They keep cameras where money and chips are in reach of an employee. They don't care about places where OP placed his money; they are protecting themselves, not absent-minded patrons.

Haha, LoL, I agree completely and since writing it all down I've let it go. Your commentary is hilarious

I just didn't feel like going through it again to delete what was or wasn't important, so I just copy and pasted, deleted the names, and that was that. Thank you for posting the cliffs, though, and I accept the fact that I was absent minded in this instance.

You forgot the part at how the poker room manager cursed at me and, in a very passive aggressive manner, accused me of wrongdoing. This is the reason I'm likely never going back (along with the social media manager's refusal to answer my questions, and never receiving any type of communication from the head of security who promised me a call back. I thought security and poker were separate entities, but maybe I'm wrong) , not the fact I'm not getting a refund. Also, the fact they have no idea what happened to my money leads me to believe that if I were playing poker, and get up to go to the bathroom or something, someone could take my chips and there'd be no recourse or security.

Also re: cargo shorts, they're more just like khaki shorts with side pockets, and I haven't really any shorts that don't have them. They aren't the big, bulky pockets, so I guess technically not cargo shorts, but I just said that for simplification.

1) Agree wholeheartedly and lesson learned

2) Already have, just not while paying rake at Horseshoe.

I appreciate all of the advice and have let the resentment go. I realize it was my fault and no one deserves blame but me.

No, I probably won't play there again, and yes, I will continue to advise friends about what happened so they can protect themselves better than I did. Hopefully everyone reading will learn from my absent mindedness

Does OP have any ability to see the video tapes himself? Like would security ever allowed a portion of the video where the theft took place be shown to the victim?

In my original discussion with Anthony Chester, I asked him this exact question. His response? "Uhh, like I had to go upstairs, show my credentials and scan my card and stuff to see that, so like, of course you can't see the tapes"

Pretty sure that's verbatim.

Well, I agree that they treated you unfairly and grossly unprofessionally, but casinos are filled with degens trying to get money that when one is making a valid complaint, they'll default to assuming you're trying to hustle when the cameras can't provide conclusive evidence. How they handle it from there is what separates the good from the bad (and that doesn't mean they need to give you the money to be considered handling it well - basic customer service skills).

The real issue is there likely wasn't a camera where you left the rack, so a guy walks up, takes the chips, conceals them (likely not for cameras but to conceal from a person seeing it) and when he walks into the eye of the camera, they don't see him holding chips so they dismiss him, yet 100 yards later he could be bringing the chips into the open, but they're not going to keep following him to make sure of that; once he's a few feet away and appears to not be holding chips, they're going to scratch him off the list.

That said, if it was $100 of the casino's money, then they'd follow every guy through every camera until the money is found. I'm also cynical enough to think that if they saw a dude pocket the chips and have no way of tracking him down, they'll tell you to gfy and not take it out of their till.

And you will essentially get the same response in almost every cardroom in the US.

No, because then customers would see how poor camera security is compared to camera security on employees.

This incident would not really change my opinion of Horseshoe Baltimore at all.

If chips were taken off a poker table by someone would be a different story.

Its very possible their camera coverage on a registration desk (where there should be no gaming chips is not as good as other areas). End of story. They can't just refund everyone who lost/claims to have lost money.

Next time don't turn your back on your money in a place it can be easily stolen. Casinos have no obligation to pay back anything. If you went to Wal-Mart, left your wallet at the register, and somebody swiped it, would you expect Wal-Mart to pay you back?

It 100% standard that casinos don't let you see the tape. Never heard of a casino that does. Also not shocking that the video was inconclusive. Casinos have lots of cameras pointed at money. It's not entirely shocking that the player's card registration desk is not closely monitored like cages/tables are.

Be more careful next time.

The manager seems so indifferent and unprofessional that who knows if they can see who took your money. Complain to Hurrahs about said individual. Give up on the money.

It sucks that CET is willing to lose a customer over such a relatively small amount of money by essentially accusing him of stealing. It also sucks that there are people out there who would do what Anthony accused UHaul of--pocket the chips and then claim that they were stolen--and therefore it's unreasonable to expect the casino to reimburse.

The actual incident is a no-win, but hopefully others will take it as a warning that their chips aren't safe just because there's lots of cameras around and the CET employees involved will use this story to improve their customer service.

Player is responsible to protect their hand chips at all times.

Here's where I think the biggest problem is:
----------------------

What time is it at this point???

You don't say/know how long you were at the registration desk. You were talking to staff, looking at your card, fiddling with your wallet, and generally inattentive to the chips you had.

You had money in hand, you set it down for an indeterminate time - probably a couple of minutes - and were distracted at a busy brush stand with a lot of people coming and going. And that's IF you remember the events correctly (Human brains are subject to failure on specifics - eye witnesses are the least reliable witnesses). POSSIBLY you THINK you put the rack on the brush stand - but maybe you left it at the table where you were admiring your stack, which would explain why the camera didn't see a rack vanish - cause it was never there.

The lesson here for everyone is - secure your chips at all times, and attend to them FIRST before other matters.

If you want a chance at seeing the tapes, you will probably have to file a police report (honestly, you should do this anyway, sometimes casinos don't like seeing their names listed in police filings that are accessible to the public and press so this alone might get you some feedback), then get a lawyer, then have them subpoenaed. Assuming they haven't already been discarded, perhaps then you will get to see what is on them. It will certainly cost you more than $100 in legal fees, unfortunately.

At the end of the day, you vote with your wallet and your feet. It was perfectly acceptable to post about your experience here, so that others will know what to expect from the room if this happens to them. You should also write an actual letter to the casino, and cc: whatever gaming authority exists, sometimes those get better responses. But if you feel strongly that you got shafted, you should also consider never returning, if you feel strongly enough that you were mistreated. This is the only bottom line that matters to them.

On the flip side, you can file it as an unlucky break (no worse than getting your AA cracked), a pretty cheap lesson learned, and just move on with your life. Once you're better established in the room as a trustworthy person, the staff will be more inclined to look out for you and take extra steps on your behalf, should something similar occur in the future.

This is not how you described it earlier. He was simply telling you your hands were in and out of your pockets and perhaps the chips were misplaced. Cursing at you and accusing you of wrongdoing is a huge exaggeration (and you didn't describe how your attitude was towards the manager)

When I have a rack with me I never let it leave my sight ever, until it is set down on an open poker table.

I am sorry for your loss, but you left the chips in a public area unattended with no cameras focused on it. At least it was only 100 bucks I bet you will never do that again : )

Good for you; this is a valuable lesson, cheaply learned here.
There are widespread misconceptions among less experienced live players that casinos somehow will protect or reimburse you against you against thefts of chips, and that the cameras show everything and will protect you.
But both of these are hardly ever true, almost everywhere.
Casinos almost never reimburse for chip thefts, even if the theft is caught on camera, and actually the cameras usually are "inconclusive". This could have happened almost anywhere, and HSB was not at all unusual in this.
So while I realize that the whole thing left a bad taste in your mouth, I personally wouldn't rule out playing there for this theft only, if I were you, if this casino is otherwise a good choice.
But OTOH, based on your account, I do think that the manager who swore at you and implied that you had stolen them yourself, was WAY out of line. There's no need for this at all, and I do not blame you for being upset by this. If the conversation went as you described, his behavior was extremely unprofessional, and probably should have been brought to the room manager's attention (but as a separate issue).
But anyway, be more careful in future, wherever you play.

Putting myself in the Casino's shoes, I can't imagine that they would be doing much on this. Remember they are open for less than a week, so all new cameras, security, management, customers, etc.

They are never going to show you the tapes. Inconclusive can come in many forms.

1. They may have simply not seen the exchange at all.
2. They may not have been able to replay all the cameras.
3. They may have actually seen the theft, but were unable to identify the thief.
4. They may have felt one of their employees was the thief (remember everyone is new), and would not want to disclose that.
5. They may have felt one of their employees was negligent (camera guy or host) and did not want to disclose that.

In virtually every one of these scenarios, there is NO UPSIDE to explaining any of the details to you. Better to just say its inconclusive and go from there. Any details they disclose just raise more questions.

I am a little surprised they didn't do a little more to make you happy though. A little bit of hey that sucks, I wish we could do more attitude can go along ways. And maybe a comped meal or something on top of that would keep you from whining and may bring you back. Gotta think though that they are not too interested in keeping a low stakes player buying in for a hundred coming back.

OP, your story is so complicated that i hope you understand that you share most of the responsibility for your loss

also, to the casino, looking for your $100.00 would be a tremendous waste of their resources, i.e., getting 2 to 3 employees involved for more than 30 minutes would be greater than your current loss

if i was the manager, i would have given you comps or credits to try & offset your loss, but it is probably against the law for the casino to give you money

anyway, protect your money better in the future & don't go to the Horseshoe or any CET property

I didn't see where there was an accusation of theft. There was a statement that he he kept going to his pockets ... but this could also be an explanation that isn't theft. Perhaps he doesn't remember that he put his chips in his pocket. I have seen players do precisely this ..... and I have my self had brain lapses of a similar nature .... where i completely forget that I have just done something, or I forget to do something I was just thinking about doing. I have walked all over my house looking for the cellphone that I just put in my pocket.

I almost always buy in with an extra one or two hundred in black chips so I could reload if I have to. One time I didn't have a breast pocket to stick it in, so I put it in the cup holder in front of me while playing at Delaware Park.

At one point when a new player was coming in to sit, I instead grab the empty seat. When I did this I forgot about my hundred dollar chip.

About an orbit later, it occurs to me and I look around and don't see it. I asked the guy who took my old seat if he saw it there and he claimed he doesn't. When a look around the floor doesn't reveal anything, I'm pretty bummed out.

I go to the podium and explain what happened to the floor. I asked him if there was any way they could go to the tapes. I wasn't sure what they could do about it, but I figured it didn't hurt to ask.

A few minutes later a security person comes to the table and asks the gentleman who took my seat to please come with him. Of course the whole table is buzzing now, not believing he stole my chip.

A few minutes after that, another supervisor took me off the table and gave me a 100 bill and confirmed who I was and got my phone number.

I asked a floor person there who I was friendly with for details that the security person would or could not give me, and basically the camera caught him taking the chip and immediately cashing it in and then coming back to the table to play.

When confronted with this, the guy say freaked out. Apparently he had a security clearance of some sort at his job and this could potentially hurt him there. He agreed to give them a hundred and to leave the casino immediately.

So I understand how OP felt however the difference is if they came back to me and said they saw nothing conclusive, I would have simply wrote it off to my stupidity and then glad it was just a hundred bucks.

I would not have made a federal case out of it or blamed the casino.

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+1

I have let it go, thanks for the 15 people giving advice saying let it go after I posted that I let it go.

I feel like we're watching frozen (never seen it but heard that song) "LET IT GO!"

Delaware Park has a special place in my heart, but it's bad when their security compares favorably to that of a brand new casino. I remember watching a documentary about casino cheating and they showed how security at Aria could do a 3D reconstruction of the path anyone takes through any part of the casino. Evidently Horseshoe does not take the same precautions.

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Surely the OP's inattention to his chips was the main factor in the theft, but what stands out to me is the response of the poker room manager. Saying the tapes are inconclusive should suffice, without the "you looked like the f'ng Penn and Teller show" line.

Perhaps he was trying to be funny. Maybe he is the David Brent of poker room managers.

inconclusive, as mentioned, can mean a lot of different things from "we don't have the time to review it" to "we don't have it on video" and everything in between.

Personally I don't believe the poker room manager walked into the surveillance department to view the video himself. This is almost unheard of.