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Tickets carried around for months in a wallet can fade to the point that no information can be taken from it. Sometimes a ticket is put through the wash. Sometimes a ticket is lost. It’s rare that an entire ticket becomes illegible, but it does happen.
Generally, the sports book can re-create the bet from the serial number (near the top of the ticket; some also have it about a quarter of the way from the bottom). If you can see that number, you’ll probably be in good shape.
One way to try to see it is with a powerful magnifying glass. We’ve also heard that if you scan the ticket on a scanner, then import it into a graphics program, such as Paint or Photoshop, you can enhance it enough to be legible.
Failing those, the sports book will treat your bet like it does lost tickets.
Since the game hasn’t been played, it’s wise to go to the book and show them the ticket. Sports books are under no legal obligation to assist with a lost/faded ticket, but we’ve yet to hear of one that won’t. It’s just bad business to tell a customer that it’s his tough luck and lose the player over it.
Either way, you’ll have to go to the book and fill out a lost-ticket form. If you can recall what you bet on, the amount you bet, and the approximate time you made the wager, or some combination thereof, the book can likely locate the ticket in the system.
You then have to wait until the ticket expires. Some books are getting annoyed with processing lost-ticket claims for insignificant amounts and have implemented fees for each claim. The Rio, for example, requires $25 be paid for each ticket claim filed. This eliminates a good chunk of the requests they’d receive, plus they might never have to cash those small lost tickets that eventually win.
Tickets used to have a 30-day or 60-day expiration period. These days, it can take awhile longer to go through the process.
Our sports-betting expert, Frank B, tells the following story.
"Many years ago, I left 11 tickets in a shirt pocket, forgot about them, and did laundry. Those 11 washed-away tickets amounted to over $5,000 worth of bets. I went through the lost-ticket claim process, was given a receipt for the claim, and at the end of the 60 days, I got paid for the winners. I’ve gone through this a handful of times over the years and have always been paid. Longest period waited was 120 days."
Good luck! We hope you remember whom you bet on and the book can find your ticket. Please let us know what happens.