$43 Million Slots Jackpot Malfunction Lawsuit Challenges Casino’s Refusal to Pay
Posted on: June 16, 2017, 01:00h.
Last updated on: January 10, 2023, 09:55h.
Katrina Bookman hit a slots jackpot last fall at Resorts World in Queens, New York, with her screen displaying that she had won $42.9 million. Or at least she thought.
When the New York resident went to cash out her lucky ticket, casino personnel informed her the win was erroneous, and that the slot machine had malfunctioned. They offered her a free steak dinner, and $2.25, the prize she should have one on her one cent wager.
She declined both the meat and the $2.25, and quickly hired a lawyer. This week, her attorney, Alan Ripka, filed a lawsuit on her behalf against Genting New York LLC, the parent company to the Resorts World property.
She’s seeking $43 million in damages, as well as an explanation from the casino as to how the machine errored.
“You can’t claim a machine is broken because you want it to be broken,” Ripka told CNNMoney. “Does that mean it wasn’t inspected? Does it mean it wasn’t maintained? Does that mean that people that played there before had zero chance of winning?”
Odds Against Bookman
Who wouldn’t be upset to think they just became a multimillionaire, only to be told you didn’t even win a gallon of gasoline? Bookman thought she had just snagged the largest slots jackpot ever won in US history, and instead received a free dinner.
It would have been a good story, but alas, no dice. And the chances of the legal system siding with her are slim.
Each slot machine in New York is mandated to have a disclaimer that states, “Malfunctions void all pays and plays.”
Resorts World said it’s clear the electronic equipment failed. The company said at the time, “The figure displayed on the penny slot was the result of an obvious malfunction.”
The Sphinx Slot Machine Bookman was playing came with an advertised jackpot of just $6,500, or 0.015 percent of the $42,949,672.76 ticket that printed.
The largest valid single slots jackpot in US history dates back to 2003. It was at the Excalibur where a man who wished to remain anonymous hit a $39.7 million win on a $100 Megabucks wager.
Slot Machine Errors
Slot machines, like any technological device, aren’t immune to malfunctioning. And on casino floors, while still relatively rare, breakdowns do occur.
In 2015, a 90-year-old woman thought she had won a $41.7 million jackpot on a penny machine inside the Isle Casino Hotel in Waterloo, Iowa. She was only given the $1.85 prize she was supposed to hit, but later sued.
In that case, a judge sided with the casino, explaining, “The rules of the game formed a contract between the patron and the casino, and the patron was not entitled to the bonus under those rules.”
Regardless, Bookman’s attorney is pressing on. “The machine takes your money when you lose. It ought to pay when you win,” Ripka said last fall.
Should he find a way to convince a court his client is due $43 million, Brookman would have enough money for about 860,000 filet mignon dinners at the Resorts World Prime steakhouse.
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Last Comments ( 12 )
Oh please, all these comments about how she should be paid the amount on the screen. She's playing a PENNY DENOMINATION MACHINE! A penny machine can't pay that amount, even with max bet. Obviously something went wrong with the programming with the machine, as it's basically a computer, and showed something else instead of what she should've been actually paid. No machine is perfect as they are prone to malfunctions.
I won jack pot on sons anarchy machine bonus was over millions mechanical problem and they gave me 150 food voucher back in September 2017 still have not gone back sense what can I do about it
If the machine is broken, then it means that all the people who lost in the past, might have been winners. Thus the casino cheated them. If they dont pay this lady, they should at least lose their gambling license. They can take it up with the slot machine makers in civil court if they wish, but it was their job to make sure their machines work as intended.
Thinking she should have been offered at least the game's published jackpot: $6500
The House Always Wins.
The most she could try to sue for is the maximum jackpot advertised by the machine. If you know a machine has a maximum jackpot of $6,500, as is advertised, you can’t say it showing 43 million isn’t an error.
How do u expect to win millions playing penny slots? It was an obvious error. Stop bringing frivolous lawsuits like this & wasting taxpayers money & time. She & her ambulance chasing lawyer should be ashamed of themselves.
She deserves, at best, the maximum allowable had she won the jackpot. Here, that total is $6500. She cannot have had a reasonable expectation of winning any more than the displayed jackpot (aka "maximum") amount.
Convenient that when it is a huge payout it is an "error".
people and lawyers just like to sue for easy money...take your $2 and a steak dinner and be happy
It's gambling. All wins are accidental. Pay up, loser.
if the sign was there, they need to toss her out of the court room immediately. if the sign wasn't there, then they should pay her.