Casino Reneges on Historic $43 Million Jackpot for Lamest Reason Possible
This woman has a "slot" of reasons to be angry.
A woman from Queens, N.Y. is furious that a casino won't give her the $42.9 million she won playing a slot machine back in August at Resorts World Casino. The casino claims the machine malfunctioned.
Katrina Bookman was told to return to the casino the next day. "I said what did I win? He [the casino rep] said, 'You didn't win nothing.'"
Well, that's not totally true. Bookman claims he offered her a steak dinner.
So, what happened?
The state gaming commission says the machine malfunctioned. The machines do say, "Malfunctions void all pays and plays," but that's little solace to Bookman, who argues that at the very least she's entitled the maximum payout on the machine, which is about $6,500.
Bookman, who is suing, thinks the claim the machine wasn't working properly is a cop-out:
There was nothing wrong with it when I was playing the machine. How do we know when there’s a problem with it? Once I hit something, now you’re going to say it’s a problem. I totally don’t think that was fair.
The machine was taken off the floor after the incident and repaired before returning for customer use.
The casino, meanwhile, says Bookman to a $2.25 payout, but her lawyer, Alan Ripka, said, "They win and the house doesn't want to pay out. To me that's unfair. The machine takes your money when you lose. It ought to pay it when you win."
The $43 million jackpot, by the way, would be the largest for a slot machine in U.S. history.