Posted on 09/10/2006 10:41:56 AM PDT by TampaDude
MIAMI -- A struggling actor paraded around a local casino after managers told him he won a nearly $260,000 jackpot later found out he won nothing at all.
Freddy Howard, 53, of Sunny Isles Beach, took part in a free promotional game, the Swipe and Win Progressive jackpot, while at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino near Hollywood early on Aug. 29. Howard swiped his Players Club card and said a hostess and supervisor broke the news, he won $259,945.75.
For three hours, Howard was showered with all the attention he dreamed of. As he told it, casino workers verified his membership card and identification, had him sign a publicity agreement, even presented him with a giant cardboard check.
And then, managers called him into an empty room.
"They just said, 'You know the jackpot that you won? We're not going to pay it,"' said Howard, who said he goes to the casino five times a week. "It was like I was in a movie. I couldn't believe it."
Read the full article at: WFTV.com
(Excerpt) Read more at wftv.com ...
Let's re-run this story the next time somebody thinks Florida needs more casino gambling.
The casino should have to pay.
Indian givers.
Absolutely! There have been a handful of these stories posted here.
Never play a malfunctioning machine. If you "win" they won't pay it.
Whar POs me is that the Seminole reservation is considered a sovereign nation and not subject to laws.
uh huh...
>I think the employees of their PR department had better not plan any vacations for awhile.
Aaaah,this is exactly the kind of thing that makes being a lawyer so lucrative...and fun.
I suspect this is an Indian Casino? If so, I wonder when these people will realize that Indian Casinos are not regulated (like Nevada casinos are) and can call the game as they see fit.
If so-To sue and collect..this guy will have to go to the feds and file in federal court.
The lesson? DONT go and gamble in these casinos. Matter of fact, dont gamble periode!
Howard, who said he goes to the casino five times a week.
Umm, more than meets the eye?
You said it!
They'll end up paying Howard, his lawyers, and their own. Dumb.
As long as they refund ever dollar ever "lost" in error.
Oops. Can't tell when the error was in the casino's favor.
Winner! (unless it's later deemed not to be;^)
They are not bound by US law.
He should have went straight to the bank and deposited it!
LOL! That should have been the headline!
Many of these casinos operate ONLY by an agreement WITH the State.
The only reason that I ever used go to the (regulated) casinos in Reno was that you could stuff yourself at the buffet for next to nothing, and drink for free while milking a two-dollar pocketful of nickels playing video poker.
I always looked at casinos as being absolute studied professionals at getting my money away from me- so I decided not to compete with them.
Yup. Even if there was some sort of malfunction, they'll end up paying up just to try to avert the oncoming avalanche of bad publicity.
Five times a week?
That check is legal tender
HA!
No it's not.
I've known people who've written checks on scraps of paper.
As long as the funds are there and the check is verified with the account holder, they'll pay it.
However, those big promotional checks usually have statements invalidating it as tender.
Sounds like the Katrina ATM cards!
Regardless of whether or not one agrees with gambling, if they said he won, they can't say it was an "error" and not pay. If he sues, he wins IMHO.
I'd go cash that giant cardboard check before they put a stop payment on it.
Not if they stop payment.
I never knew that.
I think I'll stay away from
the reservations . . .
I read once about someone who wrote a check on a heavy rock. The bank honored it, and then cancelled it by shooting it to pieces.
I don't know if, in the evolution of finances in the 21st century, banks will still honor scraps of paper.
After all, the Seminoles make an estimated $500 million in annual profit from their two Hard Rock casinos in Hollywood and Tampa, not to mention millions more from four older casinos. Malfunction or not, is a measly $260,000 really worth all this bad publicity, not to mention the distrust it will surely trigger among customers?
MORE--->>> http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/sfl-mayocol10sep10,0,5447843.column
"Hmmmm...looks like any casino could get out of paying just by claiming an error..."
Look at the little sign on the slot machines:
"Machine malfunction voids all plays."
"Oops. Sorry sir, it appears this machine has malfunctioned. Here's a free ticket to the show."
Happens all the time.
Sounds like the fix was in.
Will the person that was supposed to win this money please stand up!
And, IIRC, our courts almost always throw the suits out the door, claiming they don't have jurisdiction.
Fantasy Springs (Cabazon Tribe) out here, stuck a ton of their contractors when they recently added a hotel...a series of articles in the paper indicates those contractors are S.O.L.
Sounds like the casinos are beginning to treat their customers the same way they treat their contractors.
What constitutes a "malfunction?" If it gives a win that the casino doesn't feel like paying, is that a "malfunction?"
This happened at a Harrah's Indian Casino in Arizona six or seven years ago. They tried to stiff an old lady out of the jackpot her machine said she won. The said the machine was MALFUNCTIONING. It was a PR nightmare, ending with the woman getting her money and the marketing guy committing suicide.
OK - I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquistion on the HArvard Law School BB/
You of course are right - but the check is still a binding contract to pay in US dollars.
If they issue the check and it is given and recvd in god faith and then they stop payment, that can be (and probably is) fraud.
Do you think the two facts are related?
-PJ
I know a guy who wrote a check on the inside of a strip of bark, back in 1979. They were hunting in Michigan's UP and one of the guys bought the other's shotgun.
"What constitutes a "malfunction?" If it gives a win that the casino doesn't feel like paying, is that a "malfunction?"
Whatever they say is a malfunction, I suppose. How would you prove them wrong? It's an out.
Why have "sovereign" nation's in America anyway. Most of these injuns are not really native Americans. Look at the Shineycocks in Long Island - they look black to me.
Biggest scam
They can print whatever they want on it but the issue is if there was a binding contract - given theforms signed and the benefit derivedby the casino, the indians dont have a moccasin to stand on.
Oh you nasty racist, you probably even want a fence on our border!/sarc
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