Casino Mooches

I recently posted in a thread about how you can keep any monies found in a machine at my regular casino, but failure to add to the machine would result in the voiding of any jackpots or handpays.

While this is true, the casino does have a policy that you cannot come in there and floor scour exclusively, or you will be asked to leave. In other words, you can't go in there with nothing and just run around looking for machines with credits left in them and only play those, or only ticket those out, or whatever.

The problem I have had with my casino, recently, is that they don't seem to do anything about Casino Mooches. A Casino Mooch is an individual, usually female, (in my experience) that will go around with some sort of sob story and point-blank ask people for money. I remember being at the casino and hitting for $300 on the machine about a month ago when one of these people was present, and the following discourse occurred:

Quote:

Mooch: Hey, how you doin'?

Mission146: I'm doing rather well, thank you, I just hit for $300.00, as I believe you saw.

Mooch: Yeah, I've been getting killed tonight. Can you lend me $20 and I'll give you half of whatever I win on it?

Mission146: The proper terminology when you are referring to monies that you have no intention of returning is, "Have," not, "Lend." Needless to say, the answer is, "No." Further, why don't I play the $20 and keep 100% of what I win?

Mooch: I'm going to be straight with you. I lost all my money, and I need gas to get home. May I please have $10?

Mission146: Where do you live?

Mooch: (Named city two hours away)

Mission146: What do you drive?

Mooch: What?

Mission146: What is the year, make and model of your vehicle?

Mooch: 2006 Town & Country.

Mission146: That will not be enough fuel to reach your intended destination, you are not telling the truth.

Mooch: OK, here's the truth...

Mission146: (Interrupting) Save it. Listen, I'm married, so I don't need anyone to see me sitting here and chatting it up with some random female because people will talk if they know me. I'm going to pay you for silence. I will give you $5 to never speak to me again as long as both of us live.

She accepted.

Two nights after that, the same situation occurred, and she came by when I was actually DOWN money, so I got the impression that she disturbs everyone and at all times, regardless of whether or not they are winning. I explained to her that she owes me $5 for violating our agreement, but she said she did not remember talking to me as it was her first time ever in that casino.

In any event, I reported her to security and she was eventually asked to leave.

I went to the casino two weeks ago, and she accosted me again. Same thing, report to security, asked to leave.

Three nights ago, the same thing. I finally asked for a Security Supervisor and had the following conversation:

Quote:

Mission146: Listen, I respect your position and you guys generally do a very good job, but this situation is intolerable with this girl. I am not a high roller, but I come here frequently to enjoy myself, I could go to (casino 30 miles away) where I hear the average slot payout is 93% which is better than here, but this is closer. You have to do something about her, she has bothered me the last four times I have been here, but the first doesn't count because I did not report it.

You guys card everyone that walks in here. The security guy tonight knows me by name, he still cards me. Can you not have a, "Black List," I know you do for card-counters, at least, I have been told that.

Security: I'm going to give you a free buffet ticket and three free drinks tokens for the inconvenience. The situation will be dealt with immediately.

Mission146: I appreciate the casino's generosity. The comps are unexpected and more than adequate as I would have accepted just having the situation dealt with.

I happened to be near the casino last night, so I decided to play $20 on slots and see what happens, usually I play $50. I ran into an old friend...

Guess who?

you really can't figure out something to say to someone to get them to never talk to you again?

Quote: WongBo

you really can't figure out something to say to someone to get them to never talk to you again?

I guess not. I am a polite person, sarcastic, but in a polite way. We had a verbal contract by which her end of the contract was to never talk to me again.

Besides, when you have a patron bothering one of your regulars any number of times, it seems like I shouldn't be the one to have to deal with her. It's not like Security made arguments for not removing her, they went to the camera (I'm assuming, or maybe they watched her approach another person in a like manner) and asked her to leave.

In short, it shouldn't be my problem.

Maybe you should have told them she was soliciting sex. Might have gotten her out of there more efficiently. Then again, maybe not.

Some dogs are named Talmadge!

At my casino there was an Asian man with broken english who was sitting there watching me play BJ. He kept trying to give me basic strategy advice and kept yelling YES when I won. I colored up for a $500 chip and after tipping the dealer had 10 dollars left over. I went and put it on roulette for the heck of it and lost. I then went to the cage to color up, figuring i was done for the night (it was 2am). He followed me when I went to roulette and followed me over toward the cage but kept his distance. After I cashed in the purple and was walking he came up to me and said "I bring you luck, give me 10 dollar gas so I go in car and go home". I politely refused and made my way to the hotel, and luckily he didn't follow me there as he had for the past hour. I woke up at 8am to play another hour of blackjack before dinner and guess who was sitting at the 25 dollar tables. Same guy. Don't know if he really needed 10 dollars for gas or was just trying to hit everyone up for 10 bucks. In either case it was annoying and I felt like telling security, probably should but didn't. Never seen this before in 3 years of playing, and this happened on Monday night. I have seen sketchy people standing around the entrance to the casino, and one time one of them asked me for a ride to K-mart so they could buy a part for their broken car so they could get home. Once again I politely said I was in a hurry to get home. Another time a young asian girl sat next to my friend and tried to give him advice on one of those electronic blackjack games. He asked her why she didn't play and she said she lost $500 on it, but she never once asked for money or anything like that. I still wouldn't like someone getting close/interacting with me that I didn't know, part of the reason I like going to the casino is to relax and have fun, not be uptight about what some lunatic might try to pull.

Went to my local trible casino. At the front door a grubby looking guy asks if I have any spare dollars? So I told him that I have many dollars but don't have any spares.The look on his face was priceless. 20 minutes later grubby guy grabs a seat at the three dollar BJ table with 19 wrinkled up dollars in his grubby fist. He lasted 3 hands.

Quote: rainman

20 minutes later grubby guy grabs a seat at the three dollar BJ table with 19 wrinkled up dollars in his grubby fist. He lasted 3 hands.

Gimme a break, I was still learning basic strategy.

I remember reading a story on here a while ago about an innocent looking old lady asking people if they had 10 dollars. The person said they later saw Granny on a slot machine with 6.xx in credits.

Mission your mistake was that $5 to stay away. From that moment on you were her "mother lode."

I've seen this many times on various table games, and it's often a female approaching a young-ish male. Sometimes the guy will look at me like "should I?" and I try to discreetly signal "no" but they often do it anyway. As soon as I get my break I let the floor know that there's a moocher, but there's really little that can be done unless a guest directly complains. It's an unfortunate situation, but as long as people give in and give up money it will continue to happen.

Never feed a stray, They will just keep coming back for more.

The first mistake was engaging her in conversation. The second mistake and this is the big one, was giving her money. It's no surprise that casino hustlers do not believe in verbal contracts. If a guy tried that he may very well be shown the door. Women are treated differently whether it be a traffic stop, a casino or even an internet forum. The next time she approaches you tell her to get lost before she pushes the button and claims your slot winnings. Yes, it happens.

I've never heard of security writing comps, but I keep my dealings with them to a minimum. Is this common?

I had a moocher incident a few months ago, the first I've ever had in all the years I've been going to casinos. I was playing a slot and a woman was sitting next to me watching her friend play another machine behind me but she was not playing anything herself. Her friend was doing pretty good from what I could tell. The moocher woman and I were chatting the way people do when they're sitting next to each other and after about 10 minutes I won a few hundred bucks and she commented on it and I said that that was the best I had done all evening.

A couple of minutes later the moocher woman said, out of the blue, "I brought you luck. You should give me some of that lucky money." I was completely flustered but managed to answer that I needed all the lucky money I could get for myself. I thought, why didn't she ask her friend for some money, why ask me? I felt so uncomfortable after that that I cashed out and went way to the other side of the casino.

That was the first time I've ever had someone ask me for money but more times than I can remember I've had people asking to buy cigarettes from me. Most people will pay a dollar for one but once someone who must have had a really bad night gave me his last handful of coins, it added up to about 40 cents. I've often joked that I should give them the cigarettes for free and then charge them 20 bucks for a light. :)

I like security's response to your problem after it happened multiple times. I (jokingly) was waiting for security to say "We'll give you a free buffet and three drink tokens to keep your mouth shut and leave us alone!"

I know you're not a mooch and that you were not doing it for any sort of compensation. However, the way the interaction is written it parallels the situation you're dealing with... just kind of funny.

I agree that the casino mooches are annoying. I could never imagine asking a stranger for money like that.

A few years ago I was with a soft-hearted girl and we were playing the ponies at the Plaza. Guy comes up and asks me for $2 so he can get something at McDonalds. I say no but the girl nudges me and says to give him the $2. I acquiesced...only to watch him walk up to the window to bet the next race.

Yes, I told the girl with me she needs to know when she is getting scammed. No, I don't think she learned anything from this.

Quote: tsmith

A couple of minutes later the moocher woman said, out of the blue, "I brought you luck. You should give me some of that lucky money."

Just another line to get money from you, just less common than "spare change".

My Various responses to requests for money.

"No",

"All my cash is in the machine right now". making no attempt to cash it out.

Say nothing, but give a non-verbal of shaking head no.


I used to not notice people too much who sit down beside me, but often people mooching give off clues, like not playing the machine but want to start idle chatter. Or "watch you play".

Since I don't smoke anymore, all the cigarette bumming is easy enough. I never have any, and am not going to buy any.

I just remembered another sort of mooching story.

My husband and I were in Vegas in 1999 and stayed downtown. I spent most of my time in the casinos and collecting all those cheap souvenirs they give out but he wandered around a lot.

At one point we met up on Fremont Street and he told me that he had come across a homeless man who was wearing a Masonic ring. My husband, being a 32nd degree Mason, struck up a conversation with this guy who told him how he had lost everything and wished he could go back to Texas to be with his family. My husband then bought this bum a bus ticket to Texas!

When my hsuband told me this story I said, "Are you out of your f****ing mind? That bum probably bought that ring in a pawn shop! I cannot believe you bought him a f****ing bus ticket! He probably just cashed it in and will be right back on that corner in an hour, mooching money off some other dumb tourist with that same sob story!"

My husband insisted he watched the bum get on the bus and that he ws indeed on his way home to "turn his life around", but that incident put a real damper on the rest of our vacation.

Can I speak to your husband please? Does he have 2 twenties for a ten?

LOL! The worst kind of mooching is the self-inflicted kind.

deleted

I just thought of something that happened to me once where I was assumed to be a moocher...by security. My buddy (who is legally blind and uses a cane) and I were staying at the Las Vegas Club. He was playing video poker (he has to put his face right up against the screen to see the cards, which always gets looks from other gamblers, and security). I was wandering the casino looking for him and once I found him I sat and chatted a bit, then got up and walked to a machine a few feet away, lost a few bucks, then went back and sat next to him to watch him play.

Maybe one minute later a security guard walks up and taps me on the shoulder and asks to see some identification. I ask him why and he says "Not sure, they called from upstairs and asked me to check". I was kinda ticked but complied, even telling the guard I was staying in their hotel. He seemed to be satisfied and left, and it wasn't until hours later I realized the eye in the sky must have been watching my friend and saw me acting like a possible moocher.

When I was young, I used to be the person that attracted the nuts: the people who would talk to you about Jesus on the bus, the mooches etc.

I have a simple way of dealing with them, it goes like this: "Get the fuck away from me, right now. I am NOT the person you want to be talking to. I am NOT nice."

It tends to work.

Guys, these situations are really just an opportunity waiting to happen.

If some reasonably attractive woman hits you up for ten or twenty bucks, just look at her, smile your toothiest grin, and say "Sure, but you gotta blow me first."

Ask yourself just one question: do you feel "lucky?"

Well do you, punk?

Quote: MrV

Guys, these situations are really just an opportunity waiting to happen.

If some reasonably attractive woman hits you up for ten or twenty bucks, just look at her, smile your toothiest grin, and say "Sure, but you gotta blow me first."

Ask yourself just one question: do you feel "lucky?"

Well do you, punk?

I think I'll pass. I've been blown before, it was pretty good and I don't want my feelings about that to change.

I don't give money to "mooches" but I will buy them food. For example, if someone claims to be hungry, I will walk them to a nearby fast food place or restaurant and buy them a meal. Now if they so choose to take that meal and sell it, well, not much I can do about that.

The only thing I know of that happened to me was some random woman asked if she could use my cell phone to call for a ride while I was walking by.

I declined. Don't know what the scam was.

I have decided next time something like that happens I'll hit a change button and tell her they'll be happy to arrange a ride for her or make a call.

Quote: QuadDeuces

some random woman asked if she could use my cell phone to call for a ride while I was walking by.
I declined. Don't know what the scam was.

Although she might have been simply looking for a phone to call for a ride, most likely she would have dialed some very expensive porno number from your phone since thirty percent of the phone charge goes to the owner of that number.... the random woman! Its known as "damseling" since most women who own those numbers go up to men and pretend some psychological distress and a need to call their boyfriend or something.

This thread took off!!!

I want to thank everyone for all of the responses and stories you have all shared on this thread, I've read every single one of them and hope that there are more forthcoming. I typically do my, "In Order," posting, but there have been many replies and I also have a few general statements which will essentially address mosty of the people who have responded to me on direct. In the event that, after scanning the posts again, I did not respond to someone's direct post to me adequately, I will embolden the name of that individual and provide a response.

General Statements:

1.) I realize that I erred in giving this moocher money, on that occasion. My theory was that even a lowly thief is in possession of some virtue, and I have been hassled by moochers before (usually only after a decent hit) and $5.00 and asking them not to bother me further usually does the trick. This is probably the only occasion where the, "Stray cat," has come back for more milk, and I have probably fed other kitties five or more times.

2.) I have my suspicions that she is actually a prostitute. My theory is that the manner of dress (Sweatshirt, Jeans) and the fact that she does not directly proposition anyone gives her some extent of deniability. My sense is that she takes the free money when she can get it, but she otherwise waits for the prospective John to make an offer. Otherwise, why not go straight into the, "Out of gas," sob story?

3.) I did not really expect the comps, and as a vegetarian, it is unlikely that I will use the buffet. I also still have one drink token left, as I used two of them on the night that I got them.

What I really wanted was the situation addressed adequately, and it has not been.

4.) The other night when I walked in, I did the first thing I always do which is get my coffee. I decided to go try out the $0.25 Double Diamond flat-top as I only brought $20.00 in to play with that night. I turned the corner and happened to glance into the $1/$5 slot room, and there she was. I was so disgusted that I walked right out of the casino, got right in my glovebox, and put that $20 right back in my wallet.

5.) I think the failure is on the part of surveillance. I understand that nothing the girl does actually cheats the casino, so they have to watch the tables for sharps, chip-wizards and card-counters, but there could be minimum surveillance on the floor. Five out of five times I was there? I can give you a probability on that. If she is there 100% of the time, then the odds are very nearly 1:1 that you will spot her there.

I don't really blame the security guys, because she probably gets escorted out the side door, waits twenty minutes, maybe runs to her van (if she really drives a T&C), changes clothes and goes in the front door. Maybe she waits for the side door security officer to go on break, the new one doesn't know her.

Yeah, I blame surveillance.

6.) In the meantime, a very easy system (since they have a computer at each entrance, anyway) would be to use Microsoft Excel and put the Driver's License number of every banned player in there, issuing state, and no other information. They card everyone, anyway, and this would take an extra five seconds. When someone comes in, after checking the DOB, you put the DL# in the searchbox with the State and see if you hit a match.

For example: TM475675-OH* Match or no match?

It's that easy.

7.) The other problem might be that there are two security teams. The floor guys work directly for the casino, and the entrance guys are contracted. The only reason I know this is because the entrance guys have the security company name on the right sleeve, and I have seen that same name on one occasion with the guy working emergency room security at the local hospital when my son had to go to ER.

8.) In any case, until I have word that people are getting banned for pervasive mooching, I'm not going back. I'll go to the other casino. It's thirty more miles (total 48 miles from home, 40miles from work) so I'm probably only going to go once/month as opposed to 5-6 times per month.

That's fine, anyway. I'm $40 down for this year, so going less is a fine idea. I've been as much as $300 down, but when I get too far down, I hit the poker tables until I am a couple hundred ahead. Poker's not any fun, though, I'm too competitive.

SPECIFIC RESPONSES, AS NEEDED

1BB

I would have no way of knowing whether or not it is common for security to write comps. My only other dealings with security, ever, have all been to present my Driver's License at the entrance. This guy was in a shirt and tie, though, like I said, I asked for the seurity supervisor because it was my THIRD time reporting the same person.


TSmith

I am an occasional cigarette buyer and seller. If I do not go to the casino, I smoke about four cigarettes a day, but my only gambling superstition is to light a new cigarette wheneverI switch machines...and I switch machines fairly often. Needless to say, I'm always running out. I pay $1/apiece and that is also what I sell them for. When people try to give them to me for free I say, "Please take the dollar, or you'll have a line out the door of people who, 'just ran out.'"

I'm not paying the $8.00/pack from the cigarette machine, less per smoke, but principle alone.

Tiltpoul

Great post! I never realized the irony of the comps!

JohnZimbo

You win for best Mooch story so far.

Mr.V/DirtyHarry

I think that is what she is mainly after, but will take free money in the meantime.

You must be sure to calculate expected value:

Let's imagine that you are forty years old. The average life expectancy of a U.S. male, in 2010, was 75.6 years, or 75 years and 219 days. 27,594 days, in total. If you are exactly forty, then you have lived 14,600 of those days leaving 12,994 days left to live.

The blowjob will definitely give you ten minutes of pleasure, but there is a 10% chance that the trick has herpes.

Your positive value is ten minutes which will happen 10/10 times, so your positive expectations total 100 minutes.

Your negative value is 12,994 days * 24 hours in a day * 60(minutes in an hour) -90% (Chance she doesn't have herpes)= 1,871,136 minutes

If you deduct the guaranteed positive value of 100 minutes, you are left with 1,871,036 minutes.

1,871,036 minutes/24 hours/60 minutes/hour = Negative EV of 1,299.33 days (3.56 years) suffering from herpes

Do you feel lucky?

*Any similarity to the Driver's License Number listed above is both completely coincidental and accidental. The Driver's License number, while containing the right number of Alphabetical and Numerical Values was randomly created by me.

Quote: Mission146

I understand that nothing the girl does actually cheats the casino, so they have to watch the tables for sharps, chip-wizards and card-counters

Since when do card counters equal cheaters?

Quote: aceofspades

Since when do card counters equal cheaters?

Oh, I see how that reads.

My apologies. I only meant the first two categories as cheaters, with CC'ers just being something they watch for.

Quote: Mission146

The blowjob will definitely give you ten minutes of pleasure, but there is a 10% chance that the trick has herpes.

A nonissue.

I was in Scouting as a lad, both Cub and Boy; we had a motto: "Be Prepared."

Let me introduce you to a good friend of mine ...



Hopefully you pack more in your wallet than your license, money, and credit cards.

It's a wicked world.

Quote: QuadDeuces

The only thing I know of that happened to me was some random woman asked if she could use my cell

This happened to me in Vegas by a young girl. I only said one word, no. The look on her face was priceless.

.

Quote: MrV

A nonissue.

I was in Scouting as a lad, both Cub and Boy; we had a motto: "Be Prepared."

Let me introduce you to a good friend of mine ...



Hopefully you pack more in your wallet than your license, money, and credit cards.

It's a wicked world.

Please introduce me to the blonde!!!

Anytime anybody asks me for money, whether spare change, bus money, or gas money, in any situation, I simply wave my hand in front of their face and say "These are not the dollars you are looking for." and walk away. If they repeat the request, I repeat the hand motion and sentence. I've never had to say it more than twice. It's surprisingly effective.

Quote: Toes14

Quote: MrV

A nonissue.

I was in Scouting as a lad, both Cub and Boy; we had a motto: "Be Prepared."

Let me introduce you to a good friend of mine ...



Hopefully you pack more in your wallet than your license, money, and credit cards.

It's a wicked world.

Please introduce me to the blonde!!!

Toes14, meet Gary.

Quote: MrV

A nonissue.

I was in Scouting as a lad, both Cub and Boy; we had a motto: "Be Prepared."

Let me introduce you to a good friend of mine ...



Hopefully you pack more in your wallet than your license, money, and credit cards.

It's a wicked world.

As a note, Condoms don't completely protect from the transmission of herpes.

Quote: tsmith

I just remembered another sort of mooching story.

My husband and I were in Vegas in 1999 and stayed downtown. I spent most of my time in the casinos and collecting all those cheap souvenirs they give out but he wandered around a lot.

At one point we met up on Fremont Street and he told me that he had come across a homeless man who was wearing a Masonic ring. My husband, being a 32nd degree Mason, struck up a conversation with this guy who told him how he had lost everything and wished he could go back to Texas to be with his family. My husband then bought this bum a bus ticket to Texas!

When my hsuband told me this story I said, "Are you out of your f****ing mind? That bum probably bought that ring in a pawn shop! I cannot believe you bought him a f****ing bus ticket! He probably just cashed it in and will be right back on that corner in an hour, mooching money off some other dumb tourist with that same sob story!"

My husband insisted he watched the bum get on the bus and that he ws indeed on his way home to "turn his life around", but that incident put a real damper on the rest of our vacation.

I'd cut him some slack. The positive EV of either, 1) helping a fellow Mason who was down on his luck, or 2) getting a bum on a bus out of town, has got to be worth the price of the ticket. For either, tell your husband I appreciate his generosity.

' Since when do card counters equal cheaters? "

Since King Lubin issued his royal decree !

Quote: rainman

At the front door a grubby looking guy asks if I have any spare dollars? So I told him that I have many dollars but don't have any spares.The look on his face was priceless.

Almost the exact same response that I give when asked whether I might have an "extra cigarette". What is an "extra cigarette" -- like maybe I had one that I wasn't going to use and thus didn't need, and was keeping around in case I should require a spare? So I just say, no, I'm planning on smoking all of them. I tend to get blank stares in response.

Quote: tsmith

That was the first time I've ever had someone ask me for money but more times than I can remember I've had people asking to buy cigarettes from me.

I first started getting this in the mid-1990s, when cigarettes were ten bucks a carton. It seemed crazy to me then, especially when entire packs could be bought at the bar. Today, with the cigarettes at the casino topping eight dollars a pack, it seems less unreasonable.

Quote: Johnzimbo

Guy comes up and asks me for $2 so he can get something at McDonalds.

I have actually eaten at a McDonald's maybe half a dozen times in my life. (I have very occasionally gone to one for coffee to use the free wireless connection.) The last time that I actually ate at one was somewhere in the 1999-2001 timeframe, in Las Vegas. A guy, possibly homeless, came up to me while I was sitting in the restaurant eating and hassled me for change. I politely refused, and spent the next several years kicking myself for not standing up and shouting for the manager.

(Note that I did not quit eating at McDonald's because of this incident -- I just dislike their food.)

Quote: Mosca

I think I'll pass. I've been blown before, it was pretty good and I don't want my feelings about that to change.

The worst martini I've ever had didn't suck. But Mission146 makes an excellent argument regarding expected value, and condoms with oral sex sound like trying to drink your martini through a coffee filter to me; maybe it's safer but it will probably be less satisfying and look weird as hell.

Great idea for a thread, BTW. I'm almost to the point where I don't smoke when I'm away from the tables because of all of the moochers. Which is a shame, considering that Las Vegas is one of the last places left that I regularly visit where you can openly smoke indoors.

I've gotten the car trouble people, too. "Oh, wow; my boyfriend is actually a mechanic let me call him for you he'll come right down from the room and take a look. He loves looking at messed up cars. Cheaper than a garage, too." That usually makes them vanish.

Regarding the Mason story, I would have quizzed the guy on things that a Mason would be expected to know, to get the bus money.

Wow, I sure hope I don't run in to any of you people when I'm down on my luck. Hopefully you don't either.

Looks can be deceiving. I was strolling in NYC's Central Park once when a man approached some Late Teeners or something to bum a cigarette... the group of teens made fun of him and never once noticed his well shined shoes, manicured nails and athletic appearance despite the somewhat frayed clothing. I happened to be strolling in his direction so I kept watching from time to time and saw him leave the park and enter an expensive hotel. I had no idea who or what he was, but I sure felt he was no down on his luck bum.

I'm not a regular smoker, but I like to double or triple up on vices when I do in fact go that path. Whenever I drink, I smoke... whenever I gamble, I smoke. Unfortunately these are the times that you will ALWAYS get hit up on for a cig... I was a regular smoker during finals and would rarely get hit up for one when going outside for a break. It has something to do with the public / intoxicated atmosphere that increases the amount of people willing to ask for a freebie.

So yeah, just another reason to be a non-smoker.

This thread has given me a whole new reason for preferring places with a special Baccarat room. I'd like to see a few of these slot hustlers trying the "hey I just made you lucky now pay me" game at some of those tables. Doubt they'd last long, though.

For bums and mooches who are persistent and practically unavoidable, be sure to loan $1, which they will never repay. Then you can tell them, you already owe me a dollar and they can say nothing. It worked really well with a bum near a UDF in COLS and I still laugh about it because his look of disappointment was priceless. Damn bum still owes me that $1.

For cig bums, insist on $2/2.

Quote: onenickelmiracle

For bums and mooches who are persistent and practically unavoidable, be sure to loan $1, which they will never repay. Then you can tell them, you already owe me a dollar and they can say nothing. It worked really well with a bum near a UDF in COLS and I still laugh about it because his look of disappointment was priceless. Damn bum still owes me that $1.

For cig bums, insist on $2/2.

I do this as well. I am quite happy even if the tactic takes $10 or so [usually co-workers are the problem]

Quote: tsmith

I just remembered another sort of mooching story.

My husband and I were in Vegas in 1999 and stayed downtown. I spent most of my time in the casinos and collecting all those cheap souvenirs they give out but he wandered around a lot.

At one point we met up on Fremont Street and he told me that he had come across a homeless man who was wearing a Masonic ring. My husband, being a 32nd degree Mason, struck up a conversation with this guy who told him how he had lost everything and wished he could go back to Texas to be with his family. My husband then bought this bum a bus ticket to Texas!

When my hsuband told me this story I said, "Are you out of your f****ing mind? That bum probably bought that ring in a pawn shop! I cannot believe you bought him a f****ing bus ticket! He probably just cashed it in and will be right back on that corner in an hour, mooching money off some other dumb tourist with that same sob story!"

My husband insisted he watched the bum get on the bus and that he ws indeed on his way home to "turn his life around", but that incident put a real damper on the rest of our vacation.

They have stranded passenger offices at the Greyhounds to deal with them. I loved it in Philadelphia a bum pretended to need to get back to Atlanta and lucky for him he had no Southern accent. I complained to the head bum there and he told me he was going to be disciplined.

i gave a random guy $5 to play video keno before because i was interested in seeing what made the game so appealing to him on the terms that he explains to me his "strategy" and why he prefers this keno game over others and also my $5 back and 50% of the winnings if he binked a high payout. he liked cleopatra video keno and to pick 6 numbers and if he didnt hit at least a minimum payout in 3 hands? then he would pick 6 new numbers.

I feel like a lot of people in this thread are boasting about how they dealt with "mooches," or at least giving advice on how to deal with them. But I say, what is wrong with a little human kindness?

I have never been in a casino asking strangers for money, but I imagine it's not a fun position to be in, whether truly out of need or even if running a scam. "Scamming" for five or ten dollars is not really in the same league as confidence games that are executed by well-financed scam artists.

The fact is, those ten bucks probably would mean a lot more to the "moocher" than to you. If you've ever given $10 to a dealer -- who has a steady job, and likely a home, a car, friends, and family -- then you should feel just as happy to give it to the moochers. What they are doing is a lot harder work than dealing cards, and they probably need the money more. Even if they gamble it.