Lawsuit Accuses MGM Of “Keeping The Change”
Ah, the way things used to be. You’d put money into a slot machine, play a bit, probably leave with less than you put in. You’d print out a ticket, go to a machine and get whatever money is left over. The end.
Well, things are different now. At nearly every casino you see, the machine will pay out the bills, but not the change. The change comes out via a ticket, and you can go to the casino cage to collect whatever pennies are left over. Now one man has filed a class-action suit to take MGM Resorts International to task for the practice.
Leane Scherer is the plaintiff and she is suing over $0.19. Sorta. She gambled at an MGM-owned casino in Mississippi and her ticket printed out for $18.19. The machine gave her the $18. The last $0.19 would have to be collected by getting in line at the casino cage. Knowing most won’t go through the trouble of cashing in the ticket by the 30 day expiration period, she decided to file the lawsuit in U.S. District Court to remedy the situation, not just for her but “on behalf of all others similarly situated”.
How does it work in Nevada
Here in Las Vegas, the practice happens not just at MGM, but is seen far and wide. Nevada law requires those casino tickets to expire after half a year – 180 days. Six times longer than the lawsuit alleges is afforded to patrons at the Mississippi casino. According to the RJ some $22,000,000 wasn’t collected last fiscal year. Of that, 75% goes to the state, and 25% to the casino.
We’ll see what ends up happening with the lawsuit. There’s no question that other casino operators are paying very close attention and may be re-loading those change machines sooner rather than later. Have you ever actually waited in line at the cage for the rest of your change? Doubt it.
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