Nevada casinos are known for their vibrant atmosphere, flashing lights, and endless options for gamblers to try their luck. But behind the scenes, a peculiar phenomenon has been observed - cash-out vouchers, often referred to as "ATM" tickets, have become a common sight on casino floors. These small paper slips, usually worth less than a dollar, are issued by machines instead of dispensing coins.

Jared Scott, a Michigan resident and frequent player in Detroit casinos, has noticed this change during his monthly visits to Vegas casinos for his slot-playing social media channels, Jackpot J Slots. "I always want to have a bit of spare change in the car, so sometimes it bothers me," Scott said. "But sometimes it's almost nicer because I play a lot of machines. When you're playing this kind of volume, if it happens enough, it can add up."

Slot players may notice these cash-out vouchers scattered around casino machines or left in their pockets from their adventures. Some choose to hold onto the receipt-like tickets for future visits, while others leave them for future players and lucky scavengers to grab.

However, even those who hold onto these tickets eventually realize that they expire - and the house only keeps some of the money. According to a 2011 state law, vouchers last 180 days (about six months) before they're unusable. After that, Nevada collects 75 percent of the expired wagering voucher and the casino licensee keeps the rest.

In the fiscal year that ended June 30, gamblers left $24.4 million in Nevada casino vouchers, according to preliminary results from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Experts say the funds paid to the state have generally gone up with the increasing gross gaming revenue collected, which has risen to historic levels post-pandemic.

The casinos will report 25 percent of the redemption value in its gross revenue for the month, and the remaining is reported to the Nevada Gaming Commission for the state's coffers. Last year, Nevada's casinos added about $6.1 million to their revenue - down slightly from its $6.4 million peak in the 2023 fiscal year.

Nevada isn't the only state with a process to collect expired vouchers. New Jersey and Pennsylvania also collect funds that have expired, while other states don't set rules.

A small bother The state doesn't collect data on how many vouchers go unclaimed each year, so it's hard to determine how much of it was in change versus a bigger prize. But some players have noticed that tickets worth less than a dollar are often left behind by gamblers or kept as mementos.

Amanda Belarmino, a hospitality professor at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, suspects that a coin shortage during the pandemic kicked off a trend of increased voucher printing. "Guests may plan to reuse the vouchers or they may intend to go to the cage but they never get around to it," she said in an email. "New guests may not know that they can get the change. It is frustrating for consumers to feel that they are not getting their full winnings."

Others have pointed out law changes in 2021, which added electronic table games and some sports wagering tickets to the eligible sources of fund collecting, could have led to the recent years' increase.

Scott said he thinks small ticket vouchers often bother frequent gamblers - but only to a point. "I see tons of people standing in line to get their change," he said. "In general, most people just don't care. Even if they're annoyed and don't wish it was that way, I don't think anyone's not coming back to the casino because of it."

Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.

Note: This article is based on a news report from the Review-Journal, a leading newspaper in Las Vegas. The author, McKenna Ross, is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms.