The House Always Wins: Casino Employees Share The Worst Losers They Have Ever Seen
It's easy to watch people winning at casinos. But what about the losers? While casino staff aren't allowed to reveal names, they do tend to have a favorite story or two about the losers who pass through their workplace. These are shocking, ridiculous, and sometimes downright NASTY. You've been warned.
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38. We've Heard Of Losing Your Shirt, But This Takes It Even Lower
I watched my uncle lose everything at a blackjack table. He then proceeded to the bathroom, came out with his pants off and threw them on the table. He says, "Pants plays." The dealer said, “We can’t take your pants, sir!” He said, “Why not? You took everything else." Needless to say he was escorted out of the casino very upset.
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37. Some People Shouldn't Gamble Before Breakfast
When I was younger, I worked at a casino. It was my job to greet people gambling on the floor. We had a gentleman who was losing (I guess), he threw his coffee at me for greeting him.
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36. Beat By The House, Saved By The Pond
We had a guy lose about $900. He sulked off to his car and proceeded to start circling the parking lot.
Around his third loop he speeds it up one of the aisles heading towards the casino. He busts through a fence, drives partially through a pond and actually crashes his car into the wall of the casino.
Luckily when he burst through the pond one of the rocks on the edge caught the car's undercarriage and was dragged. That slowed the car down and only allowed for minimal damage to the wall.
35. If You Think You Might Lose, Consider A Diaper
A gentleman at a poker table in the five seat unzipped his pants and peed on the dealer. I never caught the signal the dealer used, but it was effective as all the guys who normally collect boxes from the tables show up out of nowhere and removed him from the table like they were taking out the trash (Well, they were...). The table broke up so they could clean, the dealer showered and put on a new uniform and I saw her on the floor again a few hours later.
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34. The Way It Would Work If Game Night Monopoly Had Casino Surveillance Cameras
I wasn't working at the time, but rather playing poker when a guy went on super tilt after a bad hand. Anyway, he dove onto the table and thrashed around, scattering the cards and throwing everyone's chip stacks all over the place before security wrestled him out.
It took a good 30-plus minutes to sort everything out. That's also the day we all came to respect just how powerful casino surveillance cameras are. They were able to locate and replace every single chip exactly to where it was before his tantrum.
33. Bark And Bite Both Bad: The Itchy Canine Exit Strategy
I worked casino security. We had to remove a guy after he lost a bunch and got super inebriated and irate. He wouldn't even take his chips that he had left (we set them aside). As I kick him out the front door he starts getting pretty angry, stammering back and forth. Finally, he broke, took his pants off and sat down... and proceeded to drag his rear end across the concrete like a dog that has an itchy butt.
32. A Money-Saving Way to Spend All Your Time At A Casino
I was a blackjack and craps dealer at a casino for almost four years. But this one guy, I recognized him because I'm sure I had dealt cards to him, he was your classic "mad when he lost, never enough when he won" type of guy. At this time I had just learned craps so I was trying to spend most of my time in the craps pit. Well I guess he had had enough, because he started standing on the sidewalk between our casino and a major intersection/access road to the casino with a sign that read "If you play blackjack here you're being cheated" Now I know what you're thinking, "That's not that crazy." However, he was out there everyday almost all day for about a month and a half. Dude was crazy!
31. Worth Every Nickel?
Currently working as a casino security guard. I've see a man punch out the screen of the machine he was playing as well as the screens of the machines on either side of him. After reviewing footage of him on the floor, I saw he'd only been there a short time and review of the machine showed he'd only been betting $.05. He couldn't have lost more than about $10 in total. He was billed $497 per screen in court after the police caught him.
30. When You Leave In Handcuffs They Hardly Ever Invite You Back
I was a security guard at a casino for just under two years. I worked the graveyard shift the entire time before I had to leave for my own mental health due to how depressing this job could be. The worst one I ever saw was a known local business owner losing what he called "over half my life's savings" in under 8 hours at $2,000 a hand on a blackjack table, then attempting to attack the dealer. I had to tackle him and put him in handcuffs. He left the property in a sheriff's car and attempted to enter the building three times in the next two weeks with intent to harm that dealer.
29. Absolutely Disgusting
Dealer for 10 years. 3rd DAY DEALING, fresh out of dealer school I am dealing Pai Gow Tiles. (Asian domino game, try to get pairs and tiles to add up as close to 9 as possible). On a $25 minimum game. Guy bets $25-$75 for a good 2 hours. He then slides his whole stack on one hand for 3k.
For those who know the game, he gets Teen-Dai Bo. I pull Ji-Jun. For those who do not know the game, its like he got pocket kings and I got pocket Aces. Or he pulled a 20 in blackjack and I just pulled 11 cards to make 21. The odds are ASTRONOMICAL. It's the ONLY hand that beats him.
He slams his fist on the table swearing in Chinese, chips fly everywhere, and begins to shove his finger down his throat. He self-induces throwing up all over my game... Close the table and pit down for clean-up. 3rd day dealing...
Money/benefits are great though. Highly recommend the industry. Made 30-40 an hr.
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28. Rolling On The Floor But Not Laughing
The worst losses aren't always the largest amounts. The largest amount lost was in the seven figures over a few years, but this man had lived his life and this was his entertainment. He still tipped everyone hundreds. The worst was a woman that lost $100 that night. Had no gas in her car to get home, couldn't pay valet, hadn't eaten since she entered the casino 14 hours ago. I've worked at a daycare before, but that was the most intense tantrum I've ever dealt with. Crying, screaming, rolling on the floor, the works.
27. They Call Slot Machines One Armed Bandits But Nobody Has 55 Arms
I'm a slot machine operator/attendant and saw a guy blow 70K euros. He was playing 55 slot machines at once and lost it all. He proceeded to rampage through the venue, promptly destroying 20 machines. He is getting sued and got arrested.
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26. The Player Who Sounds Like Casper The Not So Friendly Ghost
I was a poker dealer for a casino for a while (not the 4-Card Poker stuff, but Texas Hold 'Em against other players, a raked game).
Limit was 5/10 and the games were reasonably large. A well-known gambler shows up and dumps £20K on the table for the max buy-in. Over the period of maybe three to four he runs it up, absolutely crushing the game, and has a stack of maybe £60K-£70K in front of him.
A hand comes around when he has already invested about £1K pre flop (raise to 50, re-raise to 300, re-raise to 1000, call).
I don't remember the runout but I remember he had a full house which he got on the river. The other player raised his bet, this guy raises all in and the other player snap calls. The other player rolls over four of a kind, rinses our guy for like £60K. He is just sitting there, ashen faced, then a low guttural moan. Like the kind of moan you make when you suddenly and gradually realize that you're going to pass away. It increased in volume until he was bellowing it out. Then he just slumped in his chair, kind of slid of it and then walked out, visibly shaking. Never seen that before!
25. Well We Knew You'd Be Losing So We Baked A Cake
I used to work in a casino, but not any more. This one guy would always be in high limits and he'd just punch the screen and break it. He did it so frequently they made him a cake that was decorated like a slot machine with a smashed in screen one year for his birthday.
24. Why Players Should Not Strip
I was dealing on a high-limit table one night and a man lost his last two $500 chips for a total loss of $30,000 in about 20 minutes. (I know this guy and have dealt to him for many years, so I wasn’t totally surprised by this response.) He proceeds to stand up and tuck his chair in nice and neatly. He then squares up to me from behind his chair and rips off his own shirt. He was wearing a $400 Robert Graham. Buttons go flying in about four different directions and he lets out a primal scream! The other two players were so scared by his delayed reaction that they ducked for cover out of sheer surprise. I’m left staring at him with my mouth to the floor. He’s heavily breathing and bare-chested to his belly button and staring at me. I was left speechless as he turned and walked out the casino to his villa to no doubt break something else. Absolute meltdown!
23. Do You Want Chips With That Temper Tantrum?
Guy lost a big hand, $10K or so. He ordered a sandwich and waited the 15 minutes or so for it to be delivered to the table. Then he threw it in the dealer's face. Also, he was only banned for 24 hours.
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22. I Can Never Remember, What Do You Serve With Blackjack Cards?
I’m a high-limit blackjack dealer. I once had a woman up about $5,000 when I came back from break. The cards turned and I started crushing her.
We were about half way into a shoe (three decks in) and she got angry and dumped her whole drink into the discard rack. She said, “Oops, I guess you’re going home.” I said, “No, but you are.” Security came and escorted her out a few minutes later.
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21. When A Dealer Is Mean But Still Wants To Keep Her Fantastic Job
So admittedly, I knew I was making this player mad. Being ultra-polite, best fake smile, chatting with another player who liked fast dealing. I liked that player better so I dealt very fast. The woman player was enraged at me and because she was losing. She ran from the table screaming like a banshee, while cussing me from top to bottom. I smiled and said, "Have a fantastic day." We were required to use the word "fantastic."
20. You Hexed Me Bro And I Will Remember The Rest Of Our Lives
I've seen a lot of bad behavior at tables. One guy flipped a table after a particularly bad night, one regular would tear cards in half every so often, but only on the last hand of a shoe. A fellow dealer was spit on, multiple times, in two separate incidents. I was at an empty blackjack table on a Saturday night. My friend walks up and wants to play. I tell him how bad the cards have been running, he doesn't care. I tell him I can't deal to a friend, because it's against the casino rules. I tell my floor supervisor I've known the guy since I was six. Floor okays it anyway. Sixteen hands in a row he lost a $25 bet, then bet his last $100 on the 17th and lost again. To this day, more than a decade later, he holds it against me and somehow believes I had something to do with it.
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19. You'd Think It Would Be More Fun To Throw Stuff
Saw a guy lose 700 bucks in 30 seconds playing 3-Card Molly in front of the Super Bowl. Huge crowd walking all around us.
He gets mad and slams his wallet/man purse to the ground, scattering all of its contents with his cash and credit cards cascading into the feet of several hundred people rushing to get in.
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18. They Won't Be Able To Play Slots But He Can't Do Laundry Either
One guy was so angry at his losses that he took 200 quarters, cut them in half, taped one side, and proceeded to put them in various slot machines. Once they entered the machine, it would jam it up.
17. The Eyewitnesses Couldn't Even Describe This Lotto Loser Crime
A guy got mad and punched a video lotto machine. We watched the guy walk across the bar and out the door. The bartender tried to stop him and called the cops. We learned that intentionally breaking those lotto machines is very, very bad. We also learned that happy hour and being an eyewitness to a crime don't mesh well. Not one of us agreed on what the guy was wearing or what he really looked like. Good thing they had cameras.
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16. The Oldest Woman To Worry About Getting Carded At A Casino
My father-in-law works casino security and watched an elderly lady lose everything at a poker table--then go around and steal a couple of people's purses and wallets. When they confronted her and asked for ID, she said she wouldn't give it to them because they weren't the police. When the police arrived, she still wouldn't give them her ID or even her name, saying they couldn't arrest her if they didn't know who she was. Needless to say, they arrested her anyway. The last thing the cop asked her was, "Are you at least going to cooperate and walk out with us to the car, or are you going to do it the hard way?" They had to carry her out and she was kicking the windows in the back of the car the entire time.
15. When Dealers Double Down (Down Down) At Home Games
It wasn't at the casino but at our dealer home game. I was a poker dealer at a Hollywood casino. We had some out of town dealers whom we only kind of knew at our regular home poker game. One of these guys decided to slow roll (pretended like he lost a hand and then slowly revealed his winning cards) one my friends. Guy who lost the hand stood up and punched the guy right in his smug face, knocking him out cold, head falling to the felt. It left a nice blood stain on the poker table...
Was kind of awkward seeing the guy dealing in the big poker tournament the next day with a busted up face. Oh well, play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
14. This Is Why Gamblers Can't Have Nice Cars (Or Shouldn't Park Them Nearby If They Do)
At a golf course (not high end, pretty much middle-income folks) one night I was working late and the boys would play dice at the bar. A hundred bucks a roll was pretty standard and most times somebody left with a grand, but usually, everything came out pretty even. One night I watched a guy who was a pretty well-known problem gambler go on a bad run. Blew through the $2K he brought and went on credit with one of the guys he was playing with. Before I knew it he was almost $12K down. He ran to his car and got his title and signed it over as the guy he was into the cash for refused to let him go further. Ended up almost $30K down before they finally told him to stop. I found him the next morning when I opened, sleeping on the back steps of the club. He just got up and started walking home and I didn't see him come around anymore. I heard later that he had started a payment plan but I can't imagine that he ever paid it off.
13. A Posh Post Loss Push Fest
I was working the bar in the silver circle at Royal Ascot racecourse (for those of you outside of the UK, it's a pretty fancy horse racing gala). There are two guys at the bar wearing full morning dress (top hats and coattails. One gives the other a tip about a horse in an upcoming race, says it's a dead cert. Other guy puts £25,000 on this horse (that's the equivalent of a deposit on a house). It comes in third. The guy who placed the bet takes a plastic glass, smashes it top down on the table so it sort of flairs out into a jagged plastic star shape, and sticks it in the other guy's face. Both parties were removed, one to hospital and the other by the police.
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12. Intentional Incontinence Is More Common Than You'd Think At Casinos
I’m a casino surveillance officer so I watch inebriated people make mistakes every single night on one of my 70 monitors. A couple months ago this woman in her early 20s came in, lost a lot, punched the screen and broke her hand. She tried to sue and was being escorted out by the cops, then peed herself while screaming hysterically. It was absolutely the funniest thing I’ve seen in a while.
11. Some Players Don't Know The Value Of Money--Literally
This one guy won a big jackpot for about $50K. Next day, he comes to play a poker tournament. He buys in for $300. He loses and throws the biggest, swearing fit, flipping his chair over and everything. A $50K win, and he loses it over $300.
10. You Can Talk To Yourself At A Casino and Still Get Slapped
Eight in the morning, just starting my shift. Dude playing blackjack, might have been there all night. Every other hand he mumbles something and smacks himself in the face as a punishment for a bad choice he made. Wanted to laugh and laugh, barely kept it cool.
Another time I was dealing poker to a bunch of guys who were enforcing debts, some really shady business. I've been told that they will wait for me outside and pack me to their trunk if I keep dealing bad hands. They were just fooling around, but knowing they had capacity to do it and had done it in the past gave me a little fright. But most of the time people are just obnoxious.
9. While We Won't Fly You To The ATM, We Will Fly You To Your Swiss Bank Account
I'm a table games dealer and work at a casino in New Zealand. Had a Thai woman a few months ago betting $300K a hand. She lost $12 million at my table in less than an hour. The casino then paid for her private charter jet to Melbourne and back ($70,000) so she could get more money. Not exactly sure why she had to go to Melbourne to get more money, but I was doing a 16-hour shift and she came back to my table after her trip and dropped another $15 million. I haven’t had anyone close to spending that much money ever. She would also reveal herself at dealers "for luck."
8. Sometimes Winning Is More Like Losing
I’ve had a few patrons lose a ton and never come back, only to find out later they drove their car into a tree or put a weapon against themselves. I do have a good story about the worst I saw someone handle a win. This older gentleman was a regular and a total jerk. Never tipped, never smiled or said hello, and was always in a foul mood. I was watching him play a 50-cent machine one night when he hit three jackpot symbols and won five grand. I went up to him and congratulated him and I’ll never forget the bemused look on his face. When the machine hits a single payout of over $1,200, the machine locks up and won’t spin again until an attendant resets it.
This guy just kept hitting the button in vain trying to keep playing like a child whose toy stopped working. When I told him that the machine was not going to spin until we paid him his hand pay, his only words were “Can I play this one?” And he motioned to the machine next to his. I told him that he could and he moved over and went straight back into his zombie trance. When we brought his jackpot winnings to him he huffed and puffed because we asked him to stop playing for a minute while we counted out his $5,000. It’s like the money didn’t even matter.
7. See Jane Lose, See Jane Get Mad, Wonder Why Jane Is Getting Arrested
I worked at a kiosk for very brief time when I was younger. Back then, we had some slot machines (illegal now, to some extent: current slot machines have tiny, tiny spins or bets, like a few cents per spin). I'd say that on any given day we'd have four or five regulars that would just hang around all day long, and throw away their money on the machines.
These people were 100 percent addicts. Max bets on such machines were like $5 a spin, which adds up when you're hanging around the machines 6-7 hours a day.
After some of them had gambled away say, $1K, they'd start to do weird stuff like writing false "out of service" signs to hang or tape on the machine while they sprinted or drove home or to the bank to get more money. Their rationale was that if they had fed the machines that much, it would spit it out again very soon, and they didn't want any others to win their lost money.
One day, a woman was playing the machines. She came in with a stack of cash, probably $5K or $10K, as it looked fresh, and played away 90 percent of it. Then tried another machine, and lost it all.
She started screaming, kicking the machines. Completely lost it.
Turns out she'd been stealing money from her employer, and was taking out more and more, hoping to make it all back.
I'm not sure why they don't understand it. Slot machines are a guaranteed loss over time. If you keep putting your money on the machines, you'll lose!
6. But If You Lose Your Gas Money And Your Shoes How Will You Get Home?
Our dealers spend one hour and 20 minutes on the table before a break. A guy went to the ATM about three or four times and came back with roughly $200 each time. Each time he got more and more nervous. The last time he came to the table he said, "This is the last of my cash hey, this is my rent money." He got down to his last $50 and he turned that into like $800.
He was the only one at the table and I said, "I shouldn't say this but you should go home. You have done well and you should cash that in and head home." He said, "Thanks I really appreciate it" and left. He came back 10 minutes later and lost it all.
He finished off with him taking off his shoes and putting them on the table and said "You've taken everything you may as well take my shoes too."
5. Sometimes You Just Need Someone To Tell You.
I was playing craps and had a similar interaction as your first story. Guy standing next to me started out laying down hundreds, then went to fifties... when his rack emptied he reached into his pocket and I saw him check his wallet, he had $50 left. He'd easily played $2000 in the time we were standing there. I couldn't help it, I just said to him "Call it a night man, the table is brutal tonight. No one is winning". He looked me in the eye, hugged me and said "I really needed to hear that" and he left. I hope he's okay.
[deleted]
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4. I'm Not Crying, You're Crying!
I was security at a Casino for a few years, saddest story for me was this older gentleman let’s call him “Tom” for privacy sake, Tom would frequent the Casino every day spending anywhere from $200-$300, I had sparked up lots of conversations with him because he was a regular and he was genuinely kind person who I enjoyed seeing.
One day Tom comes in and I can tell he is upset, I don’t make anything of it, but after seeing the guy for a few years almost everyday, that day he looked really “off” so a couple hours go by and I track him down and ask how’s the day going? Any big wins? Just general chit chat, he starts sobbing, tears running down his face, his wife had passed away from “sudden cardiac death” is what I believe he called it, the night before, and he was devastated, we talked for quite awhile, I tried comforting him while he played the machines, I had noticed he was betting EXTREMELY large, $200-$300 per spin on the slot machine, I knew that was a lot for him, but I didn’t saying anything because it’s not my business and I was sure it’s a coping mechanism for him at the moment, doing something he loved when he just lost the love of his life.
Hours later I see him heading out the door, I run up to him, catch him and wish him all the best and that I’ll see him soon, he smiled, said thanks for the chat and thank you for the condolences and left.
He booked a room in our Hotel and took his own life that night, a little while later I find out through some other staff who were sort of friends of his family, that he had spent all of his money, every dime that evening spinning high limit on the machines, I’m assuming because he wanted a little enjoyment before he took his life.
Still makes me upset I didn’t invite him or over or do anything else because I knew he was in pain .
[deleted]
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3. Maybe He Got Good At Jumping In Trunks By Going To Drive-In Movies
We had a guy here who won $5,700 and was robbed as he was getting into his car. The thieves took all his money and stuffed him into his trunk… Or at least that’s what he said when someone heard him shouting and called the police. Turns out that the robbery never happened, however the real story is even more ridiculous. Turned out that instead of a big win, he had lost $1,000 and didn’t want to tell his wife so he made it all up.
2. Losing Your Money Without Playing A Chip
As a former roulette dealer, I used to see this probably more than once a week: An attractive woman comes up to the table, and starts cheering and jumping up and down when people win, and asking about the rules. Guaranteed every time, some inebriated guy will fall for the bait and offer her some chips so she can play herself. She then takes the chips, maybe plays for a few rounds (if at all), and then goes to cash out. The guy loses it: "She took my money! She can't do that! I just loaned her some!" Well actually, she can. You gave her the chips. What did you expect? He throws chips, tries to flip the table (they're screwed down to the floor) and will try to throw some punches. Security tackles him, and takes him away so he can cool off before the police arrive. It was always so entertaining to watch as a dealer.
1. It's Tough If You Have Big Money But You Can Get A 5-Year Ban
I was dealing and this guy came up to my table and cashed in $1,000 bucks each time. He cashed in a total of $4,000. He could be the most aggressive guy I had ever met.
He flashed his black card and proceeded to tell me how important he was. He got really aggressive by the $2,000-$3,000 mark and started berating me each time he lost.
After a while I said "I don't care who you are, you have to treat me with some form of respect." He was putting so much money over the pit bosses did nothing and he settled a bit after I said that.
When I left the table a young woman replaced me and I heard that he started to do the same thing that he did to me and she froze mid-hand. She couldn't move as he was yelling at her so much and she freaked. The pit boss came up to try and defuse the situation and the player hit him. I heard he got a 5-year ban.
