TITO ATM changes to benefit casino. :(

It's been several weeks since this policy was instituted.

The ATM's at Seminole Hard Rock, Hollywood, Fl where players can cash their TITO's no longer dispense coins. They cash out your currency, but any coinage receives a TITO that can only be cashed at the cashier, or consolidated.

When asked about this "policy", I was told that it was difficult and too expensive to keep restocking those ATM's with coins, and that players should not mind going to the cashier for their change. (oh, yeah, seems fewer cashiers working and longer lines also.)

The casino must be saving a small fortune on the labor to keep those ATM's stocked, and another much larger fortune on those abandoned TITO's people don't want to bother cashing.

Since this policy went into effect, I've been finding quite a few abandoned TITO tickets for less than $1.00. Left at the TITO machines, and just about every other nearby flat surface. It appears many people just don't want to be inconvenienced by going to a cashier for that breakage, whether $0.01 or $0.99.

I've probably found and cashed $10+ since 8/1 and had not been actively looking for them, nor spent much time (7 visits this month, maybe 20 hours total).

It seems to me this "policy" the casino says is to save money, is giving them a tremendous amount of breakage.

Is this isolated, or happening elsewhere?

I don't know if what you're doing is legal. Discarded TITO technically belong to the casino in NJ and PA and probably Nevada. Don't know about FL but I'd keep it on the low down. Bally's in AC had a policy where they wouldn't cash in TITO and directed you to the long lined machines but they've since relaxed that policy. People are wise to the little psychological games the casinos want to play like not having enough cash in machine or not putting them in convenient places to entice you play more.

There is a casino in the Tucson area where some of their ATMs give out coins and some don't. Fortunately, the ones that do are by the entrance, so we cash our TITOs there on the way out.

I agree with you, though - I think this is a money maker for the casino as I know lots of people who are too proud to cash out tickets for less than $1. I'm not one of them.

Haven't seen a bill/ticket changer that doesn't dispense coins (yet). That sounds crazy to me. Like you say, who wants to stand in a cashier line for a few cents?

I've seen TITOs left around, most less than 20 cents, for quite some time. My husband is always more than happy to cash them, acts like a kid with a new toy.

But, another phenomenon I've seen is folks cashing out a TITO of just a few cents, and handing it to me (or someone else playing nearby) saying "here you go, use this."

Probably related to the proliferation of penny machines. People deciding it is time to leave the casino, don't want to have to look for a bill changer, stand in line, for a few pennies.

We just usually leave machines with the few coins in them (not enough to spin again at max coins). One night I decided that we would cash them out and collect the various tickets, we ended up with around $7.50, which really surprised us.

I really find it hard to believe that casino personnel would come down on someone who found a ticket for less than a dollar and cashed it in, even if it techinically is against the law.

Hubby said he saw, what appeared to be a maid, cashing in a bunch of small change tickets after a shift change. We assumed people just leave them in the rooms and the maids collect them.

I think I've left lots of small TITOs' for the maid, like >10$ and most >5$

I hope so, I pick them and play them, too.

If that is the case, it would be nice if the casino had a slotted secure dropbox next to the ticket cashout machine and/or near exit doors into which people could drop their small value tickets. This box would be on the basis that the casino would donate this ticket money to a charity that would be specified on the box. They could donate to one specified charity perpetually or perhaps change the name of the charity shown on the box each month or so.

With $0.90 here, $0.48 there, or $0.15 there, over a month I'd bet they could pull in well over $1,000 depending on the size/volume of the casino -- possible more.

ST

Mr. 66:

Great idea! So good the suits will probably never do it.

Ciao'

Though that may be a good thing to do with those 'soon to be abandoned' tito's, the casino will never do that. NEVER.

If the tito is discarded, lost, destroyed, forgotten in a drawer at home, etc, than the money eventually finds it's way into the casino coffers. And, I'm guessing those unredeemed tito's, as well as abandoned credits, total in the hundred thousand + range annually, and perhaps the millions.

It ain't gonna happen.