Casino Denies Man $166 Million Jackpot

An anonymous reader writes 'After having played on the slot machine for over 30 minutes, Bill Seebeck was ecstatic when he hit the $166 million jackpot. However, The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa was less than enthusiastic, telling Seeback his win was a mistake because the machine malfunctioned. Thus, the casino refused to pay Seebeck his prize as the machine was only supposed to have a maximum pay out of $99K. Currently, the casino refuses to pay out even that amount.'

Comments

First ones

[alex_guy_CA]

First ones up against the wall when the revolution comes.

The Way I see it

[Monkeedude1212]

The Casino took the same CHANCE of the machine malfunctioning the same way this man took a Chance with his money. And after it all, the random sequence of events said the man should win, not the Casino.

Re:The Way I see it

[icebike]

Its an Indian (Seminole) Casino. They don't take any chances. Not subject to any gaming commission, or other regulations they are pretty much free to do as they please.

Go to Vagas or Atlantic city or any other State regulated casinos. Avoid indian casinos all together.

Re:The Way I see it

[spamking]

Its an Indian (Seminole) Casino. They don't take any chances. Not subject to any gaming commission, or other regulations they are pretty much free to do as they please.

Go to Vagas or Atlantic city or any other State regulated casinos. Avoid indian casinos all together.

Wrong - http://www.nigc.gov/

The Commission’s primary mission is to regulate gaming activities on Indian lands for the purpose of shielding Indian tribes from organized crime and other corrupting influences; to ensure that Indian tribes are the primary beneficiaries of gaming revenue; and to assure that gaming is conducted fairly and honestly by both operators and players.

Re:The Way I see it

[icebike]

>Commission’s primary mission is to regulate gaming activities on Indian lands for the purpose of shielding Indian tribes

Says it all.

It has nothing to do with enforcement of common or expected gaming standards such as would be found in Nevada or New Jersey.

Look at their enforcement actions. All of them were for failure to submit paperwork or failure to pay fees to the commission.

None to protect customers.

This is not a consumer protection organization or a gaming fairness organization, its a fee collecting government moneygrab with an audit arm to make sure the Tribes pay,
with no way for a citizen to file any complaint.

Re:The Way I see it

[PktLoss]

I don't understand how this works legally.

If they're willing to admit that a bug existed that resulted in a payout being offered when it shouldn't, it seems equally probable that a bug exists where a payout should have been offered, but wasn't. As usual, the casino Wins!

At least if they were forced to pay out on all presented wins, things would hopefully work out (assuming all bugs are equally probable). As it stands, they're just making a killing.

Re:The Way I see it

[iamhassi]

"The Casino took the same CHANCE of the machine malfunctioning the same way this man took a Chance with his money. And after it all, the random sequence of events said the man should win, not the Casino."

I would sue, because if they do not pay then every contest could claim "oops malfunction no money"

Re:The Way I see it

[iamhassi]

"The Casino took the same CHANCE of the machine malfunctioning the same way this man took a Chance with his money."

so when i lose, can i claim malfunction and get my money back?

Re:The Way I see it

[spamking]

I was simply responding to your comment about how they are "free to do as they please."

They are not . . .

Re:The Way I see it

[Anonymous Coward]

There are no odds listed on slots, so the user has no idea how often he should expect to win anything. They do tend to show what the maximum payout is, though. If the maximum payout was listed as $99k, then calling $166 million a mistake is defensible.

Re:The Way I see it

[stiggle]

If the machine was malfunctioning then they should give the money back to every who has fed it - after all if its malfunctioning then no-one should win from the situation, so the tribe should pay back all the taking.

They were missing on a huge publicity coup though. Settle with the guy for something smaller, offer him a permanent suite in the hotel, etc - and then milk the publicity to get more punters in to play the slots there.

Re:The Way I see it

[Passman]

If this place is like every indian casino I've ever been to there is a little label somewhere near where you put the money in that says some variation of Malfunction voids all pays. Doesn't seem like much but it would appear to be enforceable.

A better option would be to attack the casino in the court of public opinion. Call the local Action News, write an op-ed in the local paper. Find out where their player base is and saturate that area with sob stories about how the "damn indians ripped you off." Eventually they may pay you something just to end the bad press.

Crooks.

[russotto]

If the machine was clearly marked as having a $99K max payout, he should get the $99K. If it didn't, he should get the $166 million and if the Seminoles won't pay, they should end up in jail as racketeers.

Re:Crooks.

[Anonymous Coward]

And who is going to put them in jail? It's not like they are on "American" soil. They are a free people, and not subject to the inhumanity of the U.S. Government.

Re:Crooks.

[Anonymous Coward]

And who is going to put them in jail? It's not like they are on "American" soil. They are a free people, and not subject to the inhumanity of the U.S. Government.

Just give them some blankets laced with H1N1...

Law should be...

[gurps_npc]

If I were Nevada gambling commission, I would rule that when a Casion claims a win doesn't count because the machine was not working, they must pay the 'winner' all coins the machine took in since the day they can prove it worked (i.e. when it last serviced). Because since that time, they have been accepting profit from a broken machine.

Re:Law should be...

[DiamondGeezer]

The casino is in Florida, thus making your fascinating observation irrelevant

Re:Law should be...

[JordanL]

No casino in Nevada would try this. The NGC would be all over them in a New York minute.

Re:Law should be...

[Anonymous Coward]

The $196 Million was probably a "progressive" jackpot from a network of machines... but I dig. It should pay all of the money collected in the machine that was not already paid out in jackpots.

This happens all the time in INDIAN Casinos.

[Anonymous Coward]

Nothing new here.
The tribes like the money, but hate to pay out.
 

They already knew

[Anonymous Coward]

I work in the industry (posting anonymously because I know people who read this).

Funny thing is, the exact bug that caused it was known about for a year, and Seminole personnel were either clueless or thinking it'd never actually happen in THEIR casino. I won't go into details (NDAs and such), but it is a good reminder to make sure your software is performing proper integrity checks on incoming data packets.

And by the way, once this story hit the news, the casino settled out of court.

Re:They already knew

[lamapper]

If they had not paid, I would never, ever go back there again.

Re:They already knew

[icebike]

Really?

You would go back there NOW, knowing it took nation wide tv exposure to get them to offer a undisclosed settlement?

The entire tribe is on my black list.

Re:They already knew

[petermgreen]

And by the way, once this story hit the news, the casino settled out of court.
Did they say how much they settled for or was that kept a secret?

Re:They already knew

[lamapper]

Good point, what was I thinking...or not thinking.

In other news..

[Renraku]

In other news, Greedo McGreedly Insurance Company denies to pay for woman's life saving appendectomy, claiming that having an appendix is a 'prior condition' and paying for its removal shouldn't fall on their shoulders.

The woman said that she had paid her dues for 20 years, only going to the doctor once or twice for unrelated causes.

Re:In other news..

[Anonymous Coward]

i fail to see what insurance companies and houses of gambling have to do with one anoth... oh wait, nvm, carry on

Re:In other news..

[Anonymous Coward]

She was born with a faulty appendix. She should have disclosed that when she signed up for McGreedly.

Not surprised

[michaelhood]

Indian givers.

sorry.

Re:Not surprised

[Anonymous Coward]

hahaha

Re:Not surprised

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't be. Many Americans weren't! (oooo...insensitive burn!)

I wonder...

[Anonymous Coward]

How many acres of stolen and pillaged land that $166M can buy back.