Uber driver returns cash-filled bag WSOP player left behind

A trip to the casino cage started in a panic for Jacob Brundage.

The professional poker player’s black tote, filled with $7,000 in cash and playing chips, was missing.

“I started freaking out, shouting ‘no way, no way,’” recalled the 39-year-old Lakeland, Florida, man in town for the World Series of Poker.

That’s when Brundage realized the money-filled bag was left in the back seat of a minivan he requested through Uber around 9 p.m. June 1, when he caught a ride from The Venetian to the Rio.

Brundage frantically grabbed his smartphone and used an in-app option that allows riders to directly call their drivers through a masked number.

The driver, who declined an interview, picked up the phone but couldn’t hear Brundage. He hung up. Brundage tried again and again, with no success.

Frustrated, Brundage said he stepped outside the casino to get some air when he came across a group of Uber employees who were promoting the service at the Rio. Brundage explained his dilemma, and the Uber team immediately started tracking down the driver and the lost bag.

More than an hour passed before Brundage’s phone finally rang. On the other end, the driver explained that his cellphone battery died.

“I told him that I would give him $200 if he came back with my bag,” Brundage said.

The driver agreed to circle back to the Rio within 20 minutes.

During the wait, Brundage said he listened to Christian music on his phone and retraced the night’s events, starting when he cashed out at The Venetian. Uncharacteristically, he forgot to put the cash-filled tote into a larger backpack to ensure it wouldn’t be forgotten.

When he got into the backseat of the minivan, Brundage set the money bag to his left. Rather than engaging the driver with small talk, Brundage said he spent most of the ride on the phone with a friend he met at a Las Vegas church.

“Honestly, I was distracted,” Brundage said.

Brundage isn’t alone. Uber had 168 reported incidents of keys, wallets and bags that were left behind in vehicles across Las Vegas since September, said Uber spokeswoman Maui Cheska Orozco.

“People lose things in their Uber all the time,” Cheska Orozco said. “But this has to be the most valuable thing that someone lost in one of our cars in Las Vegas.”

The driver finally pulled up to the front of the Rio and opened the minivan’s doors. The bag was exactly where Brundage left it.

When he recovered the cash, Brundage said he felt like he won an emotional jackpot. As promised, he handed $200 to the driver and kicked in another $100 to the Uber team members for helping out.

“It felt like a miracle, and I was very relieved,” Brundage said. “This man’s honesty and integrity made me feel very blessed.”

Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Find @AMarroquin_LV on Twitter.