what dangerous sistuation did rex but jeanette in the bar

Rex takes Jeannette out to a roadside bar where he swindles a man named Robbie in pool using Jeannette as a distraction. Afterward, Jeannette feels used by her father but when she expresses this Rex says that she was in no real harm, it was just like when he threw her into the Hot Pot; she thought she would sink but he knew she could swim.