Voucher Question

[Rdp066]

I have a question for the veteran horse players on here.  If I find a voucher, say approximately $150, left in a betting machine do I have the obligation to turn it into security or can I just cash it and keep the money?  I am referring to an incident a friend just experienced at Fords OTW in New Jersey where he found a voucher for $160 and then immediately cashed it at a cashing station and left the premises.  He has found out that they have him on camera and when he arrives again, they will pull him aside and demand the money or they can bar him from the location.  There are no signs anywhere that state that if a voucher is found it must be returned to a teller or security.  They do have those signs in Toms River where the clients are mostly men in their 80s and 90s.

I would like everyone's opinion as to what they would do since most horse players will walk away after saying thanks and not slip you a ten or twenty to show gratitude.

[gh2009]

You are under no obligation to turn it in, I would keep it and walk away quietly and go to another floor and cash it right away before a hold can be put on the ticket. However if they have him on video they might approach you about it, but I would still deny cashing it. Worst thing they can do is bar you from the OTB. Years ago at Garden State Park I made a wager using my $600. There were several combinations and not all fit on one ticket, but I didn't realize it until it was too late. Two tickets came out, one which I thought was the voucher with my remaining balance and the other my bets. I walked away and couldn't have been gone for more than 30 seconds, looked at my tickets which both had bets on them meaning I left my voucher for $550 in the machine. Went back to the machine but my voucher was long gone.

[Harness racer]

100% wrong!  It is considered theft if you remove the voucher and keep it.  It happens at the slots all the time.  Same thing in this situation!

[gh2009]

I've lost several vouchers thru the years, none recently, but none have ever been returned to me. But they also have to have you on film cashing it. You could always say you were cashing your own ticket. I also don't think most people would go to security about it unless it's a large amount.

[Harness racer]

Agreed, but with the cameras now it's not hard to tell who took and cashed the voucher.  May not get reported if it's like $50...but it is 100% considered a theft!

[gh2009]

There are way less cameras at an OTB or racetrack then at a casino so they may not even have you on film. If you cashed the ticket right away, even if the person reported it, you wouldn't be able to put a hold on the ticket then. Going back to that big voucher I lost at Garden State a long time ago, there were always custodians hanging close by, so if someone left a voucher, in a matter of seconds it was gone.

[Open bridle]

Legally speaking, it would be like any other personal property you left behind, whether cash, jewelry, personal belongings, or anything else. In short, you don't know why the player left the ticket behind, so if it doesn't belong to you, don't take it.

[gh2009]

Maybe so, but you also can't ask people nearby if they left their ticket on the machine because someone could easily lie and say they did. I rarely go to the track anymore and do my wagering with an ADW so that can't happen now, but it sucked when it did.

[Harness racer]

I'm speaking only of the tracks I attend.  The simulcasts are in, or are part of the casino and have cameras everywhere.  You would be identified and a warrant issued if the owner wanted to pursue it.

[gh2009]

Even if a warrant was issued, I'm sure if you gave back the money they wouldn't prosecute, they might ban you though. Even when I do go to the track which is rare, I usually bet with my ADW on my phone for the rewards.

[Babinga]

Forget about signs, rules, cameras, etc.  Isn’t this more of a moral than legal question?

You turn it into security and hope they do the right thing too.

Babi

[gh2009]

Not alot of morals when gambling is involved. A dishonest security guy who gambles is liable to cash it himself!

[JOHN FRANK]

I'ss,JOHN FRANK ARMY must say sumthin here. Havin lived at TRACK and OTB's for almost 40 years.
Havin seen this happen at least a 100 times.
I'll start with a OTB. CMON peoples there only so many peoples in a area. And includin myself and others always yell out: Who left their VOUCHER in machine. And that normally a minute after the previous person bet. Each time a individual was close by and went: SHIT,thank you. No one stole any voucher. WEESS'ESS honest peoples.
On the other hand: I did know one guy who never worked and would spend day on first floor at ARLINGTON and every day as race went off would be runnin by all machines as peoples wanted to go out to watch the race. And he was good. New how to see flashin machines and moved thru-out first floor cashin and punchin out vouchers. Big days he was makin a fortune on big crowds. He finnaly was banned from ARLINGTON. But,I must say this. MIKEY was a broken down horseplayer who had busted out. He was desperate. I won't go into our hatred at time. But he was homeless and came down with HEPITITAS. He would sit on a bench in cluphouse lookin like someone painted him yellow and lost so much weight. And I knew him for years. Finnally went and gave him a $50.00. And then would always give him a $20.00 every day. It took about 8 months before he got that yellow neese gone. Felt bad for him. One sees what shape he was in and FORGIVENESS comes easily. We became friends. He was not a bad guy,just lost his way in life. Hard worker who fell on bad times doin DRUGS. Anyhow: Don't know what ever happened to him, but my last communication was he had straighted his life and turned it around.

Last thin. Don't be a fuckin theif. YELL out who left the VOUCHER.

[dougie]

If I found a voucher, I would look around quickly and yell....."Anyone leave this ticket in here?". I've done it before.

[Dingus]

How is it different from the stoopers that picked tickets off the floor and ran them through the machines to see if any of them were live?