Believe me, I was once a pretty aggressive harvestor. I've been chased out of a few casinos in my time.

I agree that collectors aren't trying to cause harm by collecting chips, but there is a cost to the casino. If you pocket just one chip, that isn't so bad, but many collectors take an entire stack to help hide the fact chips are missing. When the Player's Casino in Lake Charles came out with nice looking Chipcos back in the day they actually had a close tables and combine chips from different tables to make up for the fact there were so many missing.

And the argument that you are buying the chips at the table so you should do what you want isn't completely valid. I would say you are renting those chips for use at the game. It's like renting a car and instead of returning it you just decided to drive it away and claiming your rental fee entitled you to take it. (Yes, I know its a stretch).

I don't judge and I have no dog in this hunt. I'm just telling you what I've been told from casino operators.

Ed Hertel, reformed harvestor