It happens a lot – you forget about a voucher and find it in your pocket after leaving a casino. Or maybe you just run out of time and can’t hit the ticket redemption machine before heading to the airport. What do you do then?
I won $200.00 but I could not find anyone to cash out with. I could not wait. I needed to board my plane. How do I collect my winnings? I will not be back to Vegas until next year. I don’t know anyone who is going any time soon.
Jennifer L.
Vouchers tend to have a window of time before they expire. As Jennifer noted in her question, if she was going back or knew someone who was going, and it was still within the window of time before it expired, that could certainly offer a solution.
It’s a common problem – more than 60 percent of players polled on Brian Christopher’s YouTube page said they’ve forgotten to cash a ticket out before leaving the casino.
In the absence of this, casinos generally have a way to send in a ticket by mail to be redeemed. A similar process exists for sports betting wagers. (As we write this we have a winning sports betting wager that’s due to expire in September from Massachusetts we’re reminded we need to send in to get paid.)
Generally the process is you mail the voucher to a specific address, generally with a copy of your ID. Some casinos might ask for your players card information if you have one with them.
In return, they’ll send you back a check, ensuring you still get paid for your ticket.
It’s important not to let the ticket expire, especially since in markets like Nevada, the bulk of the money actually ends up in the hands of the state government, thanks to a law they passed a number of years ago. Casinos in Nevada only end up keeping 25 percent of the left behind money, where the state gets the rest.
There’s no need to pay an added tax for running out of time. Check for information on the casino’s website, or reach out to them if you can’t find the info, and they can tell you the process you can follow to get your money sent back to you.
Perhaps this problem goes away when the shift to cashless gaming finally occurs, but until then, there’s at least a process for getting your ticket paid out.
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