From the LVRJ: Some people who win a dollar or two off cashless slot machines don't even bother cashing in their tickets.
Others realize they've lost their payout tickets when they get home or to their hotel room, and figure their winnings wouldn't even cover the cost of gasoline to drive back to the casino.
They just don't fret about it.
But they probably would be surprised to hear that all those small amounts of unredeemed winnings add up.
To as much as $50 million a year, according to one estimate.
Up to this point, the casinos have just kept the money, figuring it belongs to them.
But that would change if Assemblyman William Horne has his way.
On Tuesday, the Las Vegas Democrat said he doesn't think it is right for the casinos to reap the revenue off uncashed tickets. He urged the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which he chairs, to pass his bill that would declare uncashed gaming tickets are unclaimed property whose value should be given to the state.
Assembly Bill 219 would allow the state every three months to take the value of the unredeemed gaming tickets. It would not apply to sports wagering. No vote was taken on the bill.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/uncashed-payout-tickets-could-bring-millions-to-the-state-118488179.html
This money is not the governments. First, it is the customers ticket and then the casinos.
The state did nothing to earn this money. The casino's made the bet, they took the risk and if they have a customer who forgets about the ticket or loses it, then the casino should be able to keep the money.
Let's say you are walking down the street and you find $20. Under this moron Democrat Assemblyman's theory, you should have to turn the money into the state because the money shouldn't be yours, it belongs to the State of Nevada.
I hope this plan goes no where. Maybe the state should take this assemblyman's salary. He's certainly not using it, so it should go back to the state.
The Las Vegas Badger is about politics, humor, sports, reality shows in Las Vegas, especially Pawn Stars and anything else interesting. While I live in Las Vegas, my heart is still in Wisconsin. Thanks for visiting the blog and feel free to browse the web site.
I agree, Dan. It's the casino's money if the tickets expire, just like a rebate check that goes uncashed is the issuer's money.
ReplyDeleteThe casinos really won all over the place with the coinless slots though. They eliminated tons of technical woes (and repairmen) from the coin mechs. They eliminated the need for most coin counting, rolling, storage and transport. They don't have to stock those little wetnaps any more for all the blackened hands from the nickles and quarters. And they don't have to load up the machines with money for cashouts. Even without the unchashed vouchers, I wonder how much money they saved?