Chip stealing

Is this a problem in the big rooms?


In the 80's I spent a few winters in LA and this went on enough to be a topic of conversation between players and some started asking others to watch their chips when they left the table.


I witnessed a theft once. I was sitting in seat 4 and a large multiway pot was being played. The guy in seat 3 had left the table about 10 min. ago and had 300-350 in yellow. I watched a guy come walking down the aisle and when he was even with the table he scooped up the chips without slowing down. He even made eye contact with me. I got the attention of the player in seat 2 and asked if this was the original who just picked up his chips but he didn't see anything. By the time I got to the floorman a min or 2 later the guy was gone. The floor seemed more interested in getting me back to the game. The player did get his money refunded 30 min later.

I've always made it a habit to make sure my chips are in even stacks before I leave the table and to count them. Paranoid? I don't know. I've been playing in the big L.A. cardbarns for years and I've never had a problem. But anywhere there's a lot of money/cash, I would think stealing would be a problem. When they asked Willie Sutton why he robbed banks, he said because that's where the money is.

I don't think this is a huge problem. The cameras are a big deterrent. Would-be chip thiefs have much easier targets, namely crowded craps tables.


Certain cautions are probably in order. I never leave loose bills on the table, for example. I either tuck them under a couple stacks or tell the dealer I'm taking them with me.

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