CHICAGO, IL – NOVEMBER 04: Chicago Cubs fans attend a rally in Grant Park to celebrate the team’s World Series victory on November 4, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. Hundreds of thousand of people lined the streets in downtown Chicago as the team paraded by in double deck buses on the way to the rally. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

It has become an annual tradition for many to place a few bucks on the Cubs to win the World Series. For over 100 years, betting on the Cubs was essentially just throwing money into the ocffers of the Las Vegas sportsbooks, but last year saw the Cubs finally win it all. You would think Las Vegas would be drained as a result of having to cash out all of those bets on the Cubs made just for kicks, but that has not exactly been the case. In fact, Las Vegas sportsbooks are paying out far less than they had been on the hook for because many of those tickets have not come in to be cashed.

As reported by ESPN, bookmaker CG Technology claims it took about 4,000 bets on the Cubs winning it all last season, but at least 30 percent of those winning slips have not been cashed. Golden Nugget has had a similar experience, with over 20 percent of Cubs bets still uncashed by bettors. While most of these bets are relatively small in scale, there are a few triple-digit wagers on the books that would have netted a six-figure payout.

The expiration dates for these bets has passed, which means anyone with a winning ticket is likely unable to claim any winnings now. But the popular theory in play here is a good number of those winning slips are being held onto as keepsakes from an historic and memorable season in Chicago. After having to wait 108 years, the price of finally ending the World Series drought for the Cubs knows no limits for all of those starving Cubs fans and baseball fans in general.

“When we saw the number, we were just all extremely surprised at how big it was,” Jason Simbal, vice president of risk for CG Technology, said to ESPN regarding the number of unclaimed winnings. “We went back and had to check like three times to make sure there was no mistake.”

Aside from Cubs fans holding on to any trinkets from a long-awaited season, it is also expected a good number of those small-wagers were dropped by tourists. This likely happens every year, and ultimately leads to a good handful of bets going unclaimed by the end of the year.

[ESPN]

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.