Originally Posted by
TheCentaur
Actually had something similar happen to me. I was by myself driving to Vegas from Lake Tahoe in a rental car and got pulled over. If you have ever made this drive or driven around in rural Nevada you know there is nothing around. No cell service, no radio signal, no cars for 15-30 minutes at a time. The landscape looks like something from the surface of Mars.
So I get pulled by two cops in an SUV and the one on the passenger side gets out, comes to the passenger side window and tells me I was speeding. He asks to see my license. I reach in my pocket and have to take out about $3500 I have for my poker bankroll to get to it. I don't think much about taking this out to get to my license, but I guess it looks funny to a cop. While I'm looking down fumbling for my license he says, "why do you have so much cash on you?"
Now this is a little bit different than the OP's scenario because I'm in a state where gambling is legal. That isn't my concern though. There is no one and nothing around for miles, and I have to decide if this cop wants an answer or wants some cash. Either option could be the wrong one. The officer isn't exactly bubbling with personality and he could just as easily "confiscate" my money as write me a ticket, or worse. I mean, what was I going to do?
I decide to give him the answer instead of a bribe and he says, "you have any drugs on you?" I calmly say, "No", but I don't like where this is headed. He doesn't seem to accept that answer and asks again. I tell him, "look you can search the car if you want to." By this time he's flipping through the rental papers and finds that I got a contract for unlimited driving in 4 states. He asks me, "Why would you need to drive around in 4 states if you were just playing poker?"
I have no idea why I agreed to this contract, the rental agent made it sound like a great deal so I agreed. Of course now I wish I hadn't. I explain to the officer this was just what the rental agent signed me up for, I don't know why I need 4 states either. Well he doesn't seem like this answer and goes back to his SUV for a very long 20 minutes.
During these 20 minutes I'm either nervously checking my rear view mirror or scanning the landscape for where my imminent burial may soon occur, all the while rerunning our conversation in my head and wondering what those 2 cops are deciding to do with me. The worst scenarios seem to be the first ones you think of way out here.
Finally he approaches the window and hands me a speeding ticket. He hesitates for a moment and asks, "Have you ever been on tv with the World Poker Tour or WSOP?" I take the ticket saying, "No I'm not that lucky" and drive away slowly.