AITAH for not covering my wife’s cousin’s losses at the casino?

A Redditor shares a weekend casino encounter that turned into a family controversy. While waiting to cash out after winning a substantial amount of $11,000, he ran into his wife’s cousins, Jess and Chloe, who had lost around $500 between them. When Chloe asked if he could cover their losses, he declined and instead offered to gamble $500 of his winnings on their behalf.

After they chose black, he switched it to red at the last moment, resulting in a win for him and leaving them frustrated. Now, he’s left wondering if he’s in the wrong for not helping out his family. Read the full story below.

‘ AITAH for not covering my wife’s cousin’s losses at the casino?’

This happened over the weekend, yet my wife still gets texts from her friends saying how I could’ve helped them. So, I (29M) was at the casino while my wife was with our daughters on a playdate. I was waiting in the cashier line when I heard someone shouting my name. Turn around, and realise it’s my wife’s cousins, Jess and Chloe, and their boyfriends.

The girls ask me where my wife is, I tell them she’s with the kids. One of the guys asks me if I’m cashing out because I’m up or because I don’t wanna lose all of my money. I tell him I did well today. The other bloke comments on how he’s done a couple hundred, the other dude is the same, overall between the four of them they’re probably down $500.

I tell them that’s not too bad, especially between four people. Jess says not for me, but for them it’s a lot of money. I just said they shouldn’t let the casino s**k them in and lose what they can’t afford to. Anyway, I’m next in line to cash out, and they’re all still there, so I just go and collect. That’s when they realised I cashed out a lot more than $500.

My total was $11,000. When they asked how did I win that much, I told them what I do. Start on $2,500, and play blackjack. Thankfully today, I got to roughly $8,000. Decided to play roulette until I was down to $7,500… instead I won, and left with $11k.

Chloe was saying how happy she was that someone won, and then in her sweetest voice, asked me ‘soooooo, can you cover our losses?’ Obviously I responded ‘noooooo, this is a good lesson for you.’ When Jess brought up we’re family I told her your cousin didn’t win, her husband did.

They were getting upset, so I said I’ll make a deal with them. I took $500 of my winnings, went to a roulette table, and asked them red or black. They decided black. I put $500 on black. When the dealer called ‘last call’ I changed it to red. It came out red. I blew them kisses, took my $1000 and said I’m leaving now.

Obviously by the time I got home, my wife knew what happened. She said I shouldn’t have blown them kisses at the end, but she also said it’s not my fault they lost their money. Jess, Chloe and their boyfriends, and their mum are upset I didn’t cover them, because not only did I win, I also have more money.. So, AITAH ?

Here’s the feedback from the Reddit community:

mdthomas −  Who goes to a casino to gamble expecting their losses to be covered? You’re not obligated to cover them. They absolutely knew that they could (and probably would) lose money if they decided to gamble.. NTA

SleepDangerous1074 −  I mean going back to them to play blackjack was a little petty but I can’t blame you. The audacity to walk up to someone and insist they pay for your loss even after they have said no, requires a petty response.. NTA

[Reddit User] −  Are they gonna help you pay the taxes on your winnings?

SL33PYSL0THIE −  NTA, you won fair and square, they didn’t,they can deal with it. Enjoy your money!!

K_N0RRIS −  NTA. Youre not responsible for reimbursing somebody who lost their money fair and square just because you have more money.. ​ I tell them that’s not too bad, especially between four people. Jess says not for me, but for them it’s a lot of money. I just said they shouldn’t let the casino s**k them in and lose what they can’t afford to.. Bingo Bango. ​

Chloe was saying how happy she was that someone won, and then in her sweetest voice, asked me ‘soooooo, can you cover our losses?’. She tried lol They were getting upset, so I said I’ll make a deal with them. I took $500 of my winnings, went to a roulette table, and asked them red or black. They decided black.

I put $500 on black. When the dealer called ‘last call’ I changed it to red. It came out red. I blew them kisses, took my $1000 and said I’m leaving now. Ok that was a little dickish but well deserved because they almost lost you money. Some people just need to not go to the casino

flightlessburd9 −  Mostly NTA. Taunting them or even giving them hope at the end was a bit of an AH move. Regardless, you’re right. Don’t gamble what you aren’t willing to lose. They lost, they get to handle it.

-ghostCollector −  The taunting was probably unnecessary but you don’t owe them anything. I probably wouldn’t have even cashed out in front of them because it’s really none of their business how much you won.

ProfessorGrayMatter −  I wouldn’t even ask a spouse or parent to “cover my losses”.

bradm7777 −  NTA – But the kiss blowing at the end gives off some douchey “sore winner” vibes tbh.

Ultralusk −  NTA your SO’s family see they you just won a lot of money and by association they believe that they’re e**itled to your winnings. Are you e**itled to anything they win? Are you e**itled to their property or anything else by association?

Do you think the user was justified in refusing to cover his wife’s cousins’ losses, or should he have offered some support given his significant win? How would you handle a situation where family expects financial help after a gambling loss? Share your thoughts below!