While this did not happen to me, I very much know the person that it did happen to.

This person is a regular at a major, off-strip casino. While playing late one evening, moving between several machines in a favorite area, this player saw two TITO tickets, laying face down on the floor, about equal distance from two banks of machines. With no one around (no active players) the tickets were picked up. Upon looking at the dollars amounts, together both tickets were redeemable for just under $2300.00!

Of course the angst of what to do kicked in and finally the finder went to the cage and turned them in. The Cashier was amazed, as was the Supervisor, but at that point there was a report of the 2 lost tickets. The finder was escorted over to where the loser was seated at a machine, still playing, and paused momentarilly to the slot host's interruption that the 2 tickets had been found and turned in by the person standing there. The loser glaned at the finder (head to toe) shrugged, took the two tickets and went back to playing.

The slot host was shocked and disappointed by the behaviour of the finder, and turned an left along with the finder.

Later, when the finder told me the story, I was both pleased by the decission and the outcome, because...

For that sum of money, the casino had full knowledge of the TITO serial numbers and had they been cashed in, either at the cage or at a machine, there would have been video evidence of the finder taking that money, which did not belong to the finder. (This is not a "finder's keeper scenario.) Since the finder was well known, the finder's identity would have been easily recognized and an arrest could easily have been made.

True story!

Jim