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.
They have ALREADY got it back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree.
They may find those people, but in reality they people are not required to give the money back.
It was the casinos fault they lost it.
I hate tattletalers.
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