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Malfunction Costs Couple $11 Million Slot Machine Jackpot

Posted by timothy on from the oopsie-daisy dept.

ainandil writes "Engineering mistakes, while frustrating, seldom definitively alter the end user's life. Not so in Cripple Creek, Colorado — MaryAnn and Jim McMahon thought their money troubles were over when they hit an $11 million jackpot at a casino Tuesday. Before paying the jackpot, the Wildwood Casino turned the machine over to the Colorado Gaming Division for inspection. A glitch was found, aha! The Wildwood Casino blamed a slot machine malfunction for the $11 million jackpot. Total actually won by the McMahons? $1,627.82."

31 of 479 comments (clear)

  1. Mistake my ass. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let's be clear. The 'engineering mistake' was that the machine hit the jackpot.

    1. Re:Mistake my ass. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Let's be clear, it's called "welching," the casino should pay out the jackpot and the slot machine maker should pay the casino for his "engineering mistake." Nevada (or wherever) should enact a law such as that, but it won't happen soon. And it's why part of the reason not to gamble in the first place.

    2. Re:Mistake my ass. by ls671 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      About having the machine inspected when you lose to make sure no 'engineering mistake' were made ?

      This is stupid, it should be like in baseball where faulty referee calls are considered part of the game. Especially since I have never heard of machine getting inspected when you lose ;-)

      --
      Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
    3. Re:Mistake my ass. by fearlezz · · Score: 5, Interesting

      That actually was a mistake.

      I read an article a while ago about a guy who uploaded the software of a slot machine to a vmware-like environment. This way, he could revert back to the very same state over and over again. The machine always gave the user the impression that if he had made another decision, he would have won the jackpot. Except for when the user actually made that decision.

      So I think any slot machine paying big bucks is either programmed to do so periodically as a way of marketing the casino or otherwise suffering from a serious bug.

      --
      .sig: No such file or directory
    4. Re:Mistake my ass. by twistedsymphony · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I worked in an arcade repairing machines for 3 years... we bought a few dozen decommissioned slot machines from casinos that I retrofitted to dispense prize tokens as opposed to money.

      I can tell you that the machines are absolutely programmed to make you lose even if you hit the buttons at the exact right time to stop the rollers. Basically the operator programs the payout to be a ratio of the money deposited. Our machines were programmed to dispense 2 cents worth of prize tokens for every 25 cents deposited. The machine word operate honestly until the ratio got too far in the user's favor, then it would cheat on the last roller to correct the ratio. a jack pot scenario would only be allowed to happen if the ratio was already deep in the favor of the operator.

      It was pretty comical, with the machine open I could stop the rollers right in the position I wanted by hand, and if the machine decided to "correct" the ratio it would use the stepper motor to index the last roller one or two positions past where I had stopped it. Pretty much undetectable to the human eye while the thing is spinning.

      --
      Collector's Edition
    5. Re:Mistake my ass. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      When I was younger, the local football club used to sell scratch-cards in the town each weekend. They sold them for years. They were 25p each, with a max possible win of £20. I can remember buying a few from time to time, maybe winning £1 very occasionally.
      Then, when we were about 14 somebody found out that a shed near the football club had boxes and boxes full of these unopened (and by then out-of-date) cards, and we took tens of thousands of them. We would spend ages scratching them off, looking for 'winners'. Took so long, that we gave up on that and we learnt just to scratch of the 'void if removed' box and recognise the most common codes... something like 18414 would always mean a loser, 85413 would be a £1 winner etc... we were always looking for a really unusual number that would be the £20 winner.
      Any we never found one, not one £20 winner, despite examining tens of thousands of cards over several months.

    6. Re:Mistake my ass. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Every machine here in Nevada says right on the front "malfunction voids play" or something similar.

      And clearly, a jackpot is a major malfunction for the casino owners.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    7. Re:Mistake my ass. by this+great+guy · · Score: 5, Informative

      Just like these claw crane games that you find in vide arcades or amusement parks: those with a joystick to control a crane to grab stuffed animals or whatnot. Curious, one day I browsed the web to find operator's manuals, and they are programmed to make it look like the crane accidentally drops objects. The operator can enter parameters to define the average price of prizes, the average winning rate, etc so that in the end, just like slot machines, the payout percentage can be controlled very precisely. For more info read Machine configuration and chances of winning.

      Knowing this completely takes the fun out of it, doesn't it ?

    8. Re:Mistake my ass. by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 5, Funny

      >> "malfunction voids play"

      It should say that on electronic voting machines too.

    9. Re:Mistake my ass. by Blue+Stone · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Then the onus should be on the casino to ONLY allow functional machines to operate and be played.

      If the machine is on the floor, the casino is stating that the machine has been tested and is fit-for-purpose. Otherwise they're essentially saying, these machines might be broken; where the error would result in OUR loss we will void your winnings; where the error might be your loss, that's tough cheese.

      That's basically a scam. The law should be changed, or they should basically admit that 'anything goes' and the casino can always weasel out of any situation. (Maybe in big neon letters above the door).

      --
      Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
    10. Re:Mistake my ass. by rhvarona · · Score: 5, Informative

      I worked for a while for a company that makes software for modern slot machines.  Each state and indian reservation has different rules, but in the one we wrote software for it works almost like a roll of scratch-off lottery tickets.

      When developing a new game, the company decides on the payout, for example, 95%, which means that on average, out of every $1 played, the company pays out 95 cents back to the players.  The company then decides on the prize distribution, for example (not a real game distribution, just an example):
      Count   Prize   Payout Amount
      387,251 0       0
      10,000  1       10,000
      2,000   5       10,000
      500     25      12,500
      200     200     40,000
      30      1,000   30,000
      15      5,000   75,000
      3       30,000  90,000
      1       100,000 100,000

      400,000 136,231 367,500 Total

      So out of 400,000 games played of $1 each, the casino is paying out $367,500 and making $32,500 profit.  The prizes are randomized and the resulting distribution inspected to make it is distributed appropriately.

      The prize distribution is saved in a central casino database.  Every time a play happens, while the graphics or reels are moving, the machine talks to the central server over a secure network and requests the next available prize.  The server finds the next prize in the the list, marks it as played, and sends it to the machine.  If it is a win, lights flash, bells ring, etc.

      Casinos in general want big jackpots, as loud and as attention getting as possible, since it gets more players to play longer.  They have no interest in cheating you out out of big prize, since they are making money on average every time you play.  Their interest is to keep you putting in money into the machine as long as possible, and they do that by having jackpots as often as they have calculated they should do it.

  2. Lik they say by Vinegar+Joe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The House always wins.

    --
    "The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
  3. Isn't this the SECOND time ... by Jerry · · Score: 5, Interesting

    in recent history that gambling casinos have used "mechanical problems" to evade honoring their promises?

    I wager it will be used again. After all, aren't most winners too poor to afford lawyers to fight the casinos? It's the same problem with corporate abuse of DRM and DMCA lawsl.

    --

    Running with Linux for over 20 years!

    1. Re:Isn't this the SECOND time ... by Josh04 · · Score: 5, Informative

      The other side's lawyers charge. The court charges. No-win no-fee isn't no-cost.

    2. Re: Isn't this the SECOND time ... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's a slot machine, it's a simple device, if they spend the money on reasonable robustness they can easily achieve extremely low error rates.

      They already do. I've seen the engineering that goes into slot machines made in the USA, and know a little bit about the certification requirements and procedures. It's jaw-droppingly stiff. After all, these machines deal with *money* instead of mere lives.

      If the Colorado Gaming Division says the machine is defective, the couple should sue them for allowing it into service.

      Actually, the certification is done by a third party, so the couple should sue the casino and the certifier, and the CGD only if it doesn't revoke the certifying agency's license to certify in their state.

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    3. Re:Isn't this the SECOND time ... by dgatwood · · Score: 5, Informative

      The court charges, but in general, when you're talking about two parties with dramatically differing levels of available resources, the only time the smaller party pays for the larger party's attorney fees is if the lawsuit is frivolous (summary judgment) or if the law specifically provides for that (e.g. the defense loses certain types of suits). This is clearly not frivolous.

      Besides, it would never go to court. The company would almost certainly settle out of court for a few hundred thousand just to get them to shut up. Otherwise, the story hits a few major networks, and that casino's business dries up because people suddenly realize that if they win big, the casino is just going to screw them out of the money.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    4. Re:Isn't this the SECOND time ... by CaptainPatent · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What I don't understand is how when something goes wrong on the part of the gamer, the Casino can treat the transaction between the slot machine and gambler as a binding contract, yet when something goes wrong because of a fault on their end they can say "oops, we goofed - let's call it off"

      I've heard of a couple of jackpots a while back called off because a user entering the coin, or pulling the lever, or even present while someone they knew gambeled was under the legal gambling age at the time and the jackpot was called off.

      It seems only fair then that a goof on their end should not be able to nulify the standing "contract."

      It should be the responsibility of the casino to test their equipment (or buy from only the most reliable sources which are well tested.) If there was a glitch in the machine itself, the casino should be responsible to pay out and able to sue the company that made the slot machine.

      --
      Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
    5. Re:Isn't this the SECOND time ... by Kjella · · Score: 5, Informative

      Well, here's a follow-up on that $42.9M story:

      At the time, the top award on the slot, a progressive game that takes a percentage of bets placed in all similar machines, was $251,183.16. But to be eligible for the top award, a maximum wager of 400 credits, or $4, was required. Chavez's 40-cent wager was eligible for a prize of 20,000 credits, or $200, if she would have hit the progressive.

      So.... you're playing a 40 cent game for $200 max, who cares if it shows 42 millions when it's impossible? I can tell you what happened too, a 32 bit unsigned has a max of 4,294,967,295 <-- seem familiar? Somehow a subtraction lacked a bounds check and it underflowed to be UINT_MAX cents. And for that they should pay out 200,000 times her largest possible theoretical winnings? Sorry, but I'll side with the casino on this one.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  4. Re:It turns out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It turns out slashdot submissions are handled by the same slot machine code.

  5. Casino's blaim bugs all the time. Its a scam! by Jackie_Chan_Fan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A woman recently won like 42 million in a jackpot and they refused to pay her saying it was a bug.

    http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/colorado-42-mil-jackpot-winner-jack/story?id=10235836

    A quick google shows that this happens all the time, whenever someone wins a large number its always blaimed on a bug, and for some magical reason the winners do not get paid.

    The casino's are ripping winners off.

  6. Re:FTFA... by binarylarry · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Way to be a judgmental asshole.

    I think they meant "money troubles" in that they needed to have money to live on, whereas with 11 million dollars they wouldn't.

    Lighten the fuck up.

    --
    Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
  7. Something similar happened in Argentina by VuduZen · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I live in Argentina and about two or three years ago a woman won like 3 million Argentinian Pesos in slot machine. The casino claimed it was a fault of the machine. They went to court and the woman won because it didnt matter if it was a machine error, she did not cheat or anything. So whatever the problem was, it had nothing to do with the woman. She played, she won, she should receive her prize. The real problem was between the casino and the company they bought the slot machine from. So the woman was left out of the equation.

    --
    Everythiing visible is empty.
  8. Re:Mitch Hedberg called this one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why would I be angry at winning 5.5 billion dollars?

  9. Upon further investigation... by Ozlanthos · · Score: 5, Insightful

    After pissing all over the message boards about how unjust this action was, I investigated further. To my dismay, it turns out that this is a popular practice among casinos. Apparently one of the problems with going to digital slots is that ANYTIME there is a huge win that the casino doesn't want to pay out on, they cop this "it was a glitch" excuse! I was given the impression that this is happening EVERYWHERE!!! I think it is time that we implement some sort of law or gaming regulation that states that if someone wins that they are ENTITLED TO THE FULL SUM DISPLAYED on the screen! The only exception would be that if the casino can prove that the win was "artificially" created/induced by the player via some "device" designed specifically to fuddle the machine. The penalty for not paying out the sum within 24 hours would be that the casino would be immediately CLOSED and their gaming license REVOKED for a full calendar year, or until the full sum was paid to the player! If you can't stand to lose, don't play the game....The same should apply to the casinos!

    -Oz

  10. Re:Law Suit!!!! by History's+Coming+To · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So presumably everyone who played the machine previously can claim their stakes back...the machine was faulty. You can't have it both ways.

    --
    Please consider this account deleted, I just can't be bothered with the spam anymore.
  11. Re:Law Suit!!!! by wygit · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Of course you can, if you have a few million to contribute to the whores who write the laws.

  12. Security Only As Good As Physical Access Control by cmholm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    twistedsymphony hints at a major point: the McMahons or a trusted representative didn't retain control of or an eyeball on the device between the gaming floor and the offices of the Colorado Gaming Division.

    --
    Luke, help me take this mask off ... Just for once, let me butterfly kiss you with my own eyes.
  13. Re:Mitch Hedberg called this one by wygit · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's "estimated" because the lottery winnings are a percentage of all tickets sold, and they haven't yet sold all the tickets for the next lottery.
    They usually close the sales 15 minutes before the drawing.

  14. Tribal courts by clyde_cadiddlehopper · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Or am I missing something important here?

    Most US casinos are operated by native American tribes. Their reservations are their own legal jurisdictions. If you have a problem, your recourse is to sue them in tribal court ... which, of course, is operated by the casino owner. Good luck with those odds. Pity the customer. And how about the employees? The casino employees I know here in Minnesota are keenly aware that their employment rights are severely limited.

    --
    Obi-Wan: "I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were sudden
  15. Re:Law Suit!!!! by Cylix · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yes,

    The machine will have to be taken offline for inspection and a report will be mailed to you. I've read up on the gaming commission and several stories. (Mostly in regards to my fascination with that damn super stacker game). The regulations for "games of chance" are pretty much out there for anyone to read. Tons of interesting stories and material there to fill a day of reading.

    --
    "You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." -- Yogi Berra
  16. Why errors don't get jackpot payouts by SEE · · Score: 5, Informative

    If they're paid, it becomes easy to use a casino for money laundering. Walk into the casino with a bunch of cash you obtained illegally, dump it as a high roller at the craps table, hit the deliberately-broken slot machine your accomplice in the casino management set up to get most of your money back, and when you go to the bank and have to explain where you got the money you're depositing, hey, you won it from a slot machine, perfectly legal source.

    To stop that, when a big payout is hit, the machines are audited by the gaming commission and checked for errors. If there is one, you don't get the payout, so a crooked casino manager can't set up a broken machine as part of a money-laundering operation.