Honesty at the poker table?

[WiredSevens]

I sit down at my local card club and buy into the 1/2 NL game with $300, in 12 green $25 chips.

I sit down in the 10 seat at Table 3 and I'm going to be BB next hand. The dealer chops up a green chip for me, giving me 4 reds and 5 whites. When he's done chopping my green up, he pushes it back to me along with the rest of the change! A few seconds pass and he doesn't realize his error and I double-check my money; He's given me back my $25.

As I was in the 10 seat and no one was paying attention I was the only one who knew of his error.

So OOT, what do you do? Do you give him the green chip back or wait for him to realize it and if not PROFIT?

[rbenuck4]

Give it back. This should be a no brainer

[kcmoore]

give it back. if you are voting for palming it, you might as well just reach into his tray and grab more while you're at it

[knicknut]

Not to sidetrack--but if the cage gives you too little money (like when they insist on giving you reds and whites for 1/2 instead of just reds) and you don't notice it until you get to the table, is there anything you can do?

Got cheated out of $5 last week... looked right at the cage but only counted $195 five minutes later at the table, figured it wasn't worth going back as I couldn't prove he messed up. Not that I care that much about $5 but it was a principle thing.

[WiredSevens]

I usually double check my chips really quickly before I leave the cage.

[bav]

When the rack comes up short at the next dealer push, the previous dealer will receive measurable grief for being $25 down. NOT a nice thing to do to someone. Give it back immediately. The dealer may also figure out that you got $25 extra if you're the only one who changed a $25 chip that down. And they MAY also run the cameras back and come tap you on the shoulder 15 minutes after the short count is noticed and demand it back.

If you're playing a place where the dealer buys his own rack and is responsible for it (if they put their tips in the rack and carry it from table to table, it's theirs), then you're just straight taking $25 from the dealer's pocket.

[Lego05]

Give it back. You're just gonna screw over the dealer not the huge casino. Plus it really is not out of the question that someone will notice. There's cameras everywhere in those places. Best security short of Fort Knox and the White House.

[youtalkfunny]

Gotta love the title of this thread, as if being at a poker table gives you a license to steal, and a pass from morality.

[bav]

[ QUOTE ]
Plus it really is not out of the question that someone will notice.

[/ QUOTE ]
Oh, it WILL be noticed at the next dealer push unless in this casino the dealers carry their own trays with them from table to table.

Playing at Caesars once and thought I saw a chip runner short the dealer $20. But I wasn't certain because the dealer didn't break it all down--I was actually watching kinda carefully so I was about 80% sure one of the stacks was short, but couldn't be 100% sure, and she'd already thrown it all in the rack in a couple swift moves before I could say "uhhhh". I think about suggesting she count the rack, but if I'm wrong I'll become slightly less popular with the players and the dealer for speaking without being sure of myself and wasting everybody's time.

The next dealer came in and started counting and stiffened like a mainsail in a gale, refusing to deal a card until the floor came over and verified the rack count. This was repeated every 30 minutes with each new dealer, even though the previous dealer would tell the new dealer the rack was down $20 and the suits knew it... each new dealer staunchly refused to let a card fly until a floor person came and acknowledged that the rack was short. After the 4th time of this, I went and told a floor person they'd find the extra $20 in the cage--that I thought I'd seen a stack of $2's that was 10 chips light go into the rack during a fill. They then came and put $20 in the rack and the dealer pushes sped up.

Next time I intend to tell 'em quicker where the extra chips are if I'm at least 70% sure. That's the 2nd time I'd maybe thought I'd seen a rack get significantly shorted, but both times I wasn't 100% sure of what I'd seen so I stayed mum and it ended up later slowing us WAY down.

[tuq]

All,

But what do you do if it's a ONE MILLION DOLLAR CHIP? In that case I yell "OMG IS THAT PHIL HELLMUTH" and point, and then pocket the chip when everyone's craning their neck to get a glimpse of the WSOP legend. Then on the next hand I calmly excuse myself to go to the restroom, but instead go to the cage, and then to Mexico before they can figure out what just happened.