Money on Casino Floor

I cashed out $160 from a video poker machine then headed to the craps table. After maybe 15 minutes I remembered that I hadn't cashed the ticket but when I reached into my pocket it wasn't there. Security was called and I showed them what machine I was playing and they pulled up the ticket number and quickly tracked down the guy that picked it up. They were mainly concerned with whether I had dropped it (I had) or had been pickpocketed. Luckily for me the guy put his players card in before inserting the ticket. He had moved a couple of times before they found him. When asked about the ticket he quickly returned the money. I never even thought I'd get the money back but I did. They even looked back at the security video and saw him pick it up off the floor.

A friend of mine was really tired from playing slots all night and forgot to grab the ticket after cashing out. She had been chatting with the woman at the machine next to her and she got up and left and wished the woman good luck. Just a minute or two later she realized what she had done and went back to grab the ticket but it was gone along with the woman that she had been chatting with. Security video showed the woman grabbing the ticket and heading directly to the change machine and out the door. She thought she was $270 richer. But she also had been playing with her players card so they knew who she was and flagged her account. She didn't return to the casino for almost two months but when she did security was there to confront her - return the money or face a lifetime ban. She returned the money and my friend got a call to come pick up the $270.

A regular craps player got banned from the casino after another player dropped a black chip and he was seen on surveillance video carefully picking it up after everyone had been asked if they had found it.

For me it's clear that turning in anything I might find is the right thing to do.

" Speaking of criminal: on 3 different occasions, I have found small bags of marijuana on the sidewalk. "

Gee, I hope you left them there. or some pothead did not find his way home that night !

My own experience with this: About 5-6 years ago at the Fremont I sat down to play some quarter vp and noticed a bucket of quarters sitting at the machine next to me. There was no one else in the same bank as me and no player card in the machine next to the quarters. I asked the next slot attendant that walked by if anyone was playing around here or if anyone asked about their quarters. She said no, and told me to just take it to security. I proceeded to security and they had me fill out some info with my name, contact info, etc. They told me come back tomorrow and if no one claims it, they'll give it to me.

Next day, went back to security they check my ID, say no one claimed the money and handed me the bucket. I went to the cashier, ended up being approx. $30. Felt like I did the right thing and was rewarded. Not sure if that is what Fremont's protocol is supposed to be, or because it was such a small amount they decided to go through the motions.

I just found a braclet at Borgata. New, it costs 145. I plan to hold onto it unless they call me and want it back

Quote: PBguy

A regular craps player got banned from the casino after another player dropped a black chip and he was seen on surveillance video carefully picking it up after everyone had been asked if they had found it.

Here is my embarrassing story of being on the loosing end:

Twenty years ago I was back counting blackjack at the MGM when the dice came flying by my feet from a nearby craps table. Not thinking twice about it I bent over to pick them up and tossed them to the boxman. For some stupid reason I was carrying 3 black chips in my shirt pocket and unbeknownst to me they fell out and rolled down the casino floor.

Shortly after that, a super hot dealer started making eye contact with me. As a typical single guy I start to think that this could turn out to be a really good night! After a few minutes she heads on break and I casually meet her at the end of the pit to say hi. At the same time I notice the black chips missing from my pocket and quickly realized what had happened. Not only did I get that sinking feeling about loosing the money, I come back to earth about the possibility of hooking up with a 10. The dealer nicely relates the events to me as she saw it all happen, but said she couldn't do anything more for me.

I flash back to the instant after I bent over to pick up those dice - now I remember a guy getting back into his seat at a blackjack table about 10 feet away acting like he had just won the lottery! I could picture his face clearly and scoured the casino floor for him - but to no avail.

So next I went back to the blackjack pit and told my pitifull story to the pit boss. I said the casino must be able to confirm my story through surveillance, but he claimed there was nothing he could do because the cameras in that area would only show the table tops. The best he could do was comp me to dinner, so I continue to beat myself up about my stupidity while I chew on my $300 steak.

Interesting story I saw while in Vegas this past week. A dealer going on break had found a 5 dollar chip on the floor outside the pit. After alerting the pit boss and since it was outside the pit he said it was a tip for her. She refused to take it though and it ended up as a tip for the table I was sitting at. Not sure if it was because she knew it really wasn't for her or didn't want to take the risk of some kind of impropriety.

This was told by a pit boss in the presence of a floor supervisor at Mohegan Sun. They both said that the following did occur this week.

A woman found two blue chips on the floor and turned them in to security. Surveillance was reviewed and the person who lost the chips was determined to be a guest who was still registered at the hotel.

When the patron was contacted and told of the circumstances of the recovery of his chips, he shocked everyone with his response. He said "she found them so let her keep them".

If that really happened, I'd like to know what the guy was thinking. Is he so rich that he couldn't be bothered picking up a couple of lousy chips? Did he not understand their value? Was he just a nice guy?

How much are blue chips worth? Only $5,000 each.

Mohegan in CT? The 5k is more of a teal. They have blue in a fee of their chips. The $10 chip is also blue so who knows.

Quote: GWAE

Mohegan in CT? The 5k is more of a teal. They have blue in a fee of their chips. The $10 chip is also blue so who knows.

The story was definitely about her finding 10K. I have never seen a 5K chip at Mohegan Sun so I looked it up on Chip Guide. They have two, one more of a teal and one a little more blue looking at the edges. I've never seen a $10 chip in this casino either. That one is very blue in the Chip Guide photo.

I'm quite skeptical in general and this story doesn't ally that skepticism one bit. Nevertheless it's a good Saturday morning story.

< 86 people own half the money in the world. $10k isn't that much for someone who's so rich he doesn't notice he missed it.

Reading through this thread was educational. Normally, unless I saw the person, I'd pocket the money without thinking about it.

I also would never ask for cash or chips at a lost and found, unless it was a large amount. In that case I would see it as a desperation long shot. I wouldn't consider someone who found my money on the ground and pocketed it to be immoral.

I thought this was normal and that few other people would ever ask for cash at a lost and found.

I'm surprised that security is that good at tracking down someone who wasn't at a machine or something, using a card. Also, that they'd be willing to do that work.

I can't remember which forum. A card counter found a cheap token in a slot machine. Got into a lot of trouble.

Quote: jjjoooggg

I can't remember which forum. A card counter found a cheap token in a slot machine. Got into a lot of trouble.

Here's a story about it from Wizard of Vegas.

Quote: GWAE

Mohegan in CT? The 5k is more of a teal. They have blue in a fee of their chips. The $10 chip is also blue so who knows.

Familiar with those $5k chips, eh? Then definitely hire somebody instead of doing those back-breaking home projects yourself [j/k]

I had not considered just wandering around the casino just looking for money on the floor before.
Maybe I should. It would probably slow down my loses ;-)

Quote: TwoFeathersATL

It would probably slow down my loses ;-)

Only if you were the one who dropped it. A lot of people do that in front of the cage, and "blame" someone else.

Quote: TwoFeathersATL

I had not considered just wandering around the casino just looking for money on the floor before.
Maybe I should. It would probably slow down my loses ;-)

It will so down your gambling loses in PA, because you will be in jail.

http://articles.mcall.com/2011-03-18/news/mc-pa-sands-casino-found-money-20110318_1_slot-machine-casinos-finders-keepers

Nguyen said the envelope was empty, but police didn't buy it. Friday was his 12th day in Northampton County Prison under $15,000 bail on charges of theft and receiving stolen property.
It's a scene repeated almost daily in each of Pennsylvania's 10 casinos, where most of the nearly 2,400 thefts investigated over the past three years are the kind of incidents that, outside the casinos, would be considered little more than lost money.
Most of the incidents involve someone either finding money and keeping it, playing credits someone else left on a slot machine, or cashing in a voucher someone left behind. All are illegal.

I see it very often, but I'm in a casino all day so YMMV. I just leave it. If I see security I call them over and tell them there's a ticket or credits in the machine. Every time I've accidently silver mined is when I was going to play the machine anyway and someone before left 6 cents.

The goodwill in alerting a casino worker is worth more to me then the amount anyway.

Quote: TwoFeathersATL

I had not considered just wandering around the casino just looking for money on the floor before.
Maybe I should. It would probably slow down my loses ;-)

If you're going to hunt money on the floor you should wear a sticky shoe.

No one can claim you picked it up on purpose.

Quote: TwoFeathersATL

I had not considered just wandering around the casino just looking for money on the floor before.
Maybe I should. It would probably slow down my loses ;-)

No harm in looking, but make sure it's not going to get you in trouble in your jurisdiction before you pick it up.

Apologies for digging up an old thread, but this seemed like the best place to put this.

I was at the local card room yesterday, and a guy at the table hit a $300 high hand jackpot. They paid him in chips, and after our table had broken up when the morning high hand promotion ended, he went to the cashier to cash his chips. A few minutes later, we both wound up at the same Omaha table, and he appeared to be very upset.

He was evidently missing $100. At first, he thought he was short-changed at the cashier's window, and asked to talk to the floorperson. She said that they would check the tapes. A half an hour later, the floorperson comes back and says that the tape showed that he dropped a black chip while he was standing in line at the cashier, and the guy behind him picked it up and pocketed it without saying a word!

So, about an hour later, the floorperson comes by and hands the guy a black chip. Evidently, the guy who picked up the chip had returned for the afternoon high hand promotion, and they confronted him. They gave him an ultimatum: return the money or be banned for life. He chose the former.

Kudos to the card room personnel for resolving this quickly and fairly! Shame on you chip swiper!

Incidentally the guy who had his $100 returned to him also may have purchased (according to him) the winning (and unclaimed) $1.5 B MegaMillions ticket from last October!

Quote: Joeman

Apologies for digging up an old thread, but this seemed like the best place to put this.

I was at the local card room yesterday, and a guy at the table hit a $300 high hand jackpot. They paid him in chips, and after our table had broken up when the morning high hand promotion ended, he went to the cashier to cash his chips. A few minutes later, we both wound up at the same Omaha table, and he appeared to be very upset.

He was evidently missing $100. At first, he thought he was short-changed at the cashier's window, and asked to talk to the floorperson. She said that they would check the tapes. A half an hour later, the floorperson comes back and says that the tape showed that he dropped a black chip while he was standing in line at the cashier, and the guy behind him picked it up and pocketed it without saying a word!

So, about an hour later, the floorperson comes by and hands the guy a black chip. Evidently, the guy who picked up the chip had returned for the afternoon high hand promotion, and they confronted him. They gave him an ultimatum: return the money or be banned for life. He chose the former.

Kudos to the card room personnel for resolving this quickly and fairly! Shame on you chip swiper!

Incidentally the guy who had his $100 returned to him also may have purchased (according to him) the winning (and unclaimed) $1.5 B MegaMillions ticket from last October!

My God, this Chip Swiper was an idiot. He should have known that surveillance Cameras would track him down especially if the victim was a Top Tier Member. On another website, it was mentioned that some idiot woman stole a Top Tier Member's $1,000 or something like that TITO when he absentmindedly walked away from it. He went to the bathroom or something and as soon as he was finished, he had a mini panic attack, after remembering he left a lot of money in his slot and rushed back to the game he was at and not surprisingly, the credits now showed 0 credits. He reported his loss to the Casino Management and they tracked it down using surveillance Cameras and found the idiot thief had cashed out his TITO and was playing like an idiot on another game with his stolen money instead of cashing out TITO and then running out the door with the cash like smarter TITO thieves have done. She was confronted and claimed that she was playing with money she brought in herself but the Manager informed her she was seen on surveillance Camera cashing out the ticket and playing with his stolen money. She was forced to give him back his stolen TITO and whatever money she already gambled away was put on his account as free play and she was permanently banned from that Casino. Just like the Chip Swiper, it just doesn't pay to steal money/Chips in a Casino with many surveillance Cameras.

significant amounts will get noticed and security will get involved; trivial sums perhaps not.

So, exactly what law are you quoting? Is that state or federal law? I'm curious to see what law covers US currency found on the floor of a US casino.

Can't say for other locations, but Colorado law is that "abandoned" property is there's.

https://kdvr.com/2017/11/15/casino-customers-prosecuted-for-playing-abandoned-slot-credits/

In at least one local Casino, money found INSIDE the Casino on the floor has to be turned into a staff member or Manager. But money found OUTSIDE the Casino like in the parking lot is more fair game and will most likely get a blind eye turned to it.

"Found money in a casino belongs to the casino absent proof of ownership to the contrary."

How do you prove that cash is yours?
How can they prove that it isn't?

Surveillance video may not be sufficient to establish anything conclusively.

Unless there are state statutes to the contrary, the finder of cash may keep the cash until the rightful owner steps forward with a legitimate and provable claim of ownership.

Unless there are state statutes to the contrary, the rights of the finder are superior to all others, including the owner of the property where the money is lost and found. Only the true owner has rights greater than the rights of the finder of cash.

Lost chips may be another matter entirely depending on whether there are state statutes which address the matter....

In case you're wondering, I'm a retired teaching attorney.I taught courses in law and public policy, media law and ethics, business law and cotracts, constitutional law and government.....

Quote: RonP

"Found money in a casino belongs to the casino absent proof of ownership to the contrary."

How do you prove that cash is yours?
How can they prove that it isn't?

Surveillance video may not be sufficient to establish anything conclusively.

Unless there are state statutes to the contrary, the finder of cash may keep the cash until the rightful owner steps forward with a legitimate and provable claim of ownership.

Unless there are state statutes to the contrary, the rights of the finder are superior to all others, including the owner of the property where the money is lost and found. Only the true owner has rights greater than the rights of the finder of cash.

Lost chips may be another matter entirely depending on whether there are state statutes which address the matter....

In case you're wondering, I'm a retired teaching attorney.I taught courses in law and public policy, media law and ethics, business law and cotracts, constitutional law and government.....

They just use the surveillance cameras to back track what happened to the money that was dropped. For example, if I drop $100 on the ground in cash, and obliviously walk away and I later am like,"I dropped $100 on the ground by the Cashier's Cage at around 12 noon," they can back up/forward the camera from 11:45-12:30 and be like,"You dropped the $100 at 12:05 noon and at 12:07 a woman with straight Raven Black hair wearing a red shirt and black pants and white Nike shoes picked it up and if they forward it even further they can be like she was last at the Fu Doa Le Slot playing at it just a few minutes ago," and then we can go confront her and try to get my money back.

Quote: Joeman

... He was evidently missing $100. ...

Reminds me of the story of the public-address announcement: "Will the player who accidentally dropped the $100 chip near the table games please form a line to the left of the Cashier Window."

The author of one of my favorite BJ books asserts that he swings by security every time he's in a casino looking for his lost black chip. On occasion, someone has turned it on.