What Should I do if I Find a Machine That Already Has a Credit Balance?

What is the responsibility of a player who stumbles on a machine containing a credit balance?
I sat down at a slot machine, casually put in a $20 bill and got about three spins in before I look down and realized there is a $192 balance on the machine. I knew I hadn't won any money on my spins, but by now my money has been mingled in with that credit balance. I looked around and nobody was nearby. So I printed the ticket and cashed it in, thankful for my fortune. Did I do the right thing? What would have happened if I had summoned a slot attendant?

When carried out by people deliberately, the practice you refer to -- scoping out the casino floor for lost or abandoned cash, credits, or TITO vouchers -- is known as "silver mining" and is a common source of income for the city's more enterprising homeless, like the character named "Steve" in best-seller Beneath the Neon, who claims to be able to "spot a penny on a machine from 100 yards." He and his girlfriend make between $50 and $100 on an average night from "abandoned" money; they once found $900 unclaimed on a slot machine.

In practice, it often boils down to "finders, keepers," but as to whether or not the practice is actually legal, or what the potential penalties might be, that varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and can depend both on the local unclaimed property laws and on the attitude of the individual establishment.

For example, we've read cases of casino staff pointing out abandoned credits on a machine to a different player as a friendly gesture, when their original owner had obviously long-since departed. On the other hand, while researching this answer we read an account from a man whose elderly father found a $100 winning voucher, told security, received no instruction to the contrary, and so went ahead and played it, only to find himself being unceremoniously summoned to a back room by a different member of security, escorted off the property, and told not to return. In Las Vegas, where the problem of homelessness is deep and silver mining is rife, its exponents are not welcome, and can expect to be ejected if caught in the act.

According to a study published last year, it's been estimated that Nevada's casinos could actually bring in as much as an additional $50 million per year just from uncashed payout tickets. On the strength of those findings, Las Vegas Democrat William Horne introduced Assembly Bill 219 in an attempt to have uncashed tickets declared to be unclaimed property, which legally is owned by the state. According to the bill, after the appropriate length of time for the rightful owner to come forward has elapsed (in this instance, three months), the winnings would revert to state coffers.

In spite of strong opposition from the casinos, Horne's bill was passed, meaning that as of July 1, 2011, 75% of the value of unclaimed winnings reverts to the state of Nevada; the casino's share of the bounty has now been cut to just 25%.

That's the long-winded way of saying that, whatever the unclaimed property kaw might be in the jurisdiction where you're playing, abandoned winnings are legally either the property of the casino or of the state. One thing that's clear is that they're not yours and you play or cash them at your peril.

As to the rules affecting found chips or cash, it's been awhile (10/31/2005) since we last investigated that particular can of worms, and if you check out the answer im the Archives, you'll see that the answer there was far from clearcut and varied significantly from property to property. We choose to leave it up to your individual consciences to determine the correct way to proceed.

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Comments

O2bnVegas May-01-2024

Never

If I'm determined to play 'that' machine, I'll first put my service light on and wait for an attendant to handle it.

More than once I've walked to my car and realized that I failed to scan a grocery item (large-jug of pet litter; small, bag of chips).  Each and every time i've walked back to the story to pay for the item. I use self-scan whenever the store has it; I like the convenience.  They have people watching the registers to prevent this type of loss, but obviously a lot gets by them.  Same thing...I don't want what isn't mine.  I'm annoyed at myself when I have to walk half a parking lot back to the store (maybe in the rain!) to pay for a $2.50 half gallon of milk, but it isn't mine unless I pay, and it is my fault for missing it when I scan.

Candy

Kevin Rough May-01-2024

By state

This is definitely a state by state thing.  Colorado and Pennsylvania definitely are known for pressing charges.  I remember at some point the Pennsylvania State Police saying they investigate around 1000 cases a year of this.

Michael B May-01-2024

Opposite happend to me

At Sunset Station I put my ticket into a machine only to find out the players card slot wouldn't read my card so I removed it and started walking around for only a couple minutes and realized I forgot my money. In that short time it had been removed. I went to a security guard who took me to the attendant in the high limit room who called security and they pulled up the video of someone cashing out that machine, then cashing out the ticket and leaving the casino. She said once they leave nothing they can do. I took them at their word. Not sure if that is true or not.

Randall Ward May-01-2024

leftovers

gif I notice I cash it and leave the ticket

Brent Peterson May-01-2024

Any Decline In Unclaimed Winnings

It would be interesting to know if the casinos had a big decline in reported unclaimed winnings after the 2011 law. If I owned a casino, I would be far less likely to report an unclaimed win knowing I only get 25% of it. It seems better to let another customer "find" that unclaimed win and gamble it.

MeBlonde May-01-2024

Happened to me

 In 2000 I went to Vegas for the 1st. time and did a lot of reading before I went and read what I should do if it ever happened to me. Saw a machine I liked and put some money in  and realized someone had left money on the machine. It was early in the day and only one guy was playing at the end of the row. I stood up and said out loud, does anyone know who was playing this machine? No one did. I completed playing and got up to leave when a woman and security guard came. She had reported she had a problem cashing out and all he asked me was if I realized there was a balance on the machine when I sat down and I said no but realized it after I had played awhile. I also told him I had stood up and announced what I saw when I saw it.  He told me he would take care of her and they left. Wasn't a huge amount but that was the end of it and I moved on.

Susan Johnson May-01-2024

real customer service

My husband and I were playing together and ending up leaving $75 in the machine, each thought that the other had cashed out.  We had probably taken 70 steps before we realized it.  My husband ran back to the machine while I found a security guard.  Well, someone had already taken the ticket. Security looked at the video and saw that the person had cashed it and left.  A short time later, a security manager came up to us, apologized for the theft and credited my account with $150 free play! An A+ for customer service.  This happened about 15 years ago at Sam's Town Tunica.  I wonder if Boyd would be so generous now??!

PK May-01-2024

Illegal in IN

In Indiana they have signs saying that an abandoned Tito is illegal to use or cash in.

PK May-01-2024

Theft

So canny you admitted to stealing from the store?

Scott May-09-2024

Cruise Casino

I was playing a slot probably 25-30 years ago on a cruise, hit like a $1000 jackpot or something that had to be hand payed (this was back when slots used real money), a security guard came up and stood behind me while I was waiting for the person to come pay me out and he pointed to the machine next to me that had like $20 in credits still on it and told me to go ahead and play it while I was waiting.  I did so and hit another $200 on that machine with someone else's money and gave him like a $100 tip once I was paid out.  I remember telling him, that isn't my money in that machine, he said well it is now.

Question of the Day - 01 May 2024

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