Casinos in the Silver State are no longer dispensing change in their slot machines and electronic table games upon cashout. Now, anything under a dollar is being paid in a voucher and many gamblers are not bothering to turn them in and collect their change.
Keep the Change
Playing a slot machine and cashing out is usually accompanied by a voucher to turn into the purser at the cage or a cash exchange machine on the casino floor that does it automatically. In Nevada, for instance, no longer will the machines dispense coins but will instead render a ticket that spits out and allows the player to walk over to the nearest window and receive whatever change under a dollar they have coming to them.
However, many gamblers are not taking the time to stand in line for what amounts to less than a dollar and would rather spend time doing almost anything else. In Nevada, for example, uncashed vouchers usually expire in 180 days and if they are not turned in immediately, they are usually not turned in at all. Any vouchers not claimed after 180 days will see 75% of that money directed to the state while the casino receives the other 25%.
Unclaimed Jackpot
The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) announced that during the fiscal year ending on June 30th, casinos received $6.1 million of unclaimed vouchers while the state’s general fund saw an $18.3 million boost to its coffers for a total of $24.4 million in unclaimed funds.
That figure was slightly down from last fiscal year when $25.8 million went unclaimed and back into the pockets of the casinos and the state. But casinos such as the Cosmopolitan, M Resort, and Wynn Las Vegas offer customers the option of donating their spare change to charity while Caesars Palace and Flamingo donate the proceeds to Meals on Wheels.
Don’t Do the Crime if You Can’t Do the Time
But trolling slot machines for abandoned tickets is technically illegal and could result in a misdemeanor or even a felony depending on the jurisdiction. Any voucher left hanging from a slot machine belongs to the person who was using the machine last. Although Nevada has not prosecuted anyone in recent memory for this offense, the same cannot be said for an unsuspecting gambler in Colorado.
A gentleman named A.J. Werling was convicted of misdemeanor fraud after taking a 76-cent credit from a slot machine in 2004. Despite his protestations that he wasn’t aware of the ticket and invested $20 of his own into the machine, he was still found guilty and received a $500 fine along with 24 hours of community service.
“It’s been a nightmare,” Werling told KDVR-TV/Denver in 2017. “I’m not a criminal. It’s ridiculous. It’s 76 cents … I still have to deal with … having to go over what transpired for jobs, apartments, anything that requires a background check. I have to disclose why I have a gambling theft conviction on my record.”
