Why doesn't this fall under "unclaimed asset" laws

[Lucky(St)Louis]

This has been an ongoing story, but why is this type of ticket not considered an "unclaimed asset", presuming a players card was used, and thus treated as such? (Or maybe the answer is in the article)

Since casinos commonly trace tickets and rightful owners (and wrongful claimants), why would the state, or the casino for that matter escape the unclaimed asset law. I could completely understand if no rightful owner could be determined, but again, casinos trace tickets all the time.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011...-slot-tickets/

edited to add, if I remember now, an unclaimed asset has to meet a minimum of $25 or so, maybe more, maybe less.............but we are talkin' Vegas so not all these throwaway tickets are for pennies......

[Alan Mendelson]

Good question. I know that in California, abandoned assets are held in perpetuity until the owner or heir claims them. This includes valuables left in safe deposit boxes, forgotten utility deposits, stock dividends, etc. The state holds them until claimed.

In the case of abandoned property such as jewelry left in a safe deposit box, after a period of several years the state can auction off the property but the proceeds of the sale are held in perpetuity.

Nevada has a similar program and it appears that "abandoned payoffs" in a casino don't count.

According to the Nevada Treasurer's office abandoned property is "A financial asset for which there has been no owner activity for a specified period of time, usually three years (one year for payroll, utilities, and government agencies)..."

The problem is that how do you determine who is the owner of the TITO that is not cashed? Even if there were a player's card in the machine I doubt that would establish ownership.

Another issue: how about chips that are taken home and years later are demonetized by the casino? This can happen. The most recent case was when the Bellagio demonetized or cancelled certain $25,000 chips after the motorcycle robbery-- these assets don't fall under the category of abandoned property either.

Should they? It's safe to guess that the casinos operate under a different set of laws or rules.

And while the State of Nevada is confiscating this unclaimed money from the casinos, what about chips found on the floor, or credits not played in the machines? Will the state claim these also?

My own opinion? I think the casino should do everything possible to find the winners and get them their money-- because that's what good customer service is all about. And now that the casino's won't be able to keep so much of the unclaimed winnings, maybe they'll be more motivated to do it.

I have another idea: perhaps the casinos should be forced to put the unclaimed money and chips found in the casino into a "jackpot pool" or rebated to players in some way.

In the meantime if you think that you are entitled to some abandoned money here is a website where you can check:

http://www.missingmoney.com/

[Alan Mendelson]

Is there anything new about this? Below is a photo of an 8-cent cash-out ticket from a Vegas slot machine. I can't tell you if it was redeemed. I certainly didn't. It's 8 cents of additional profit for the casino if it is never redeemed.

[Count Room]

Is there anything new about this? Below is a photo of an 8-cent cash-out ticket from a Vegas slot machine. I can't tell you if it was redeemed. I certainly didn't. It's 8 cents of additional profit for the casino if it is never redeemed.

Yes, I see those $1 or lower cashout vouchers on every trip I make. I even once saw a $250 voucher on top of a sink in a casino bathroom. I turned it in to security to whom I pointed out there were several more vouchers ($50-$300 each) scattered in the restroom. Two weeks later the head of security told me all the vouchers were fake.

[Alan Mendelson]

Yes, I see those $1 or lower cashout vouchers on every trip I make. I even once saw a $250 voucher on top of a sink in a casino bathroom. I turned it in to security to whom I pointed out there were several more vouchers ($50-$300 each) scattered in the restroom. Two weeks later the head of security told me all the vouchers were fake.

It's very hard to counterfeit electronic money and that's what the vouchers are. Good story.

[Count Room]

It's very hard to counterfeit electronic money and that's what the vouchers are. Good story.

Alan: It was difficult for me to tell whether or not you're skeptical of my story, but it really happened (summer of '13).

[Count Room]

Alan: It was difficult for me to tell whether or not you're skeptical of my story, but it really happened (summer of '13).

All of the tickets were from a small bar with VP/slot machines near the casino where I found the vouchers. Some people speculated that someone purposely scattered the fake vouchers in the bathroom as a form of cheap advertising for the bar (to lure in a new patron to claim the fake money & hopefully gamble at the bar).

[Alan Mendelson]

I believe you. the only people I would be skeptical of are those who think they can counterfeit these vouchers. As we all know each voucher comes with a bar code that has info about the machine, the time, the amount, and then if you had your player's card inserted they can do a match to determine who the player was.

By the way -- NEVER cash out a ticket with someone else's player's card in the machine. They could later claim it was their payout and you stole their ticket.

[Alan Mendelson]

Some people speculated that someone purposely scattered the fake vouchers in the bathroom as a form of cheap advertising for the bar (to lure in a new patron to claim the fake money & hopefully gamble at the bar).

I thought about this: it would not be allowed in Nevada and I don't think any state regulators would allow it. I don't think the "bar" would risk this type of promotion. I am more inclined to think they were just counterfeits UNLESS it specifically said that they were "advertisements" and "not valid" -- similar to what car dealers do when they send a reproduction of a $1,000 bill in the mail. But with the reproduction of the $1,000 bill there are other federal rules including it must be a different size than U. S. currency, and must have bold printing with a warning message that it is not valid currency.

The other possibility is that the true owner of the tickets was mugged in the bathroom, and the security guard went next door for a drink and cashed out the tickets and retired.

[Count Room]

I thought about this: it would not be allowed in Nevada and I don't think any state regulators would allow it. I don't think the "bar" would risk this type of promotion. I am more inclined to think they were just counterfeits UNLESS it specifically said that they were "advertisements" and "not valid" -- similar to what car dealers do when they send a reproduction of a $1,000 bill in the mail. But with the reproduction of the $1,000 bill there are other federal rules including it must be a different size than U. S. currency, and must have bold printing with a warning message that it is not valid currency.

The other possibility is that the true owner of the tickets was mugged in the bathroom, and the security guard went next door for a drink and cashed out the tickets and retired.

Alan: Without revealing actual locations here, all I can add to this are:

A) The tickets were scattered throughout the bathroom. One on the sink, a couple more on top of urinals, and a few underneath the stalls. Obviously I just took the one on the sink to security and let the casino handle the others
B) The ticket(s) were VERY convincing fakes. I scanned the one on the sink carefully and it was identical to casino TITO's with a bar's name and address on it. Even the paper quality felt the same as a real ticket. At least two security guards and the head of security were fooled by these tickets as well as myself.

However, when the head of security later told me they were fakes I just went, "Bleh!" and promptly forgot the matter until today.

[Alan Mendelson]

Your description of the tickets, Count Room, makes me think they were an attempt at counterfeiting.

It reminds me of the story about someone at the airport about to get on a plane who says to an arriving passenger "damn, I forgot to cash in these $1,000 chips at Bellagio. I can't cash them now, so how about if I sell you some at $500 each? You can take one or all six of them...." Of course the chips are bogus.

Maybe someone was trying to sell the tickets in the rest room --- WHERE THERE ARE NO CAMERAS --- and got caught?

[Count Room]

Maybe someone was trying to sell the tickets in the rest room --- WHERE THERE ARE NO CAMERAS --- and got caught?

Good question, but if that's the case it wasn't caught by security because I know the ticket I brought to security was the first time they laid eyes upon it (small casino). He would have had to have been caught by a 'customer'.
I'm afraid I can't add any more details here except location *shrug*.

I wish you had found those tickets instead, Alan. Would have been a fun news story for you, LOL!

[Alan Mendelson]

I wish you had found those tickets instead, Alan. Would have been a fun news story for you, LOL!

It would have been a good/fun story only if I couldn't cash those tickets. (LOL)