Ultimate Freeroll - moral conundrum

[MuckerFish]

Playing earlier this weekend .5/1NL at my favorite site, sitting with about 170 in front of me, having a good ole time when the @%&*'ing site crashes. No biggy as I'm sure this has happened to most people who play online. After not being able to log back on for about 20 min, I call it a day and spend some quality time with my wife. Next day I log back on and find that my 170 is listed as still in play from the night before, but I'm not at any tables or anything. I contact customer support who musta been swamped from the crash the night before, tell 'em about my situation, and get the standard 'be patient, bad crash/server problems' line. No sweat, I'll be back later. After some more family time with the Mrs, I log back on to find my account balance about doubled!! WTF, this kinda thing only happens to other lucky SOB's, not me. But wait, it gets better. After sitting there for a few happy minutes, I see my balance pop up by about 170, few more minutes-another 170, few more-170!!! You get the picture; when they tried to fix my account, some computer glitch had them pumping that 170 left from the crash into my account every couple of minutes!!! Well, after an hour or two, I find myself sittin on about 12K!! Talk about rakeback!

Anyway, here's my question. All legal issues about takin' the cash and running aside(after all this whole online poker thing is illegal in the states anyway, they're not comin after me)- who here is reporting the error, and who's playin' in the 50/100 NL "freeroll" against the big boys??

True story - Results later!!

[DoomSlice]

Haha... freaking awesome.

If I were in your spot, I'd take the high road and notify them of the problem. They'll probably figure it out when you go to cash out anyway.

I just can't justify stealing 12K... even if it is from a poker site.

[olavfo]

I'd notify them immediately (and weep while doing so).

olavfo

[LostMyMoney]

If I thought I would get away with it I would take the money in a heartbeat.

As it stands you are risking 170 to win 12k. I would cashout and hope that they miss it or at least reset you to 170.

Playing a bigger game is also enticing because if you win then they will likely just subtract 12k but let you keep the remainder. If you lose, its a freeroll anyway.

I would not notify them under any conditions.

(Note on my moral tendencies: I would never steal from a store and would NEVER rob a person. 7 times out of 10 I will notify a teller/waiter etc. who gives me incorrect change, I am more likely to correct the person if it is a small buis or I feel that it would come out of the persons paycheck, I am more apt to take the money and run if it is a big buis...)

Go on. Take the money and run. Woo hoo hoo!

[kslghost]

They'll figure it out. No website will give away that much money by accident and not figure it out.

[cianosheehan]

[ QUOTE ]
If I thought I would get away with it I would take the money in a heartbeat.

As it stands you are risking 170 to win 12k. I would cashout and hope that they miss it or at least reset you to 170.

Playing a bigger game is also enticing because if you win then they will likely just subtract 12k but let you keep the remainder. If you lose, its a freeroll anyway.

I would not notify them under any conditions.

(Note on my moral tendencies: I would never steal from a store and would NEVER rob a person. 7 times out of 10 I will notify a teller/waiter etc. who gives me incorrect change, I am more likely to correct the person if it is a small buis or I feel that it would come out of the persons paycheck, I am more apt to take the money and run if it is a big buis...)

Go on. Take the money and run. Woo hoo hoo!

[/ QUOTE ]


I dont see why you can morally seperate the two. Stealing is stealing. If you feel stealing is immoral, then dont do it. If you like to make excuses about your moral standing for the sake of conveniance and personal gain, take the money.

[RiverDood]

Not totally certain. I'd guess about 90% chance that they figure it out; 10% that they don't.

But even "reputable" banks can be very unpleasant when they discover you pocketed the money. Lots of nasty letters. Threats of going after your assets, etc. It may all be bluster, especially given these guys' domicile and legal standing. But it's a really unpleasant way to spend six months. As tempting as it is to palm the money, my guess is that more than your conscience will be bothering you if you go that route.

I'd let them know up front -- and propose that they give you a bunch of free MTT entries as a way of rewarding you for your honesty and keeping you as a satisfied customer. It's cheap currency for them and kind of a nice way of settling it for everyone.

Just a thought.

[MuckerFish]

well guys, thanks for the comments. I dont have it in me to try to pull a fast one, too much of a guilty conscience. I contacted the site, they locked up the account for a while and fixed the bug. Turns out this happened to a few other people at the same time also. The site said they're going to try to get us 'honest joes' who notifed them a free copy of SS/2 or something like that.

I guess I'll just have to build up my bankroll the old fashioned way before I take my shot at Pralhad and the boys...

[spy587]

Have fun with your book. Just remember in the future that no good deed goes unpunished.