Nevada gamblers left $24.4 million in vouchers behind in casinos during the fiscal year that ended June 30. That’s according to preliminary results from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Casinos got to keep 25% of their redemption value, reporting a sum total of $6.1 million as part of their monthly gross revenue, while the Nevada Gaming Commission collected 75% ($18.3 million) to add to the state’s general fund.
Vouchers for small change, such as these dispensed by Caesars Palace in 2022, are believed to constitute the majority of unclaimed vouchers in Nevada. (Image: casinonieuws.nl)
That’s down from the record $25.8 million gamblers left behind in unclaimed vouchers during n the 2023 fiscal year, but more than the $22 million in unclaimed vouchers left behind during fiscal year 2022.
Nearly 50% of the nearly $183 million collected by the state since the law was enacted in 2011 was collected after 2020, which aligns with the increasing gross gaming revenue collected during this time.
Chump Change
Nevada only collects data on the total value of the unclaimed vouchers, not on how many there were or the most common dollar amounts. However, it is believed that the majority were left behind intentionally, because the vouchers weren’t worth waiting in line at the casino’s cage to collect.
In Nevada, many major casino operators will no longer cash out vouchers for less than a dollar for coins at ticket redemption machines or ATMs. This policy was initiated to address a coin shortage during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the profit realized from the increase in unclaimed vouchers is likely the reason this policy continued.
Not all casinos book the change as profit. Cosmopolitan, M Resort, and Wynn Las Vegas present customers with the option of donating change to various charities. Caesars Palace and Flamingo donate unwanted change to Meals on Wheels.
Boyd Gaming, one of the largest operators in the Las Vegas Valley, is among the Nevada casino companies that still dispense coins from machines.
An abandoned cash-out ticket, or slot voucher, is supposed to be collected by the casino. For 90-180 days, it remains the property of the person who played the machine just before it was printed out. (Image: Scott Roeben/Vital Vegas)
Some gamblers may think they’re leaving their vouchers for less-fortunate people who are willing to wait in line for coins. However, what they may be leaving them instead is trouble.
Finder’s Keeper Not the Law
Even if a slot voucher is abandoned in a Nevada casino, it still belongs to the person who originally put the money in, not to someone who spots it poking out of a slot machine.
Casinos are charged with holding an abandoned voucher for 90-180 days for the rightful winner to collect it. (After that, the voucher expires and becomes unclaimed property and, as covered above, the state and casino split its value 75%/25%.)
In many jurisdictions that allow gambling, voucher theft is either a misdemeanor or felony — depending on the value of the voucher/s.
Though Casino.org couldn’t find any citations of cases prosecuted by Nevada, Colorado convicted A.J. Werling of misdemeanor fraud in 2004 for using a 76-cent credit left in a slot machine by a previous user.
The man claimed he inserted his own $20 bill, not even realizing the credit was already there. For that, he was fined $500 and forced to perform 24 hours of community service.
“It’s been a nightmare,” Werling told KDVR-TV/Denver in 2017. “I’m not a criminal. It’s ridiculous. It’s 76 cents … I still have to deal with … having to go over what transpired for jobs, apartments, anything that requires a background check. I have to disclose why I have a gambling theft conviction on my record.”
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