Anthony DeBella
Google
Some slot machine stalkers ruined my night and the casino supervisor did nothing to stop them.
My friend and I gamble here very often, multiple times a week, but after this experience, we'll probably be gambling elsewhere from now on. This Saturday night (8/16/25) I was playing one of those progressive "Three Little Piggies" games where the coins shoot up and make the pigs get bigger or whatever. I had invested a few hundred on a higher denomination, and I got up at one point leaving the "free games" at 19. I got up for a minute to go to the bathroom.
When I came back, some guy was sitting at the machine calling someone on his phone. He wasn't playing, just sitting there. I asked him if he was playing and he said "I'm gonna play." I waited a few minutes but he still didn't play. This is when I realized he was involved in some sleazy nonsense. If it's not already clear, he's a professional who waits for customers to get up from a hot machine so he can reap the benefits after you fed the machine with money. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if he was actually playing, but him just hogging a machine for no reason is ridiculous. I guess he was waiting for someone else to come who had the money to play it or something. I asked a slot mechanic if he was allowed to do that. The slot mechanic tried to talk to him but the guy told him to buzz off, so the mechanic got a supervisor, and he mentioned to me that the guy hogging the machine was here all the time. Of course he was.
Anyway, the supervisor came up and I explained the situation. She tried to talk to the guy. He still refused to get up. She stood about 15 feet away, just watching the guy sit there. I asked her what was going on. She mumbled something about not wanting to go up to him now. Eventually, she went and got two security guards and they went and talked to him some more. I couldn't hear what was said, but the supervisor ended up doing nothing even though the guy was clearly NOT playing.
During the commotion, about five other guys were circling the area and coming up and talking to the guy. They were obviously part of the operation. And some other weirdo in sunglasses came up and threatened me basically, told me to go away if I know what's good for me. He did it right in front of the supervisor and security guards and all they did was admonish him and tell him not to talk to me. By this moment, all of these guys should have been kicked out. There's absolutely no reason for this passive response to such nonsense.
This went on for like 20 minutes, us all standing around with the supervisor not having the courage to take any action despite having two security guards at her side. Eventually I just walked away. I have better things to do. When I left, the security guards and supervisor were still standing there unsure of what to do, and the guy and his crew were still hogging the machine. As far as I know, they never forced those guys to get up.
I'm not surprised that some shady guys were hanging around a casino, that's almost expected, but I'm really shocked that the casino would take their side over a regular gambler. The rule is clear, if you're not playing, get up and let someone else play. And in this case they were clearly on a team and they have guys going around stalking people who play progressive machines, waiting for them to get up, and then occupying the machine. Does Santa Fe think that's good for business? To side with a bunch of exploitative slot machine stalkers instead of their gambling customer base? I'm shocked. I wouldn't recommend coming here unless you wanna be harassed by a bunch of sleazy dudes and have the casino take their side.