500$ out of nowhere

[JDMcNugent7]

I would tell them about the $ in every case. I would feel like a thief if I didn't. I don't really care that they found a way to exploit an edge and rake our poker games, that's no reason to steal.

On the other hand, I usually don't feel bad at all about cheating on tests if I have the opportunity. This is because I feel like grades are extremely overrated and I personally don't feel too bad about getting a decent grade in a class without much effort, if the class does not interest me. In classes that do interest me and that I care about, I would pass up the opportunity to cheat and get what I deserve if I felt I was properly taught the material.

[Dodoubled]

Three questions:
1.) What if you didn't have any money, JD?
2.) Have you ever heard of an honor code? A number of colleges have them. You should check up on Mizzou. Basically, what they say is, if you're caught cheating on a test, you get thrown out of school.
3.) Assuming No. 2 is valid in your case, would you risk your college stay on cheating on a test in a shitty class you'll never use anyway?

[Talking Poker]

This certainly has turned into an interesting thread.

What I find most interesting are where people draw the lines. Stealing is stealing. Right? Or is it?

Don't get me wrong - I'm as much of a line drawer as the next guy. I have no problem downloading a movie for free or copying a piece of $300 software that I will rarely ever use ("stealing" from the big faceless corporations) - especially if this is something I would never purchase anyway. I would never steal Poker Tracker or a Card Runners membership or anything else like that though, because those add value to me and I think the people who created them deserve to be compensated. I couldn't care less about compensating Microsoft though.

I could never steal money from another (individual) person, even if it was someone I didn't know OR someone I didn't like. I'm always the guy who hands the cashier back the extra money they hand me, even if they are rude or whatever. It's just not right when I know they are going to have to eat it at the end of the day.

The only time I can think of where I might "steal" from an individual is the HU tourney example. If someone disconnects, I'd give them a chance to come back, but I'm not going to sit there and fold for an hour waiting for them either. Eventually, I'd start raising and just end the tourney. This happened to me once, and it probably took me 20 minutes to blind him off. Had he come back, I would have folded for a while and given him SOME chips back (but not all of them - I deserve to be compensated for the amount of time I was annoyed), but he never did.

As for the question at hand............................ I think I'd keep the money and chalk it up to a deposit bonus I forgot about. If they contacted me about it, I'd give it back.

[JDMcNugent7]

1) I still would give it back. 1 year ago I had no money, and then and now I would always give $ back. My conscious will not let me steal. Just last week I had to go through hassle to tell the cashier of subway I got 'double meat' and wasn't billed for it.

2) I'm sure theres an honor code. It's not like Im a avid cheater, I dont even make cheat cheats or anything for tests like tons of people do. If I can sneak a peek at an answer for a class I dont like tho, I'll do it all day.

3) Of course not. I really don't cheat often, I was just saying if I did cheat in a class I dislike, I would not feel bad about it.

[robthedlphin]

I'm a little surprised by some of the responses here as well. If I was cashing out at a B&M and someone gave me too much money I would definately let them know about it. It happened once in Vegas (I was overpaid by $100) and the cashier told me she would have lost her job if I hadn't caught it and given it back. Sticking it to the man is one thing, but when someone can lose their livelihood because of it is another.

[Dodoubled]

That seems a little excessive. What casino did she work at? I'm sure that with all the money they handle, counting errors do happen on occasion. I'm sure they'd count her drawer, so why wouldn't they just make her pay the money back if it's her error? That's what we always had to do at the grocery store I worked at for years.

Now, if you're talking about a couple thousand, then yeah, I can see her getting fired. Or, if the 100 bucks starts disappearing on a semi-regular basis ...

[Zybomb]

See I don't see this as stealing. Just as they found a way to expoilt an edge (stealing money from our pots in exchange for letting us play there), if they make an error when processing our accounts (which we pay them to have for us) then that's us exploitng our edge.

Actually hacking into the system and removing money from a players bankroll and putting it in your own would be stealing, and something different.

[Talking Poker]

Rake is not stealing. This is understood up front and by playing there, you are agreeing to it. Rake is how the site is compensated for providing us with a game... don't forget about all of their expenses in setting up the infrastructure for us to play on (software, hardware), marketing to get players there for us to play, customer service, and so on and so on.

Do they still turn a profit at the end of the day? Of course.... but they are entitled to, just like you are when you "steal" from your customers by charging them $9.99 for a pizza.

[bdawg31]

So, if you are able to get a job based on your GPA being higher than a fellow applicant - and you cheated in the classes that didn't interest you to get your high GPA and the other applicant didn't cheat - you don't feel like you stole/cheated that job from him or her??

Or if someone who is not as intelligent as you are has to really work hard and apply himself/herself to get an 'A', and you cheat and get the same 'A' - you don't feel that sort of cheats/steals from the other students accomplishment, or at least minimizes it??

JUST SAW YOUR POST saying you were going to try to stop doing it. I guess you can ignore this then. I was sort of playing devil's advocate anyway.

[Defendant]

Well, as I said, I let them know, and I got an email that they took out the money and said everything is straightened out. I still have about 100$ too much in there, Im just taking that now as a "thank you for your honesty".

On the note of cheating on university exams...Ive been teaching and proctoring organic chemistry for a number of years now, and go ahead cheat. If I catch you I will do everything in my power to get you expelled.