Question, how big is the biggest ticket you ever found??

[Igeteven]

Ever find a ticket lying on the ground and it was good.

How much was it?

Just curious, mine was $40.00, A man threw up a bunch of tickets into the air and storm out, I pick up his tickets and wanted to see what he bet, I guess, a couple of hundred, then I had a hunch, then I check each one with a betting machine and got back $40.00.


Anyone else has a little story to tell.

[46zilzal]

Evangeline Downs. Bet the first, horse broke on top and went wire to wire. Was DQ'd by a phantom bump!

Found a twenty dollar bill right after and quit for the night, but met Arcaro in the clubhouse.

[thaskalos]

There is an older man - probably in his mid 70's - who frequents the OTB in Northbrook IL (3-4 days a week). We'll call him Sam. He sits by himself in the restaurant having his lunch and betting his horses. When he is done, he takes his losing tickets and always throws them behind the same Automated Betting Machine on his way out. There are 2 other old guys, who always occupy the table next to him. One of these guys follows Sam on the way out and picks his tickets off the floor. The two guys then split the tickets, and run them through the machine. They come back to their table - which, by the way, is close to where I am seated - and compare notes. I would have to guess that about 50% of the time Sam has thrown money on the floor. $5, $10, $50, $100, there was even a time when one of Sam's discarded tickets brought back an unbelievable $800+ (don't ask me how, I still haven't figured it out).
I sat there and watched this tragic comedy for weeks, not sure of how to respond. Finally I could take it no longer, and I approached Sam, introduced myself, and told him what I had witnessed. He got angry at me for suggesting that he was "senile", and told me to mind my own business. I apologized to him and went on my way. This happened about a year ago, and Sam, along with the two other guys are continuing, business as usual, to this day. True story...

[ManeMediaMogul]

I was in high school and was standing in the clubhouse at Santa Anita on a weekday afternoon. There was a heavy favorite in the feature and he got beat right on the wire. About a second later, a stack of 20 blue $10 win tickets plopped right down on the counter in front of me. Someone had tossed them from the balcony above.

Then the inquiry sign went up.

I stood there, looking up to the next level, waiting for the rightful owner to look down for his tickets. It never happened.

The winner got taken down and the favorite put up.

I stayed where I was, waiting for the guy, until about two minutes to post for the nightcap. I cashed the tickets and bet my selection in the finale. It still amazes me to this day that nobody ever showed up.

[thaskalos]

Sorry...I meant Oakbrook IL., not Northbrook.

[PhantomOnTour]

I once 'found' a voucher worth about $225 left in a sam machine (guy forgot to hit 'return balance' and left after printing his bets). Being an honest fella I turned it in to the OTB manager. I recognized the guy as being one of the regulars, and I am sure he recognized me, but not a word of thanks. The OTB manager told him I was the one who returned his ticket.
Unfortunately, I have left a small voucher or two in the machine but its never been turned in.... :(
Whayagonna do eh???

[Horseplayersbet.com]

When I used to hang at the track, I used to give the vouchers found in machines back to the tellers to deal with. I remember getting one thank you from a bettor.
When I was in my early 20's, I found a 5 horse triactor box with a late scratch in the parking lot after the races....that $36 I kept.

[Grits]

Women shouldn't make stooping a habit in public. Particularly at racetracks.:lol:

Now, if one's bending down to help one's children, that's different.:lol:

[Cardus]

Women shouldn't make stooping a habit in public. Particularly at racetracks.:lol:

Now, if one's bending down to help one's children, that's different.:lol:

This was a neat thread.

[Moyers Pond]

Well I lost a ticket worth over $200, but I did once find a ticket on a winning pick 3 that I did not intend to play and it paid over $400. Never found a winner though.

[Igeteven]

There is an older man - probably in his mid 70's - who frequents the OTB in Northbrook IL (3-4 days a week). We'll call him Sam. He sits by himself in the restaurant having his lunch and betting his horses. When he is done, he takes his losing tickets and always throws them behind the same Automated Betting Machine on his way out. There are 2 other old guys, who always occupy the table next to him. One of these guys follows Sam on the way out and picks his tickets off the floor. The two guys then split the tickets, and run them through the machine. They come back to their table - which, by the way, is close to where I am seated - and compare notes. I would have to guess that about 50% of the time Sam has thrown money on the floor. $5, $10, $50, $100, there was even a time when one of Sam's discarded tickets brought back an unbelievable $800+ (don't ask me how, I still haven't figured it out).
I sat there and watched this tragic comedy for weeks, not sure of how to respond. Finally I could take it no longer, and I approached Sam, introduced myself, and told him what I had witnessed. He got angry at me for suggesting that he was "senile", and told me to mind my own business. I apologized to him and went on my way. This happened about a year ago, and Sam, along with the two other guys are continuing, business as usual, to this day. True story...


Great Story

[Grits]

This was a neat thread.

Not sure if you're being sarcastic or sincere. Let me put it more directly.

Stooping at racetracks? Its as desperate as panhandling in a wheelchair at intersections. If tickets fall outta the sky as they did for MainMedia or if a voucher is left in a SAM, those are different situations--one wasn't hovering the floor ass over elbows hoping to find a buck.

[Greyfox]

The biggest ticket I ever found was for $ 180. I found it in a policeman's hand. ;)


Seriously, if I was a sweeper at a Race track or O.T.B. I'd check every ticket on the floor that I swept up. Many bettors forget that a late scratch even at the gate has taken place and toss their tickets away. On exotics, those late scratches can add up to lots of moolah.
If not claimed, the track takes it.

[Moyers Pond]

This guy makes $45,000 a year picking up tickets.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/sports/08otb.html


Talk about a guy that can't allow OTB to be shut down. :D

[Igeteven]

This guy makes $45,000 a year picking up tickets.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/sports/08otb.html


Talk about a guy that can't allow OTB to be shut down. :D

What a story

[Fingal]

Coming home from Santa Anita walking through Arcadia County Park by the Tennis Courts. There was this ticket on the pathway that was " too clean ". Picked it up, it had several $ 2 Exacta combos, one that paid around $57. :ThmbUp:

And now that Santa Anita has started to print the horse's name on the thermal tickets, it's making stooping so much easier. :)

[wisconsin]

Years ago at Dairyland Greyhound Park in Wisconsin, I found a $1 super ticket form Balmoral lying on the SAM's counter. It looked too fresh to me and for some reason I slid it through and collected $105. I looked around, but nobody came to look for that ticket. One time at the same place, a regular I know brought me a voucher that he saw me leave in the machine. I kid you not, this voucher was not mine, and he trotted off before I could say it was not mine. The damn thing was worth $260!!!!!!! I looked for him for awhile, and was going to give it back, but he left, or something. That was pretty cool. One other time at River Downs back in the late '80's we were leaving before the nightcap, and I found $96 worth of live trifecta tickets wadded together, the old strip tickets. So we went back in but were never close to cashing those.....but some guy had to be sick for awhile, anyway.

[illinoisbred]

Not exactly found-but once years ago during an Arlington "tent" meet I was overpaid 600.00 on my winnings. I went back to my seat and split the winnings with my father when I realized the clerks mistake. The clerk was a very nice middle-age woman-I returned the money-she was very grateful.

[adwplayingfool]

I can't imagine how much money I have put on the ground in my early years I once thought I played a super that was actually a tri it paid $380 a dollar, thinking it was a super I said shit I had the key and 2/3 for the super and handed it to a guy I hung out with to share my dismay. He was kind of shady but he gave it back and I gave him $100 for being honest. Have checked every ticket since that day. Before that would not be surprised if I had dropped thousands.

[Bettowin]

Last summer I put my voucher in a machine made my bets went outside watched the race. Went in got a beer and got ready to make my next bets and realized my voucher worth about $200 was not in my pocket. Went back to the machine I used and holy crap it was still in the machine. Thank God for low live attendance:)

[strapper]

I admit I was a teenage stooper when I would accompany my father to the Fair Grounds back in the 60's. Doubt if I found anything worth much. Later in life I was tapped out, however, and found a $5 bill on the clubhouse floor and ran it up over $200 on the very next race up. It was easier to spot tickets in the old days than it is now with these computerized things. I liked the artsy qualities of the old ones and saved a bunch of them.

[QuarterCrack]

Guy sitting next to me bet a horse that didn't leave the starting gate. He got so pissed, he stormed off and left his tickets behind. Either he was too upset or too uninformed to remember that the stewards will take a look at what happened and maybe see if there was some circumstance that kept the horse from leaving the gate. In this case, it turned out the assistant starter never let go of the horse after the gate opened and long story short, they declared the horse a non-starter.

I waited for the guy to come back, but he didn't, so I went through the tickets he left behind and there were $60 worth of win/place bets. I waited another hour or so before cashing them, just in case he came back - I would have given them back to him, no problem - but he never came back.

[Igeteven]

anyone lost a big ticket

[wisconsin]

anyone lost a big ticket

Lost an $83 voucher last summer. Cmae around to get me back! When I was a teen, I lost a show ticket on a horse that paid $15.20 at Arlington. That really stung, was a lot of money for a high schooler 30 years ago.

[Igeteven]

Lost an $83 voucher last summer. Cmae around to get me back! When I was a teen, I lost a show ticket on a horse that paid $15.20 at Arlington. That really stung, was a lot of money for a high schooler 30 years ago.


that's true, I know the feeling

[InTheRiver68]

If not claimed, the track takes it.
Not necessarily. Many tracks have to turn the money over to the state as "unclaimed property" after the tickets expire.

The rule of thumb is that about 1/2 of 1% of the handle winds up in uncashed tickets and vouchers.

- InTheRiver68

[Stevie Belmont]

Found an $83 voucher at the Meadowlands--No one around and it was in there on the 3rd floor. If someone had popped up and asked--would have given it back...

Lost a $40 voucher right before the Smarty Jones Derby win—the $100 win on him in Pool 3 future took the sting out of that one.

[rwwupl]

Coming home from Santa Anita walking through Arcadia County Park by the Tennis Courts. There was this ticket on the pathway that was " too clean ". Picked it up, it had several $ 2 Exacta combos, one that paid around $57. :ThmbUp:

And now that Santa Anita has started to print the horse's name on the thermal tickets, it's making stooping so much easier. :)


Ahhh...Fingal,you bring back memories.... I used to park near the Tennis Courts on big days and sometimes Santa Anita would even have a bus shuttle from the park. Those were the days.

P. S. I think I might have lost that ticket! Please forward to lost and found care of Santa Anita and my claim is on file. How much did you say it was?

Ha Ha Ha :D

[Quagmire]

Lost an $83 voucher last summer.

Check out post 27.

[Viruss]

I've never found any tickets of real value but had a $2 place bet on a race that was going to pay $12 when i put it in the self betting machine it paid me $486 and change.

Earl J

[johnhannibalsmith]

Check out post 27.

Nice... :D

[salty]

Last meet at Saratoga I made it up there for at least 8 days and had a lot of luck finding vouchers on the floor, especially on one of the rainy days. I found a $10 voucher on the floor by the concession stands. I found a bunch of vouchers that only had a couple dollars on them. But the best one I found was for $24 and it was on the ground by the rail and had been stepped on and was soaked. I carefully peeled it off the ground and carried it up to the teller and told them i dropped it in a puddle. hahahaha