Originally posted on 09/07/2014:

There are some good reasons to take a loan (pro renewal, a +EV bet, contest entry, etc)...but any and all of those have been stiffed on before, where much worse reasons come through all the time. Why the person is doing it isn't as important as their ability and intention to repay.

Easiest people to lend to are routinely winning poker players, who essentially have a higher "income" than others (and winning in poker tends to be more consistent than sports betting).

Of course, when the person is terrible at poker, terrible at betting and terrible at wanting to pay back (CS4, chipnaz, etc), best bet is to run the hell away or (my preferred action) make sure the rest of the forum is aware of their shadiness and blacklist them so they can't scam anyone else