First of all, thank you one all who have responded. I have read every response, and this has been, I think, a great topic for all of us who go into casinos. To buffalo hunt or not to buffalo hunt, that is the question. Please, if you have an opinion, or an opinion OF an opinion, I have appreciated every opinion and response.

I do need add a couple extra details it seems I have left out. Was I "Buffalo Hunting"? Yes. Up to that point, I had cashed in a grand total of $3.75 in "buffaloing". I had 38 cents in buffaloing I had not cashed in when I went to the main cage to cash them out. That was when the $hit storm started.

If this is such a serious issue as some have stated, I would think it would behoove a casino to have a person on staff who's only job is to cash out machines. But since it seems like it is SUCH a low-return investment to keep a full-time person on staff, perhaps the law should be defined more clearly. If you come upon a machine that has less than, say 75 cents, you are welcome to buffalo. Anything over that needs to be turned in. If it is as serious as Cactus Pete's show of force lead me to believe, then why were there SO many machines that had remaining money on it? The machines I had the best luck on were those where the least you could gamble was 40 credits a pull. So then why not have the machine kick you out a ticket after a certain time period so the person who does gamble can take their "private property". The $3.75 I buffaloed came off a minimum of 25 machines. So I doubt I could make any kind of living off cashing in $4.13 in 48 hours of buffaloing. I would also think, in a strange way, I did Cactus Pete's a favor BY cashing out. If I'm hearing the law correctly, I am NOT allowed to even sit down at that slot machine if there is money on it. I'm thinking if I bothered a security guard every time I sat down at a machine there was previously left money on it, he/she would just start to get pi$$ed off at me from keeping him away from his "real" job.

I'm sure they did have me on tape buffaloing. After being IDed at the gift shop, I found a machine that had one penny on it. I'm sure that's where they "caught" me on tape. I should have just said it was for one penny. That would have made it even MORE lucacrist. Cactus Pete's catching me on tape for one penny. I probably should have asked to see the tape, then given them back the one penny they caught me harvesting.

IMHO, if what I did was really such a crime against humanity, then why did they 1) not confiscate the tickets from me on the stop at the main cage and 2) then watch me go over to the bar right next to the main cage and gamble $40 in video poker? I mean, if I've broken a very serious law, throw me out of the casino on the spot. Don't basically play the card of "if we're making money off him, we'll just leave him alone, THEN made a big fuss when he's LEAVING the casino to go home." I think that's where my biggest beef comes from. OK, I've broken a law signed on the books by your honorable governor. Bust me on the spot. Don't made it look VERY suspicious by allowing me to continue gambling so you can made every dollar off me you can BEFORE you close in on me so you can get your 38 cents back. And if you really did have all the goods on me like you were claiming, then why didn't you bust me the first night when I was one of about 10 people in your casino making laps and cashing out dormant machines? Those are the things that I keep coming back to that keep rubbing me the wrong way.

My other big question is, would I have gotten the same treatment if I were the type of gambler who had a super platinum card and they routinely sent me offers to stay free in their presidential suites? And if not, then why not? If the law is the law, then your execution of this law needs to be the same regardless whether I show up four times a year or four times a week.

So I guess I want to hear what the manager says about my questions. I think there was a MUCH better way to have handled the entire situation, and Cactus Pete's CHOSE to pick the worst possible way to have handled it. If they offer me nothing, then so be it. All I'm out is a phone call. But I think as a business that depends 100% on customers coming into THEIR establishment, there is the possibility they admit what they did is wrong, tell me never do it again, but offer me something to return to their casino again. If they don't, they don't. If they do, the phone call was worth it. The same way it never hurts to ask the pit boss if you have gambled enough to get a voucher for food in one of their restaurants. If I ask and I don't get a voucher, I'm in the same boat I was if I just got up and walked away. It never hurts to ask.

Again, I truly do appreciate everybody's response to this. Whether you agree or disagree. I always figure I can't learn any younger about a topic like this, and I'd like to get as many opinions as possible before I make my own. So thank you everybody. And if you haven't posted, I do want to hear what your opinion is. Thank you.