Lost Vouchers

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by 1GCFAN

Saratoga this year I left a $113 voucher in a machine after the second race. Went back but out of luck. Before the fifth race I saw a young couple turn and leave without taking their voucher, so I ran after them and returned their $22 voucher.

My buddy left a $400 voucher in a machine before the ninth race.

My other buddy happened to be the next better so he turned it in. He was told to go ahead and cash it. He said no because someone would certainly report the loss. They come back at the end of day and they would cash it for him. One the two buddies talked they realized what had happened and both went to the supervisor to get it back.

Meanwhile I got to thinking that someone might have turned in my $113. Supervisor said it had been cashed but if I could bring up my last ticket before leaving the machine they would put a trace on it. I knew what that bet was but I thought fat chance! I went thru all the losers on our table and found it. Turned it in and she said come back In 5 minutes. I went back and she said it had been frozen in the system and handed me a $113 voucher. When my buddies got their issue straightened out he was shorted $113. They said his $400+ voucher had been bet on. Hmmm.

Ooh..Not nice....If your 'buddy' had combined the $113 into his existing voucher.
If it's me, I would never look at that guy the same way ever again.
Friends don't steal from friends. EVER.

[HUSKER55]

I have this philosophy that says that in the end, we all stand naked before God and that means only our character will be on display.

Make it good.

There are friends and then there are acquaintances.

[therussmeister]

Originally Posted by spiketoo

Not in NY so never heard of such. Do any other jurisdictions use something similar?

Several tracks, including the one I frequent, have smartphone/tablet betting and you can also use your rewards card and PIN to bet on SAMs using your account.

[MutuelClerk]

When you lose your voucher keep the tickets you bet in the transaction ( proof). Notify mutuels ( not mutuals). They can put a stop on the voucher if it isn't already cashed. Even if it is cashed there's still a chance the thief is playing off your voucher. They can trace his transactions still put a lock on his latest voucher and confront him with all the evidence and make him pay it back or bar him. Happens a lot.

[Longshot6977]

Originally Posted by MutuelClerk

When you lose your voucher keep the tickets you bet in the transaction ( proof). Notify mutuels ( not mutuals). They can put a stop on the voucher if it isn't already cashed. Even if it is cashed there's still a chance the thief is playing off your voucher. They can trace his transactions still put a lock on his latest voucher and confront him with all the evidence and make him pay it back or bar him. Happens a lot.

Just out of curiosity, what would happen if someone found a voucher and waited a week or so and cashed it at a different track? Can that still be tracked?

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by Longshot6977

Just out of curiosity, what would happen if someone found a voucher and waited a week or so and cashed it at a different track? Can that still be tracked?

An uncashed lost voucher can be "freezed" by the original owner...and then it can't be cashed out by the person who found it.

[Hoofless_Wonder]

Originally Posted by Fingal

I know it sounds fun to find money like that, but consider this-

There's an electronic record of every transaction. And there's cameras everywhere at the track covering the SAMs. So therefore everything can be tracked down.

Doesn't matter the amount- be it $5 or $500.......is that quick rush worth the risk of someone coming up from behind & saying "put your hands behind your back ?"

I found that $500 voucher at Turfway back in 1996. I don't believe at the time there were cameras in use overlooking the SAMs. But I must admit, I did a doubletake when I saw the amount, and for a moment I thought I was on Candid Camera, the TV show. For some reason I suspect the security guys got that dough, in spite of transaction tracking.

I can also tell you without a doubt, there were no cameras watching the SAMs at Keeneland then, as I got a small voucher swooped a couple of times. Over time I stopped at least a dozen people leaving a voucher in front of me to come back to the terminal and get it. It was easy to do back then.

I also yelled out to a guy one night at Fairmount Park, who while fumbling with his wallet dropped a wad of $60-$120 on the concrete floor of the Grandstand (all I saw were twenty dollar bills). He came back, picked up the bills, thanked me and walked off mumbling something like, "Damn, it's easy enough to go broke at the track without throwing your money away...."

If the Big Shifter is keeping a tab, I got a nice balance going in this category.

[Bennie]

I have found 3 ranging from $60 to $400. The $60 one I ended up keeping as there was no way to find the owner being it was Hambo day at the Meadowlands and there were people all over the place, most of them having no clue to what they were doing anyway. The others, one I saw the woman who had just left the machine and followed her to her seat and returned it to her. The last one was the $400 one I found at a machine I went to make a bet on. Never saw who was there before me, so I punched it out, made my bets and stepped back to wait for someone to come looking. It took all of about 5 minutes and there was someone looking frantically at the machine and mumbling. I stepped up and asked if he had left a voucher in the machine and how much it was for. When he said yes and it was for about $400 I returned it to him. I don't remember ever leaving one myself but if I ever do I hope the person that finds it does the same for me.

[MutuelClerk]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

An uncashed lost voucher can be "freezed" by the original owner...and then it can't be cashed out by the person who found it.

Exactly. it sends off bells and whistles wherevers it's cashed. At a window with a clerk they hold the ticket. At a SAM it doesn't come back out. You have to call TOTE for help. Can be quite a quandary. Especially when cameras are rolling.

[MutuelClerk]

Originally Posted by Bennie

I have found 3 ranging from $60 to $400. The $60 one I ended up keeping as there was no way to find the owner being it was Hambo day at the Meadowlands and there were people all over the place, most of them having no clue to what they were doing anyway. The others, one I saw the woman who had just left the machine and followed her to her seat and returned it to her. The last one was the $400 one I found at a machine I went to make a bet on. Never saw who was there before me, so I punched it out, made my bets and stepped back to wait for someone to come looking. It took all of about 5 minutes and there was someone looking frantically at the machine and mumbling. I stepped up and asked if he had left a voucher in the machine and how much it was for. When he said yes and it was for about $400 I returned it to him. I don't remember ever leaving one myself but if I ever do I hope the person that finds it does the same for me.

You are a class act Bennie. Hopefully the racing Gods come thru when you need them most.

[dirty moose]

Any of the ungrateful pricks toss any of you a few bucks for being honest? I mean if I left a $400 voucher in the machine, I'm giving you something for you honesty. I know that's prolly not how it goes at most tracks tho...

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by Bennie

I have found 3 ranging from $60 to $400. The $60 one I ended up keeping as there was no way to find the owner being it was Hambo day at the Meadowlands and there were people all over the place, most of them having no clue to what they were doing anyway. The others, one I saw the woman who had just left the machine and followed her to her seat and returned it to her. The last one was the $400 one I found at a machine I went to make a bet on. Never saw who was there before me, so I punched it out, made my bets and stepped back to wait for someone to come looking. It took all of about 5 minutes and there was someone looking frantically at the machine and mumbling. I stepped up and asked if he had left a voucher in the machine and how much it was for. When he said yes and it was for about $400 I returned it to him. I don't remember ever leaving one myself but if I ever do I hope the person that finds it does the same for me.

Doubtful.

No good deed goes unpunished.

[Tall One]

Originally Posted by lamboguy

you got it right, its no fun to profit off another man's misery due to a mistake. plus someone up there is watching over you and he will reward you some day for your good deed.

Agree 100%, lambo.

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by dirty moose

Any of the ungrateful pricks toss any of you a few bucks for being honest? I mean if I left a $400 voucher in the machine, I'm giving you something for you honesty. I know that's prolly not how it goes at most tracks tho...

Saw a guy drop what turned out to be a winning ticket.
Scooped it up just before someone else did as we almost bumper heads.
The other guy says "you gonna keep that!!!!?".....I ignored him and caught up to the rightful owner. He thanked me, told me it was a winner. He tried to give me $20. I declined. Told him I don't expect payback for acts of kindness.
BTW, I was pretty sure the other guy who tried to dive in for the ticket would have zoomed to the nearest machine to see if the ticket had value. Jerk.

[A. Pineda]

I hadn't been to the local track in years, so one opening day I decided to check out the recent changes. I only had one race to play - the 1st - so I spread out in my superfecta bets. My 30/1 didn't come, but he did place and I had just one ticket with him underneath the winning fav and the correct 3rd and 4th place finishers, and that ticket was nowhere to be found.

I felt like crap and was ready to go home when I took a stab in the dark and went to the window where I bought the tickets. As I approached the window the clerk said, "There you are."

Now, this guy didn't know me from the man in the moon but he must have committed my face to memory as the idiot that walked away without all of his tickets. Naturally I gave him a nice tip and his act of kindness/honesty trumped every bad contact I had ever experienced with mutuel clerks.