Slot Machine Malfunction Jackpot
We’ve all seen the small notice on the slot machine that says something like, “Machine malfunction voids all pays and plays.” Have you ever really thought about what you would do if it happened to you?
Stephen Wilkinson was playing his favorite slot machine at the Philadelphia Park casino in Pennsylvania when he hit the jackpot for $102,000. The machine lit up, the jackpot music started to play, and on the screen it congratulated him on his win of $102,000. People quickly gathered around and began congratulating him, in fact the women beside him was so excited she phoned her husband to tell him the news. Well, Stephen was in for a big surprise but it wasn’t $102,000.
After several minutes of casino employees huddled in deep discussion, they made their way over to Stephen to congratulate him on his win. Wrong! They made their way over to let him know that there was a machine malfunction, and he did not hit the jackpot. However, they would compensate him for the malfunction by providing him with two free tickets to their buffet. No, I’m not making that part up. They tried to reconcile the situation by giving him two free buffet tickets. Unless there was gold and diamonds on the buffet, that doesn’t seem like just compensation to me.
What do you think? Do you think the casino should have to pay the money, or are they not liable because they have the warning on the machine? What about if it happened to you, how do you think you would respond? What would you do?
Let’s take a look at similar situation that occurred, you may have a different reaction. This actually happened to a fellow gambler that I know and it happened on a video poker machine instead of a slot machine, but video poker machines are classified as “slots” and have the same malfunction warning on each machine. This story has a slightly different twist to it, but ironically it was for about the same amount of money.
John was in the casino when he noticed a single progressive video poker machine. A single progressive simply means that the machine is not hooked up to any other machines, the jackpot rises as someone plays that machine only. Many video poker single progressives have a large display above the machine that lets the customer know how high the jackpot is. John noticed a $1 denomination ($5 for max play) video poker machine where the display read that the jackpot was $104,000 for a royal flush. If you don’t play video poker, just know that a normal payout for a royal on a $1 machine is $4,000. The progressives are reset at $4,000 and move up as the game is played.
We’ve all seen the small notice on the slot machine that says something like, “Machine malfunction voids all pays and plays.” Have you ever really thought about what you would do if it happened to you? Stephen Wilkinson was playing his favorite slot machine at the Philadelphia Park casino in Pennsylvania when he hit the jackpot for $102,000.
John knew something wasn’t right. It’s almost mathematically impossible for a $1 video poker progressive machine to get over $100,000 without a royal flush being hit. If it got up to $20,000 it would be big news and you wouldn’t be able to play the machine because it would be packed with people. John decided to play and see what happened. The entire time he played the jackpot was still listed as $104,000 and was increasing as he played. After about an hour, sure enough John hit a royal flush.
What do you think happened?
- Nov 07, 2015 An Oregon woman landed on the $8 million jackpot while playing the slot machine at a Lucky Eagle Casino, but walked away empty-handed when the casino told her the machine malfunctioned.
- Mar 04, 2020 A casino refuses to pay a player a jackpot because of a slot machine malfunction and every story about the incident says you never know if a casino will really pay you when you win. The current incident occurred at the Newcastle Casino in Oklahoma. The casino is owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation.
- A) The casino paid him the $104,000 that was advertised on the machine.
- B) They paid him nothing because there was a machine malfunction.
- C) They paid him the reset jackpot value of $4,000.
- D) They paid him some other amount.
If you guessed option C you would be correct. The casino explained to John that the progressive counter display had malfunctioned and they would not pay him the $104,000. John didn’t fight it too much because he knew there was nothing he could do. I think he was most upset at the fact that they paid him the minimum of $4,000, which is the reset amount, instead of at least compensating him something extra since it was a progressive. They claimed that the malfunction voided everything, and basically they were saying he’s lucky to be getting the $4,000.
What is your feeling on this situation? Is it different from the first story? Does it matter that John knew something was amiss when he sat down at the machine? I would love to hear your thoughts, and any similar situations that may have happened to you or someone you know.
If there is one common thread amongst devoted slot players and newcomers to machines alike, it is that dream of a nearly impossible hit that transforms them from people of limited-moderate means to millionaires in an instant. Imagine the feeling of jubilation when a slot machine informs you that you have won in excess of 8.5 million dollars! After the initial shock, I should imagine that the winner of the money has a swarm of various thoughts going through his/her head as to all of the wonderful things they can do with such a tremendous sum.
Such a tremendous, non-existent sum.
In an unfortunate turn of events for both Veronica Castillo and the Lucky Eagle Casino, the former believed that she did just that while the latter knew that she didn't. That's not to say that she didn't have some reason to think that, as her picture clearly shows the requisite number of credits on her Jurassic Riches machine:
It's very difficult to believe (any Washington readers here?) that the Jurassic Riches machine is even capable of such a handsome payout given that it is a nickel level machine. In fact, some of the jackpot winners proclaimed on the Lucky Eagle website:
Consist of Lonnie, who won $20,684. Walter, who won $5305. Then you have Nancy, she won $80,000. Barbara won 20k and Phillip 48k.
Veronica Castillo did not win in excess of 8.5 million dollars, though. In fact, while it is unclear why the casino chose this specific amount, they sent her a check for $80.
For anyone who has ever wondered why almost all, if not all slot machines, have a disclaimer stating, 'Malfunction Voids All Pays and Plays,' well, there you have it. In addition to the extreme likelihood that, pursuant to the Line Pays, such a jackpot is impossible on one of these machines, it is also very difficult to imagine a 1,000 slot casino out of Washington state is going to be offering anything that could even potentially payout 8.5 million dollars. I suppose player-banked linked progressives (if applicable) might be an exception.
This actually brings up an interesting question though: What is the most appropriate response of the casino to this event? I imagine that opinions are going to vary wildly and might even include, 'The machine says 8.5 million, so pay it!'
While I certainly don't think that paying the 8.5 million dollars should be necessary, I definitely think that the casino could have done better than forking over an $80 check.
Let's just take a second and think about this: How many slot players really pay such significant attention to the Rules/Pays screen as to calculate the highest returning combinations, the amount returned per such combination based on the amount bet and then multiply that by the number of lines being played? With respect to casual slot players, my guess on that is going to be about one in every none. Therefore, I think that it is perfectly within reason that Ms./Mrs. Castillo was conceivably under the impression that she had just hit for 8.5 million dollars.
Casino staff made quick work of clearing up that confusion, of course. However, there is an entity responsible (in one way or another) for the fact that the machine would ever read such an amount, and that entity is the manufacturer of the slot machine. Compared to the elation that Ms./Mrs. Castillo must have experienced upon 'hitting' that result, the realization that such a result did not actually happen and the 'winnings' were not going to be given to her must have been a heart-wrenching event.
I mean, we're talking Cinderella story rags-to-riches sort of stuff here just to have it all dashed by a disclaimer. And, yes, I do understand why that disclaimer exists and I understand what it means in this situation.
But, eighty bucks, really?
I imagine, at this point, it would have been much better for Ms./Mrs. Castillo to have simply lost on that spin instead, such is the tremendous emotional beating she must have taken given the realization that she had not had her life changed in an instant.
Therefore, I think that there should be some sort of manufacturer's guarantee (absent any tampering by the casino staff, of course) that should any machine malfunction while leased, or within x years of purchase by the casino, that the manufacturer will compensate the casino in the amount of $10,000 and such amount shall be used to pay the player.
Do you advocate for something greater, perhaps $100,000? I could be convinced.
Either way, putting myself in Ms./Mrs. Castillo's shoes, I really don't think it is an adequate amount of compensation to simply send a check for eighty friggin' dollars and expect her to be on her merry way. Granted, I understand that is $80 more than she had before, but the malfunction of the machine doubtlessly resulted in significant emotional duress for the would-be winner that needs to be adequately addressed.
I mean, let's take a look at Table Games for example: Imagine a player has just colored-up from a session of Blackjack for a yellow and a few Greens. Now, we're going to say that this player has a 'feeling' as he or she is walking past the Craps Table and tosses a green in front of the stick mid-hand calling out, 'Hard Eight!'
The Craps Supervisor says, 'Hard Eight's a bet,' and the dice come to rest with the faces showing 4-3, seven-out, line away.
In addition to the fact that, at a particularly superstitious Craps game, the individual who lost the Hard Eight bet might be taking some light verbal abuse for jumping in mid-hand, perhaps after the dice were already out, and thereby 'causing' a seven-out, the player now looks into his or her palm and notices the yellow ($1,000) chip is missing.
In a sudden flash of clarity, the player realizes that he or she must have thrown the $1,000 chip onto the table for the Hard Eight bet as opposed to one of the Green ($25) chips. Panicking, the individual tries to explain to the Craps crew that the $1,000 bet was made entirely in error and that the intended bet was actually only meant to be $25!
How many times do you think the player wins that argument?
That's really the point, isn't it? In my Craps example, the player screwed up and is (I assume in most cases) rightly held accountable for what might have genuinely been an honest mistake. Even if it is a genuine mistake, it was still something that is presumably in the player's control.
The same goes for manufacturers of slot machines. When these machines go out to the casinos, they need to have been thoroughly tested for every possible event to ensure that something like this doesn't happen. Even though an event such as this is a rarity (as would be making a $1,000 bet as opposed to a $25 bet) the slot manufacturer should take responsibility in offering a substantial sum of compensation to the player.
In other words, assuming that this scenario was the fault of faulty equipment that was unaltered by the Lucky Eagle Casino, then the casino should have the ability to offer the player a meaningful amount of compensation such that the casino simultaneously does not look bad and is not out a substantial sum of money.
Or alternatively, throwing in the wrong chip should void all pays and plays.
New York Slot Machine Malfunction Jackpot
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