the table would make up for it pretty easily.

But of course if anyone ever expresses a problem, I will simply stop offering to help that person when it involves their chips.

[MasterShakeJr]

I think an important part of the OP's concern is the fact that it appears to be someone that they already suspected of stealing chips. If that's the case I don't think I could play it off as a joke. I also would be MUCH more alert if I recognized him and was sitting right next to him.

[Python49]

When I first started playing in live casinos (only have gone to a casino 3 times before) I was just amazed at how trusting people were with getting up and leaving all their money sitting on the table. I kept asking my friend is it common for people to do that and he shrugged it off as a norm. I do not feel comfortable at all leaving like $1000 of my MONEY sitting at a table unattended. I'm not going to trust some dealer who doesn't care. I think the fact that it's chips makes people feel differently. I mean, if someoone pulled out $2000 in 100s from their wallet would they feel comfortable just sitting it on the table and walking away?

[that_pope]

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When I first started playing in live casinos (only have gone to a casino 3 times before) I was just amazed at how trusting people were with getting up and leaving all their money sitting on the table. I kept asking my friend is it common for people to do that and he shrugged it off as a norm. I do not feel comfortable at all leaving like $1000 of my MONEY sitting at a table unattended. I'm not going to trust some dealer who doesn't care. I think the fact that it's chips makes people feel differently. I mean, if someoone pulled out $2000 in 100s from their wallet would they feel comfortable just sitting it on the table and walking away?

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I tend to leave a ton of money on the table when I go to the bathroom or for a walk, but if you keep it in easy countable stacks, you know what you have to the dollar and can notify right away if you see a problem when you start. And as you move up, you can do a little trick when you have big chips. Have a few $1 chips, and place them on top of your stacks, so it would be very awkward for someone to skim off a chip or two. Also, even stacks (except for the one odd stack out) will draw attention right away, where clumsily stacked chips would be almost impossible to tell if a chip or two were swiped.

But again, if you play somewhere even just a couple times a month, you will get to know a few people. And if you aren't the biggest [censored] in the world, it would be very uncommon for someone to notice something and not say anything. So you have everyone else at the table as eyes watching along with the dealer. But I've played 30/60 at Bellagio where bills play, and they tell me to grab the bills when I get up to walk, but leave the chips....

[pocketpared]

When I take a break I tell everyone I'm there alone, so if anyone tries to claim they're a friend, or whatever, and take my chips, don't let them. This doesn't prevent outright swiping but will prevent some of the other "He sent me" scams. It also brings attention to your stack so it may have a slight effect on outright chip swiping.
And I too always take cash off the table when I leave,

[Poshua]

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Sure enough the kid swiped them... Turns out that the kid was clocked in on his players card so they know who he is.

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This is seriously World's Dumbest Criminals material.