- Casino Refuses To Pay 42 Million Winner
- Casino Refuses To Pay Jackpot Winner
- Casino Refuses To Pay Winner
The casino is on tribal land operated by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. To the gambler's amazement, Jerry Rape had settled on a 'payout multiplier' of $1,377,000, according to the gambler's lawsuit. The casino took Rape's payout ticket and made him wait for about 24 hours before saying no dice. He wasn't getting the monster payout. GIMME MY MONEYA Queens woman who thought she won a $43 million jackpot is suing Resorts World Casino in Queens after being told the slot machine had malfunc.
It's often been said that casinos want you to win. At some level, that sounds like an oxymoron because why would casinos, who make money from your betting, want to turn around and pay you that money back? For one reason, the odds are always stacked against you. Even when they're paying you money, the casinos are still keeping a lot of it.
Secondly, when there's a big winner, it generates excitement. Pictures get taken. Stories get told. Ads get printed. Another round of gamblers want to visit the casino with renewed dreams of coming home with a lot of money.
Still, even though casinos want to pay you, there are times when they either can't or don't pay. Sometimes, there are perfectly good reasons why casinos refuse to pay out on slot machine wins, but there have been a (thankfully small) number of cases in which people thought they earned big only to find out they didn't.
Good Reasons Why Casinos Don't Pay
Even if you were to win a significant amount of money at the casino, there are a few very good reasons why the casino might not hand over your winnings and both would be your fault (that's why they're good reasons).
No Identification
The first is if you forget your ID. The casino has to run an ID check on you (for a number of reasons, not the least of which is money laundering) and if you don't have a valid ID, they can't run the check. Therefore, you don't get paid. When this happens, the casino will write you an unclaimed jackpot slip and you usually have 90 days to claim your winnings.
The Gambling Intercept Payment System
The second reason the casino might not pay is if your name comes up in the Gambling Intercept Payment (GIP) System. The GIP System is a database of people who owe child support, have monetary judgements against them, etc. If you owe money, the state will get your winnings and use it to pay what you owe. It's kind of a bummer, but ultimately understandable.
The Machines Can Malfunction
There's a third reason that casinos might not pay and it's anything but a good reason for them to do so. Sometimes, a slot machine will malfunction and inform someone they won hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more) when in fact they won a few dollars or none at all.
Sadly, there are warnings on the machines themselves and the legal system backs this up. If the machine malfunctions, the casino does not have to pay the winnings. Fortunately, it doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it can feel like the casinos are 'stealing' a lot of money when really, the law is on the their side.
It doesn't help the situation that the casinos are responsible for the operation of the slot machines, and they're also the beneficiary when they break. I'll talk about what to do when this happens in a moment, but spoiler alert—you won't like it very much.
The Case of Katrina Bookman
Just to show the types of error that a casino can make for which they won't pay, we'll start with the case of Katrina Bookman. According to CNN, Ms. Bookman was playing at the Resorts World Casino in Queens, New York, when she apparently won almost $43 million on a slot machine.
Her winning is verified by a selfie she took next to a machine which is shown to be printing a cash ticket in the amount of $42,949,672.76. However, when she tried to cash in on her winnings, she was instead offered a complimentary steak dinner and $2.25. Of course, $2.25 is slightly less than $43 million.
Casino Refuses To Pay 42 Million Winner
The casino refused to pay because they claim the Sphinx Slot Machine at which Bookman played malfunctioned. This claim was verified by the New York State Gaming Commission, which basically entitles Bookman to absolutely nothing—the casino didn't even have to offer the steak or the pocket change.
This incident feels grossly unfair, especially as Bookman's lawyer, Alan Ripka questions a system in which the casino both operates and maintains the slot machines and gets to say when they are broken. He is trying to argue for either the casino's negligence contributing to the malfunction (in which case Bookman should receive the money) or an outright conspiracy to prevent payment.
Given the case law against him, there seems little chance Ripka will win the settlement he and Bookman desire.
The Case of Veronica Castillo
Casino Refuses To Pay Jackpot Winner
Fox News tells a similar tale. This time, a woman from Oregon named Veronica Castillo went to the Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester, Washington. While playing slots with her mother, Castillo said that a slot machine said that she was the winner of $8 million. In response, workers at the casino allegedly shut off the machine and offered her $80, less than her deposit of $100.
As in the case of Bookman, the casino claimed that the $8 million 'prize' was due to a malfunction and that the maximum payout of $20,000 is posted on the machine. Fox News legal analyst Bob Massi has joined Castillo in voicing his concern over this incident, asking that someone needs to be held accountable for such a grievous error.
Castillo goes farther claiming that the casino's policy is 'deceiving…[it] might even be fraudulent.' Like Bookman, Castillo has explored legal options, though the fact that the error was attributed to slot machine error means that Castillo is likely to collect no damages including getting her $20 back. However, in her case, there are reports Castillo was offered a smaller sum around $30,000.
This is still less than her original winnings, but more than the casino is likely to pay.
Your Options If It Happens to You
The truly unfortunate part of this is that, when a casino decides not to pay, there is not a whole lot you can do about it. I stand by my earlier claim that casinos don't mind to pay winners, but that doesn't mean they want to pay them big money. Also, casinos know the law. If they're not paying, more than likely, the law is on their side.
Therefore, if you find yourself holding a cash ticket or a selfie that says you are owed a lot of money and the casino says no, don't expect much to happen. Yes, you can cause a scene. Yes, you can retain council. However, the casinos will have already laid down a good defense by posting notices of when they do and don't pay.
Even worse, in the world of software, bugs happen. As long as the bugs didn't happen through negligence, it will be hard for a lawyer to win a case for damages.
Still, I am not a lawyer, nor do I pretend to be one. Please seek professional advice if this ever happens to you. However, I will suggest that you keep your head when it happens, but record as much as you can. Fortunately, you have a cell phone you can use to photo or video record your winning ticket, the screen, etc.
Next, strongly consider taking any offer the casino gives you. It's going to be rough if you end up with a steak instead of $8 million. Also, accepting anything could be seen as you entering into a contract with the casino to receive meat (or whatever) instead of money. Still, the casino has nothing to offer you. You might try to negotiate, but unless case law changes, you have no power.
Conclusion
It's hard writing on this subject because while I would be silly to argue that casinos are paragons of virtue and generous giving, they're generally pretty fair. In areas where there are several casinos (and they tend to bunch up), each one wants to do right by their customers or those casinos will watch their customers go elsewhere.
Still, casinos are businesses that are interested in earning and making money. Like all businesses, a casino can't continue to operate if it just hands out money all willy-nilly. That's why they know the law, will follow the law, and not pay out millions of dollars when they do not have to. This, sadly, is the cold, hard truth of business.
Ultimately, this type of thing happens very rarely. The amount of control and testing that goes into slot machine software virtually ensures this type of major malfunction is going to happen very infrequently. If it happens on a smaller scale is another matter, but it's probably more likely a casino pays out a smaller mistake just to avoid the bad PR.
If you find yourself on the losing end of a casino mistake, stay calm and try to work with the casino. Just remember, they hold all of the chips (pun intended) and your best bet is to get something out of the deal. Keeping level-headed and asking for reasonable amounts is your best way to do that.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Veronica Castillo isn't a regular at casinos. However, when she ended up going to one a couple of years ago, she had won a staggering $8.5 million after trying her luck on a slot machine. That is, until the casino refused to give her a cash prize. This sent Veronica down a rabbit hole as she learned exactly why the casino decided not to give her the money that was rightfully hers…
Veronica could never have foreseen that she would become the main character of this crazy casino story. As far as she was concerned, she was just looking to get away for the weekend with her mother. The Portland, Oregon woman took her mom to the Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester, Washington. Despite not being a gambler, Veronica wanted to try her luck on some of the slot machines. In a way though, it actually made sense that Veronica was so interested in numbers…
Seeing that she is a mortgage consultant with nearly two decades worth of experience under her belt, it is safe to say that Veronica understands how money works really well. So when she was stripped of her $8.5 million winnings during her trip to the casino, she was convinced that something wasn't quite right. For someone who knows numbers, things simply didn't add up. However, she did not suspect anything when she entered the casino…
Immediately, Veronica was dazzled by the bright lights and sounds of Lucky Eagle Casino. In an instant, she understood what all the fuss was about and why people love going to casinos. All the signs pointed to her wanting to try her luck on some of the slot machines. These tall, mysterious machines are extremely popular due to how easy they are to use and their bright, luring lights. However, there was one particular slot machine that piqued her interest…
It seems that Veronica is a huge fan of dinosaurs because the slot machine that caught her attention was a prehistoric themed one called 'Jurassic Riches.' Not thinking too much of it, Veronica had chosen her machine and was about to make her move. However, before she did that, she sat down and thought about some of the things she already knew about slot machines, and gambling in general. Nevertheless, this wouldn't take anything away from how excited she was…
Ultimately, Veronica knew that there was a good chance that she would walk out of that casino empty handed. However, this didn't stop her from going in there with her mother and having a great time. She was excited by the mystery. Having rarely gambled in her life, this was pretty much new territory for her. She was aware that casino games tend to favor the casino. However, she had limited knowledge about the intricate systems behind a slot machine…
It takes a lot of sophistication and ingenuity to engineer a successfully functioning slot machine. They usually include a random number generator and a number of intricate systems within the machine. This means that slot machines have a near-infinite amount of combinations to make the results as random as possible. As for Veronica, she wasn't clued up on the intricacies of slot machines. All she was interested in was trying her luck, just once, and then she would get on with her life.
Unlike other casino-goers, who will spend an entire day on the same slot machine, pulling the lever until they get a cash prize, Veronica did things differently. Having not caught a gambling bug, all she wanted to do was choose a random machine, which she did, put a note in it, and see what would happen. So she inserted $100, pulled the lever, and hoped for a good result. Nothing could prepare her for what the slot machine would end up showing her…
When everything was said and done, Veronica couldn't believe what she was seeing. On the screen of 'Jurassic Riches,' it said that she had won over $8.5 million! $8,589,298.90, to be precise! She had never really won anything in her life and now, she had won a sum of money that was, without a shadow of a doubt, life-changing! Naturally, she was completing surprised by the outcome and in an interview, she recalled her initial reaction after seeing that figure of money.
In an interview with Inside Edition, Veronica was simply asked what it was like to win $8.5 million. Her answer was pretty understandable. 'I was in shock,' she said. '[And] was excited.' She also reiterated her feelings in an interview with KOIN 6, saying the following: 'I was very excited and happy…couldn't believe it.' During those initial few minutes after winning the jackpot, the biggest question going through Veronica's mind was what she could do with that sort of money…
Seeing that she was already a successful mortgage loan officer, Veronica was pretty happy with her life prior to this incredible moment. As a result, she was struggling to work out what she would do with such a large sum of money. One thing was for sure though, she could probably buy anything she wanted. Also, she would never have to work another day in her life. However, these dreams were about the be shattered in a matter of minutes…
As members of staff came towards her, Veronica assumed they were simply coming over to congratulate her for winning the jackpot prize. However, she assumed wrong. It turns out that the reason the staff members arrived on the scene was that they wanted to shut down the slot machine. 'They come to me and say, ‘We have to shut off the machine,'' she said. But that was just the start of her terrible experience at the Lucky Eagle…
Not only did the workers at the casino shut down the 'Jurassic Riches' slot machine, they also came to inform Veronica that she hadn't actually won anything. 'Then I was like asking ‘What about the prize?' she said. 'And they said, ‘there's no prize.' It was horrible.' Completely confused and distraught by what they were telling her, Veronica had a million questions and demanded answers in that very instant. However, things only seemed to get worse…
While she had plenty of questions that she wanted answers to immediately, the staff at the Lucky Eagle desperately tried to appease her with some sort of instant compensation. However, Veronica couldn't believe her eyes when one of the workers gave her a ticket worth $80. $80.35, to be precise! This meant that Veronica received a one-hundred-thousandth of what she thought she'd get. Nevertheless, she was still determined to find out the reason that her dream jackpot had gone wrong…
Casino Refuses To Pay Winner
In short, the staff explained to Veronica that the slot machine she had been using had malfunctioned. Despite displaying the $8.5 million on her screen, it was actually a display error. Naturally dumbfounded by the explanation, Veronica couldn't believe what they were telling her. Still unconvinced by their reasons, CEO John Setterstrom began to break down some key rules that would hopefully set the record straight – most notably, a sticker that rested on the side of each slot machine…
John Setterstrom was quick to explain that his casino was able to retrieve any crucial data to prove that what Veronica saw was actually faulty. 'We have backup systems as well, and screenshot systems and systems that are built within the systems that can accurately depict and we can show it to the guest,' he said. More importantly, though, the CEO showed KOIN6‘s Lisa Balick some of the casino rules. One of them claims that 'machine malfunction voids all pays and plays.'
Although the casino executives tried to explain to her what had happened, Veronica simply wasn't buying it. As far as she was concerned, the casino was 'cheating' and trying to avoid paying her what was rightfully hers. 'To me, it's deceiving, it's cheating, it might even be fraudulent,' she said in an interview. 'My first thought was ‘how many times did they have these kinds of instances and people walking away thinking they have won and going empty-handed?'
Lisa Balick, who works for KOIN6, took it upon herself to do some digging of her own, in an attempt to set things straight. When she called the CEO of Lucky Eagle Casino, John Setterstrom, she was surprised by what he had to say. 'Obviously, $8 million, there's no machine in the state that pays that,' he told her. 'This has never happened there before.' Furthermore, the casino tried to make amends for what had happened…
CEO John Setterstrom revealed that in his 20+ years at the casino, he had never witnessed a situation quite like this one. He also said that he was planning on getting to the bottom of what exactly went wrong in the 'Jurassic Riches' slot machine. And it's not just the casino who launched a full investigation. The manufacturer of the machine, Rocket Gaming Systems revealed that they are going to work out the cause of the malfunction. That's not all though…
Shortly after the slot machine fiasco, the casino issued a formal statement, proving that they were taking the situation seriously. They were as determined as Veronica to get to the bottom of the error. However, the casino also shared information in an attempt to prove that the slot machine had, in fact, malfunctioned. They also reiterated what John Setterstrom had confirmed in the interview, that the machine has a maximum jackpot of $20,000. But the casino wasn't out of the woods just yet…
While the casino was adamant that the slot machine Veronica used had displayed an error, causing the confusion, they still wanted to apologize to her for the inconvenience. The casino issued a formal apology, expressing 'deep regret' over what had transpired. The staff at the Lucky Eagle didn't realize how machine errors can be traumatic for their users. Nevertheless, Veronica was feeling in the mood to forgive the casino for their faux pas. And that wasn't all they did for her…
The casino didn't just issue a formal apology to Veronica for the inconvenience. It also made a concerted effort to make her feel better, by supplying her with a number of freebies. In order to compensate her for her misfortunes, the casino gave her a weekend stay at the hotel free of charge, with meals included. However, this is certainly not the end of the story. As far as Veronica is concerned, she has some unfinished business…
Still, even though casinos want to pay you, there are times when they either can't or don't pay. Sometimes, there are perfectly good reasons why casinos refuse to pay out on slot machine wins, but there have been a (thankfully small) number of cases in which people thought they earned big only to find out they didn't.
Good Reasons Why Casinos Don't Pay
Even if you were to win a significant amount of money at the casino, there are a few very good reasons why the casino might not hand over your winnings and both would be your fault (that's why they're good reasons).
No Identification
The first is if you forget your ID. The casino has to run an ID check on you (for a number of reasons, not the least of which is money laundering) and if you don't have a valid ID, they can't run the check. Therefore, you don't get paid. When this happens, the casino will write you an unclaimed jackpot slip and you usually have 90 days to claim your winnings.
The Gambling Intercept Payment System
The second reason the casino might not pay is if your name comes up in the Gambling Intercept Payment (GIP) System. The GIP System is a database of people who owe child support, have monetary judgements against them, etc. If you owe money, the state will get your winnings and use it to pay what you owe. It's kind of a bummer, but ultimately understandable.
The Machines Can Malfunction
There's a third reason that casinos might not pay and it's anything but a good reason for them to do so. Sometimes, a slot machine will malfunction and inform someone they won hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more) when in fact they won a few dollars or none at all.
Sadly, there are warnings on the machines themselves and the legal system backs this up. If the machine malfunctions, the casino does not have to pay the winnings. Fortunately, it doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it can feel like the casinos are 'stealing' a lot of money when really, the law is on the their side.
It doesn't help the situation that the casinos are responsible for the operation of the slot machines, and they're also the beneficiary when they break. I'll talk about what to do when this happens in a moment, but spoiler alert—you won't like it very much.
The Case of Katrina Bookman
Just to show the types of error that a casino can make for which they won't pay, we'll start with the case of Katrina Bookman. According to CNN, Ms. Bookman was playing at the Resorts World Casino in Queens, New York, when she apparently won almost $43 million on a slot machine.
Her winning is verified by a selfie she took next to a machine which is shown to be printing a cash ticket in the amount of $42,949,672.76. However, when she tried to cash in on her winnings, she was instead offered a complimentary steak dinner and $2.25. Of course, $2.25 is slightly less than $43 million.
Casino Refuses To Pay 42 Million Winner
The casino refused to pay because they claim the Sphinx Slot Machine at which Bookman played malfunctioned. This claim was verified by the New York State Gaming Commission, which basically entitles Bookman to absolutely nothing—the casino didn't even have to offer the steak or the pocket change.
This incident feels grossly unfair, especially as Bookman's lawyer, Alan Ripka questions a system in which the casino both operates and maintains the slot machines and gets to say when they are broken. He is trying to argue for either the casino's negligence contributing to the malfunction (in which case Bookman should receive the money) or an outright conspiracy to prevent payment.
Given the case law against him, there seems little chance Ripka will win the settlement he and Bookman desire.
The Case of Veronica Castillo
Casino Refuses To Pay Jackpot Winner
Fox News tells a similar tale. This time, a woman from Oregon named Veronica Castillo went to the Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester, Washington. While playing slots with her mother, Castillo said that a slot machine said that she was the winner of $8 million. In response, workers at the casino allegedly shut off the machine and offered her $80, less than her deposit of $100.
As in the case of Bookman, the casino claimed that the $8 million 'prize' was due to a malfunction and that the maximum payout of $20,000 is posted on the machine. Fox News legal analyst Bob Massi has joined Castillo in voicing his concern over this incident, asking that someone needs to be held accountable for such a grievous error.
Castillo goes farther claiming that the casino's policy is 'deceiving…[it] might even be fraudulent.' Like Bookman, Castillo has explored legal options, though the fact that the error was attributed to slot machine error means that Castillo is likely to collect no damages including getting her $20 back. However, in her case, there are reports Castillo was offered a smaller sum around $30,000.
This is still less than her original winnings, but more than the casino is likely to pay.
Your Options If It Happens to You
The truly unfortunate part of this is that, when a casino decides not to pay, there is not a whole lot you can do about it. I stand by my earlier claim that casinos don't mind to pay winners, but that doesn't mean they want to pay them big money. Also, casinos know the law. If they're not paying, more than likely, the law is on their side.
Therefore, if you find yourself holding a cash ticket or a selfie that says you are owed a lot of money and the casino says no, don't expect much to happen. Yes, you can cause a scene. Yes, you can retain council. However, the casinos will have already laid down a good defense by posting notices of when they do and don't pay.
Even worse, in the world of software, bugs happen. As long as the bugs didn't happen through negligence, it will be hard for a lawyer to win a case for damages.
Still, I am not a lawyer, nor do I pretend to be one. Please seek professional advice if this ever happens to you. However, I will suggest that you keep your head when it happens, but record as much as you can. Fortunately, you have a cell phone you can use to photo or video record your winning ticket, the screen, etc.
Next, strongly consider taking any offer the casino gives you. It's going to be rough if you end up with a steak instead of $8 million. Also, accepting anything could be seen as you entering into a contract with the casino to receive meat (or whatever) instead of money. Still, the casino has nothing to offer you. You might try to negotiate, but unless case law changes, you have no power.
Conclusion
It's hard writing on this subject because while I would be silly to argue that casinos are paragons of virtue and generous giving, they're generally pretty fair. In areas where there are several casinos (and they tend to bunch up), each one wants to do right by their customers or those casinos will watch their customers go elsewhere.
Still, casinos are businesses that are interested in earning and making money. Like all businesses, a casino can't continue to operate if it just hands out money all willy-nilly. That's why they know the law, will follow the law, and not pay out millions of dollars when they do not have to. This, sadly, is the cold, hard truth of business.
Ultimately, this type of thing happens very rarely. The amount of control and testing that goes into slot machine software virtually ensures this type of major malfunction is going to happen very infrequently. If it happens on a smaller scale is another matter, but it's probably more likely a casino pays out a smaller mistake just to avoid the bad PR.
If you find yourself on the losing end of a casino mistake, stay calm and try to work with the casino. Just remember, they hold all of the chips (pun intended) and your best bet is to get something out of the deal. Keeping level-headed and asking for reasonable amounts is your best way to do that.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Veronica Castillo isn't a regular at casinos. However, when she ended up going to one a couple of years ago, she had won a staggering $8.5 million after trying her luck on a slot machine. That is, until the casino refused to give her a cash prize. This sent Veronica down a rabbit hole as she learned exactly why the casino decided not to give her the money that was rightfully hers…
Veronica could never have foreseen that she would become the main character of this crazy casino story. As far as she was concerned, she was just looking to get away for the weekend with her mother. The Portland, Oregon woman took her mom to the Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester, Washington. Despite not being a gambler, Veronica wanted to try her luck on some of the slot machines. In a way though, it actually made sense that Veronica was so interested in numbers…
Seeing that she is a mortgage consultant with nearly two decades worth of experience under her belt, it is safe to say that Veronica understands how money works really well. So when she was stripped of her $8.5 million winnings during her trip to the casino, she was convinced that something wasn't quite right. For someone who knows numbers, things simply didn't add up. However, she did not suspect anything when she entered the casino…
Immediately, Veronica was dazzled by the bright lights and sounds of Lucky Eagle Casino. In an instant, she understood what all the fuss was about and why people love going to casinos. All the signs pointed to her wanting to try her luck on some of the slot machines. These tall, mysterious machines are extremely popular due to how easy they are to use and their bright, luring lights. However, there was one particular slot machine that piqued her interest…
It seems that Veronica is a huge fan of dinosaurs because the slot machine that caught her attention was a prehistoric themed one called 'Jurassic Riches.' Not thinking too much of it, Veronica had chosen her machine and was about to make her move. However, before she did that, she sat down and thought about some of the things she already knew about slot machines, and gambling in general. Nevertheless, this wouldn't take anything away from how excited she was…
Ultimately, Veronica knew that there was a good chance that she would walk out of that casino empty handed. However, this didn't stop her from going in there with her mother and having a great time. She was excited by the mystery. Having rarely gambled in her life, this was pretty much new territory for her. She was aware that casino games tend to favor the casino. However, she had limited knowledge about the intricate systems behind a slot machine…
It takes a lot of sophistication and ingenuity to engineer a successfully functioning slot machine. They usually include a random number generator and a number of intricate systems within the machine. This means that slot machines have a near-infinite amount of combinations to make the results as random as possible. As for Veronica, she wasn't clued up on the intricacies of slot machines. All she was interested in was trying her luck, just once, and then she would get on with her life.
Unlike other casino-goers, who will spend an entire day on the same slot machine, pulling the lever until they get a cash prize, Veronica did things differently. Having not caught a gambling bug, all she wanted to do was choose a random machine, which she did, put a note in it, and see what would happen. So she inserted $100, pulled the lever, and hoped for a good result. Nothing could prepare her for what the slot machine would end up showing her…
When everything was said and done, Veronica couldn't believe what she was seeing. On the screen of 'Jurassic Riches,' it said that she had won over $8.5 million! $8,589,298.90, to be precise! She had never really won anything in her life and now, she had won a sum of money that was, without a shadow of a doubt, life-changing! Naturally, she was completing surprised by the outcome and in an interview, she recalled her initial reaction after seeing that figure of money.
In an interview with Inside Edition, Veronica was simply asked what it was like to win $8.5 million. Her answer was pretty understandable. 'I was in shock,' she said. '[And] was excited.' She also reiterated her feelings in an interview with KOIN 6, saying the following: 'I was very excited and happy…couldn't believe it.' During those initial few minutes after winning the jackpot, the biggest question going through Veronica's mind was what she could do with that sort of money…
Seeing that she was already a successful mortgage loan officer, Veronica was pretty happy with her life prior to this incredible moment. As a result, she was struggling to work out what she would do with such a large sum of money. One thing was for sure though, she could probably buy anything she wanted. Also, she would never have to work another day in her life. However, these dreams were about the be shattered in a matter of minutes…
As members of staff came towards her, Veronica assumed they were simply coming over to congratulate her for winning the jackpot prize. However, she assumed wrong. It turns out that the reason the staff members arrived on the scene was that they wanted to shut down the slot machine. 'They come to me and say, ‘We have to shut off the machine,'' she said. But that was just the start of her terrible experience at the Lucky Eagle…
Not only did the workers at the casino shut down the 'Jurassic Riches' slot machine, they also came to inform Veronica that she hadn't actually won anything. 'Then I was like asking ‘What about the prize?' she said. 'And they said, ‘there's no prize.' It was horrible.' Completely confused and distraught by what they were telling her, Veronica had a million questions and demanded answers in that very instant. However, things only seemed to get worse…
While she had plenty of questions that she wanted answers to immediately, the staff at the Lucky Eagle desperately tried to appease her with some sort of instant compensation. However, Veronica couldn't believe her eyes when one of the workers gave her a ticket worth $80. $80.35, to be precise! This meant that Veronica received a one-hundred-thousandth of what she thought she'd get. Nevertheless, she was still determined to find out the reason that her dream jackpot had gone wrong…
Casino Refuses To Pay Winner
In short, the staff explained to Veronica that the slot machine she had been using had malfunctioned. Despite displaying the $8.5 million on her screen, it was actually a display error. Naturally dumbfounded by the explanation, Veronica couldn't believe what they were telling her. Still unconvinced by their reasons, CEO John Setterstrom began to break down some key rules that would hopefully set the record straight – most notably, a sticker that rested on the side of each slot machine…
John Setterstrom was quick to explain that his casino was able to retrieve any crucial data to prove that what Veronica saw was actually faulty. 'We have backup systems as well, and screenshot systems and systems that are built within the systems that can accurately depict and we can show it to the guest,' he said. More importantly, though, the CEO showed KOIN6‘s Lisa Balick some of the casino rules. One of them claims that 'machine malfunction voids all pays and plays.'
Although the casino executives tried to explain to her what had happened, Veronica simply wasn't buying it. As far as she was concerned, the casino was 'cheating' and trying to avoid paying her what was rightfully hers. 'To me, it's deceiving, it's cheating, it might even be fraudulent,' she said in an interview. 'My first thought was ‘how many times did they have these kinds of instances and people walking away thinking they have won and going empty-handed?'
Lisa Balick, who works for KOIN6, took it upon herself to do some digging of her own, in an attempt to set things straight. When she called the CEO of Lucky Eagle Casino, John Setterstrom, she was surprised by what he had to say. 'Obviously, $8 million, there's no machine in the state that pays that,' he told her. 'This has never happened there before.' Furthermore, the casino tried to make amends for what had happened…
CEO John Setterstrom revealed that in his 20+ years at the casino, he had never witnessed a situation quite like this one. He also said that he was planning on getting to the bottom of what exactly went wrong in the 'Jurassic Riches' slot machine. And it's not just the casino who launched a full investigation. The manufacturer of the machine, Rocket Gaming Systems revealed that they are going to work out the cause of the malfunction. That's not all though…
Shortly after the slot machine fiasco, the casino issued a formal statement, proving that they were taking the situation seriously. They were as determined as Veronica to get to the bottom of the error. However, the casino also shared information in an attempt to prove that the slot machine had, in fact, malfunctioned. They also reiterated what John Setterstrom had confirmed in the interview, that the machine has a maximum jackpot of $20,000. But the casino wasn't out of the woods just yet…
While the casino was adamant that the slot machine Veronica used had displayed an error, causing the confusion, they still wanted to apologize to her for the inconvenience. The casino issued a formal apology, expressing 'deep regret' over what had transpired. The staff at the Lucky Eagle didn't realize how machine errors can be traumatic for their users. Nevertheless, Veronica was feeling in the mood to forgive the casino for their faux pas. And that wasn't all they did for her…
The casino didn't just issue a formal apology to Veronica for the inconvenience. It also made a concerted effort to make her feel better, by supplying her with a number of freebies. In order to compensate her for her misfortunes, the casino gave her a weekend stay at the hotel free of charge, with meals included. However, this is certainly not the end of the story. As far as Veronica is concerned, she has some unfinished business…
Despite the casino trying their best to appease her, Veronica isn't satisfied. She wants to get an attorney, in an attempt to get what she believes is rightfully hers. And if she doesn't win her case, she at least wants to share her story with the world. 'What I expect at the very least, is to create awareness about how the casinos work, when the players get the big winnings!' she wrote. Whatever happens, we hope that Veronica gets some sort of happy ending.
