The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board has adopted a regulation so that unspent or unclaimed gaming vouchers will no longer be forgotten has lost cash. As of Tuesday these vouchers that represent slot machine winnings or yet-to-be-wagered sums, will be turned into the Treasury Department were they will be kept and there owners able to claim indefinitely.

According to Elizabeth Kupchinsky, Treasury Department spokeswoman, ''We're always working very hard to turn property over to its rightful owners. ''There's no time limit.''

If this gets the backing of the Regulatory Review Commission, these vouchers (slips from slot machines) will be treated like inactive bank accounts, uncashed payroll checks and expired gift certificates.

Under the new regulation, casinos must track gaming vouchers if they can. Casinos then can decide when to turn the unused sums to the Treasury Department. They have up to five years of inactivity to turn them over.

All gamblers’ need to claim their lost loot is either the voucher or a player's card confirming the unspent voucher. A player’s card will track all a gamblers activity and provide the confirmation needed to claim a voucher.

To date, the Treasury Department as $1 billion in unclaimed property that it is looking for the owners for. $296 million has already been returned to 225,000 people since the beginning of 2005.


- 2007-12-19