After a gambling win at a casino, a student took to the Am I The A-hole Subreddit to get the opinion of others, asking AITA for winning money at the casino and choosing to not split it with my friend?



The student in question explains that on their recent birthday, they decided to celebrate with their friends by going gambling at a casino. The individual, who describes themselves as being a broke college student, hadn't planned on spending much money and went mainly to have dinner. Aware of their unlucky streak in gambling, and because they only had $4 to spare, they selected a random machine with low expectations. As predicted, they didn't win anything, but their friend managed to turn $1 into over $20. She was excited, and bragged about her win.

Later, the friend continued playing and eventually won over $50. The student, feeling inspired, decided to try a different machine with $5. They asked the friend to press the button for them, jokingly referring to them as having the ‘magic touch’ and playing around. In a turn of events, the student won over $200. 

Instead of being happy for them, the friend immediately became upset and insisted on splitting the money, attributing the win to her involvement of pressing the button, despite the fact that it was the student’s money.

The student goes on to explain that the friend made passive aggressive comments about the $200 throughout the rest of the evening, trying to guilt trip them into splitting the winnings, claiming she needed the money for concert tickets. The student, having their own financial obligations, explained they needed the money to pay off a speeding ticket exceeding $100. 

Despite the explanation, the friend remained upset for the rest of the night, leaving the student to question if they were wrong for refusing to split the money. To get an outsiders’ perspective, they asked the people of Reddit if they were wrong for not splitting the money with her

What Everyone Else Had to Say

Though there’s a clear line between winning and losing, the lines blur when it comes to who is the rightful winner in a casino. For some people, the winner is the person who fronted the cash, but others believe it’s the person who pushes the button, as they are the driving force behind the win. 

As expected, Redditors had a lot to say about the topic, with the majority of people siding with the college student in this case. There is a general consensus that the money belongs to the student, and doesn’t need to be shared, because it was their money to begin with. Though the friend pressed the button, the money at risk belonged to the student.

As JazzyKnowsBest13 explains: “Your losses would have been yours and your winnings are yours.”

B_ootay_ful went even further, explaining that the person who presses the button has no impact on whether the gamble is a win or a loss. They said: “The machines are designed to give out a percentage of the takings. Whoever presses the button has no influence on the (likely) predetermined outcome.“

Andrewoholic said: “By her philosophy, you would have to pay some to the machine operators, for working the mechanisms, some to the electric company, for supplying the electric and let's not forget the cleaner, who cleans it every night. You would have won, whether you or she had pressed it, that is how the gaming machines work.”

However, some people disagreed with this logic, explaining that the person who presses the button is technically the rightful winner, regardless of who the money belongs to, even going as far as to highlight that this tends to be casino policy.

ShallowTal commented: “Technically she could’ve taken the whole thing. Crazy, right? But that’s how that rotten cookie crumbles. It’s a risk letting anyone touch your buttons when gambling.”

Miserable-Living9569 commented: “most casino laws state that the person who presses the button or pulls the lever are entitled to the winnings, regardless of who put cash in the machine.”

Ornery-Ticket834 commented: “The person who ‘presses the button’ is the one who controls what comes up on the machine. What would have been funny is if you had won a super sized jackpot and watched them pay her, they pay the individual who pressed the button.”

There were some Redditors whose opinion fell somewhere in the middle, agreeing that the money technically belonged to the friend, but her attitude made her an undeserving winner and the student wouldn’t be a bad person for not sharing it.

Cent123 said: “Technically that's her money. But TBF, she didn't deserve it as she was being an AH while you had lost.” 

SammyLoops1 added: “This girl isn't your friend. She's simply opportunistic, entitled and rude.”

There is a definite divide in the comment and people are split, but it seems as though more people agree with JazzyKnowsBest13. Regardless of what the rules of the casino are and who the casino deems the rightful winner, the jury of public opinion sides with the student, agreeing that they weren’t unreasonable for keeping the cash.

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