Posted on 12/13/2011 10:32:40 AM PST by AngelesCrestHighway
It wouldn’t matter whether it was at the gambling mecca of Vegas, or, as in the case of Behar Merlaku, at a little-known casino in the tiny Austrian town of Bregenz – if the bells and lights on the slot machine I’m on start ringing and flashing, telling me I’ve won $57 million, then of course I’ll be planning my retirement. But when Swiss national Merlaku went to claim his jackpot, owners of the casino simply said there’d been a “software error” and that the 26-year-old was therefore not entitled to the big money prize. Instead they offered him $100 and a free meal, which, hardly surprisingly, he rejected. Admittedly, it appeared that the top prize was for a five-slot match, whereas Merlaku had only managed to match four-slots, but with the machine’s screen and accompanying racket telling him he’d won, why wouldn’t he believe it?
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Didn’t Coke or Pepsi do something like this in the Philippines about 10 or so years ago?
No kidding. I was thinking very similar things. This is begging for a lawsuit and a federal investigation.
From the article:
"Admittedly, it appeared that the top prize was for a five-slot match, whereas Merlaku had only managed to match four-slots, "
Swissian is very close to Austrian.
It will make an interesting case. I wouldn't say it is so cut-and-dried though. I don't think anyone can show intent on the part of the casino to defraud. It was an error in the coding. The casino shouldn't always be responsible for every kind of human or machine failure. It's reasonable to limit their liability somewhere too.
I would observe that the machine didn't actually indicate a five-line winner. It indicated a small four-line winner. The mistake was in displaying the value of the pot. This is not unlike, say, winning a hand of blackjack and having the dealer dispense the wrong amount of winnings. If the dealer accidently dispenses a $1000 dollar chip for a $10 dollar winning hand-- it certainly doesn't mean that the player gets to keep the mistaken chip. Say the pit boss sees the mistake and intervenes, I think he's got every right to insist that the player take the proper amount instead.
This is why I don’t gamble. The house always wins, even when it loses.
Maybe they should offer him a free Toy Yoda.
May also be related to Lichtenstinian.
The house always wins even if they have to pay off the judge, threaten the winner or his family, kill people. The legitimate gambling industry is only slightly removed from organised crime.
If you gamble best to do it as entertainment not as some form of income increaser you will always give them more than you take, simply walk in expecting to walk out with nothing and at least you will have the right mind set.
Best to not walk in at all. Your choice!
This is a recurring theme with casinos. Every big win is a software error.
But Obama can read Austrian.;)
No, it’s just news when a malfunction happens. When casinos pay out every day, on a normal machine, it’s not news.
Machine Bites Man.
True and there would be no issue if he had been the player because he would have read and understood all the casino disclaimers printed in bold Austrian at the front door.
I am going to side with the Casino on this one. The rules of the game state what you win for each type of roll. The roll he admits he got was a 4-match, which apparently pays out $100.
The issue is the machine mistakenly reporting what the WIN was for the 4-out-of-5 match. That’s clearly an error, and he had no expectation that he should win more than what he would have expected for his match.
If he had gotten a 5-match, and they tried to argue that the software mistakenly allowed a 5-match to come up because the mis-programmed the random number generator,then I would be on HIS side, since he would have “played the machine” and gotten the 5-match on the machine, and it’s not his fault that they couldn’t get the machine correct.
The only way to win at the casinos is to not play.
A fool and his money....or so the saying goes...
Still, the buffets are awesome. Cheap eats, good offerings, too. I once gorged on Oysters Rockefeller and Lobster for $20..and I guarantee I ate more than Moochelle & her SS boyfriend.
Go to Vegas to people watch and eat. Other than that, you’re on your own, Jobu....
The casino is in AUSTRIA!
I wonder what they can do with our voting machines?
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