Posted on 03/30/2010 8:02:27 PM PDT by Fractal Trader
When the lights and bells went off at a slot machine at the Fortune Valley Casino, in Central City, Colo., Louise Chavez thought she had the win of a lifetime -- $42 million.
Louise Chavez was told that her slot machine mistakenly spewed the money. But after the casino claimed the machine malfunctioned, all Chavez got was a few dollars, some free meals and a room for the night.
Colorado gaming officials are investigating the incident, but said it could be nothing more than an unfortunate computer glitch. Chavez may not see a dime.
"I put my money in there," Chavez told "Good Morning America." "Whatever I won, I should get... There are dreams and there are things I'd like to do -- helping my family, helping my kids. That's why I'm disappointed. I just don't know."
The Denver woman can remember all too clearly when she thought her life had changed.
"All of a sudden I saw the light come on on top of the machine," Chavez told "Good Morning America." "I'm like, 'Oh, my God! Oh, my God!' I'd never had this feeling before in my life, never."
The payout she was expecting? $42,949,673. She said she usually makes about $12,000 per year as an in-home personal care provider.
But champagne and caviar dreams quickly evaporated. Casino employees told Chavez the slot machine had malfunctioned.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
No, they are all 'programmed' now so the casino will know exactly how much they will make, and when they will pay out.
So how do we know that the machine is malfunctioning and not paying out? I could argue that I did not win because the machine was malfunctioning and did not pay me.
It malfunctioned because she actually won. I smell lawsuit.
If this gambling is a true game of luck, she deserves the money.
If it is a sophisticated and calculating way to strip people of their money, the Caveat Emptor!
That being said, I have only two words of advice for her:
JURY TRIAL!
Seems like every time someone wins a significant amount on slot machines in a casino it is contested by the casinos as a mechanical malfunction and the winner loses. I say, if the machine malfunctions it the casinos loss, after all it is their machine.
What about the times the computer malfunctions and does not notify you that you won and you never know? Goes both ways. The woman should win big in her lawsuit!
Sounds familiar....kinda like the Casino is run by the dimocrats’ health care plan. Take your money & withhold a payoff claiming it was a malfunction!
That’s horsehocky. While I don’t gamble and think it’s a horrible horrible habit, I feel for this woman. If it said she won the money then she won the money. The casino should pay up and sue the machine manufacturer if they think it was a glitch.
Watch these war-hoops next try the claim that they aren’t subject to US Laws.
Anyone putting their money into a slot machine should know its not greatly different than putting their money in a slot in the sidewalk. That goes double for anyone going to any Indian casino, they don’t even pretend to be honest.
sue... jury trial ... go for triple damages and emotional duress
guaranteed winner (I’d love to be an attorney.. I’d take that case in a blink)
:)
She should get the maximum payout of the machine. If no maximum is listed to the customer, she should get the $42 million.
=)
LOL! The machine is set so that no one wins the grand prize. It’s a malfunction... I would NEVER go back to that place again. What a joke!
I agree if that machine starts flashing 42 million they had better pay up!
Yeah, the machine is dyslexic, pay me 24 million and we'll call it even.
NEVER GAMBLE WITH INDIANS!!!
I have a pal who is an exec at a Nevada casino, and he explained how these things work:
Machines (slots) have little computer things that have a rotation of all the possible outcomes. If a machine goes a lone time without a big payoff, the losing outcomes have been spent, just like a blackjack shoe that has spent a lot of cards without many aces.
In Nevada, they leave the hot cards/chips in place, and you can walk up and have a nice chance to win. In “Indian Territory” they note when the chips are hot, and PULL THEM our of the machines, replacing them with fresh even-odds chips.
So, the deal is that you have the same odds in Indian and Nevada casinos if you have a fresh chip, but when you realize how the Indians pull the hot chips, a random, typical machine is much less favorable in “Indian Territory” Because they leave the depleted chips, and pull the hot ones.
I refuse even to buy gas on “the res” because I assume that the state standards inspectors don’t verify that the gas pumps are honest.
Yeah, and she was ready to be milked. I think it’s outrageous that the casino is refusing to pay out, but she makes 12 grand a year and was in there playing 20 dollar slot machines.
When I read this story, that kept jumping out at me. I see people all the time in convenience stores buying ten and twenty dollar scratch off tickets, and I’d bet most of them make less than twenty grand a year. I’m not rich by any means, but I make multiple multiples of what she makes and I would feel like an idiot putting twenty bucks in a slot machine.
Gambling at casinos has never appealed to me at all. I don’t believe in the Easter Bunny and I don’t believe I’m going to win big at a casino. When Texas first started the lottery I bought a few tickets; I’ve spent maybe forty bucks on one dollar tickets, total. I quit when I realized that I’d stacked up about five of them and hadn’t even bothered to check the numbers cause I knew I wouldn’t win. So I checked them and sure enough, I had something like three total number matches out of all five cards. The only way I’ll get rich is by working and investing and taking care of business. Apparently, though, gambling appeals to a lot of people
not the first that has been on F. R. in the last couple of months..
These are not indian casinos. Colorado has legalized gambling in the old mining towns. Central City and Cripple Creek are both gaming towns and no indians that I am aware of.
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