Weird Gaming Law of the day

Quote: Curiousguy11

Try playing $5 left over that's not yours in an "apparently abandoned" slot machine. You watch it for an hour, no one comes by to claim it so you decide to play it. That's theft, is it not? Of course, you'll likely only be caught when the owner of the unplayed slot play comes back 75 minutes later and complains somebody played her money.

That once happened to me on a VP machine I tink in Canada. I legitimately wanted to play so I found an empty machine and put $20 in. $25 or so in credits showed and I was like "WTF?" The buddy I was with saw it as well. So I played for a few mninutes and cashed out. No one was near the thing and I figured worst case they had me on tape putting cash in.

I read there are street folk in LV who make their living finding unplayed credits. I do know as a kid I would check for returned change in video games and pinball machines. Got yelled at for it once. Went back the next day and got yelled at for it again, same manager. Thought he would not remember me.

There was an incident at the Motor City casino in Detroit where a woman was 86'd for picking up a nickel in a slot machine tray. Here is the full story.

Yes, there are lots of credit trolls that prowl around looking for credits people leave on machines. I don't think it rises to "making a living" but I think some homeless people do it to make a little pocket money.

>there are lots of credit trolls that prowl around looking for credits people leave on machines.
Lots???
Is this sort of a break they take from trying to find marks to whom they can tip that a certain machine is about to pay out ... in return for half the winnings?

>I don't think it rises to "making a living" but I think some homeless people do it to make a little pocket money.
Well, if its a rainy day and you are getting soaked handing out pictures of girls who are not from an agency I guess you have to take a break and go inside the casino to do something worthwhile with your life.

I think the best scam was that cocktail waitress who would bubble gum on the BOTTOM of her tray and then rest the tray on someone's humungous stack of chips while handing out all those drink glasses. Or the guy who was playing slot machines but made the mistake of standing too close to the machine and winning too often... now they shield the RNG chips from electrical interference from an electric cigarette lighter.

In Vegas, if a chip is "found" on the casino floor you can file a claim at the security office. After thirty days, its yours. Heaven help you if you just try to pick it up and keep it though.

Oh, man. Wednesday I cashed in a slot ticket for $400.00, and there was about 65 cents in quarters and nickels in the coin tray; I took it.

Do you think it's safe to go back?

Quote: Curiousguy11

Try playing $5 left over that's not yours in an "apparently abandoned" slot machine. You watch it for an hour, no one comes by to claim it so you decide to play it. That's theft, is it not?

The rare tiems I play slots, I'll often wind up having less than a dollar worth of credits. Whent hat happens, I leave the credits on the machine for the next player to use them. Some people may leave $5 the same way.

Maybe I'll place a post-it note next time, assuming that's not taken as defacement of casino property :P

Last November I was staying downtown at the Fitz. I wandered over to the Fremont for a bit and sat down at a JOB VP machine, as I went to put my money in I saw a bucket about a 1/4 full with quarters sitting right next to the machine I was playing. I looked around for a bit to see if someone was playing near by. No one around just me and my girlfriend. I told a slot attendant, his exact words were, "What do you want me to do?" "You can tell a security guard if you want or you can keep it, I don't think anyone will care." Although it was only probably 20 bucks, I was amazed at his bluntness. Anyways, I found a security guard, and after talking to him for awhile I convinced him to take it, (yes even the security guard suggested I just keep it) He took my name and asked me when I was leaving, I was driving home the next morning, so he said to stop by the security office tomorrow morning and if no one claimed it by then it would be mine. I was surprised by this, since as some have mentioned before me, I thought there was some sort of 30 day rule, or naively I thought they might actually bother looking over tape to see if they could identify the person who left it behind. However, no such effort seemed in place. Just like clock work I strolled back over to the Fremont the next morning and at the security office the bucket of quarters and a form was there for me to fill out and sign. I walked with a security guard to the cage they dumped the quarters and sure enough it came out to $20 exactly, the cashier had me sign one more form and handed me over a $20 bill and I was on my merry way with $20 in my wallet after a trip filled with loss after loss. Don't know if this is actual policy, but this was my experience, thought I would share it.

Quote: Wizard

There was an incident at the Motor City casino in Detroit where a woman was 86'd for picking up a nickel in a slot machine tray. Here is the full story.

...And it ended in her being awarded $875,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.

I guess it serves them right, but for the way the situation was handled - casinos have no business detaining people without an overwhelming reason. Still doesn't make it one's right to claim any money or chips found, but for what it's worth.

Quote: Wizard

There was an incident at the Motor City casino in Detroit where a woman was 86'd for picking up a nickel in a slot machine tray. Here is the full story.

Yes, there are lots of credit trolls that prowl around looking for credits people leave on machines. I don't think it rises to "making a living" but I think some homeless people do it to make a little pocket money.

Happened to me at the MGM 10 years ago, it was a quarter though, not a nickel.

Friend dropped me off at door to run into gift shop for cigs, as I was walking spotted a quarter in a slot tray and grabbed it, 3 minutes later there were 5 security guards in the gift shop.

I once lost $25 but gained my soul. It was just last month at the Showboat in Atlantic City. I was killing time playing a video poker machine at a bar in the center of the casino. My friends showed up so I gave up my seat and forgot all about the four kings that I had hit earlier. Some guy went up to the machine that I was playing, and I was tempted to let him know how lucky it was when he played one hand and cashed out. Then 2 minutes later, I remembered that I had left my credits in the game. That made me feel crummy at first since that money would have bought a couple of more drinks (yes, it's an expensive bar) but then it ocurred to me that I could never do that to someone else. I would have first asked who was playing that machine and then if no one answered, I would just walk away.

I may have lost some cash but the manifestation of a situation that proved that I'm a morally superior person was well worth it. It also made me more cognizant of my casual gambling.

Quote: JIMMYFOCKER

Quote: Wizard

There was an incident at the Motor City casino in Detroit where a woman was 86'd for picking up a nickel in a slot machine tray. Here is the full story.

Yes, there are lots of credit trolls that prowl around looking for credits people leave on machines. I don't think it rises to "making a living" but I think some homeless people do it to make a little pocket money.

Happened to me at the MGM 10 years ago, it was a quarter though, not a nickel.

Friend dropped me off at door to run into gift shop for cigs, as I was walking spotted a quarter in a slot tray and grabbed it, 3 minutes later there were 5 security guards in the gift shop.

The best thing for you to do is to raise a ruckus so they would detain you and you could file a Sec. 1983 lawsuit for deprivation of your constitutional rights while acting under color of state law.

By the way, that MotorCity case was wrongly decided and probably should have been overturned. I would check the procedural history on that one.