VegasChatter

I'm not a slot player myself but do people really leave the machine with money on it?  That seems very careless if you don't have someone with you watching it.  At a table game, the dealers will watch your chips.

Seems like you could get into some grey area entrapment too.  If you find a quarter on the sidewalk, you pick it up and no one would argue that it's yours.  If you sit down at a slot and find that there are some credits on it (let's just say it's a nominal amount), are you going to be arrested if you just start playing with it?

I play all slots. Sometimes if I am bouncing around from machine to machine trying to find a good one, I will forget to print or grab my ticket. When I leave a machine I have to make sure I have my cellphone, that I removed my players card, to grab my bottled water and to grab my ticket. Sometimes I forget my ticket. Or players card. It doesn't take long to realize it, but there is a chance someone could see it and grab it.

Even though this is a good idea, I cant help but think cashing-out someone elses money in Vegas can be a very risky move - surely there are cameras all over the place which the offender is aware of?

Here in the UK when someone temporarily leaves a slot machine, they usually ask the assistant to keep an eye on it, and 9/10 places have a reservation sign to say its occupied.

Security cameras come into play to see if the person was stealing or just took a ticket because it as just sitting there.

Sometimes people are drunk and/or have to use the rest room.

FYI, dealers are not responsible for your chips when you use the rest room at a table. Machines are no different minus the human factor.

eastcoastgambler, I always enjoy your stories and comments.

The trick with this whole situation is timing.  I have worked in facilities where this was an issue, and, in general, it takes more than a few minutes for casino employees to 1) hear your complaint, 2) interact with security/video room/computer records, 3) put a 'hold' on the voucher in question.

If somebody with ill intention spots a machine with credits remaining, grabs the voucher, and proceeds to quickly cash it, then quickly leave the premises, that's the end of the story.

With the advent of the self-service ticket cashing kiosks in most casinos, it can literally be 45 seconds between a thief grabbing your voucher and cashing it.  No 'hold' can possibly be put on that voucher in that time.

If you are playing a slot machine or video poker machine, NEVER leave any credits on the machine while you meander away.  I personally know people who have found hundreds of dollars left on slot machines/video poker machines at casinos and self-bet machines at race tracks.

^ This.