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.
#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.
Image credits: Proof_Opportunity_58
#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.
Image credits: HiThisIsMichael
#3
Coming into work and seeing the same people still playing that were there when I left the night before.
Image credits: Total-Ad5179
Health Direct explains that there are lots of different factors that can increase a person’s chances of developing gambling problems. For some individuals, gambling is a way to escape the other difficulties and problems going on in their lives. However, because gambling has become normalized in society to a certain extent, it can make it really hard for people with gambling problems to stay away.
Even if they’re on a losing streak, people who are addicted to gambling can’t control their urge to gamble. Not only can they end up losing the money in their wallets or bank accounts, but they can also end up losing their jobs and their homes and damage their closest relationships. They can end up anxious and depressed, bankrupt, and even homeless.
It’s not a sign of weakness to ask for help. If you suspect that you or a loved one might be addicted to gambling, you should turn to a mental health specialist for assistance. Preferably someone who specializes in addiction and gambling.
#4
15 years in the casino, on the F&B side. I have seen:
-People s**t and p**s on themselves so they don't have to leave a machine. S**t in the line to the buffet and roll it down their pant leg so they don't lose their spot. Completely not even batting an eye at their actions. I have more s**t / p**s stories than I care to share.
-People get an opportunity to buy a home, finally, and find out they can't get a lone because 95% of their income has gone into the casino for years.
-Someone die, just to have people try to step around the barrier to get to the free soda machine, or over the body even, because they could care less.
-Fentanyl classes had to be given to my team in the event someone found something on the ground. I am glad we did that as a company, but sad it was there and that common.
-Someone throw themselves off the parking structure.
-Don't get me started on Covid handling both pre and post closure.
Needless to say, I am long and gone out of that world. I NEVER gamble.
#5
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.
Image credits: Captainpatch
#6
I worked a whole host of positions in Casinos over the course of 6-7 years. In that time I saw a lot of really funny, really sad, and really frustrating things.
The one that hurt me the most was seeing the father of one of my Highschool friends coming in over the course of the years. He started showing up every now and then when I was 19 and had my first job there. He was an older guy (late 50's-early 60's) but still pretty healthy, had a lot of money, drove a nice car had a nice house, even owned a small plane that he flew recreationally. Slowly but surely he was coming in more and more frequently though. He started gaining more weight, he was looking more pale and sickly, drank almost constantly. It turned out that his home situation was going downhill fast. He and my friend (his son) had a massive falling out, and eventually his wife left him and took their other daughter with her. He had nothing left but his money and himself, and even that didn't last. He was never winning anything and had to have lost millions in that time frame. He was in the building for days at a time without moving from his machine. Because of that and the amount of alcohol he was consuming combined with the lack of sleep, aging body, and constant second hand smoke exposure, his health was quickly plummeting. He was always nice and happy to talk to anyone, but even that didn't last as he started snapping at every little thing and not interacting with anyone at all.
I left that job years ago but every now and then my family will go back to that same casino and see him at his same machine looking like a husk of his former self. Even now that s**t is heartbreaking to me. Gambling addiction is a dangerous horrible thing, but you never really realize just how bad it is until you see someone you've known your entire life driven to the very brink by it.
The American Psychological Association warns that it’s not just physical casinos that are making it easier to gamble: there’s also easy access to lotteries, sports betting, online gambling games, and video games with gambling elements.
This means that gambling is easily available and accessible 24/7 for people of all ages. And that’s a very scary thought. Adults aren’t the only ones affected. Teenagers and even young kids can fall deep into gambling addiction, too. This, in turn, can have extremely negative consequences for their future development.
#7
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.
Image credits: surfsnower
#8
I'm not a casino worker but have gambling addicted parents.
I live on the gulf coast, my parents live in the midwest. My daughters are 2 and 4 and they only recently met my parents for the first time very briefly in a casino lobby only because my parents have gambled so much at MGM they offered to fly them down to Biloxi MS and give them a hotel and a bunch of free plays.
After we put the kids to bed, my wife told me to go down to the casino and have fun. I think I withdrew $150 to play a few slot machines and basically spend some time with my mom and dad. It was around 10:30 p.m., and my machine hit for a little over $1,500. I hit the collect button and said to my mom, "I'm done... I expected to lose all the money I brought here and I'm going to use this money to compensate for the trip and buy some new clothes for my daughters upcoming school year"
My mother became upset and said "it's only 10:30...? Live a little, and you're on a 'hot streak' ? I bet if you continue playing you could turn that $1,500 into $3000." I said 'No.. my kids will be up at 6:30 AM... and I can't afford to lose sleep, stay out late and the probability of me being able to win 10X the money I came here with itself is way more than I could have asked for, and the probability of me winning more than what i have already won is way... way... less odds... I'm taking my chips and cashing out."
My mother then had some choice words with me and became unhinged.... saying things like "there you go with that math s**t (my major is in mathematics/computer engineering)."" Ohh, look at you so educated, and you know how all these machines work....
S**t was hurtful...
This is why I hate casinos... they destroy people....
The only plus side is when my parents do pass away, they won't have anything left because the majority of their wealth has been transferred to the casino.
Thankfully, both my sister and I are very successful, and in reality, sorting out their estate will be more of a burden than a windfall.
#9
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.
Image credits: Travice0
According to the APA, the people most vulnerable to gambling problems and addiction are young and male. Research shows that people in their early twenties are the fastest-growing cohort of gamblers. Terrifyingly, in a 2018 Canadian survey, almost two-thirds of kids aged 12-18 admitted that they have either gambled or played games with gambling-like elements over the past year.
There are serious concerns about the fact that kids are exposed to ads where athletes and well-known sports figures promote sports betting and gambling. “It’s the wild, wild west with regard to gambling,” says social worker Lia Nower, JD, PhD, the director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University.
Have you or your loved ones ever had to overcome addiction? Have you ever seen someone you care about struggle with gambling? What did you do to help them?
#10
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.
Image credits: heathers1
#11
Worked Valet at a casino. One night we got the car and they dropped it off, left the keys in (normal here). I hopped in to move it and it smelled like death. I moved the car and informed my super. He called the cops as it was the smell of a decaying body.
Cops came and we opened the truck.... full of groceries.... from 4 months ago.... in the missouri summer heat. It was chicken. They came to claim their car and were told to not park here in valet again
They said the person who normally carries their groceries up to their second floor apartment left and they don't have anyone to help them anymore. So now they go to casinos and eat out every night....
They didn't have money to do this, no idea where it came from. I will never gamble or go to a casino after working valet those years. Many many more stories.
Image credits: Apuuli21
#12
I was a bartender in a local casino and especially older people would sit at my bar 8-10 hours a day, feeding money into the bar top machines, all while talking about their homes being foreclosed on, their lights getting shut off, etc. They got free pop, coffee, juice, and then after feeding all this money in them, would tell me, "Sorry I cant tip you, I have to watch my money!".. not even a damn dollar. I had to quit because the whole scene went against what I believe. My next door neighbor came in one day and asked me if I could lend them $300.00 cause this machine was "getting ready to hit". He said he was in there to win money to pay his light bill. That was a big fat NO!
#13
Not a worker, but I saw a guy try to bet his prosthetic arm in Vegas.
Image credits: splendidjack
#14
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.
Image credits: pedantic_dullard
#15
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.
Image credits: captainundesirable
#16
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.
#17
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".
Image credits: ultra_violet007
#18
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.
Image credits: Ok-Experience-6674
#19
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.
#20
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.
Image credits: tedsgloriousmustache
#21
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.
Image credits: Signiference
#22
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.
#23
He bankrupted a casino. A CASINO! People line up to throw their money away. He f****d that up!?
#24
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.
Image credits: Topnotch_tutors
#25
Ex-casino worker here. I saw way too many people spend ridiculous amounts of money on gambling. I've seen little kids asleep in chairs outside the casino floor cause their parents were busy gambling. A gentleman had a heart attack at a poker table and other gamblers were pissed cause we had to stop the games so EMS could come.
Saddest one though was a lady who wanted to cash a check made out to the electric company. She wanted to know if she could scratch out the company name and write in the casino name. I told her we could not do that.
Image credits: Dark_Eyed_Girl
#26
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.
Image credits: Noogatuck
#27
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.
Image credits: Happy-Flan2112
#28
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?
Image credits: anon
#29
Way too many in 10 years of dealing table games. I’ve seen people lose a lot of money until they cried at my table, people sitting at machines and being there the next day I came to work smelling like actual s**t, a regular always brought her disabled kid in a wheelchair and put them next to her while she gambled for almost a day each time.
I had a guy who clearly had dementia at my table and even with complaints they still allowed him to play. He could barely make hand signals and kept forgetting we were in the middle of hands. It didn’t help that he was tipping the beverage server well so he got massively over-served alcohol.
Reports on these people should have made it so they couldn’t continue doing this stuff but it never actually changed anything.
The worst was a few tables away from me a guy’s girlfriend was trying to get him to leave and he got so pissed he tried to choke her to death right at the table. He ran from security into the woods behind the casino and [took his own life].
Image credits: wickedstorm1989
#30
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.
