Ask the Slot Expert: More found ticket woes

Hi,

I found a ticket for $98. I picked the ticket up and told my brother what happened. I was so excited I told him to cash it so we could play again. While I was playing security asked us if we found a ticket and said we could be charged with a crime if we didn't pay it back. I had already cashed and spent the lost ticket money at this point.

I didn't have any money so they asked if I could call anyone to give it to me and they would just squash it. I never saw the person who lost the ticket at all. Security held me until my brother came to bring money.

How could they do this when it says on the back of tickets the casino is not responsible for lost or stolen tickets? I feel like they robbed me and now my brother is short on his rent. Is this a crime they committed?

The warning on the back of the tickets is to protect the casino and warn players that the casino may not be able to reconnect them with lost or stolen tickets. The warning does not mean that anyone who finds a ticket can play it as if it were his. Finders is not keepers.

The casino did not commit a crime. You took someone else's property and made it your own. That sounds like a crime to me.

It was an expensive lesson, but now you know that the best thing to do when you find a ticket is to turn it into security.

Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
John