A hand pay (or handpay) is a condition where a

slot machine A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively a ...

cannot pay the patron in the typical manner, requiring the casino staff (such as the

floor attendant A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the expected load ...

or cashier) to pay the customer out manually (i.e., by hand). In casinos which use coin in, coin out systems, a hand pay may be caused by a coin jam, inadequate supply of coins in the machine's hopper to pay the requested amount, or another problem with the coin out mechanism. A hand pay can also be triggered when the win is large enough that the number of coins required to pay out the win would be excessive. In casinos that use

ticket in, ticket out Ticket-in, ticket-out (TITO) is a technology used in more modern slot machines. It was originally developed circa 1992 by MGM Corporation who purchased technology from a Las Vegas firm Five Star Solutions as well as barcode ticket printing technol ...

(cashless) systems, a hand pay can be caused by communication or other issues with the ticket printer. More frequently, it is caused by communication problems with the

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...

which tracks and assigns ticket serial numbers.

Gameplay

Hand pays also occur whenever the amount of the win is over the minimum taxable win amount for the jurisdiction that the machine is in. Hand paying allows a floor attendant to collect the patron's identification and tax ID numbers (such as the

Social Security number In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a nine-digit number issued to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents under section 205(c)(2) of the Social Security Act, codified as . The number is issued to ...

in the United States), and other pertinent information, such as the winning combination. The patron is then provided with the applicable tax forms. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, a hand pay will normally occur for all wins over $1,199.99, which is the amount above which winnings must be reported to the

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...

; some states may have lower thresholds where the taxes must be reported to the state revenue office. Citizens of the United States winning in that country will receive a

W-2G Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax forms are forms used for taxpayers and tax-exempt organizations to report financial information to the Internal Revenue Service of the United States. They are used to report income, calculate taxes to be paid t ...

tax form, and often a W-9 form to validate that the Social Security number they provided is correct. To perform a hand pay, a floor attendant may complete a form which the patron presents to the cash cage to be paid out. In other casinos, the floor attendant will retrieve the funds and pay the patron directly. (The latter is typical for hand pays resulting from taxable wins.) Most casinos will require an electronic record of the hand pay to be made through the slot accounting system. Slot machines {{gambling-stub