Whether you call them slot cards, or players cards, or the old style VIP cards, they're a growing collectible with rising values on some of the older/scarcer cards.

As an example, check out this neat Landmark card at: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1090665607
(BTW, I'm not singling out this auction. Don't know the seller. Just giving a concrete example for my questions below.)

From the pic in the auction, this card was originally issued to a Lou Weiner. Further assuming that the seller isn't Lou Weiner, what would happen if Lou saw this auction, and said "Hey, that's my long lost card & I want it returned to me." Unless the seller could prove that he has legitimate possession of the card, it seems Lou might have a case to recover possession or sue the current or new owner in small claims court for the value of the card.

This may seem far-fetched in 99+% of the slot card sales & trades today, which are valued at a few bucks, more or less. But for the rarer $100+ cards, I think it's possible for a dispute over possession to arise someday. I know I don't get receipts from those I trade cards with, and with cards bought/sold/traded/swapped in round-robins, etc. it would be nearly impossible to show a legitimate chain of custody for most cards in most collections, IMO (excepting the cards with your own name on them, or blank cards, of course).

Further muddying the rightful possession determination is that the back of many cards states that the card belongs to the casino and must be surrendered on request, or words to that effect. I'm no lawyer, but I think the intent of that phrase is to preserve the casino's rights if they need to cancel someone's playing privileges.

Anyway, it's possible that the slot cards "harvested" and sold/traded today may some day become valuable enough for a dispute over possession to arise between the original possessor (with his/her name on the card) and the collector with the card in his/her collection.

I'm not sure what the standard of proof, or statute of limitations or other defenses might be if the current possessor chooses to fight.

It's likely a remote possibility at this point, but it might happen. Whaddaya think?