A woman who appeared to win a life-changing $42.9 million jackpot at a New York City casino is threatening to sue after being told the big payout she was shown was simply the result of a malfunction.
Katrina Bookman was playing the penny slot machine at Resorts World Casino in August when it displayed a message that read, “Printing Cash Ticket. $42,949,642.76.” She even took a selfie next to the screen to celebrate. But when Bookman tried to collect, the casino told her it was all a big mistake and she was only owed the $2.25 balance she had on the machine.
“Machine malfunctions are rare, and we would like to extend our apologies to Ms. Bookman for any inconvenience this may have caused,” the casino said in a statement
The New York State Gaming Commission investigated and said the bogus payout was “clearly a display malfunction.” The machine was taken out of service, repaired and put back a day later, the commission said.
The machine’s maximum payout is $6,500. Resorts World tells The Associated Press that the Gaming Commission told it the casino cannot legally pay Bookman even that amount because a malfunction voids all plays under state law. However, the Gaming Commission told the AP that there are no rules barring Resorts World from offering Bookman money to resolve the situation, even though she didn’t win anything.
Resorts World said Bookman printed out a voucher ticket to receive her $2.25 balance on the machine, but her lawyer disputes that.
Alan Ripka sent a letter to the casino demanding it resolve what he describes as “a terrible situation.” The casino responded that the machine’s manufacturer should be held liable, Ripka said. He believes a lawsuit could be Bookman’s only option and added that the court can figure out who’s at fault.
Ripka is hoping Resorts World will “come up with a resolution” to the dispute. He questions whether the broken machine means everyone who used it prior to Bookman should also get their money back.
“If the machine was broken, does that mean nobody could have ever been a winner?”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
I’ll never go there again. It’s the
Responsibility of the casino to
Take good care of their machines.
So it’s… If you win …. Too bad.
They won’t pay. Shame shame
On the casino..what a crock..
wHAT KIND OF DUMP IS THAT THAT CANT PAY OUT $6000.OO DOLLARS TO GET RID OF A MISTAKE.
I agree with you!
This has to be a malfunction.The payout on penny machines is very low.
I agree that payout on penny slots—however there are some that are connected with others — even what machines in other casinos that do have large payouts. But my question is how could a penny machine display those kinds of numbers if it was programed to pay out that large amount?
If a penny slot it does seem silly to pretend not to recognise that it wouldn’t in the normal course of things pay out anything approaching the huge payment mentioned.
I won (or so the machine said) $4,500 on a slot machine.
The bells went off. One by one technicians came over and each $ of them) ran through the
machines system. Then lower management came over. Then upper management did also.
Approximately 11 people got involved to eventually tell me that the machine (whose screen said
I had won the money) had malfunctioned and that they could only give me back my initial bet!!
For shame!