Someone played my chips at L'Auberge du Lac!

I cannot believe anyone who posts on this board would EVER leave ANY significant amount of chips - or anything valuable for that matter - unattended at a table when they went to the restroom. Of course the dealers can/should watch your chips and of course the cameras are capable of tracking how much money you left on the table, but why, why, why would you even take the chance?

The ONLY answer is to leave a token chip and ask the dealer to hold your place.

Even when I'm playing, the high value chips go in the centre of my rack or at the bottom, while the low value chips are accessible. If I have to do something or go somewhere, I take the majority of my chips with me, leaving a few $5 chips as a marker to keep people from playing.

call me crazy but sometimes i place my Id or players card on top of my chip stack. then walk away with not a care in the world. I never have close to $1k unless its a big win.

I guess I'm crazy too. Or I've been lucky to not get my chips stolen. At the Luxor I've seen them put a glass cover (looks like a cake cover) over the chips.

At the Connecticut casinos you are very strongly encouraged to take your chips with you when leaving a table no matter how short a time you will be gone. If a player insists on leaving unattended chips they are told that they are on their own.

At blackjack and other table games, you may ask to have your spot saved. The dealer will put a clear plastic chip separator, called a lammer, on your spot to save it for 20 min. They almost always leave it up much longer unless the tables are very crowded.

It's rare to see unattended chips at these casinos.

Yeah, I usually do take most of my chips with me. But remember ...

The casino was asses-to-elbows crowded. This may seem like MORE of a reason to take my chips with me, but there were about 8-10 people hanging around the (6-seat) table just waiting for a spot to open up. Any removal of chips, I thought, would mean I would lose my seat. If I did, that was it for the evening. The casino was ass-crowded. As it turned out, even while we were sorting the whole thing out, someone started playing the seat. I ended up getting banned anyway, but I really don't think I would have gotten my seat back if I hadn't.

As far as the amount, it was a $50 PGP Fortune table. I think my $1,000 stack was the smallest or next-smallest at the table. One guy there had well over $20,000. So, a lot of chips, but nowhere near the most.

Also, he had put that plastic thing (lammer, if bendakdoff is right) on other guys's chips earlier that night (it was busy), so I guessed that that's the way they did things there when it was busy. I don't know if the dealer actually did or not, although it's hard to imagine he wouldn't. It's possible that he did, then the dealers changed, and then this guy lied about them being his chips. That's my best guess. My next-best is that the dealer didn't cover them.

But to be honest, I don't remember if the dealer was different. I can't imagine a dealer would let this happen on his watch.

I'm not a casino rookie, I know the general procedures to protect myself and my chips. This was just one of those weird situations where I thought things were and should be done a little differently, and it may have been just fine except for someone lying. Yes, some people lie and steal and you have to think about that, but the fact that someone else lied/stole only means there are liars and thieves out there, not that I don't know what to do or should be inflexible to the situation.

Quote: ItsCalledSoccer

Yeah, I usually do take most of my chips with me. But remember ...

The casino was asses-to-elbows crowded. This may seem like MORE of a reason to take my chips with me, but there were about 8-10 people hanging around the (6-seat) table just waiting for a spot to open up. Any removal of chips, I thought, would mean I would lose my seat.

I can relate. I've made a lot of very reasoned, very bad decisions in the course of my life. It happens. And naturally you can't go back in time and do it differently.

But next time you can. For starters it may be a good idea to avoid the casino when it's crowded. if you can't, try controlling your fluid intake so you won't ahve to leave the table. if you must leave the table, leave only a few token chips behind (one or two min. bets, say), tip the dealer then, and ask him to hold your spot.

Under crowded conditions the dealer may assume anyone who grabs your seat is you. That is, he may not remember you well enough to know you from any other random player. He's more likely to remember if you tip him.

I suspect that when you complained, and the casino boss offered you $1000, that was because in your initial conversation and claim you said, "$1,000.00", and did not say "I'm not positive if it was $1000 or $1100.00" or something to that effect.

Perhaps I'm wrong about this, but if you were making that claim to me, I would "hold" you to the first amount you mentioned during our initial conversation. The first amount mentioned, because in the majority of cases, that is most likely the "honest" amount.

Also, security may very well have been able to view your chips, seen exactly $1,000 and "left it at that", because they do not want people to know their capabilities.

Or the surveillance tech on duty was too busy or lazy to actually bother checking thoroughly.

Regardless, you got a "fair" offer.

I had a complaint in Louisiana regarding a poker room and game. I went to the poker room manager, who "put me off", saying he was busy but would get to me shortly.

90 minutes later, I went back to him, and told him "I'd like to file a formal complaint with the Gaming Board, please get me the form."

He put me off again and ignored me for another 30 minutes or so. I finally went to find the general manager, who also put me off.
I was not provided the forms. I was asked to leave because I was inebriated. (I was not drinking but very tired.)

I did file my complaint via phone the next day with the agent for that casino. I also met the agent there, and followed up with him a month later. The Poker Room received a fine.

So the little guy can "punish" the casino, but the time it took me and aggravation was hardly worth the outcome. I won't be back there anyway, so the only thing I did was waste my time and possibly benefit the locals and new tourists.

Let me just say that my recommendation comes from zero experience, but just something that stood out to me.

If you're absolutely required to leave your spot and leave your chips there (it sounded like you felt obligated to in order to keep your spot) then count them beforehand. What you should have done is count them and separate them to a point. Example: Let's say you count them and the moment you leave the table you have $1100 - then what you should do is separate $100 from the $1000 so that when they review the tape you can say "There, I counted my chips and separated the extra $100". This way if it goes to a higher authority they will have a basis for looking deeper into the incident - it isn't just another 'casino ripped me off but I have no proof other than my word' argument.