Chicago Cubs Fans Prefer Memorabilia to Cashing In Slips
By David Hill
The Chicago Cubs winning the World Series could have resulted in a nice windfall for their fans. Instead, quite a few fans have held on to their betting slips instead of cashing them in.
A general rule of thumb when it comes to gambling is that, no matter what, Vegas always comes out ahead. Their betting lines may, on occasion, make one wonder what they see, yet they always seem to be clairvoyant.
In most years, betting on the Chicago Cubs to win the World Series would be one of those decisions that helps Vegas make money. They went 108 years without a title, making wagering on the Cubs World Series victory the baseball equivalent of betting on the Washington Generals. That was, until 2016, when those long suffering Cubs fans finally saw their dreams come true.
With that championship, Cubs fans stood to make a decent amount of money from their ongoing hope. Yet, amazingly, Vegas has come out ahead once more, due to Cubs fans preferring to have their own unique piece of memorabilia from the title. Instead of being cashed in, 30% of those betting slips were kept as souvenirs, as the deadline to cash them in passed in May.
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In some cases, this reluctance to cash in these slips makes sense. If only a couple of dollars were wagered, returning to get the money may be far more of a hassle than it is worth. And, having that piece of memorabilia would be a far more interesting item than a few extra bucks.
However, not every betting slip that went unredeemed was for a few dollars. Two slips that were worth $3600 went unclaimed, bypassing a dollar amount that would have led to one impressive night on the strip. Of course, that night on the strip may well be why those slips went without being cashed in, as they could well have been forgotten as part of a weekend that passed in a blur.
Even though Vegas was set to lose money, they still came out ahead on the Chicago Cubs World Series victory. We probably should not be surprised.