I usually play by myself and sometimes will eat a meal at the casino. When I do, I always bring along a book to read while dining. Sometimes the book is a novel. Sometimes it is non-fiction – perhaps a book by a future guest on the podcast. But eating by myself without a book seems like a waste of time to me.
On one recent day, as I finished playing, the credits on my machine amounted to $1,240. Not a particularly large amount, but large enough that I had to visit the cage to get it cashed. The ATM/Change machines at this casino would not redeem tickets of $1,000 and higher.
I needed to use the restroom before I went to the cage. So, I placed my players card, driver’s license, and ticket for $1,240 in my book, and carried the book as I went on my way. So long as I’m careful, the book acts like a safe of sorts. And I am careful. At least most of the time.
Somehow, however, I wasn’t careful enough this time. I still don’t know how it happened, but when I showed up at the cage, the book was “empty.” No ticket. No ID. No card. I checked my wallet “in case” I had put the things there instead of where I thought I put them, but no luck.
Shit.
Losing $1,240 is a nuisance rather than a disaster. Losing my driver’s license was much more of a problem. I immediately traced my steps back to the restroom, checking the floor along the way on the slim chance the items had fallen out and had not been picked up by anyone else.
Nothing.
As I was leaving the restroom, I noticed the attendant was holding a driver’s license in his hand. I identified myself and asked if it was mine. It was. I asked about the players card. He said he had thrown it away. It was still on top of the trash can, so I retrieved that as well. I asked about the ticket, and he said he didn’t know anything about that. Was he telling the truth? Who knows?
I went back to the cage and asked if they had cashed a ticket for exactly $1,240 in the past few minutes. No, they hadn’t. I then said I’d like to report a missing ticket. Soon a slot supervisor came and took my statement. We went to the machine I had been playing, where the display said that the last ticket redeemed was $1,240. I told the supervisor that I had been playing there for about three hours, always with my card, and surely their slot club records and cameras could verify that.
I had to fill out a written statement, which I did. A few minutes later a “Metro” (police officer from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department) came by and asked me for my story again. So, I told it. He wanted a written report. I told him I was willing, but if he could get a photocopy of the casino report that would be much easier.
I was asked to wait.
About 20 minutes later, another Metro came by and asked me if I wanted to press charges. I told him that my primary concern was retrieving the $1,240. He told me I was going to get the $1,240 back and the person who tried to cash it was in detention downstairs.
That was lucky!
Still, if someone had actually ripped me off, they deserved to be punished. If someone found abandoned property, maybe not. The restroom attendant was the only person who spoke to me and was definitely aware of whom the ticket belonged to. Anybody else? It’s possible it was dropped on the floor and I wasn’t sure of how the “finder-keeper loser-weeper” rule worked in this particular instance.
I was asked if I was willing to testify in court. I said yes, but I repeated that the only person I could identify was the restroom attendant who I described by age (50ish), race (Hispanic), build (medium), and other features (spoke English with very little trace of an accent). If anybody else tried to turn in the ticket, there was nothing I could say in court proving that person’s guilt.
In another 20 minutes I got my ticket back. I was never asked to identify anybody. I assume it wasn’t the restroom attendant who tried to cash the ticket.
Obviously, I’m luckier than I deserve to be. I didn’t have to discover the loss so quickly. The ticket didn’t have to be larger than could be cashed anonymously at the machines. Even discovering the loss, the one “skillful” element here was reporting it immediately.
Being able to stop the ticket before it was cashed made recovery easier. Had the ticket already been cashed, the casino might not have been so quick to pay me. There are cameras at the cage, and it could depend on who turned in the ticket. And whether they help me might partially depend on whether I’m a winning or losing player.
If it was cashed by a valued customer (i.e. one who loses a lot), the casino might not want to embarrass him by confronting him. If it was cashed by someone the casino didn’t recognize, the casino may very well have decided not to pay out the $1,240 twice.
Was there a lesson to be learned about better securing valuable things? Of course.
Two items flashed through my mind that I will leave for the reader to ponder. First, assuming I didn’t get the ticket back, how should I record that in my records? In case of audit, I want my records to match what the casino has. I didn’t come to a firm conclusion about this as I got my money back before I needed to record it.
Second, when I got the money back, how much should I have tipped? And to whom?
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Hypothetically, let’s assume the ticket is cashed before bob realizes it’s missing. The casino also knows who cashed it and has a way to find them. Is the casher facing any charges? Assuming the ticket was found on the floor (and not a machine) I don’t believe they are but I might be wrong
It happens, even to the best. I believe theft is deductible as far as taxes. As far as tipping, I wouldn’t think it was necessary.
This would be a business loss if you file schedule C. I would tip the cashier.
I always put my tito in my wallet, which I always keep in my front pants pocket.
At casinos here in Pennsylvania, police have been involved numerous times in similar situations. A man was arrested several years ago because he found an envelope that someone claimed had money in it, took it into the men’s room, and disposed of the envelope. Cameras had seen him pick up the envelope and take it into the men’s room. Here if you find something you are supposed to make an effort to find its rightful owners before deciding “finders keeepers”.
As for your journal, if the money was lost I would note it as such. In retail, over/short is an accounting entry for when a cash drawer is either over or short. In this case I would say on your Schedule C an entry for being short isn’t unjustified
Mr. Dancer, you left out part of the story. You wrote the phrase “another Metro came by and asked me if I wanted to press charges”. Press charges against WHOM? You didn’t previously state that the police had caught the guy, who he was, and how they caught him. Those are not only important things, but those are prime things that we readers are interested in knowing. They’re the guts of the 2nd half of the story, the more intriguing half. If you can amend and re-post today’s story to include this prime info, please do!
The restroom attendant acted improperly. He should have immediately turned your DL into casino security. There are likely also proper procedures for disposal of found players cards, which I’d guess does not include tossing into the trash can. OF COURSE he found your TITO! I’d bet on it. He may have passed it to an accomplice to cash. He admitted to handling two of the three items, so very likely he had the ticket. That amount would be a huge windfall for him, even if split with a pal.
Write yourself a note of documentation about the TITO. File it where you file W2-Gs and other gambling records. Get it notarized if you are so inclined.
As for tipping, I’m sure $20 would be hugely appreciated by the supervisor who helped you with the paperwork, etc. I always tip the cashier a dollar or two when I cash chips. In your situation it isn’t like a jackpot where employees had to write it up, bring you the money, etc., so a big tip to a cashier just for counting out your money isn’t necessary, but that’s JMHO.
Glad you got everything back.
I hesitate to share, I once dropped a $1000 cash on the casino floor near the cage. the next person in line saw it and picked it up. An hour later tapes were reviewed and the man was confronted. He lied. Faced with the actual video tape he admitted to taking the money. I DID PRESS CHARGES. No such thing as finders keepers. You are required to turn in found money, ALWAYS.
Same as David. Whether $1240 or 43 cents, tickets ALWAYS go in the wallet when doing something else other than playing or cashing out.
I always carry a state issued I.d. card in my pocket along with my player cards for signing any tax forms. My d.l. stays in my wallet. If you lose your I.d. you would make a lost property case report with the police, to cover yourself if someone tries to use it and get a new i.d. at your leisure. If you lose your d.l. you need to make the same case report but you risk being stopped by the police, getting a ticket, getting a recognizance bond, going to your Secretary of State to get a new license, and then going to court. I do my best to never take my license out of my wallet. Bob, at our age we don’t need to waist any time at state run facilities. With no cameras in the can, advantage theft offenders probably watch for opportunities like a tito sticking out of a book like a page marker. Just like scouting for top paying v.p. machines. Pulling the tito maybe forced the d.l. and players card to the floor to be retrieved by the attendant. If I’m not mistaken, picking up and cashing a tito is illegal in Nevada. Probably the second officer had the offender in custody and the two officers just exchanged positions when he talked to you. Also, here in Illinois, senior citizens I.d. cards don’t have an expiration date so you don’t have to renew it. The state probably expects us to expire first. Get a state issued identification card.
The Metro didn’t give me any details about who they caught. They told me somebody tried to cash the ticket and that person was being held at the moment.
It’s been quite a while since this happened and I haven’t been asked to testify. Form that I assume it was NOT the restroom attendant.
Insofar as I know, the restaurant attend COULD HAVE BEEN heading out the door and going to security. (He was headed in that direction.)
I don’t know his intentions.
Hi, Bob,
Another warning about titos: several years ago a friend of mine went to cash in her tito after hitting a royal. The line at the cashier was long, so she decided to use a machine instead.
There were lines at the cash-out machines as well (must have been a very busy day). When it was her turn, she inserted the tito. Because she didn’t want to hold up the line, she took the cash and walked away. When she counted the money immediately afterward, she realized that the machine had dispensed it in two halves! IOW, she was holding only half of the amount owed.
Turned out the the person behind her grabbed the other half of her jackpot and fled. Security cameras had recorded the incident but he was gone before anyone could catch him. My friend never got the rest of her money.
Just another cautionary tale.
Don said “If I’m not mistaken, picking up and cashing a tito is illegal in Nevada.”
Can anybody verify if this is true? I’ll find tickets with a few cents on them from time to time and cash them, but I don’t want to get into trouble just for that.
Probably a good topic for a podcast with Bob Nercessian
They call that “silver mining”, since back in the day there were real coins which had real silver. Casinos are known to get very nasty when it comes to silver mining, one story would be the story of Estella Romanski, an elderly woman who dared to pick up a nickel (with no silver content) from a casino floor. But, keep Nersesian’s number on speed dial, I think he likes these kinds of cases.
Victor,
What requires you to turn in found money? I have heard this same line of reasoning but no one ever quotes a statute or a law. Do you have anything to back up your blanket statement?
Liz,
Estella Romanski sued due to the treatment she received after being arrested. The settlement wasn’t for actually picking up the nickel token. She wasn’t treated very well and that’s where the award came from. This was at Motor City Casino in Detroit about 10 years ago.
Again, I didn’t see any actual statute or law quoted .
Well, the Colorado incidents. Now, maybe it’s just Colorado that has this law, that I don’t know, but search for “Colorado casino customers prosecuted for playing abandoned slot credits”.
Just an additional thought from me, as no one else has said this exactly. Always keep important things “on your person”, e.g., in either a pants pocket or a shirt pocket or a neck pouch. It is just too easy to get separated from an object that you are carrying, such as a tote bag or, in this case, a book. I don’t know whether the TITO ticket and/or the ID/DL was being used as a book marker, but if it was, that’s a bad choice. But giving the benefit of the doubt, and saying that they had been placed in the book for convenience of access when seeing the cashier, my response would be that this just isn’t wise. It is too easy for us to lay an object down somewhere, or drop it if someone bumps into us in a distracting way (either intentionally or unintentionally) or if we trip & fall, and then the important item is separated from us. But if the item (TITO ticket or ID/DL) is sitting inside a pocket or pouch, we won’t lay it down on anything, and it won’t separate from us if we have a bumping or trip/fall incident. Not to put down David or Larry, but your wallet might not be the absolute best place to store TITO tickets simply because there are pickpockets out there, but I agree that putting your wallet in a front pocket is way better than in a back pocket. Money would actually be less likely to get stolen if it were rolled up and placed beneath the wallet in the front pocket; a pickpocket might reach his fingers 2 inches down into your pocket to pull out your wallet, but he’s not likely to hang around and put his hand farther down your pocket to check for something more. P.S.: If you have to carry a large sum of greenbacks on you, the safest way would be to roll them into a wad and put it inside a sock, under the arch of your foot, before you put your shoes on.
Victor’s situation was a bit different from someone just finding cash on a casino floor. He was at the cage, the person behind him was caught on camera picking up money he knew wasn’t his.
I doubt there is such a blanket law as mentioned. Once my husband picked up some dollar bills, one or two, off the floor in Bellagio casino. He saw a security guard and tried to hand them over. The guard waved him off, said “keep it.” Had anyone walked up and said “I dropped those”, he certainly would have handed them over. I’m sure it all depends on the situation.
Lots of people leave one or two cent TITOs around, or hand them to somebody playing penny machines. I’ve done it myself.
Me, I have made at least three stupid moves, mostly not paying attention, that would have cost me money if not for the kindness of strangers. All due to being tired, distracted, and having a few drinks on board.
Pennsylvania does too and there are plenty of signs in and around the casinos stating this.
MotorCity had an undercover officer harassing and making bogus claims against people for taking slot tickets a few years ago. One got fed up and filled a complaint and he got fired.
The metro cops should have never put anyone in detention Bob as it was your fault that you did not secure your belongings! When a winning ticket or cash hit the floor in a casino and you walk away it is finders keepers, losers weepers. How did the guy in detention feel? Did he get arrested for finding a winning ticket? He didn’t know who had dropped the ticket but realized that some moron dropped a winning ticket along with other items. He only took what mattered to him, the ticket. Can you blame the person? You are lucky to have been reunited with your winning ticket and it is a good thing that you did report your loss because the person who tried to cash it waited to long and couldn’t out run the radio.
If you want to tip somebody you should tip the surveillance room personnel at the casino for possibly tracking down the innocent man who found a winning ticket lying on the ground, only to get held up by metro. Or the cash cage personnel who were on the look out for a $1240 ticket.
Blitzkrieg (Lightning War), you are likely the guy who waited too long to cash the TITO. Good story, Bob. Sparked a lot of discussion. As far as I know, in Mississippi, tickets cannot be cashed by anyone but the player who won the money, not someone who found it, on the floor, in a book, in a machine, or anywhere else.