Slot and Video Poker machines all are clearly labeled with a notation that a malfunction voids all plays.
If the machine payed out a jackpot that it couldn’t possibly award (like a million dollars for a machine calibrated to pay out a maximum of $100k, for example), it’s clearly a malfunction, and all plays are voided.
In that situation I would be excited for a second and then it would be clear, a machine that can only pay a maximum of $100k must be malfunctioning if it shows an award of $1 million (or whatever). The machine is clearly labeled, “Malfunction Voids All Payouts.”
Stinks to be this guy, though. To go from being worth a pretax $166.7 million to your status quo can’t be a good feeling.
I don't gamble myself but I really don't have problems with other people indulging if they can "keep it real". People who go to Vegas or Atlantic city for a vacation and to blow off a bit of steam have every right to do so. I just have a hard time believing that adults can sit behind a video monitor showing pictures of playing cards or the cog wheels of a slot machine and not comprehend that the computer driven screens are displaying only what the computer's program tells it to. In essence you are playing poker with a player who not only knows whats in your hand (as well as his), he also knows what is coming up next if you draw.
Perhaps you may have seen roadside billboards around Vegas advertising the "fact" that Casino XYZ pays off twice as many "Royal Flush" payouts from their viedo poker machines as any other Vegas casino. That should really tell you something about the odds playing against a computer.
Regards,
GtG
PS We control the horizontal, we control the vertical...