A:
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.
Update 18 January 2017
"I have a suggestion for people regarding this answer. People should photocopy and/or take a photo of their ticket to have further proof of it. This could help them better resolve the issue."
Good advice -- and worth remembering. Here's another (slightly more laborious) idea:
"Regarding lost or faded futures sports wagers - what I did was on a small envelope I wrote down the entire wagering information including the Sports Book where I wagered, serial number, type of wager and event wagered, team wagered and wager number, event date amount to win total payout, ticket cost, internal ID # External ID # and bottom line information including date and time stamp when wagered. As of now, both the serial number and bark code have not faded. I also photo copied it and have the original. I will submit all that if my futures wagers wins."
And another:
"Run a faded ticket thru a scanner or copier machine and increase (darken) the contrast on the new copy! I have used this for fading merchandise receipts! Just enough to pick out a fading serial number, I hope!"
More excellent advice:
"A few years ago I made many hockey bets on games. Of the 5 I bet, 1 lost and 4 won (Woo Hoo!) I cashed 3 of the 4 winners but could not cash the last one before I left to go back to SoCal. I kept the ticket and gave it to my father who was coming back in a few weeks. When it came time for him to go back to Vegas and cash my ticket, I asked to see the ticket. He lost it. HOWEVER, when I made the bet I used my sister's player rewards card from that casino. That made a huge difference because now all that happened was they swiped my sister's card and could see everything about the bet I made - the fact it won and still had not been cashed. I had to wait "X" amount of days but I didn't have to go thru the hassle of when I made the bet, for how much, etc. The casino could clearly see all details. I would advise people to do the same. Make all sports bets thru a Player Rewards card so if the ticket is lost tracking it down will take seconds and is easy to do."
And great minds think alike:
"In regards to today's QOD, we ALL carry smart phones now. Take a picture of the ticket when you buy it. It is then in your phone."
"This happened this past year with some tickets my husband had from the Palazzo for bets on the World Series. When he returned (before the Series), the employee used a lighted match underneath, without touching the flame to the paper, to bring up the printing. Clearly there's some risk with this method! The safest best is to do as others have suggested and either photograph or copy the original ticket before it fades."
No part of this answer may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the publisher.
