Missing cues at Derby Found !!

Life is full of shoulda-coulda-woulda. What happened is what matters. Shoulda turned the cues in to somebody "official"? Probably so. Coulda remembered leaning the case against the car before driving off? Probably so.

Cues being sent back...bottom line. That's what happened.

Bet the Seahawks had more than a few couldas-shouldas-wouldas....;)
 
Great News......Send That Man Some Diamond Products

If this is the cue that was lost at the Derby in the parking lot, then by all means send that gentleman some Diamond stuff for free......or a $100 bill......you are very blessed to get your cues returned.
 
My conversation with Hoppy

Mr. Hoptins called me this morning, he said when he saw the cue laying there they put it in their possession as they loaded their vehicle, he said they were in a hurry when they left and he did not look into the case until he got to Jacksonville Fl.

He said as soon as he looked through the case and saw my business cards he called me, I thanked him very much and he said he would contact UPS regarding shipping. About 30 minutes later his friend Jaxrabbits cue supplys from Jacksonville Fl. called. We arranged shipping and it should be here by the end of the week. Once again a big thank you to Hoppy and Jack Rabbit from Jacksonville Fl.

Sincerely, Gary Lutman
 
Anybody that was truly wanting the cues to be reunited with their owner would have turned them in to either the casino or to someone on the DCC staff like the tournament director etc. People can say they would have also just taken the cues home with them without first checking with the casino and the tournament staff to see if anybody was looking for them and without having even checked the case to see if any clues to the owners identity were in there, but I am calling total and absolute BS on that. Not a single one of you would have done that, not one single one, IF your true motivation was to hope to be able to reunite the cues with their owner. You know that the owner is going to be checking with the DCC staff and the casino to see if they got turned in, and that the best chance by far to get the owner reunited with his cues was for you to turn them in to the casino's lost and found or with someone high up on the DCC tournament staff.

Now if you had checked in the case and seen the owner's name and contact information, then maybe you would have taken them with you. That would be plausible. But only after you went to the casino hotel front desk to have them look up the owner to see if he was still a registered guest and to call his room if he was. And only after you called the phone number listed on the card in case it was a cell phone and the owner might answer--and you would have done that before you even left the parking lot. And if he didn't answer you would have left a message stating that you found the cues and you would have left your contact info so the owner would be able to contact you back to arrange for their return, all before you even drove away.

So maybe you would have taken them after you had tried to have the casino contact the owner, and after you had called the number on the business cards yourself, since you know the owner's identity and have his contact info and have half a chance to get them reunited to the owner. But that isn't what happened here at all. The person that picked up the cues says they didn't even look in the case until they got home half way across the country, so they took the case not knowing who the owner is, and with no reason to believe they would be able to find out who the owner is, and certainly no reason to believe they had a better chance of reuniting an anonymous pool case with an unknown owner than if they had just turned it in where they know the owner is going to be checking for it to see if it had been turned in.

Getting home and reading on the forums that you are on camera picking up the cues suddenly became a good motivator to return the cues however.
 
Awww-

My phone rings this morning and a gentleman name Dick Hoptin aka ( Hoppy ) from Jacksonville Fl. calls and says they just returned home and he has my cues. He is sending them to me, it is great to think that good people are still around. Once again thanks Hoppy! Sincerely Gary Lutman

____________

Fantastic news Gary!
that's the second found cue story from DCC that I've heard:D

-Angel
 
My initial thought was also, "why didn't whoever found them just turn them in at the Hotel?" as that is exactly what I would have done.

But people think differently and maybe they were in a hurry and figured they would deal with it later.

Regardless what happened this one ended with a happy ending.

When I was in PI at the World Cup of Pool I left my cell phone sitting on the chair next to me when I went to grab some food. Everyone always told me to be extra careful in PI as phones, etc get lifted quite frequently. I figured the phone was long gone and to my surprise when I returned to the venue, a guy walked up to me and handed me the phone!! He saw me leave it and waited for me to return so he could give it back.
 
Actually I think the guy did what anyone might do. Anyone find a quarter on the street? Did you try to find the owner? No, what if the owner said you were a thief? Because according to everyone here, that is what this guy was.

Point is the guy found a set of cues at a place that is heavily into gambling. The cues could have just as easily been dumped by a guy that missed a hanger for 10k, as they could have been leaning up against a car and someone mistakenly drove away without them being in the car.

I think coming down on the guy for taking the cues off premise is a bit of a stretch assuming he was a "thief". Quite frankly he FOUND lost property. He didn't STEAL anything. The guy did the right thing in trying to find the owner, good for him. But shame on all who think this qualifies him as a *thief*.

JV
 
My initial thought was also, "why didn't whoever found them just turn them in at the Hotel?" as that is exactly what I would have done.

But people think differently and maybe they were in a hurry and figured they would deal with it later.

Regardless what happened this one ended with a happy ending.

When I was in PI at the World Cup of Pool I left my cell phone sitting on the chair next to me when I went to grab some food. Everyone always told me to be extra careful in PI as phones, etc get lifted quite frequently. I figured the phone was long gone and to my surprise when I returned to the venue, a guy walked up to me and handed me the phone!! He saw me leave it and waited for me to return so he could give it back.

Same thing happened to me at the Derby...set phone and truck keys next to case (under my chair by the TV table), grabbed the case and phone, and went to get a bite. Came back 10 minutes later, looked under the chair where I had been sitting and the keys weren't there. A guy came up to me, and said, "thought you'd be back for these pretty soon". Offered to buy him a drink or some Graeters ice cream (what I had just got), he politely declined, and walked away. :cool:

Someone would likely have just turned them into lost and found, but worst case, they coulda walked out into the parking deck and pushed the key fob till they found my truck....bad things certainly could have happened from there.

To the OP.....glad you got em back Gary. Good seeing you again too. :thumbup:
 
Anyone find a quarter on the street? Did you try to find the owner?
When you find a quarter in the street you don't have a good chance (any chance really) of being able to get it back to the owner. But in a case like this with the cues you know you have an extremely good chance to being able to get it back to the owner. You know 100% the owner is going to be checking with tournament personnel, and especially the casino lost and found to see if his cue was returned.

The cues could have just as easily been dumped by a guy that missed a hanger for 10k, as they could have been leaning up against a car and someone mistakenly drove away without them being in the car.
You are just trying to find a way to justify keeping something that doesn't belong to you, but that you could get back to the owner if you wanted to, plain and simple.

But if you really think there is a chance that they were just abandoned (yeah right, nobody would really think that), well then what you would do is when you turn it in to lost and found, you leave your contact information so that if it is not claimed in X number of days you get it back. Most places do that. And if their policy is that they keep unclaimed merchandise, and you aren't willing to accept that, then you give lost and found your contact info and let them know about what you found and explain that you will be holding onto the items but that if someone comes looking for it to give them your contact info because you would like to return it.

Quite frankly he FOUND lost property. He didn't STEAL anything.
The difference to me, is whether or not you have a good chance of getting it back to its rightful owner. If you don't have any chance of getting it back to the rightful owner, then it is just an item you found and you keep it because there is nothing you can do. But if you have a chance of getting it back to the rightful owner, especially if it is a pretty decent chance, but you refuse to make any effort to do that, then it is in fact theft, at least in my book. It really is no different than when the guy in line in front of you at the grocery store drops a $20 bill and you reach down and take it before he notices.

The guy did the right thing in trying to find the owner, good for him.
He made no effort to return it when he found it, by turning it in to lost and found, where it had by far the best chance of being reunited with its owner. He only "made the effort to return it" after he found out there was video of him taking it. I hardly call that "doing the right thing". More like damage control now that you think there is a chance that you can be identified.
 
When you find a quarter in the street you don't have a good chance (any chance really) of being able to get it back to the owner. But in a case like this with the cues you know you have an extremely good chance to being able to get it back to the owner. You know 100% the owner is going to be checking with tournament personnel, and especially the casino lost and found to see if his cue was returned.

You are just trying to find a way to justify keeping something that doesn't belong to you, but that you could get back to the owner if you wanted to, plain and simple..

If you put an ad in the paper to find the quarters owner, it would be the same. I don't need to justify keeping it, because I don't think he should have. The problem I have is with the THIEF label, it's erroneous and quite frankly if I was hoppy I would be pissed. BTW I found a phone, I did not bring it to the stadium I found it at, because the lost and found is a VOID, I took it and called some people on the phone's contact list and got the phone back to the owner. Now had he or his friends called me a thief, I would have put that phone in a ziplock and beat it with a hammer. Then gave it back with a big screw you.

But if you really think there is a chance that they were just abandoned (yeah right, nobody would really think that), well then what you would do is when you turn it in to lost and found, you leave your contact information so that if it is not claimed in X number of days you get it back. Most places do that. And if their policy is that they keep unclaimed merchandise, and you aren't willing to accept that, then you give lost and found your contact info and let them know about what you found and explain that you will be holding onto the items but that if someone comes looking for it to give them your contact info because you would like to return it...

First off, I saw Joe Frady break a Szamboti in anger, and give the butt to the houseman, I have seen people give this game up on the spot. So is it possible, absolutely. Again, he found something on the ground, and whether you agree or not, the guy was not a thief. To steal requires deliberate action to take something that is not yours. This guy FOUND something, he did not take it. BTW the title of the original thread should have been LOST cues at the Derby.

The difference to me, is whether or not you have a good chance of getting it back to its rightful owner. If you don't have any chance of getting it back to the rightful owner, then it is just an item you found and you keep it because there is nothing you can do. But if you have a chance of getting it back to the rightful owner, especially if it is a pretty decent chance, but you refuse to make any effort to do that, then it is in fact theft, at least in my book. It really is no different than when the guy in line in front of you at the grocery store drops a $20 bill and you reach down and take it before he notices..

He made no effort to return it when he found it, by turning it in to lost and found, where it had by far the best chance of being reunited with its owner. He only "made the effort to return it" after he found out there was video of him taking it. I hardly call that "doing the right thing". More like damage control now that you think there is a chance that you can be identified.

There was no video of him taking it, there was a video of him FINDING it. That is the difference. If he had stolen it like that fat jacka$$ tried to do with Omega, I'd say string him up.

But now what this gentleman has, is someone googles his name, and there is a thread calling him a thief for FINDING something... good job.

Just for a little dictionary play... finding is not synonymous with stealing, or taking. Last I looked, words had definitions.

JV
 
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Mr. Dick Hoptin aka Hoppy good going you must be a true Gator from Duval County . The largest city in land area in the USA Jacksonville. Hope to meet u someday when I am through JVILLE . You made a Pool Player happy. send me your address at email mwsmith4@hotmail .com I have something to send you that you will appreciate
 
Hungarian why are you so presumptive if you are in a hurry and you know you are going to get them to the rightful owner what does it matter. What makes you think mr sullivan is going to waiting at the front door to recieve the cues, give the man a break
 
I noticed the remark about the Thief part in the first Thread. I was going to mention it but figured that the OP was stressed and just used wrong words.

If you drive off and leave your cues on a side walk, there is no thievery involved when someone picks them up.

I have found wallets on occasion. First thing I do is check the ID. Then, I go about my chores, whether it be banking, groceries etc. When I am busy, returning a wallet and blowing my day isn't my first priority. I know that I will make every effort to find the owner later.

Prolly the same with this guy. Maybe he found the Cards inside the pocket and figured that it was an easy contact.

After a week at the DCC, his first priority is getting himself back home to Florida.

I agree. Lost and Founds are a Void. If the cards had not worked, he probably would have called the Hotel, with hope that the owner had also called looking for the case.

Everyone has a different way of doing things. The good news is, the owner got his cues back.
 
If I were in that situation, I'd do the same as Mr Hoptin. First check the pockets for name or info, then try to find the owner myself. The guy said he didn't have time to, and with this kind of thing, I would rather handle it personally rather than handing over the cues to someone else and wondering if they ever made it to their original owner.

Taking it home, contacting the owner, then sending it directly to him is a perfect way to take care of this imo.
 
It's just my nature. I'm extremely helpful and I'm a problem solver. I can only focus on one thing at a time. If I found cues laying there I wouldn't stop until I solved the problem.

Hungarian why are you so presumptive if you are in a hurry and you know you are going to get them to the rightful owner what does it matter. What makes you think mr sullivan is going to waiting at the front door to recieve the cues, give the man a break
 
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