Point is, without personal security, pretty hard to properly defend $35k .. but leaving it in your backpacks in your room ....

I call.

Smells fishy.

A piece of advice i've heard is: Treat a hotel room like your car. If you can't afford to or can't bear to part with it don't leave it there.

i'll be at the Mold Coast, btw. I hear it's nicer lately. Anyway ... yeah, extra cash is gonna be somewhere besides my room. Entirely. Having $35k in your room, is either stupid, or a set up. Either way ... I cannot back you up.

Columbian: In the car!

Scarface: No man. It's not in the car.

Looking to hire a woman named Marta that knows how to use a machine gun to sit on my hotel bed and watch TV. Must bring your own automatic weapon to hide under the pillow.

Why does this casino not have security cameras in the hallway. I thought that was standard. Seems very stupid not to have them.

The slot ticket trick looks interesting -- you would have to give them some minimal amount of slot or VP play in order to not be accused of money laundering when you try to cash out. Take a Sharpie and mess up the bar code a little so the voucher can't be used in an automated machine. Presto! The ticket is now only cashable at the cage (the cashier will have to key in the ticket's serial number).

In your room, have a Mr. Beams battery powered motion-sensor light pointed at the door:

This will of course do nothing to actually detect a theft nor to apprehend a thief, but the stranger who encounters a sudden bright light upon entering your room will likely fear that there is also a camera or silent alarm.

the big problem was, that the trolls derailed the threads and tried to focus on what PS did wrong and what a big scheme this must be. Berlin was mentioned and a lot of ppl really thought that this must be a insider job or whatever

folks went crazy and 'demanded' that PS must end the cooperation with the arts (which was obv that this will not happen b/c of the regulatory issues and other stuff) instead on focusing, what's the real problem ... hotel security!

- it doesn't matter in which hotel you stay, b/c this could be happen somewhere else (i even posted the article about the lacking security at the strip hotels)
- poker players have a lot of money and are therefor a valuable target
- i also said, that it doesn't need to be a 'gang' or something ... whenever you have tons of players in one location, criminals can just cherry pick
- everyone need to care for himself and shouldn't hope that hotel staff and/or police will protect/help you


but just my 2cts

Be careful about leaving electronics in a car in the desert for any extended time.

Computers detest heat, being in a car in 100+ degree heat where the car adds another 20 degrees.

Big +1 to this.^

Seriously people- get off your high horses about "who would ever leave cash in their rooms!" ... The bottom line is, the Rio is hosting the World Series of poker- an event that sees a massive influx of players coming in with money. The money was stolen FROM THEIR HOTEL ROOM. If the Rio cannot guarantee the safety of gamblers belongings inside their own hotel rooms then they will be coming down sooner or later.

The Rio needs to issue a statement on this ASAP. 35k is a ton of money not to mention the other stuff stolen.

The rio should be completely responsible for this. 100%. Period.

What kind of establishment are they running?

Most machines stop at 3000? Come on Allen. If someone steals your 9000 dollar ticket he won't take it to nickel slots to play wheel of fortune. The medium to high stakes machines take far higher then 3000 dollar vouchers. Also If the thief does what you suggest to cash and not play the voucher and is walking around the casino sticking your voucher in half the dispensers in the casino you very possibly have a way to identify him. Any way the thief utilizes the vouchers, play or cash, you have recourse to identify him . Also you keep the vouchers in the 5000 and up range because Many of the Dispensers in the casino to cash out do stop at 3000. So keeping vouchers at 5000 and over forces a visit to a cage. However the actually vouchers can go to over 50k at most major properties. You can just cash them at the cage and a random with no history absolutely can not.

Thakid asked why not just front money and that's a great idea if the player doesn't fear IRS implicationsThakid is right front money has many benefits. The most important front money benefit if you use front money is you are now considered a credit acct so people can't just change your personal info on your account at the casino club card desk. You have to go to cage, it adds an extra layer of protection to your players acct. however one negative to front money. Is let's be candid, many guys want to avoid going over 10k in cash too often for IRS issues That is one reason I assume many cash players avoid front money. If I had 30k and wanted to avoid front money I would simply do something like

8500 x 3 vouchers
2250 x 2 vouchers

So I have 4500 available in wallet that I can quickly pull out of a machine without dealing with cage. Also have 25k, in wallet on three little vouchers if not staying at rio, or in my room safe.

First, after the crazy incident above and concerns about safe master codes, I now park my excess cash in future tournament buyins. So when you need cash, just unreg pre, as so many have suggested to me :-)

^^^^^^
Preregistering sounds real smart as well




I knew this was the case but what about using elevator video and the timeline? It would take some manpower but anytime the room is entered via a key the time is recorded. Couldn't they check elevator cameras for people going on and off that floor in the same general timeframe ? Especially effective if someone who knew the victim was involved.

Obviously some mistakes were made by victim but of course hope he gets his money back and they capture the thief.

I think the normal thing people do is to wire money to the cage. At the cage, you fill out paperwork before and after each session to get your money or chips - never needing to be carrying any excessive amounts of cash when you aren't in the poker room or at a table.

Not saying this is wrong or anything, but I left 1.1k in cash on a table in my room at the MGM for days, cleaned every day. I didnt know it was there, my friend pointed it out one random night before we were going out, I remembered it because on the first night I thought I had about a 1k difference in what I thought I would be waking up with

So yeah props to them for not stealing it (though they couldve pinched a hundred and I wouldnt have known)

Wow so the union is above the law in Vegas and all of Neveda or just Vegas?

They never know if it's a sting. Honesty is the fear of getting caught.

Room safe is obviously better than just leaving in your room, but yes I agree,have to understand its minimal security. Keep 2 buyins in your room safe for convenience , anything more, front money or deposit box.

Oh you know those vegas hotel maids man, untouchable.

It's not a matter of being above the law. The housekeeper's duty is to enter the room and clean it. There is no record of what the guest is keeping in the room. Nobody can say for certain whether or not a maid took an item, let alone whether or not the item is even missing.

Poker players use cash
So ur advice is irrelevant for most of them

See my advice above if u actually play high stakes poker for a living

O man not this **** again.

Would think places would have super tight security when all the money rolls into town during WSOP.

Rio also hosts (at least in the past) that huge black hat hacking conference where people spend all weekend trying to break into each other's rooms, steal each other's pins and passwords, and just cause electronic mayhem in the name of fun and profit. One year one of the guys wheeled a fake ATM to steal pin number and debit cars infomation. Stuff like that is a prime training ground, they can wait near the front desk for known pros, walk by them with a device that copies the key from their pocket, and loiter around on their floor and enter when they go downstairs, leaving a lookout behind. Most surveillance will be defeated with a simple baseball cap. I don't think you have much luck or recourse against a group of pros.

http://www.extremetech.com/computing...icrocontroller

What happens if it turns out money was stolen at airport?

Or if it was only $5k and they say it is $35k?

Hotel rooms are not bank vaults.

The WSOP has already made a statement on the matter. I haven't seen any statement from the RIO