Wow this don't seem right. They are implying that breaks are not allowed by doing this. You either have to pull your chips up and lose your seat, or risk having them stolen. Something is wrong here....

This thread has convinced me not to go to Vegas later this month. I don't take breaks, but I do have to take a piss from time to time and if this is standard operating procedure in Vegas then I'll just continue to play at my local casinos.

What is the procedure at your local casinos?

OP, the bit you mentioned about table stakes is incorrect; you are allowed to remove your chips, but you have to return them before you play another hand. I often take my blacks and my cash from the $2-5 game if I'm not sure how long I'll be gone.

Do you take 40 minute pisses? If not then you probably have nothing to worry about. I think the more frustrating thing for tourists is waiting for a seat and seeing an unoccupied seat with chips in front for 40 mins.

I'm not saying what happened is justifiable and imo the floor should've cashed you out but it's insane you wander off for 40 mins and think your seat is still good. Casinos exist to make money and 40 mins of no rake/time would definitely be unacceptable. Should they pay you your $190? yes. Should they apoloigize for anything else? Not at all.

this mainly...entirely, basically

can't you bring this up with the gaming regulations board or whatever they are called?

but again, quote mainly...hate to hear this happened, but to be honest if i was at the table i wouldn't feel bad for you AT ALL...sorry, ppl that take long breaks like you did is my biggest pet peeve! it tilts me to NO END, like i can't emphasize this enough...i hate you OP...rack up and get on the list, you'll likely be insta sat when you get back if you're gone 40 min...and problem averted

Sucks to hear but im not surprised that this happened at Mirage... my least favorite room in Vegas and def has the worst dealers on the strip.

But those are Terry Benedict's casinos?

First, change thread title to "robbed by the mirage"

Second, don't walk around for 40 minutes. In no way does this mean you deserve it, but let's say you left $100 on community check counter at the bank, how long would you trust it there, regardless of cameras?

Third, call the gambling commission in your state. I bet they help you get your money back, fast. Real fast.

I don't like people like you, that can't handle people taking breaks (I usually never do it because of hourly rake though). You're not good enough to play a little more shorthanded or what?

I once sat at at 10/20 NL game where the only three fishes went for dinner for 2½ hours together, not very good for me obv, but I certainly don't hate them for it.

edit: With that said, if the game is not run as hourly rake I think it would be fine with a fee if you miss more than one round.

Seems to me that any follow up should be with the police, not the mirage. If they took the guy to jail, it was to charge him for the theft. But then the guy either accepts some sort of plea deal or goes to trial. I would suspect that once the guy sobered up and saw his choices that he would be happy with a solution that includes getting your money back.

When i played at Harrahs Vegas a couple of years ago the had a policy posted that said that they were not responsible for chips left on the poker table unless you first got a supervisor to verify the chip count before you left the table. Though admittedly no one actually did that to go use the rest room.

I doubt any court would find casinos liable for players money left on tables. The potential for fraud is too great.

i don't like people that don't like people like me...

it has nothing to do with being "good enough to play a little more shorthanded"...which i am not obv...cuz we know there is a drastic difference between a 9 handed table vs. 10 handed table, or 8 handed table vs. 9 handed table...are we counting 8 or 9 handed tables as shorthanded these days?

and your "three fishes" example is not a good one...i'll wait as long as needed for people i consider fishy, waiting those 2 1/2 hours would be plus ev if they're there to gamble and spew...and where do you play that allows people to be away 2 1/2 hours? theres a difference between playing at a casino with no list for your game vs a casino thats got a wait list of ppl waiting to play...

and how do you end your post saying you would be fine with a "fee" if you miss a more than one round? is that fee a punishment of sorts or what are we gonna call it? If you tell people that if they are gone more than an orbit they will HAVE TO pay a fee...I guarantee that will change things and they would not stay away as long...so how do you not mind a fee but not care if people are gone for long periods? you obv understand the etiquette issue and how it is not good for a game...i just literally HATE when people are gone for long periods....AND DONT GET ME STARTED on those people that leave for LONG periods.......and then come back and rack out! arghhhhhhhh...super tilted now!jk...but yea

I agree the 2½ hour example wasn't very good. It was at the Bellagio and I think there was a list (to play with them). But in general, I think it is ok to take a dinner break.

I don't really think it's that bad for the game (in fact, I like it when people take breaks, but that's mostly because I like it as shorthanded as possible). I haven't noticed a big difference in the number of breaks from games with hourly rake and games with pot rake. The fee was probably a bad idea, but I agree there can be annoying scenarios. Someone that plays an orbit, leaves for two, plays an orbit etc. Not very common though...

So what is the maximum duration that someone is allowed to be gone before you pop a vein and start throwing chairs out of anger and hate?

Forty-minute dinner breaks are super standard in Vegas. This is the first time I've heard or read anyone complain about someone standing up to get food without racking up. But what a nitty thing to be so passionately hateful about.

anything above 4 minutes usually...then **** hits the fan and i sit there and throw chairs out of anger and hate as well as having veins popping...

no one said anything about dinner breaks...thats understandable, especially if they been playing a while which is usually the case when people take dinner breaks, people don't usually BI and decide to go for a bite and in my experience are almost always with longer sessions, so def understandable...im more along the lines of people who are away from the table more than they are at the table...not saying thats what OP was doing...but in general I don't like ppl gone from the game for long, dinner breaks are a diff scenario like i explained above...but with that said I still hate ppl taking long breaks...

and i thought my opening remark about not liking people who don't like me brought a little levity to my post as was the intention...but nice of you to put in your .02 and paint the nice caricature you did with the veins popping and throwing chairs, I'm sure (most)people understand that it was my personal sentiment and that I don't start picketing around the absent players chair or tell them to F off when they get back or start throwing chairs and popping veins...but instead dislike it and deal with it...

Other than being indecisive at first, the Mirage appears to have done exactly what they should have.

They checked the tapes, determined what happened to the chips, tried to get them back from the thief, and then got the police involved when it couldn't be resolved.

There's no way the Mirage should be paying $190 to the OP. If that were standard practice, they'd open themselves up to one con artist after another.