Watch Your Chips This Weekend

This year, in the space of two months we’ve had several big poker chip stories - the counterfeit chips introduced at the #BorgataWinterOpen2014 by @Christian Lusardi and later found clogging the pipes at his hotel, a couple who introduced fake chips at Maryland Live! Casino in Maryland, and the @Chan Pelton scandal at WSOP in Florida.

Unlike the occasional Las Vegas casino heists involving hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars, this time it is all about a single chip. Moreover the thief in question stole it from himself.

The chip was of T25,000 denomination and the thief was the winner of a World Series of Poker No Limit Texas Hold’em event at the Palm Beach Kennel Club in South Florida. Confronted by casino staff who had checked the video surveillance, Chan returned the chip and explained he had wanted to keep it as a souvenir. Yet, he is suspected of intending to use it in the Main Event. Chan Pelton has since been stripped of his title, has forfeited the prize money, and has been banned fro Caesars properties.

Pelton is a seasoned poker player with about $250,000 in live tournament winnings. He told SouthFlorida.com, “I’m literally shell-shocked. This is my livelihood,” and is reportedly going to sue WSOP.

Chip thefts occur more often in movies than in real life. At least judging from what comes out in the media - though tweets such as this one: “Don't be naive. There's cheating in EVERY tourney!” seem to suggest otherwise.

In any case, casinos rarely take responsibility for missing chips so make sure you keep an eye on your bills and chips at all times. If you have to leave the table, count your stack before you leave and after you return. A post in a twoplustwo thread on the topic even recommends taking a picture of the stack with one’s phone. One easy precaution is to place the small denomination chips on top of the big ones (and we can only wish you lots of those :)