Would you take your chips in an earthquake?

I was wondering what other members would do in this situation. I was playing craps in Caesars in October 1999 when the earthquake that was centered near 29 Palms CA hit. It shook the casino enough that the floor and table started to shake and continued for a minute or more. Once we realized what was happening the table came to a standstill even though we were in the middle of a reasonably hot roll and there was a lot of money on table. Many people started running out of the casino although not from the craps table. The crystal chandeliers above are heads started swinging back and forth about 3' or more off of centre. At this point the box man said if the chandelier comes down he was out of there. Given that I had over a $1000 on the table at the time I said I am not leaving my money behind. If all the dealers had actually left the table because there was serious damge going on would you stop to take your chips or (my flippant answe)r all the chips you could carry. Eventually the shaking subsided and the dealers never did leave so the question is somewhat moot.

The 7 showed up the first roll after the table resumed. I left the table to find my son and his new bride (they had been married that day). They had taken the stairs from the 22 floor with 100's of other guests. Apparently the building swaying had been very noticeable on the upper floors.

Something similar happened to me when we when my family was on a cruise around 2001 or so. I was only 16, so I wasn't allowed to gamble at the on board casino, but late at night I was able to sit next to my mom at a machine right at the edge and not get noticed.

At about 3 am all of a sudden the ship starts to tip. I mean hold on to your chair, if you're standing you're falling down. This tipping lasts a good 30 seconds or so until it seems we are almost at a 45 degree angle. Everything is tipping over, slot machines, every bottle and glass in the nearby bar crashes to the ground. My brother who was sleeping in the top bunk in the room fell to the ground. It actually was frightening as everybody thought we were tipping over to our death.

After the ship finally righted itself a small amount of chaos ensued. The casino has some machines like you see in Chucky Cheese, where you put a quarter in and it drops on a whole bed of quarters and some 'brooms' push those quarters forward and whatever drops you keep. The same concept but these used $1 chips. Well as you can imagine those tipped over slipping hundreds, probably thousands of dollars on the floor. I nudged my mom and she ran over there and collected whatever she could, a couple hundred I think. My dad was further in playing craps and he said the dealers and pit bosses kept everything cool and nothing got stolen and they returned his bets and then shortly after roped off the casino to clean up the mess.

After that we just walked around the ship and took pictures of all the damage, all the store looked destroyed, there was a Swarovski crystal store that was obliterated. The funniest part was some of the people were so freaked out they had put on those inflatable life vests and were running wildly around freaking out and trying to make sure they were near a life boat.

As it turns out there was a report of someone jumping off the side and the captain immediately turned as quickly as possible to avoid sucking them under (that part I still don't understand). So after orders of everyone required to go to their room to get a 100% physical head count of everyone on board and a several hour search from Coast Guard helicopters, it turns out that everyone on the ship was accounted for. It did make for a great, albeit scary story.

In Vegas? Sure, I'd gather my chips. I live in an Earthquake area and have gone through many of them (not the big one in 85, I was out of the country when it happened); I don't scare easy that way. In other places, like California, Tokyo or Downtown Mex City, to name a few, I'd dive under the craps table or rush to the nearest doorway or support column.

Funny story: one time I was on the phone with Compaq tech support, when the guy at the other end says there's an earthquake. I said "Not around here. Are you sure?" But the man had hung up. A few seconds later, the quake reached my office (it was a pretty mild one, BTW). It was the one and only time I got a quake warning.

1. I don't play high enough amounts to grab chips off the betting square. I probably leave those. I probably grab my stack as I run to who knows where.

2. Sorry if I've told this story before.... When I was in St. Louis, we had an earthquake 3 years ago at 4:00 a.m. Then 6 hours later a tiny aftershock hit. All the lazy people in my office said "Earthquake, we've got to get out of here!" When I told them that if they were really scared that they should take the stairs (we were on the 11th floor), they said "Eh, let's get back to work" I imagine that an earthquake gives people a good excuse to grab a bunch of chips (theirs or anyone's) and worry about the explanations later.

Quote: FinsRule

I probably grab my stack as I run to who knows where.

I think the place you are supposed to run towards in an earthquake is the Keno room because nothing ever hits there!

I don't know if there were casinos in Christ Church, NZ. They had a tremor a day for thirty days or something and then their central business district suddenly had a great many buildings that pancaked. So warnings seem to mean little.

Quote: FleaStiff

I think the place you are supposed to run towards in an earthquake is the Keno room because nothing ever hits there!

I don't know if there were casinos in Christ Church, NZ. They had a tremor a day for thirty days or something and then their central business district suddenly had a great many buildings that pancaked. So warnings seem to mean little.

There is one casino in Christchurch which, according to their website, has suffered ,minor damage and is temporarily closed. This casino is quiet a new building maybe 15 years old. I have been there a few times.

What to do in an earthquake, or a fire, is an interesting question. Chips aside, in any type of emergency, the worst that you could do is panic, or cause others to panic.

With an earthquake, the questions are, how bad is it, and is it safer to stay put or leave? With a fire alarm, the first assumption is, is there really a fire? If so, how bad?

I'd like to think that I'd calmly take my chips, as well as any bets that could be returned, and walk out the door.



Back in 1987, I was the DJ in an oldies night club on the top floor of a hotel. Hotels are like grade school, in that every couple weeks, some idiot would pull the fire alarm, the fire department arrives, checks things out for half an hour, then leaves.

This one time, the fire department wasn't leaving. In fact, more fire equipment showed up. The entire exterior wall was windows. The people in the night club can see what was going on in the parking lot, and could see people looking up - and pointing.

It dawned on us that they weren't letting anyone come up the elevators, but they weren't evacuating either. So there really was a fire. But if they're not evacuating, how bad could it be?

As the DJ, I tried to make light of the situation by playing fire music, such as Ring Of Fire, Burning Down The House, etc.

After about an hour, they started to let people come up.


It turned out to be a trash fire caused by a cigarette in a guest room bathroom, two floors below the night club. It really was no big deal. For a couple weeks, that room was added to the two that were directly below the dance floor, as the last rooms to sell to hotel guests.


Mind you, this was before the famous Station Nightclub fire that killed 100 a few years later. I don't know how I would have reacted if it was after the Station fire.

Quote: FleaStiff

I think the place you are supposed to run towards in an earthquake is the Keno room because nothing ever hits there!

Now THAT'S funny!

If you are an entertainer, you should know where flashlights, fuses and emergency exits are. Particularly if you bring in your own electronic equipment for the night and some pre-existing but already overloaded circuit might be used. Any report of a fire is still more likely to be some damn fool who forgot to add water to the coffee maker than anything else though.

During the war in Hartford a circus fire started early in the show ... and the band played John Phillips Sousa's The Stars and Stripes Forever. Great circus music... but it was the code signal for "All Animals To Safety. All Personnel To Disaster Assembly Point". A very simply way to get the message across without making any damn fool announcements to the entire crowd.

I like that playing fire themed music. Keeping your head and your sense of humor during times of uncertainty is good.

Yes, I would grab my chips ... in the absence of anything more important to grab (family, etc.).

IIRC, Las Vegas is in a seismic zone 2 (2A or 2B escapes my memory), but that to say that earthquakes there will almost always be less magnitude than, say, in San Francisco. While that is no secret, I would also feel perfectly safe in a large structure as far as collapsing goes, but I would take care to find a place to avoid falling objects such as light fixtures or glass.

The seismic building codes are VERY good here in the USA, which is why a 7.1 here destroys a couple of bridges and causes a couple of fires, while a 6.2 in Haiti or China or wherever kills thousands.

Wierdly, buildings in seismic zones are built to *withstand* the quake, and not *survive* it, meaning, a quake will destroy buildings and cause them to be condemned, but there won't be any spectacular collapses like in the movie 2012. Thus, life is saved even though the building will have to be torn down.

I don't think any major buildings were condemned after Loma Prieta in 1989 or Northridge in 1993 (?), which is pretty effing amazing.

The largest quake I've ever been in was a 5.3, but I was on the 45th floor in a building in downtown San Francisco. Lots of swaying, lost my balance, but was never in any real danger.

Quote: cellardoor

As it turns out there was a report of someone jumping off the side and the captain immediately turned as quickly as possible to avoid sucking them under (that part I still don't understand).

Known as a Williamson turn. A large vessel turns in such a manner so as to come back on its own course so that wind and currents do not take the man overboard too far away. That is why throwing some sort of object that will float is so important. It marks the spot for sure. A lifering with an automatic light on it is great, but something will mark the spot.

Ofcourse the worst part of is often the roll call ... when someone onboard an aircraft carrier looked down and saw a man riding the bow wave, he called out Man Overboard and ofcourse there was an immediate roll call for the entire ship as the helicopter crew performed the rescue and delivered a scuba diver whose diveboat had drifted away from him.

One yacht was racing off Santa Barbara when their crewman fell overboard and they didn't throw over the emergency floatation gear they had onboard, they didn't stop or attempt any rescue. They simply continued the race even though they had no chance of winning it at the time and they later radioed the Coast Guard with some Loran coordinates that turned out to be about five miles inland. The lawyer for the drowned crewman's estate tried to get a manslaughter indictment against the couple on the sailboat but the US Attorney said: if it doesn't involve drugs, I don't enhance my career by prosecuting it.

Safety on the high seas? Nope!

Quote: DJTeddyBear

What to do in an earthquake, or a fire, is an interesting question.

In an earthquake you want to move away from potential falling objects, like file cabinets and such. Do not ever go into the kitchen, especially if you had stuff on the stove. Other than that you should get out of the building or find a place of relative safety.

Realtive safety is a rather vague term. The danger comes from the building collapsing on top of you, which is why geting out is best but not always possible. So, shelter under heavy furniture is a good choice, like diving under a craps table. The other relatively safe places are doorways and support columns, which are least likely to collapse.

Stairs and elevators should be avoided. You're all to likely to tumble down the stairs when the ground is shaking, and you might get stuck in the elevator.

It helps to live in an area wither not prone to quakes, or one that has solid, stable bedrock under it. Mex City is at high risk of quakes originating rather far away, because parts of it are built over underground aquifers and water-saturated soil, that shake like Jell-O when the seismic waves hit. the rest of town is solid and usually rides quakes out with little damage.

When the shaking starts, it is very important to duck and cover as quickly as possible. If it is a major quake, you will not have enough time, nor will you be able to run out of the casino during the quake. You will risk worse injury from falling/tipping objects, and getting trampled by panicked crowds. Check out this video from various cameras during the 1989 "World Series" quake in California's Loma Prieto. The classroom video at the beginning is especially telling. The room pauses once the foreshock hits, then there is panic as folks bolt for the door. Note how the falling light fixtures and tumbling people made it worse for those who tried to run.

Despite what others have posted, do not try to make it to the doorway. You will not have enough time, and risk getting slammed by the door swinging back and forth. The strongest part of the room is an outside wall. Duck and cover your head and neck. Hold on to something solid if possible. After the shaking stops, move quickly outside, clear of the building. More info here.

After the MGM fire, I am in the habit of imagining where my exit would be. I hope to never have to use it, but it is comforting to be prepared.

A little more info on my original scenerio. The hundreds of people who had left their rooms were let into the pool area by Caesars staff and those still in their night clothes given towels. I always wondered about the wisdom of standing next to the hotel tower in the drop zone for windows or other debris. The area was also somewhat what because water was sloshing out of the pool from the quake.

As for the my chips those in the tray are relatively easy to put in your pocket quickly as is the pass line and odds. I also had all the numbers covered with come bets and full odds. What do you think would be Caesars position if I had taken my come and pass line bets and odds down myself if the table crew had abandoned the table because of the quake? I realize that the pass line odds should not be an issue.

Quote: kenarman

What do you think would be Caesars position if I had taken my come and pass line bets and odds down myself if the table crew had abandoned the table because of the quake? I realize that the pass line odds should not be an issue.

If the crew abandons the table, management should be kissing your feet for not reaching into the bank!

Their staff left. I'd say the bets get cancelled in that situation, so go ahead and take yours.

Quote: kenarman

A little more info on my original scenerio. The hundreds of people who had left their rooms were let into the pool area by Caesars staff and those still in their night clothes given towels. I always wondered about the wisdom of standing next to the hotel tower in the drop zone for windows or other debris. The area was also somewhat what because water was sloshing out of the pool from the quake.

As for the my chips those in the tray are relatively easy to put in your pocket quickly as is the pass line and odds. I also had all the numbers covered with come bets and full odds. What do you think would be Caesars position if I had taken my come and pass line bets and odds down myself if the table crew had abandoned the table because of the quake? I realize that the pass line odds should not be an issue.

I think it depends on what they could prove. If the security cameras were still working, or witnesses could place you at the table pocketing chips, it could have been a problem for you.

I would think they would reconstruct the state of the table using security video, and the recollection of the table staff (at least for what was on the layout), and compensate the players who filed claims accordingly.

Quote: FleaStiff

I think the place you are supposed to run towards in an earthquake is the Keno room because nothing ever hits there!

I laughed for several minutes after reading this.

Quote: JB

I laughed for several minutes after reading this.

Its an old joke and I'm sure everyone has heard it but is indeed still funny maybe because it is still so true. I think in the last two decades there has not been a single person who got 20 out of 20 in Keno... but people still keep trying. One electronic acquaintance puts her unemployment checks into 4 card Keno machines and lives on the free drinks and comped meals.

Here is an interesting article from the LVRJ on the recollections of a policeman who worked in the aftermath of the MGM fire. His re-telling of finding charred bodies at gaming tables is chilling. These folks were caught by the huge fireball that consumed the floor of the casino. There is also mention of folks who managed to run out, going to other casinos and gambling instead of trying to help those who were inside.

Quote: Ayecarumba

Here is an interesting article from the LVRJ on the recollections of a policeman who worked in the aftermath of the MGM fire. His re-telling of finding charred bodies at gaming tables is chilling. These folks were caught by the huge fireball that consumed the floor of the casino. There is also mention of folks who managed to run out, going to other casinos and gambling instead of trying to help those who were inside.

That man can sure tell a story. My god.