{"id":267648,"date":"2023-09-29T08:03:46","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T13:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=267648"},"modified":"2024-07-18T12:29:47","modified_gmt":"2024-07-18T17:29:47","slug":"vegas-myths-busted-youre-allowed-to-cash-out-a-slot-you-didnt-play-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vegas-myths-busted-youre-allowed-to-cash-out-a-slot-you-didnt-play-2\/","title":{"rendered":"VEGAS MYTHS RE-BUSTED: You’re Allowed to Cash Out a Slot You Didn\u2019t Play"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cVegas Myths Busted\u201d publishes new entries every Monday, with a bonus Flashback Friday edition.\u00a0<\/em>Today\u2019s entry in our ongoing series originally ran on April 7, 2023.<\/em><\/p>\n


\n

Last week, TikTok creator @ileana.justine posted a video documenting what she called her favorite casino game: \u201cWalking around and collecting all of the leftover cash people leave on their machines and seeing how much I can get.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
This TikTok user’s favorite game could land her in jail. (Image: TikTok)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After half an hour of scouring slots for abandoned cash-out vouchers, she turned up $7.28. The video earned her 4 million views and a possible future indictment.<\/p>\n

\n

The practice, called ticket mining, isn’t new. In the age of analog slot machines, it was called silver mining since quarters, not tickets, were the payday. Back then, it could get you kicked out and even permanently banned from casinos, which decided the penalty on a per-case basis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Nowadays, many jurisdictions that allow gaming consider it either a misdemeanor or felony theft, depending on the value of the vouchers.<\/p>\n

Behind Bars<\/h2>\n

So far, @ileana.justine is still cranking out TikToks, not license plates in prison. But in 2004, a Colorado man was reportedly convicted of misdemeanor fraud for using a 76-cent credit left in a slot machine by a previous user. A.J. Werling claims he inserted his own $20 bill, not even realizing the credit was already there.<\/p>\n

Werling was fined $500 and forced to perform 24 hours of community service.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a nightmare,\u201d he told KDVR-TV\/Denver<\/em> in 2017. \u201cI\u2019m not a criminal. It\u2019s ridiculous. It\u2019s 76 cents \u2026 I still have to deal with \u2026 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for @ileana.justine, she reassured her fans with the following comment: “Nobody needs to worry. I had my lawyer check into the legality. It wasn’t illegal in the state I was in.”<\/p>\n

\"Cash-out
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<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finders Keepers is Not the Law<\/h2>\n

It isn’t common in Nevada, but the state district attorney has previously prosecuted criminal cases based on slot ticket theft.<\/p>\n

One of two statutes applies. NRS 205.0832 prohibits someone who \u201ccomes into control of lost, mislaid, or misdelivered property of another person\u201d and \u201cappropriates that property to his or her own use, or that of another person, without reasonable efforts to notify the true owner.\u201d<\/p>\n

NRS 465.070 states that it is unlawful \u201cto claim, collect, or take — or attempt to claim, collect, or take — money or anything of value in or from a gambling game \u2026 without having made a wager.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Even if a slot ticket is abandoned in a Nevada casino, it still belongs to the person who originally put the money in, not to someone who finds it poking out of a slot machine. Casinos are charged with holding an abandoned voucher for 90 days for the rightful winner to collect it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

After that, the voucher expires and becomes unclaimed property. According to a law passed in 2011, the state general fund gets 75% of each abandoned ticket\u2019s win, collected by the Nevada Gaming Control Board every quarter. The casino keeps 25% for administrative costs.<\/p>\n

In the fiscal year 2022, Nevada players abandoned $22 million in unclaimed tickets.<\/a><\/p>\n

Look for \u201cVegas Myths Busted\u201d every Monday on <\/strong>Casino.org. Visit <\/strong><\/em>VegasMythsBusted.com<\/a>\u00a0to read previously busted Vegas myths. Got a suggestion for a Vegas myth that needs busting? Email\u00a0corey@casino.org<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE:\u00a0\u201cVegas Myths Busted\u201d publishes new entries every Monday, with a bonus Flashback Friday edition.\u00a0Today\u2019s entry in our ongoing series originally ran on April 7, 2023. Last week, TikTok creator @ileana.justine posted a video documenting what she called her favorite casino game: \u201cWalking around and collecting all of the leftover cash people leave on their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":267644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,81896,81886,88494,69293],"tags":[85729,85738,82614,85730,23,85732,83779,85740,85726,85728,83146,85739,85731],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nVEGAS MYTHS RE-BUSTED: You're Allowed to Cash Out a Slot You Didn\u2019t Play - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"EDITOR\u2019S NOTE:\u00a0\u201cVegas Myths Busted\u201d publishes new entries every Monday, with a bonus Flashback Friday edition.\u00a0Today\u2019s entry in our ongoing series\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vegas-myths-busted-youre-allowed-to-cash-out-a-slot-you-didnt-play-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VEGAS MYTHS RE-BUSTED: You're Allowed to Cash Out a Slot You Didn\u2019t Play - 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