Hitting a million-dollar casino jackpot can trigger a carousel of emotions at any age. However, for a 72-year-old retired school teacher in Shamong, New Jersey, the initial burst of happiness when she realized she had won more than $2 million came to an abrupt end. 

Her initial shock and “dream come true” feeling was soon washed away, leaving room for a nightmare as she was informed by casino officials her winnings would be denied because of an alleged glitch in the system.

Shocking Experience for the Senior Player

R.B., who spoke to 6ABC Action News to share her story, described herself as a fervent fan and frequent player of slot machines. 

She explained that, at the end of February, she went to Bally’s Casino in Atlantic City and spent hundreds of dollars on a Wheel of Fortune machine.

“I was hoping for $1,000, saying, Please God let me win,” she recalled, followed by the memory of the machine going off, saying “You’re a winner” and seeing the gold coins popping out. 

The woman also recalled “this very nice guy” saying “Oh my God, you hit, you hit! Lady, you’re a millionaire,” adding even more to her original excitement. She allegedly won a jackpot of $1.2 million. The senior also claimed that she hit the multiplier.

While everyone around her continued to celebrate, claimed R.B., she eventually hit the service button on the slot machine and saw the security crew swarming in.

“That’s when the sentences came up ’tilted,” she remembered. The former school teacher said that she was told that she had won “nothing” and that the respective slot machine was dealing with a malfunction referred to as a “reel tilt.” 

She was explained the said malfunction or glitch in the system would void her win.

R.B. also recalled that a Bally’s attendant opened the machine and asked her to “spin it off” which she refused to do.

“He had it rolling real slow. He had it opened and then he is pushing it” only to offer her a $350 win in the end.

R.B.’s attorney, Mike Dicroce, claimed Bally’s attendants “fooled with the machine before anybody else had the opportunity to take a look at this.” Dicroce added that that respective action by a casino attendant could have tampered with evidence of his client’s jackpot win.

Accordingly, he required the New Jersey Gaming Enforcement, Bally’s, and slotmaker International Game Technology (IGT), which is the responsible party for the payout, to hold on to the machine and the video footage from the casino floor for an independent forensic review.

Not the First Occurrence of Its Kind

Apparently, this is not the first time that the reel tilt glitch was disputed on a Wheel of Fortune slot machine.

In 2000, attorney Jacques Bezou took New Orleans‘ Harrah Casino and IGT to court after his client disputed the same glitch.

Bezou explained IGT’s position that claimed that despite the fact that the symbols came up “aesthetically,” the outcome wasn’t considered a win for his client “because the computer says it wasn’t a win.”

Neither the jury nor the appellate judges agreed to IGT’s claim. At the end of a lengthy legal limbo that lasted several years, IGT was held responsible for the $1.3 million jackpot.

R.B. is hopeful that the law and an ounce of luck would also help her cash in on what she thinks is rightfully hers.

Besides the $1.28 million jackpot and multiplier that would raise her win to $2.56 million, she also plans on filing a distress claim for over $1 million.

She explained she was anxious and “upset” because she wanted the money so she could buy a trailer for her homeless son. 

“Why would I ever go to a casino again in my life? Any casino? Why, if there is no hope,” she added.

In April 2021, a 54-year-old online casino player from Lincolnshire received his winnings from Betfred after following London’s High Court decision in his favor. 

He was finally denied the win by the operator who claimed a software error had occurred. 

The post NJ Casino Claims Glitch to Deny $2M Jackpot to 72-Year-Old Winner appeared first on Keno Wizard.

Tommy Wilson is the name of the 74-year-old player from Las Cruces who claims he won a jackpot of $542,000 on a slot machine at the casino owned by Pueblo of San Felipe on February 25. 

However, what should have been one of the happiest days of his life for the unemployed veteran turned into a stressful event, according to the Albuquerque Journal. The newspaper revealed that the Black Mesa Casino invoked a system glitch in the slot machine that apparently rendered the player’s win illegitimate.  

The Player Spent $100 on the Buffalo-Themed Slot

On the controversial day, the player placed bets that totaled around $100 on the buffalo-themed slot game that brought him the big win in five or six minutes’ time. Or so he thought. Shortly after the slot machine announced the big jackpot, it shut down out of the blue. 

The players who witnessed what had happened started congratulating the player on his win, but this did not convince casino management that there was an actual win to begin with. After they completed the necessary diagnostics on the slot machine, they explained to Wilson that his win was not a legitimate one. The casino argued they came across a “digital or electronic glitch” and, accordingly, decided not to pay him. 

Wilson was informed by a casino employee of the possibility of filing a complaint with the Black Mesa Casino gaming commission. The latter is an independent body that is not related to the state regulator, which is the Gaming Control Board. The board is responsible for monitoring compliance of the gaming tribes in the state under the approval of tribal or state gaming compacts.

Too “Perturbed” to File the Complaint

Wilson claimed he was too perturbed to file a complaint on the spot. He also failed to take any photos of the winning slot screen or write down the names of the other players who had witnessed what had happened. 

Instead of following the complaint filing procedure, he went to Denver where he was scheduled for a job interview. Later that week, he returned to the Black Mesa Casino, determined this time to file the complaint and ask for his jackpot.

After the casino asked for his phone number and email address, he decided to try his luck on the slots once more. He won twice within 30 minutes on the same machine that had originally brought him the huge jackpot the previous week.

Wilson recalled the game had a lion/African theme in place and that it was most likely called Kings of Africa. He scored a win of $1,226 and another one of $1,446. In spite of his good fortune, the player who is still jobless and who recently underwent a triple bypass surgery is still looking for justice, stating “justice will come in the form of karma.” 

Wilson added he would be even willing to accept a $50,000 payment as an apology from the casino. However, the player who actively served in the US Air Force was offered “nothing” by the casino that runs a promotion that gives away a $10 free play bonus on Wednesdays to army veterans and active-duty service people. 

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