More on $500 Freeroll
Very interesting comments to my post…
This is weighing on my mind a bit, so I thought I’d include some more details and see what people have to say.
First off, for people worried about the well-being of the cashier, two points:
1) If a mistake is made at the cage, the penalty for the cashier who made the mistake is that a point will go on his/her record if the mistake is above a certain amount (i am assuming the amount is probably less than $500). If a cashier acquires enough points in a given time span, he/she is fired.
2) I have asked a lot of my friends this question, and I have heard this response a lot (which personally I don’t agree with but believe has some merit mentioning): If the cashier made this error of such egregious nature, do we really want him/her working in the cage? It is somewhat likely that the cashier is making mistakes like this on a more often than usual basis, and could be shorting customers too. Plus, if the cashier is bad, he/she is probably going to make the same mistake anyway at a later date and get fired regardless.
For people concerned about karma, ethics, etc.
I never really intended to keep the money. My line of thought (and it may be incorrect/illogical) was that hey, a totally immoral and rich entity is losing $500, why should I let them know? If I walk into a mom and pop shop and they give me incorrect change, I am reporting it back 100% of the time no matter amount. The fact that it was a casino, which I have a lot of scorn and personal angst towards, made the decision to keep it seem automatic to me. Their job is to figure out clever ways of robbing people every day and some of the stuff they do is ridiculous.
Also, this is a very utilitarian and dangerous line of thought, but the idea that I will spend the money way more efficiently than the casino is worth discussing. I have spent a couple years working in the non-profit sector and I have a lot of really good causes that I was going to donate the money to, anonymously, without receiving any sort of intrinsic benefits like a tax deductible, etc. Maybe it’s not my money to spend though?
Haha, reading back the whole post seems results-oriented but it’s not. I’m not sweating my karma I got a lot of good built up anyway and I don’t necessarily agree that this ships some in the “bad” category. But I like hearing dissenting opinions and am open to changing my mind, please let me know! Convince me that this is bad and I’ll drive over there today and give it back. Thanks to the people who already commented, I appreciate the feedback.
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Comments
I’m with lifesagrind here. The well-being of the cashier and/or the relative moral deficiencies of the entity for which s/he works aren’t really weighing into my decision to give back the cabbage.
to put it in poker terms, which is something i possibly do with all my decisions in life and which i should seek counselling for, the answer to this question is pretty marginal EV. i don’t think either decision, giving the money or back or not is a mistake either way.
and if this is the case then hearing someone else’s opinon does not matter so much. it is a personal choice. just like in poker when a decision is so close to the line, it’s a matter of personal preference.
if this is really going to bother you that you kept it then you should give it back. i pretty much wouldn’t bother as if it is not life changing money. just keep it. the guy doesn’t lose his job. the casino is not going to cry over 500 and it’s not as if you’re not going to give it back to casinos anyway, since you’re a regular.
The fact that you posted about this twice shows how much you really struggle with it.
To put it into a zen line of thinking, hapiness is something attained by being satisfied with who you are and what you stand for. It’s something within, that you can look back to whenever the chips are down and say “I have treated others well in life, I have been fair, I have helped people, I am happy with who I am”. Pleasure is having an extra $500 in your pocket. You can never attain hapiness by simply trying to gather as many pleasures in this world that you can.
I’m sure the cashier is either out the $500 or out of a job. And you have $500 extra, but aren’t very happy with yourself. The $500 won’t last, but the feeling will and when you fall on hard times you will have nothing from within yourself to lift you up.
Giving to the PPA is the wrong thing.
I think you should give it back, but I will not think ill of you if you keep it.
Here is an idea that might make you feel better: Give it back to the casino… very slowly… one dollar at a time. They will be happy to take it from you. But remember: “No flop, no drop.”
It’s not the “morality” of the entity that loses the money, but the one in possession of the ill gotten gain that you should be worried about. It appears that you do not want to give the money back. I’m not sure if your looking for support or justification for keeping it, bat that’s how it seems. In the end, all that’s really going to matter is how you feel about yourself afterwards.