Sports Betting Appedix 6 — Lost and Expired Tickets
Last update: Feb. 21, 2010
When you make a bet in a Nevada casino you will be given a flimsy piece of paper to present if the ticket wins. It is not unusual for players to lose tickets, or forget about them until after they expire. The sports books are not required to honor either type of these kinds of problem tickets, but they almost always do.
If you lose a ticket, you should report it as soon as possible. You will be asked to fill out a form, asking for as much detail as possible to identify your exact bet in the system. If the bet is located in the system, then it will be "locked out." Then, if anyone tries to cash it, the machines will not accept it. If somebody else already found and cashed your ticket, you are out of luck. If you find it eventually, bring it in, and be prepared to prove your identity, and they should unlock the bet and pay you. If you never find it, and nobody else did, then after the expiration period the sports book will honor the bet.
According to Nevada Gaming Regulation 22.080 (PDF), a spots bet can expire in as little as 30 days after the date of the event. If you find yourself with an expired ticket, the vast majority of the time the sports book will honor it anyway if you mail it in, per the instructions on the back of the ticket. They will have to verify that the bet really did win, because it will no longer be in the system. They may also check it against a list of lost tickets paid. In the unlikely event that the accounting department denies the ticket, I would suggest going through the chain of command in the casino, and politely ask them to honor the bet anyway. Based on personal experience, I would recommend against presenting an expired ticket in person. I think you are more likely to be denied that way. If you give it the ol' college try, and still are rebuffed with an expired ticket, please let me know. If they don't have a good reason for welshing on a bet, I will warn my readers about them. You should not be lazy about letting a ticket expire, counting on the casino's good faith to pay it anyway. They have to do extra paperwork for every expired ticket they pay.
The following list of sports ticket expirations is grouped by sports book family. If you are not sure which family a particular casino belongs to, please check my sports betting appendix 3.
| Sports Ticket Expirations |
| Group |
Sports Ticket Expiration |
| Boyd/Coast | 60 days |
| Cal Neva | 1 year |
| El Cortez | 60 days |
| Golden Nugget | 120 days |
| Hard Rock | 120 days |
| Harrah's | 1 year |
| Hilton | 120 days |
| Jerry's Nugget | 30 days |
| Leroy's1 | 30 days |
| M | 120 days |
| MGM-Mirage | 120 days |
| Palms | 120 days |
| Planet Hollywood | 60 days |
| Plaza | 120 days |
| Poker Palace | 30 days |
| Rampart | 120 days |
| Station Casinos | 120 days |
| Stratosphere2 | 120 days |
| Terrible's | 120 days |
| Venetian | 60 days |
| Wynn | 120 days |
Notes
- Although Leroy's tickets say sports tickets expire in 30 days, I've been told they accept them long after that.
- Although Stratosphere tickets or posted rules may indicate a lesser period, the Stratosphere machines should accept tickets up to 120 days, as I understand their policy.
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