It's hard to mention Las Vegas without immediately associating it with casinos and gambling. The two basically go hand in hand. If you've ever traveled to Sin City, you know the strip is littered with blackjack tables, slot machines, and other spots to place your bets. Unfortunately, sometimes (a lot of the time), people end up losing more than they came with (or simply breaking even). In some cases, losses can be so big that they are downright devastating. No one has more first-hand experience witnessing this than the workers in Las Vegas and other casinos around the world -- some of whom recently took to the internet to share stories about the biggest losses they have ever seen.

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60. 400k Like It's Nothing

The most I've ever seen someone lose at once was about 400k. His reaction: stone-faced silence. He did not give a crap at all in any way. This was in the VVIP suite for international customers.

Now you go to the main floor with the general public and they lose $10-$50 and they flip their lids about it.

With a different customer, he lost something along the lines of $20 million over the course of the night, threatened to kill the dealer's family, the supervisor's family. Nothing was done to him at all.

Everyone has a different reaction. Usually, the ones playing small limits have the biggest flip outs as they are normal people, with lower incomes, or they're hooking on the thrill and need their rush. The richer people can handle the losses a bit better, but can have a more high and mighty attitude.

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59. It Takes A While To His Rock Bottom

Surveillance here. I've seen a regular go through a few hundred then go to the atm to get more only to find that not one, not two, but 3 or 4 of his cards were over the limit. Then go to the cage to try and float a check. Nope! Those are run electronically and are withdrawn immediately: denied. Goes to the car, digs around the car for money. Finds a few bucks, blows it, leaves.

And this goes on for years.

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58. Splitting Aces

I worked surveillance so I didn't deal the hand. In my casino when someone was dealt two aces they could be split for two different hands. If in the unlikely event you get another ace you could split one more time. Well, this happened to a man who was playing table max at $10k. The kicker is two of his hands were double down hands because the dealer was showing a weak card, maybe a 5 or 6. So the guy ultimately had a $50,000 bet on one round of hands. The dealer dealt to a three card 21 and the man lost his $50k... Even though this man was as rich as God he was furious, to say the least.

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57. Big Winner, Sudden Loser

Casino worker here. Heard a story about someone coming in with under $100. They played poker and grinded up to about $400, then hit the table games (blackjack and roulette). From what I heard he got up to about $140,000 and lost it all in the same night.

Don't know his reaction though.

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56. Not Even A Tip?

On my first day on the job (after 6 weeks of training) I was put in the High Limit room of a very major casino. Obviously a lot of people in the city had/have ties to organized crime. It wasn't unusual to see money sharks, gangsters and people in extremely expensive clothes mingling with the general populace.

Anywho, since I'm brand new, I'm working the graveyard shift. It's about 3:00 in the morning. They tell me that someone wants his own table and ask if I can deal for him. I walk in and they literally have a cash counting machine on the table. he pulls out his duffle bag and hands me $350,000. I had to count it like... 6 times, while I had my supervisor, and his assistant standing behind me.

The guy starts playing. Max bet per spot was 5K so he was playing 35K a hand.

It was all gone in 15 minutes. He stood up, smiled and thanked me. My boss told me he comes in every couple of months or so, and that he usually had more. I was blown away that he lost more in a quarter of an hour than what I would earn in the next 10 years.

He didn't tip.

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55. That's A Lot Of Work For Some Revenge

One guy was so angry at his losses that he took 200 quarters, cut them in half, taped one side, and proceeded to put them in various slot machines. Once they entered the machine, it would jam it up.

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54. Numb To The Loss

Worked as a security guard on the night shift at a major casino. The biggest losers are in a fantasy land where they don't even notice. Never actually saw addicts get worried about the future. It’s amazing that anyone could operate with that blasé an attitude toward money... gambling addiction is a scary beast.

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53. Vegas Was Not Built On Winners

I actually did work in a casino in Las Vegas a few years back, in VIP services. One of our high rollers, who visited frequently, had a very bad gambling problem that his wife was divorcing him over. He lost everything at the tables and couldn't even afford his plane ticket back home. He threatened to go to the roof of the hotel and throw himself off. The casino felt so sorry for him, we ended up buying a ticket back home for him.

I never heard from him again after that.

It was a brand new casino so I am sure they didn't want to risk just ignoring his threats. Also, on the other hand, no one MADE him gamble. Vegas was not built on winners.

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52. It's A Tough Life Being A Dealer

Former table dealer here.

I've had hammered guys tell me I'm the worst dealer ever, I suck, etc. I would just reply "have a nice day!" The other people at the table were generally on my side. I've higher rollers slam the table with their fist or not react at all to losing thousands.

The worst and the saddest one that sticks in my mind is a guy who was around $2000 down on blackjack. He was nice. He was tipping pretty well. I was rooting for him, as I tended to do. I knocked his tens for good luck. Then he lost a big one and just yelled a profanity so loud that the entire casino must've heard it. It was the kind of desperation in his voice and everything about him that told me he could not afford to lose as much as he just lost. He went to the ATM, and I rotated to another table.

It was stuff like that, the nonstop smoke in my face, sleep deprivation from the late nights that led me to get out of there. A lot of other unpleasant moments too, but they all blur together. Money was nice, but it wasn't for me.

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51. Liquid Gold

A gentleman at a poker table in the five-seat unzipped his pants and urinated on the dealer.

I never caught the signal the dealer used but it was effective as all the guys who normally collect boxes from the tables show up out of nowhere and removed him from the table like they were taking out the trash (well, they were...).

The table broke up so they could clean, dealer showered and put on a new uniform and I saw her on the floor again a few hours later.

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50. Doing It The Hard Way

Just the other day, my father-in-law (who works casino security) watched an elderly lady lose everything at a poker table, and then go around and steal a couple people's purses/wallets.

When they confronted her and asked for ID, she wouldn't give it to them because they weren't the police. When the police arrived, she still wouldn't give them her ID or even her name, saying they couldn't arrest her if they didn't know who she was. Needless to say, they arrested her anyway. The last thing the cop asked her was, "are you at least going to cooperate and walk out with us to the car, or are you going to do it the hard way?"

They had to carry her out and she was kicking the windows in the back of the car the entire time.

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49. That's Quite A Run Of Bad Luck

This guy said he drove a Pepsi truck. He said his mom had just died and left him $30,000. He'd never seen this much money before so he thought he could turn it into $100,000 at the casino.

We're at the blackjack table. He's getting wasted and crying intermittently because of his mom, talking about her dying. The cocktail waitresses are teasing him the whole night and he tips them $25 every drink. In 2 hours he loses everything. He has this look of nervousness on his face and said his wife is going to kill him if she finds out about this because they have 4 kids and she wanted to buy a house.

He walked out; 10 minutes later I step outside to take a break and see that he got a DUI.

In 24 hours, his mom died, he gets a ton of money, loses it all, will probably get divorced, gets a DUI, and is sitting in the back of a cop car with blue balls from the cocktail waitresses.

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48. Blaming The Dealer For Your Own Stupidity

I was a security guard at a casino for just under 2 years. I worked the graveyard shift the entire time before I had to leave for my own mental health due to how depressing this job could be. A few of the things I saw just in the category of losses (not violence, abuse, substances, and working girls, all depressing in their own way) were as follows:

Elderly people who would spend their entire social security checks in one night and be forced to use food banks for the remainder of the month. Many couples getting into fights (sometimes physical) over the other "giving them bad luck." Anyone who would win a lot in the first 20 minutes they were there, then "chasing losses" after they gave it back to the house often emptying their entire savings accounts. Lots every month losing their entire paycheck, then savings, then taking out cash advances (that, of course, could be done in house) attempting to win back their lost paycheck.

The worst one I ever saw was a known local business owner losing what he called "over half my life's savings" in under 8 hours at $2000 a hand on a blackjack table then attempting to strangle the dealer. I had to tackle him and put him in handcuffs; he left the property in a sheriff's car and attempted to enter the building 3 times in the next 2 weeks with intent to "kill the crooked dealer."

Moral of the story: don't gamble, or if you must, be very careful because gambling addiction is a serious issue

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47. Literally Sick Of Losing

Dealer for 10 years. On my third day dealing, fresh out of dealer school, I am dealing Pai Gow Tiles. (Asian domino game, try to get pairs and tiles to add up as close to 9 as possible). On a $25 minimum game. Guy bets $25-$75 for a good 2 hours. He then slides his whole stack on one hand for $3k.

For those who know the game, he gets Teen-Dai Bo. I pull Ji-Jun. For those who do not know the game, it's like he got pocket kings and I got pocket aces. Or he pulled a 20 in blackjack and I just pulled 11 cards to make 21. The odds are ASTRONOMICAL. It's the ONLY hand that beats him.

He slams his fist on the table swearing in Chinese, chips flying everywhere, and begins to shove his finger down his throat. He self-induces vomit all over my game... Obviously I have to close the table and pit down for clean-up. Again, this was my third day on the job.

Money/benefits are great though. Highly recommend the industry. Made 30-40 an hr.

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46. Nothing Left To Lose

I was security at a Casino for a few years. The saddest story for me was this older gentleman, let’s call him “Tom” for privacy's sake. Tom would frequent the Casino every day spending anywhere from $200-$300. I had struck up lots of conversations with him because he was a regular and he was genuinely kind person who I enjoyed seeing.

One day Tom comes in and I can tell he is upset. I don’t make anything of it, but after seeing the guy for a few years almost every day, that day he looked really “off”.

So a couple of hours go by and I track him down and ask how’s the day going? Any big wins? Just general chit chat, he starts sobbing, tears running down his face. His wife had passed away from “sudden cardiac death” is what I believe he called it, the night before, and he was devastated. we talked for quite a while, I tried comforting him while he played the machines.

I had noticed he was betting EXTREMELY large, $200-$300 per spin on the slot machine. I knew that was a lot for him, but I didn’t say anything because it’s not my business and I was sure it’s a coping mechanism for him at the moment, doing something he loved when he just lost the love of his life.

Hours later I see him heading out the door, I run up to him, catch him and wish him all the best and that I’ll see him soon. He smiled, said thanks for the chat and thank you for the condolences and left.

He took his own life that night. Later I found out through some other staff who were sort of friends of his family, that he had spent all of his money, every dime, that evening spinning high limit on the machines. I’m assuming because he wanted a little enjoyment before he took his life.

Still makes me upset I didn’t invite him or over or do anything else because I knew he was in pain.

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45. Keeping It Within Budget

I work in a well-known casino in Las Vegas. It happens multiple times per week that we get high rollers in who win or lose over $1 million. The most I ever saw a person lose was about $9 million in one night. But while that may seem like an obscene amount of money to you or me, that's what he budgeted himself to gamble that trip. He came knowing he may lose $9 million. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't happy, but he didn't lose his mind, or freak out or anything like that.

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44. An Educated Decision

I haven't seen it firsthand, but I talked with a pit boss in New Mexico not long ago.

He had a story about a girl who continued going back to the ATM while playing five-dollar-minimum blackjack and eventually collapsed on the table, saying she had blown a semester of tuition at Princeton.

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43. Twenty In Twenty

I'm an ex-croupier from Sydney.

Dude turned over about 20 million in 20 minutes. He was just there because it was uni enrollment time for his son, so he decided to show them a fun time in the inner sanctums.

Another dude lost maybe 700k and didn't care; his bag man showed me photos of the private jet they travel in, which had a full sized queen bed in it. Pretty awesome.

I didn't really get to deal much in the inners. But if the players lose, they just kick you out and ask for a luckier dealer.

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42. Betting For Bills

I was a table games dealer for a while and, honestly, the people who lose buttloads of money didn't really care. It was the regular Joes who would lose $300 in a night that would lose their mind. Their body language would change and I could tell they were there to make money and ended up losing the money they needed to pay bills. These were the hardest.

On the flip side, we would have a guy come in with bankrolls of hundreds and play for three hours win or lose. The biggest tip that guy ever gave was $30.

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41. Going All In

Had a college kid bet his entire net worth on a hand of blackjack on graduation weekend with his friends watching. Money-wise it was under $15k, but it was literally every cent the kid had. Was dealt a 20 vs a 3 and I pulled a 6 card 21. The kid threw up everywhere. Not a good look.

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40. QuarterK A Hand

From my dad, who's a dealer: I've seen someone bet $25,000 a hand. When they lose they just bet another $25,000. In an evening they'll lose up to a million dollars and they won't get upset. I've had someone lose $750,000 at my table and he took me out to a drink after. Typically the ones betting huge amounts of money aren't the ones getting upset, it's the ones who lose $500-$1000 that go ballistic.

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39. Faulted For Filming

I met a guy who was a casino dealer. He told me about a guy who had the absolute best hand possible (can't recall which game it was, sadly) so he decided to film the hand while putting it down to document this incredible event. The pot was about $50,000 so it was a big deal (and this was in Chile). He collected his money, but then security saw him filming with his phone on the security camera tape and he had to give it back since the casino rules clearly stated that using cell phones and filming was not legal.

Just imagine...

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38. Gone From Greed

I'm an ex-croupier in the UK. This might not seem like a lot, but I'm not from a big city and I hadn't been in the job long. A student came in with £40. He won £14,000!! Then he started to lose. Instead of cutting his losses, he thought he could make it back up to 14k. The idiot lost it all. Could have wiped his student debt, could have bought a car, holiday, deposit on a house, whatever. Once you start getting greedy, you're gonna lose it all!

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37. Training To Deal

Dealer in a large Nevada casino. I've seen people lose tens of thousands and continue to walk back from the ATM all day long, a smile on their face, friendly as ever. I've also seen some people lose no more than $60 on the verge of tears and talking about taking their own lives when they go home -- which we are required to report.

The other day I dealt to a guy that lost $3,000; when he was down to his last 3 blacks he said he hated me and then got up to walk away, then turned around and slammed the chips down in the betting circle and yelled "OH JUST GO AHEAD AND TAKE IT FROM ME." I got a blackjack. He threw his drink and broke glass everywhere. Security escorted him out.

One of the training videos that they show us for Nevada gaming commission includes a video of a woman hitting a slot jackpot for $10,000; when they came over with the big check she was crying, so they asked her what was wrong and she told them how she had taken a second mortgage out on her home to gamble and the jackpot didn't even put a dent in it. I have tons of stories.

But the majority of people are responsible gamers, to be honest.

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36. Missing The Mark

Former dealer/floor supervisor/pit boss - I watched a prominent golfer lose $3,000,000 over a weekend playing blackjack and $100 slot machines. He was using markers, IOUs to the casino. The aftermath was one of his sponsors had to end up paying off the markers after our casino had to sue for payment.

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35. Garbage Way To Deal

A guy who is a bit of a local legend in my area actually jumped up on his seat, pulled his pants down, and dropped a big ol' poop right on a video poker machine once. Guess he'd had it.

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34. Closed Windows

Born and raised in Las Vegas I can answer that some of the aftermath is definitely dangerous. I have family who has worked at individual casinos for 15+ years.

Growing up here I heard stories about the Luxor being haunted from all those who have taken their own lives. Mainly why most casinos won't allow windows to open. Only real big spenders have windows that open. The worst part is news outlets won't report on these events.

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33. Million Dollar Mistake

I once was dealing craps on a table where a guy won and subsequently lost over a million dollars in one afternoon. He also went a couple hundred thousand into his pocket before leaving. No aftermath to speak of.

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32. Lucky Lesson

I mentioned this before: One night, I worked as a blackjack card dealer at a casino, and I watch my old high school teacher, who was inebriated and couldn't recognize me at the time, lost $5,500 in gambling. She laughed it away and left a fifty dollar tip for me.

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31. An Even Jackpot

Iowa casino, had a big player come in from out of town and stay in our hotel for a week. He played lots of stuff, but for the week he was down about $750,000+. I knew he was around but hadn't seen him, even though EVERY floor person in the place was watching him like a hawk. We have a Pai Gow game that had a jackpot that was up to about $240,000. He walked up to my table and I said, as always, "Hey, man, how's it going?" He laughs and says, "Well if I win that, (points at the jackpot) I'll be almost even for tonight." I don't think I'll ever forget that.

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30. Brotherly Luck

I work roulette at a casino in Puerto Vallarta. This inebriated Italian kid no older than 19 stumbles over to my station and tries to convince me the two black teens behind him are his brothers. Turns out their family took him in when he was a baby. After his boisterous attitude attracts a sizable crowd, he proceeds to dump $35,000 worth of chips on black. "My brothers give me luck," he tells me. Ended up landing on red, takes three more shots, and hits up our nightclub upstairs where I heard he blew like $10,000 more US dollars.

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29. Tears To Go

Saw a guy bet $2,000 on a hand of blackjack and double down. He lost, started crying, and was never seen again.

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28. From Winning To Jail

I worked security for a large casino, not in Vegas or Atlantic City. I once escorted someone to their car who had just won $2 million. Three days later we had to arrest him because he'd lost it all and assaulted someone.

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27. Brushing It Off

$300k off a guy on Baccarat. He didn't care at all, just went over to another table.

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26. Flipping Out

A friend of mine lost $50k over 5 hands of blackjack. He was not happy, completely certain they were cheating and tried to flip the table. Security escorted him out of the casino but he was still allowed to stay in the hotel.

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25. Bills In Bands

The most I personally saw lost, working security at a higher end casino on the strip, was $60,000. Dude just takes it out of his pockets with those bands around it and starts playing baccarat. I wasn't there for these, but an unfortunate amount of people would bet every last dime they had to their name; if they won then they lived their life, if they lost, they'd take their own life either by jumping off the roof or just doing it silently in their room.

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24. Regular Occurrence

Worked as a dealer a couple years ago. This regular came in (he usually played poker but sometimes he played some blackjack before going to the poker room), and sat down at my table and started to play. After fifteen minutes he might have won one or two hands and he was down $45,000. He didn't even react; barely shrugged and walked up to the poker room instead.

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23. Gambling For Hope

The most I've seen someone lose wasn't in the amount of money, per se. It was the gas money home that I saw that hit these people hardest. If someone is gambling hundreds of thousands they probably have the means to at least eat and move around in a vehicle even if they lose it all. At least they have some assets. The poor folks that gambled for hope were, by far, the most shocking experiences I've ever had during the short time I spent dealing blackjack.

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22. Hard 8

Not really that big, but just yesterday some random guy walked by the craps table I was playing at, dropped $200 hard-8 hit it on the first roll, and parlayed it into a $2k hard-8 without a thought. Lost it a handful of rolls later, that $20k payday would have been nice. The guy running the table said he would have let him parlay the $20k even though table max is only $5k.

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21. A House Worth

I work at an online casino, specifically as chat and phone support for our VIPs. We've got all the best characters, from Kuwaiti oil barons to Big Three bank presidents.

The latter bloke is retired, but he still manages to gamble my annual salary away in a fortnight. Every fortnight.

He's lost well over 10 million while he's been with us, which is about three times the value of his actual house.

Nice bloke.

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20. Oh No

I saw I guy lose a couple grand on craps.

He yelled, tried to flip the table, then punched the ground, went to throw his drink, though better of it, and just stormed out.

For about five seconds I thought I was going to see security fight him.

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19. Shrugging It Off

I deal cards in Iowa so my stories aren't as impressive as some of these are but the most I've seen lost was $76,000 in thirty minutes and the guy just went "huh," shrugged, and tipped me his last $500.

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18. Highs And Lows

I dealt cards for two years, I dealt high limits and $5 games. People who lost $25 a hand at the low limit table generally took it harder than the people losing thousands at high limit tables. I worked at a casino in a rough part of Philly where a gentlemen would carry $60k cash at all times and would keep buying in until he won. He also said thank you every hand he didn't win.

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17. Full Hand

Saw a young guy put all the money he had, $200, on one hand of blackjack. He gets blackjack. Now he has $500. He puts all of it on the next hand. Wins again. He keeps on winning and putting everything he had on the next hand till he's playing the table max, $5,000. He builds it all the way up to $60,000. The dealer starts telling him to take the money and run. He said it didn't matter, he was just there to have fun. He ended up losing it all, and he actually didn't care.

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16. Gone In A Minute

Not a dealer but worked in a casino in various jobs for a few years. The biggest I was told about by a client was that he lost $10,000 in about a minute. He seemed pretty nonplussed. That's like him though - I worked in valet at the time and he'd come in about 5 times a day, usually for under 10 minutes, and the only way you could tell whether he'd won or lost is if he told you, or by going on what he'd tip. Nothing if he lost, $5-20 if he won, up to $100 if he won a LOT.

The biggest I was told about by a staff member was a guy who wanted $300,000 cash. I think about 5 security guards escorted the cash up to the VIP room. They had to leave then though - he was in a private room which only has a very limited number of staff allowed at any given time. So I still don't know whether he won or lost...

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15. Inebriated And Confused

My ex lost $10,000 in about 5 minutes of blackjack. He proceeded to drive to the nearest bar, get inebriated, get naked, throw up all over his interior, and call me crying to come pick him up. I took him home, cleaned him up, and was outside washing the car and talking on the phone. He saw me through the windows and locked me out because he thought I was calling the cops.

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14. Money To Burn

Not a dealer, but my buddies and I were gambling at the $10 a hand tables at the Wynn (back when they still had them) and having a blast. A guy walks up and asks if he can sit at the one open seat, to which we say sure. He then takes out a $50k marker from the house and proceeds to lose all of it in about 25 minutes. After that, he tells us to enjoy our time in Vegas and leaves like nothing happened. The pit boss told us he was some well-known poker player, so he had the money to burn I guess.

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13. Best Case Scenario

I was at the Lisboa Hotel in Macau. Somehow, we'd wandered into a private room where one guy was playing baccarat. In the entire room, it was just him playing against the house. He lost the equivalent of $350k in about 20 minutes. He just raised his eyebrows and some flunkie came over with a suitcase full of cash for him to keep playing.

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12. Something To Do

I dealt baccarat in the VIP room of a casino here in Australia and the most I saw anyone consistently bet per hand is $150K. He was a young kid whose father owned an island. One night I remember he was doing really poorly and was waiting for more money to be brought over from the cage and we started chatting about what he likes to do in his spare time and what he was going to do on New Year's Eve (fishing and hanging with the kids). I also went so far as to tell him that just one of his bets would set me up for life. He didn't really care about the money; gambling - and drinking hilariously expensive drinks - was just something to do.

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11. Broken Chip

I dealt high limit blackjack for a few years. Some guys had limits higher than posted, the highest limits we had were $15k for one hand, $10k per two hands, $7k per hand for three hands. There were only a few guys that had those limits and even then they didn't play table max all the time.

The single hand that sticks out to me...Guy has $10k bet, splits, and doubles down one of the split hands. Lost all three, so $30k. Got so angry he slammed his hand down and broke an orange chip ($1k). Took everything in me to keep a straight face. The guy was a butt and he deserved to lose every bet.

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10. H2-No

My friend works as a bartender at Nobu restaurant in Crown casino. One night she was asked to serve drinks in one of the private betting rooms. All of the guys are Chinese and speak practically no English. There was a misunderstanding and my friend poured water into this guy's glass instead of what that one guy was drinking, and he totally lost his mind at her. The guy next to him, who spoke English, apologized on his behalf and said, "You'll have to excuse my friend's behavior, he has just lost 4 million dollars."

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9. Child's Play

I live in Denmark, and in our elementary school we had a week where the school changed to be a little society, with their own banks and currency. Small shops like a baker, a tailor, a woodshop, all kinds of fun small things... But the biggest attraction was definitely a casino! Every student had a job somewhere, and we got paid with the society's currency every day. We got like $1 worth of money for one day. But the last day, all the parents were invited, and you could go to the bank and change your money to the school's currency.

So one of the older kids (13-14 years old) bought $40 and went to the casino. And all in on reds in the roulette. And that's how a 13- or 14-year-old kid lost $40 worth of money in a school casino.

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8. Racking Up Roulette Wins

I'm a dealer and I'll never forget that my first night on Roullete was the most I've ever paid out. I tap into the game and I see a MASSIVE STACK of chips on 16. Boom, 16 off the rip for like 6 different people in total. One guy got it good for like $17k. Was an eventful first night on Roullete. That game is fun to deal. Blackjack or Baccarat? Awful.

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7. Texas Hold 'Em

I used to deal at a small card club in Oregon and the biggest I ever did was a single heads-up Texas Hold 'Em pot with just under $5000. It's not much in the wide world of poker, but for our town, it was a pretty big chunk of change. I think I've only heard of one or two bigger ones in town since then, but they were all multi-way P/L Omaha pots that ended up getting split.

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6. Cutting To The Chase

I was a casino pit boss for 8 years. I watched people win and lose big amounts on a daily basis. The funny thing was is that I didn't care if they won or lost, as I couldn't accept tips in my position so I got paid the same regardless of how they fared. One night this guy lost a ton of money in a matter of minutes. Unable to blame himself for his stupidity, he blamed me and threatened to mess me up. He was banned from our casino but not the parking lot. Every night for 2 months he waited for me. Every night my security guards had to escort me out to my car and take one of their cars to block this butt in so he couldn't follow me. In answer to your next question, yes, I did contact the police and was told that unless he physically did something to me, there was nothing they could do. Two years ago I changed from that job to Pharmacy and couldn't possibly be happier.

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5. Just Another Day

I dealt blackjack at Melbourne's Crown Casino for a couple of years. I got to meet some celebs and whatnot, but this one lady always had a massive handbag around with her and was a regular. She sat on my $100 blackjack table, which is the highest limit on the peasant floor. Chucks down $15,000 and lost it within 20 minutes. She walked away like it was another regular day. $15,000. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?

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4. Where Does The Money Come From?

While working at a casino we had a regular who was seen to frequently win. We all got on with her and she was generous with tips. We would often comp her free drinks.

After I left, about 6 months later, she was in the news.

It turned out she had stolen nearly half a million from her workplace over three years, lost her family home, lost her husband and family and went to jail. Apparently she was losing $50,000 a month. Within three years, her turnover at the casino was apparently 6 million.

We had this card thing that regulars could use, especially with slots. They would insert it in machines and could win prizes, free food and drink or whatever. She never used hers. I think because it was also a way of tracking losses. That's where it was found her turn-over exceeded 6.6 million...

We were supposed to spot problem gamblers and I think the pit bosses, floor managers and supervisors knew she was a problem gambler. Personally, I never thought she spent that much and she was always well-dressed and spoken. In hindsight, I should have realized.

When we started our training, a pit-boss who was about to leave the casino said to us, ''in a Casino, we always make a big deal out of the winner, you're not going to see the losers.'' I wish I had paid more attention to that.

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3. Losing To Win

I was in AC a few months ago and was waiting for a spot to open up at a 1/2 no-limit hold 'em table. As I was waiting, I saw a guy lose to an old lady with quad kings to a royal flush. The pot was probably like $1000 when all was said and done. The crazy part, however, was that the guy ended up winning the "bad beat jackpot," which was over $100k. And everyone at the table got paid like two grand. So because he lost the hand rather than won, he got an extra $99,000.

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2. All In Check

I have worked part-time as a table games dealer at a small casino in a smaller city for about a year- our busiest days are when people get their welfare cheques. The most I think I've ever seen anyone lose on one single hand was $5000 playing baccarat. It was one of our regulars who would come in pretty much every night and dump anywhere from $10k-$30k+, so seeing him lose $5000 wasn't really anything too surprising. When you're broke it is frustrating to see someone dumping so much money on such a regular basis, $10k would pretty much solve all my problems right now...
I've seen people get really upset about losing $50, and people laughing and having fun while losing hundreds. It's usually the people playing for smaller amounts like $5-$20 that get really upset about losing, while the people playing $100+ hands usually don't seem to care as much because the extra money won't really make too big of a difference to them. It surprises me at how many people are foolish enough to expect to leave a casino with more money then they came in with.

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1. Wandering In Vegas

My mother has had a gambling problem for as long as I can remember. It got worse as I got older. After I graduated and got a job, left the house for good, she started gambling a lot. I got a call from her once at 3 AM, literally begging me to instantly wire her $1,800 so she could get a flight home from Vegas. I did so in the morning but the transfer would take 3 days. She gambled away her plane ticket and her hotel room too. I didn't even know that was possible. She was literally just walking around Vegas for those 3 days homeless, waiting for the wire transfer.

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