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“Tuesday Mornings”: 22 Casino Workers Share The Most Shocking And Sad Things They’ve Seen
Article created by: Mantas Kačerauskas
Gambling addiction is an incredibly serious issue that can ruin people’s lives, as well as those of their family members. But the problem might not be getting the attention that it deserves in public.
Internet user u/brew2brew decided to shine a spotlight on it by asking casino workers to open up about the saddest things they’ve ever witnessed while on the job. We’ve collected some of their most powerful stories about addiction to share with you, and they are harrowing. Read on for their tales.
- Read More: “Tuesday Mornings”: 30 Casino Workers Share The Most Shocking And Sad Things They’ve Seen
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Not a casino employee, but I used to work at a bank. Had a customer asking about something on her account, so I was reviewing her statement and saw these frequent $2,000 withdrawals at the casino nearby. In the one statement I was looking at, there were over $10K in withdrawals, and this customer’s total account balance was somewhere around $60K. I started going backward in her statements and found she had sold a house and received something like $700K less than a year ago, and had steadily gambled it almost all away, month by month. It was one of the most depressing things I saw there, which is saying a lot at a bank.
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#2
I’ve only been to a casino one time. Coming into the casino I saw a man playing a card game and someone told me he had $150,000 worth of chips in front of him. At the end of the day when I was getting ready to leave, the same man was at the bar begging for bus fare to get home. The bartender told me he had even given his car to someone exchange for cash. After that day I never set foot in a casino again.
#3
Coming into work and seeing the same people still playing that were there when I left the night before.
#4
I worked at a casino over a decade ago, but here's mine: Somebody won a small jackpot, something like $2000. When checking her ID for tax paperwork it was discovered that she had put herself on the state's problem gambler self-exclusion list, which meant the casino was obligated to remove her from the building without paying (she wouldn't have been allowed in the building if she had been recognized). While double checking the manager downloaded an updated list (we auto-checked against a local copy that was sometimes a few days out of date) and it showed that she had removed herself from the list with sufficient notice, so the jackpot was paid out.
She proceeded to put every penny of the jackpot back into the slot machine... And also made a couple visits to the ATM... And at the end of her stay she asked the cashiers if she could be put back on the self-exclusion list.
#5
I was driving cross country for work and stopped in West Memphis for the night. Went to the casino to burn a few hours. From my machine I saw a lady playing slots with tears running down her face. I heard her scream and looked up to realize the machine hit zero and she started bawling uncontrollably. She was screaming that she had nothing left and to please have her money back. Got removed by security. I hit for $150 and cashed out but the walk to my car was terrifying. I'm not a target demographic for mugging, but the desperation on people's faces was noticeable. Never going there again.
#6
My first December working in the casino I'm still at. I was on a blackjack table and a guy sits down and drops $1565 on the table and tells the dealer "dealer, my family's about to have a great Christmas or no Christmas"
20 minutes later it's gone and he asks the dealer if she's happy with herself and how well the casino has to be paying her.
Never saw the guy again(our casino is 95% repeat customers) so I wouldn't be surprised if that actually was his Christmas money.
#7
Was in AC 20 years ago. it was midnight and there were a bunch of small kids sleeping on coats outside the casino floor… in the bathroom alone, etc.
#8
I have several stories. I worked as a cashier and also a slot attendant for 5 years.
The worst was when a guy was just sitting at a slot machine with a bewildered look on his face. Like he was in shock. I asked him if he was ok, could I get him a water? He just looked at me and said, "I need help, man. This just isn't fun anymore."
I called my manager on the radio and asked him to grab a casino host, then sat down with him. A casino host couldn't help, but he could take him to a quiet area to talk. My manager came by, I introduced the player and said, "Guy_name is having a hard time right now. Think we can all go somewhere quiet and talk?" The manager took it from there, but I felt so bad for him. He was just quietly crying in desperation and whatever realization he had just experienced.
As a cashier, my first Christmas Eve there was the first time I'd ever worked on Christmas Eve in my 28 years. It was also the first Christmas I hadn't been with my family. Around 8 or 9pm, a lady came to my cashier window and asked for $250 in quarter tokens (several years before paper tickets). I did the thing and she said, "No, no, no baby! You've got to put some extra luck on these! I need to win, I haven't bought my babies anything for Christmas yet." I tapped them twice, wiggled my fingers towards the quarters and squinched my eyes, and said, "Done! That was all the luck I brought tonight!" Ol girl was tickled pink, she just knew she was gonna get that jackpot for her babies!
Another cashier sat with me at dinner break and told me it only gets easier after that. She lied.
Last one for now was the lady who had just won a $5000 or $10,000 jackpot on a dime machine. It was very clear she didn't want it. Turned out she was banned for her gambling addiction and behavior. She was begging to just forget we saw her and give it to anyone else. She just wanted to play. Unfortunately, the law is the law and she was handcuffed by gaming officials and arrested.
White: Just thought of another good one. It was an employee this time. She got caught stealing tips players have to the slot attendant.
The cool thing about casinos is when they catch you, they make note of it, save the video evidence, and do nothing other than add to a report. Once the employee steals enough, I think $500, it's a state felony because technically every non-player penny inside a casino is state property because it's state regulated. Like a bank is federal.
So they catch a co-worker stealing tips. One day she's just coming on shift and is counting into her jackpot payout bank when gaming stops by and starts talking to her. Gaming guys aren't friendly if they have to leave their office. They're like extra angry chihuahua's that haven't eaten for days and suddenly are being teased with hot dogs, small children's fingers, and pupperonis. Everyone in uniform stops and backs up, then they start loudly reading her her rights. Not only was she arrested, but she got called out in front of everyone she was stealing from.
#9
Former casino worker of 20 years.
I’ve seen a lot of things, but this one stands out to me. I was the games manager on shift and there was a lady in her 40s playing blackjack. She had been there a few hours and had made quite a few trips to the ATM and her buy ins were getting into the thousands of dollars.
I was doing paperwork in the pit when a dealer called me over while the lady was on another ATM trip and said she was crying just before. I kept an eye on her and after she lost a few more hands I could see the tears start and she was silently crying while playing. I went up and as discreetly as possible, asked her if she was ok and offered help through our partnered addictions help program. She looked me right in the face and got mad at me for asking and told me she’s fine and to leave her alone.
She was making staff very uncomfortable at that time and it was obvious she was crying more and more as she continued to play and lose. I made the decision to ask her to leave for the night and comped her cab ride home. I tried again to offer her information to organizations to help with her gambling again, but still not interested.
Addictions are heartbreaking to see and I really hope she was able to get help.
#11
Former cage supervisor - in the span of a month, 2 people jumped off the top of our 6 story parking garage.
Saddest part was that when it happened the second time, all the staff were just like "Really? Again? That's inconvenient".
#12
I wish the guy who worked the blackjack table at the casino my dad went to could respond here about stories of my dad.
My father had a successful plumbing and sewer company in Miami. If it wasn't for his addiction, we would probably be millionaires, and I would have taken over the now defunct corporation. My sister told me a story that he won $10,000 and proceeded to lose it all and about $15,000 more in one night. I feel for anyone who has this horrible addiction and the ones affected by it.
#13
I worked a bank near an Indian casino. The casino bus would park near the retirement home and shuttle the people to the casino whenever social security checks cleared. Those who had accounts with us would come the next day trying to halt any payments because of "fraud" from the casinos. Every month.
#14
I spent a lot of time in the casino, my dad had a gambling problem, it’s sad to watch your hero fall but he pulled himself out and away from that but the things I’ve seen….
Seen a blind Chinese man come in with his bodyguards to help him gamble
I’ve seen couples blow their entire money and just stand there looking at each other half in tears
I sat next to a woman who lost it all and just couldn’t bring herself to get off the chair because reality wasn’t setting in
My dad used to really hit it big, and once he would make me play on one machine and he plays on the other…. His was losing and mine started winning big I got shoved off that seat so fast….
I don’t miss that place it’s full of greed and misery.
#15
Not a casino worker but I saw a woman stage an impromptu intervention on her father at a blackjack table.
Was playing at a table with all veterans at potawatomi in Milwaukee. We were all doing well except this one guy who was playing table minimum and losing. But we were laughing and taking and having a good time.
This guy losing is sitting to my right. A woman comes up on his right and grabs him by the shoulder. She says, 'I knew I'd find you here! You said you were going to get groceries! How'd you even get here?'
He says, 'your uncle brought me...' cue to her Uncle waving to her from a table over.
She says, 'you have kids at home relying on you. How could you do this again? Come on we're going home...'
He says, 'olay, fine but I'll just come back later...' as he cashed out like $30 and sulked away.
As if on cue the 5 remaining guys at the table push their chips in and cash out.
I still think about that family 15 years later.
#16
Oh man, I have a ton from my 15 years as a casino manager, but I’ll just write a few and come back later:
Woman who was an anesthesiologist asssistant hit a “bad beat jackpot” at a 1-2 no limit poker table for around $120k. For non-poker players, this is the lowest stakes no limit hold’em game offered by most poker rooms. The buy-in range was from $100-300 min/max at our room, so by poker standards not terribly high. After she hit the jackpot she started playing the bigger games, first 2-5 no limit ($200-1000 buy-in) and then moving up to 5-10 no limit ($500 min, and I believe at the time it was no max). Next thing you knew she was out playing in the high stakes blackjack pit playing $100 a hand. She got bumped up to a black card quickly from all the blackjack she was playing.
Fast forward about 4-6 weeks, maybe 2 months tops and we don’t see her around as much. A few players asked if we’d seen her and a couple let it be known that she borrowed money from them and hasn’t repaid it. She started showing up late at night wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses and playing slots.
Shortly after, security determined that she had been living out of her car and sleeping in the parking garage.
The fall went QUICK. It was just like all the lottery winner horror stories I’d seen on tv but playing out in real time.
#17
Worked in a tribal casino for a little over 7 years. One evening a fight broke out between two males. The older guy was in his 60’s I’d guess when he got up to use the bathroom or go to the ATM, his chair was free and open to anyone. A young guy in his 20’s sat at the machine and started gambling.
Older man came back started yelling and getting in the young guys face, younger male punched him in the face and dropped the older guy.
Young kid ran out the casino, older male was killed from the punch.
Older guy lost his life over a machine and younger dude will probably spend the rest of his life in prison. Sad end for both.
#18
One of the saddest things I've seen was a regular patron who had clearly lost more than just money over time. He'd come in frequently, always chasing his losses, and it was evident that his gambling habit had taken a toll on his personal life. Over the months, he became more withdrawn, and his clothes and demeanor showed signs of neglect. It was heartbreaking to watch someone lose not just financially but also in terms of their well-being and relationships.
#19
Not a casino worker, just somebody who likes casual gambling.
First time I was ever at a casino the woman in front of me at the atm took out her last five dollars. And paid a 9.95 atm fee to get it. Her account balance flashed on the screen as she walked away.
Almost made me wanna go home.
#20
A lady came to my casino on a bus day trip.
She never went home. She gambled until everything that she had was gone, and then she sold her house to some shyster and gambled that money.
The last time I saw her, she was begging on the sidewalk. Never found out what happened to her, but I never forgot her. It broke my heart. I tried to talk her into going home, but she was either into the early stages of Alzheimer’s, or dementia, and nothing would get through to her.
#21
I'm not a casino worker. I was at a bar on the casino floor and an elderly man in a suit and hat sat down a few seats over and started talking to the bartender.
They made smalltalk and then he mentioned that his wife of 50 years had died of cancer a few weeks beforehand. He said they never had kids and not many friends, so he took all the savings they had and came to Vegas to "have some fun until the money runs out, then I'll be going home to be with my wife."
Bartender never followed up on it but just kinda let him drink. I just awkwardly kept scrolling on my phone. What do you even say to that?
#22
Not a casino worker, but still a sad story. Managed an apartment portfolio decades ago and one of the properties was in Vegas. Keep in mind that this was before the days of paying your rent online. We had a zero cash collection policy, but the manager of the property told everyone was "lifted" for the month to help boost our collections. The perfect storm happened on a Friday that aligned with a lot of paydays. She collected about $80k (roughly $150k in today's dollars) in cash for rent and then went to the casino and put it all on red. Her thinking was that she would double it, then deposit the $80k on Monday and nobody would ever know the difference. She did not win. Monday comes around and I see that the money didn't get to the bank so I call the property. Nobody has seen the manager. Alarm bells immediately ring in my head. I fly to Vegas. We eventually found her at some dude's house and called the police. So stupid.
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