Posted on 08/11/2006 7:35:34 PM PDT by xJones
BRIDGEPORT, Ind. (AP) -- Gamblers at Caesars Indiana raked in nearly a half-million dollars over two days on one slot machine that gave players credit for putting in 10 times as much money as they really had.
Caesars lost $487,000 before a player notified officials of the problem with the slot machine, The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky., reported Friday.
The Indiana Gaming Commission is investigating, and the casino might end up being fined for failing to follow procedures designed to prevent such a problem, said Jennifer Arnold, the commission's deputy director.
The casino intends to try to get the money back, but commission Director Ernest Yelton said he did not know whether players were legally obligated to return their winnings.
Kathryn Ford of Louisville, Ky., realized something was wrong July 23 when she and her husband sat down at two of the machines, called Extra Money.
"We were going to have a race to see who could accumulate the most at one time on the same machine," she said.
But when she put in a $20 bill, the machine registered it as $200. She tried another $20 bill and the same thing happened, she said.
Ford said she put eight $20 bills in the machine and received vouchers that could be redeemed for $1,600 in cash -- without even playing.
Other gamblers noticed.
"There was even a young woman who jumped in while I was sitting there. She ... reached across me, popped a hundred in, popped out a thousand and then she took off," Ford said.
Ford and her husband reported the problem to a security officer, and casino officials determined that new software had been installed on the machine on July 21, according to a gaming commission report. The machine had a switch set in a position for use in the Philippines instead of the United States, and it instructed the machine to multiply credits by 10, the report said.
Seven other machines also had received new software, but they did not have the error.
Casino general manager Ed Garruto acknowledged that "our testing procedures before putting the game in place were not completely followed."
The commission report said three technicians and one supervisor were involved in the installation and testing of the software, and the technician who set the machine has been suspended pending investigation.
Garruto said he did not believe the error was deliberate.
"It looks like it was a costly mistake," he said.
But Caesars intends to try to recover the money, although Garruto added he wasn't sure they were under any legal obligation.
"We are going to contact some of the patrons who may have benefited a great deal and see if we can effect a recovery," he said. Some 24 of the gamblers won't be hard to find, because they used their casino player cards.
Now, I've only been to the boats once, but if someone reached across me and put money in a machine I was sitting at, they'd have gotten back a bloody stub, not a payout stub.
> ... the casino might end up being fined for failing to
> follow procedures designed to prevent such a problem ...
Uh, sounds like the customers already levied that fine.
> But Caesars intends to try to recover the money ...
Between the loyalty card bettors, and the security cam
footage, they might find many of those people. Whether
they still have the money or not is an open question.
"The casino intends to try to get the money back,"
LOL
No Doubt. What nerve!
I love this!!!!! They are lucky someone told them!
As far as I can tell the casino has to honor the vouchers. They might come on strong and try to intimidate some of the people who benefited, but they can't do much more than that. The money would have to be voluntarily surrendered by the players.
What Caesars may do is threaten to 86 the people, and probably through an agreement with other casinos, get those players 86'd from quite a few casinos.
Nobody asks me if I should get my money back when I *lose* money gambling so why should these people have to turn in the money they made?
If the house is being generous, I assume the house is just generous. After all, it's their business and you assume they know what they're doing.
Just like the gas station that was recently selling gas for $.29 even thought they *thought* they were selling it for $2.95. If the business is too incompetent to run their machines properly, that's their fault.
Caesars intends to try to recover the money
GFL
Y'all aren't asking the critical question my 'spoose' did, which was, "Why in the world did anyone report it!". :)
Yet another reason to avoid those cards.
Boats or no boats.....as you said, your talking about getting back a stub.
If your lucky.
I wasn't aware that people like this could survive High School.
Well, that was my first thought. :~ )
Hey,
Howyadoin?
This is Vinne "The Tuna" Sosombattso.
Ya know da money you stole from us, I mean, you think you won from us????
We needa talk.
Likea, In-person like.....
Thieving is a crime, no matter who the victim is. Despite the fact that it is another "big business" that can "afford" to be ripped off, it is still beholden to it's shareholders, employees, and present and future customers.
The gaming commission has rules in place to prevent casinos from being stupid and losing money? Your government at work...
Let's forget about your 'perched' opinion for a minute...
The player or Caesars employees?
:)
I see your point and a truly moral person should immediately tell the casino that their one-armed bandit machine was going crazy. But was it theft on the part of the players who were just using the casino's machine?
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