Yeah and I had thought what if he sets me up even though I patted him down to rob me, but only thing was I knew exactly where he wanted to be dropped off, it was a restaurant I use to work at so after he was clean I wasn't too worried.

But yeah that bathroom thing is a good idea too.

As much as I'd prefer not to run into any trouble with ne'er-do-wells, I don't worry too too much about getting robbed. I do the bathroom thing and maintain strong situational awareness on the way back to my car; that's enough "security" for me. If someone does try to rob me, he's picking the wrong fight. I don't ascribe to the "it's not worth your life" theory of dealing with scumbags.

But yeah, the bathroom thing. It actually started as a habit I developed so that I could take down my session notes in privacy instead of breaking out a memo pad at the table or the cage. Then I realized that I should be going somewhere private anyway, instead of taking out a billfold in front of everyone at the cage.

Even with criminals aside, there are always going to be people who get covetous when they see larger sums of money than they have, especially at a gambling hall. Maybe he won't ask you right at that moment, but there's bound to be some degen who will notice your roll and make a mental note of it. Then, two weeks later or whenever he runs out of cash, you might happen to walk in, and he might get the idea in his head to ask for a loan or a stake, 'cause "Hey, that guy has tons of money!"

Personally, I'd rather never be asked at all for any amount of money, especially by a stranger who has already gambled all his money away. As Franchise5 mentioned, the mere fact of asking a stranger means that the person has probably burned family and friends already, and that doesn't bode well for him ever paying back Mr. Rando at the poker room.

I think the bathroom thing is actually a mistake....

Hey let me cash out some money and then because I am concerned about being robbed I will head to the place here that has zero cameras.........

If the bathroom is in an abandoned corner of the property or otherwise a bad choice, then I would probably find another way to do it. At the local room near me, it's fine. The bathroom is used often enough and is placed well enough that robbery risk is minimal.

The parking lot is the weak point, especially because I have to park all the way out in Timbuktu (a truly ridiculous number of spaces are designated handicapped parking). If someone ever tries to rob me there, it will most likely be between the exit and my car.

****, I wish a mother****er would try to rob me in the bathroom.

Going around asking random people to give or borrow money to you is not allowed in the casino I work at. There is a term for it that escapes me at the moment, but we will warn people to stop and 86 them if it continues here.

I'd imagine you could put it under the general heading of "soliciting." Businesses generally reserve the right to prohibit soliciting already, so it probably wouldn't need to be a more specific policy.

Used to have a couple acquaintances that I would loan to on a semi-regular basis, one buggered off back to Cyprus, the other to Russia still owing money obv. Was only a few hundo and probably the price of a good lesson never to do it again.

Local reg 'Big Dave' used to regularly borrow literally thousands off the high stakes Omaha / mixed regs. He'd then vanish for like 3-6 months, turn up again, pay everyone back and get back in the game.

Thing is that he was such a completely dreadful player that no-one cared. He was welcomed back with open arms and within a week he'd be tapped out and borrowing again.

Of course it's now been 5 years, I think the regs are starting to realise that BD ain't coming back.

They're probably still tens of thousands ahead though lol.

Cool story bro'

Its a personal decision, not every situation is the same, but few are the ones who don't learn an important life lesson that comes in two varieties. Cheap or expensive. The former is preferred.

Haha, I've borrowed money from my manager at the tables. +EV move for sure, because you know damn well he made sure I got my hours to pay him back.

Its all a judgment call, OP stated the poster was a regular that is all he stated he didnt state if they were friends or if they even knew each others first names he just stated he was a regular so idk i play poker a ton i usually know most regulars first names.

Im not trying to argue the fact of the dude is a degen but saying hes a degen because hes asking for 200$s is crazy. All im saying is think about it make a judgment call if your uncomfortable loaning the 200$s then by all means say no you have no reason to say yes.

I again play in very small community where everyone kinda knows everyone your probably not gunna flake some one without everyone finding out and once you flake once no one will do you the favor again. If the dude isn't on the books with anyone else and you know him some what ona first name basis i don't see a problem ask him for a phone number, i think its very unreal for some one whos a regular to try and flake you espeically with a bad check i think he would be smarter then this and just ask you i mean you have proof he flaked you for one and number two you can take him to small claims court or **** his credit up, yes annoying things to do for 200$s but always options. Loaning is also something you should only do if you can afford it, if you need that money or its going to mess with your gambling expenses say no, but idk who this borrower is if your in a game and it keeps him in and you win a part of that back thats great esply if you have an edge vs him. All these clowns posting about how hes a degen i mean i guess he is in terms a degen cuz hes borrowing money he dosnt have but 75% of people in casinos are degens you know how many people are playing at the casino who have a loan they could be paying off or are playing with money they owe the bank or mortgages i mean comon guys get real...

Don't do it. Ever.

Never ends well.

Did it once for a guy I met at the casino that just happened to live in the same apartment complex as me. After a year or so of playing with him, he asked for $300 one night and I lent it to him. He stopped showing up at the casino and a few months later he moved. About a year later, he started coming to the casino again and on the second time there, paid up with no prompting.

I won't ever do it again.

The best case scenario when you lend money in a casino is that if you're lucky, you'll break even.

I only lend money to people/in amounts that I am comfortable never being paid back or willing to put a gun in someones mouth over... anything in between usually gets messy

I had one instance where someone asked the players in a game in a casino in Pennsylvania in which I was playing to cash a money order, since the cage wouldn't. I wouldn't cash checks in there myself, especially if the cage won't touch it.

I lent someone money before it took them six weeks to pay it back. It took them less than two hours to ask to borrow it back again.

He's not a bad guy and wanted to pay me back, but he did contract work and work got slow. I never pressed him for it once he stopped gambling, since I knew he needed the money, but it was still a sucky situation. He probably just had poor life BRM.

Now, though, I can avoid the whole thing by just not lending.

I hear this banded about quite a bit, I guess it's a nice line, but it's not really true.

It's a very narrow minded view, I guess if you are talking about some broke degen then it might be correct, but there are many opportunities that come along from helping people out and generally been seen as a good person.

If you can lend money to virtual strangers in a casino (!?) you better be fine with never getting it back. End of story.

its called begging or panhandling.

What upside? Other than possibly keeping a bad player in a game, I don't see the potential upside. If anything, my thought is you are doing a favor for the the player by not lending him money. If someone does not have the funds to play, then clearly going into debt to in order to continue gambling is likely not in their best interests.

Staking a bad player is an upside?

I've lent money to 1 person in a casino.
They paid me back the next day.

I've asked to borrow money from two people in a casino.
I paid one back the next day.

Took me a week to pay the other one back because I didn't see him for that long. I texted him 3 times in that time to find out when he'd be in so I could pay him back.

Both of these people I knew already though, already had their number and already talked to them outside the casino.

Point is that I would never lend money to anyone that I didn't already have a friendly relationship with first. But also, that the idea of lending money isn't the end of the world and can be fine, but just don't lend money to people that you don't really know. Or that you don't really have a relationship with first. And use good judgement.

I have a strict no-lending policy and everyone I play poker with know that. Some were a bit upset at first that I wouldn't lend them some small amounts, but they got used to it.

Just stick to your rules and make no exceptions.

Also if you don't run it twice, then never run it twice.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. -Polonius, Hamlet

("Husbandry" means thriftiness or ability to live conservatively. I had to look it up.)

Several years ago, I loaned $300 to a "friend" because he was flat broke. He always had a sob story, and I was flush at the time, so I didn't mind helping out somebody I cared about. He gambled it away and came back at me with a story about how he had to pay the money as bail for his brother or some nonsense. Never saw that money again. Friend's phone stopped working shortly thereafter.

It sucked, but it was a good life lesson. Similar to the time I fell for the white van speaker scam, but in that case I got my money back.