Ripped off at MontBleu Blackjack Table, Dealer Does Nothing!

[v12cl]

Had this happen to me last weekend at MontBleu in South Lake Tahoe, and not sure how to proceed.

I am sitting in seat 1 of a blackjack table, and the guy sitting next to me has been sitting there for maybe 20 minutes. After hitting a blackjack, I pulled back my winnings, and left my original bet out on the table for the next hand. After the hand finishes and the dealer pays out the winners, the guy to my left "accidentally" grabs my two $5 chips from my spot, and slides them into his pile, nonchalantly.

I flip out, stand up and say "He just stole my chips," and the female dealer (who on a side note, didn't like me a result of a snide comment I made to her when she complained about people smoking at the table, and I told her indirectly to find a new job) completely downplays the incident, and tells me I'm crazy.

"Oh it must have been an accident" she said, which I knew to be bullshit because I saw how slyly his hand moved when the dealer happened to not be looking.

I remarked that "if he had done it once, he must have done it twice", and I did happen to be missing another $10, which I had assumed I lost count of, but now it all made sense. I put up a little stink and made a comment about what are the camera for, and wanting someone to check the tape. She pretended not to hear me, the table went back to normal, and I decided to play a few last hands and GTFO, but not before the thief colored up all his chips (totaling $1,000+), and flipped both the dealer and myself a $25 chip. Guilty conscience? How many other people had he done this to, to build that stack?

I know I should have made a bigger deal at the time about it, but was with a girl, and didn't want to cause a bigger scene. Quite frankly I can't believe the dealer didn't at least alert the pit boss, which seems to be standard fucking protocol for anything out of the ordinary that takes place on the table. Its baffling really, and I know she handled it improperly, and did a crap job protecting customers of the casino.

Obviously I learned my lesson regarding keeping a closer watch over my chips, but I know that the dealer fucked up, and want to make it known to management.

Anyone ever had anything like this happen before? How would you proceed?

[El Gallo]

I've had this happen to me on 2 or 3 occasions in Vegas and once in Atlantic City. Once I'm almost positive it was a mistake, because the guy literally had no idea what I was talking about and didn't get defensive. The other times they went for the black chips underneath my stack of greens. I turned around to speak to someone and suddenly my black chips were on top. He obv had flipped my stack and taken about $300.

I never make a big deal when I feel i'm being cheated in a respected casino. Their are people in place to handle these exact situations. I did not look at the person or say a word in their direction. I asked the dealer to call the pit boss over and said out loud, "I suspect that the person next to me has taken chips from my stack, I would like to have that reviewed."

Every time it was clear they took money. Twice they were kicked out and banned and the other looked like a genuine mistake. The guy had been drinking and from what they saw on camera they did not treat him like a criminal. He apologized and we continued. All 3 times I was comped dinner or a free night etc etc.... but never did I make a scene or say a word to the person that was stealing from me.

The dealers job is not to make sure you are not being cheated. They do as they are told and if you ask for the pit boss you will get him or her.

[v12cl]

I've had this happen to me on 2 or 3 occasions in Vegas and once in Atlantic City. Once I'm almost positive it was a mistake, because the guy literally had no idea what I was talking about and didn't get defensive. The other times they went for the black chips underneath my stack of greens. I turned around to speak to someone and suddenly my black chips were on top. He obv had flipped my stack and taken about $300.

I never make a big deal when I feel i'm being cheated in a respected casino. Their are people in place to handle these exact situations. I did not look at the person or say a word in their direction. I asked the dealer to call the pit boss over and said out loud, "I suspect that the person next to me has taken chips from my stack, I would like to have that reviewed."

Every time it was clear they took money. Twice they were kicked out and banned and the other looked like a genuine mistake. The guy had been drinking and from what they saw on camera they did not treat him like a criminal. He apologized and we continued. All 3 times I was comped dinner or a free night etc etc.... but never did I make a scene or say a word to the person that was stealing from me.

The dealers job is not to make sure you are not being cheated. They do as they are told and if you ask for the pit boss you will get him or her.

My biggest mistake was not demanding to talk to a pit boss and having him review the tape right then. With that said, I know the exact time it all took place, so if they save the tapes without recording over them, they can still go back and see, however I don't even care.

My real complaint is the dealer handled it completely wrong, I would think there would be some sort of protocol when this sort of thing takes place that requires notifying the pit boss.

[GrenadaRoger]

I've had this happen to me on 2 or 3 occasions in Vegas and once in Atlantic City. Once I'm almost positive it was a mistake, because the guy literally had no idea what I was talking about and didn't get defensive. The other times they went for the black chips underneath my stack of greens. I turned around to speak to someone and suddenly my black chips were on top. He obv had flipped my stack and taken about $300.

I never make a big deal when I feel i'm being cheated in a respected casino. Their are people in place to handle these exact situations. I did not look at the person or say a word in their direction. I asked the dealer to call the pit boss over and said out loud, "I suspect that the person next to me has taken chips from my stack, I would like to have that reviewed."

Every time it was clear they took money. Twice they were kicked out and banned and the other looked like a genuine mistake. The guy had been drinking and from what they saw on camera they did not treat him like a criminal. He apologized and we continued. All 3 times I was comped dinner or a free night etc etc.... but never did I make a scene or say a word to the person that was stealing from me.

The dealers job is not to make sure you are not being cheated. They do as they are told and if you ask for the pit boss you will get him or her.

My biggest mistake was not demanding to talk to a pit boss and having him review the tape right then. With that said, I know the exact time it all took place, so if they save the tapes without recording over them, they can still go back and see, however I don't even care.

My real complaint is the dealer handled it completely wrong, I would think there would be some sort of protocol when this sort of thing takes place that requires notifying the pit boss.

Exactly....call the pit boss, plus security, Nevada Gaming Control and sheriff/police---the eye is the sky is suppose to watch for things just like that: cheating by patrons, dealers, pit people -- not just card counters or advantage players. Tapes are usually kept for a week, so if this just happened, go back and ask to talk to the pit boss...casino managers don't want stealing going on in their place--its bad for business and terrible if word gets out that they don't treat such matters seriously

[Sitting Out]

I rarely ever travel to Nevada, but when I do and go to a casino, I always felt safe along with my money. I never imagined that anyone would have the balls to pull these kind of shenanigans, particularly while sitting at a blackjack table. I guess this makes me the country bumpkin.

[Dan Druff]

This is very strange. I've played a lot of blackjack, and never once has anyone grabbed chips from me. I'm very surprised it happened to El Gallo 3 times!

v12cl, as others in this thread were saying, you should have immediately asked for the pit boss. If he wouldn't give you satisfaction, your next demand should be head of security, and finally the Nevada Gaming Commission.

There are a lot of measures in place to protect you in situations like this.

A lot of dealers are clueless and/or obnoxious, so it doesn't surprise me that she blew this off.

I have actually had blackjack dealers get obnoxious with me for no good reason, and I never hesitate to tell them off when they get out of line. I am VERY against abusing dealers just because they deal you bad cards (not their fault, obviously), but I am also against dealers treating people like shit because they have some sort of power complex or entitlement issues regarding how much they should be tipped.