$57 Million Slot Machine Win Blamed on Software Error, Casino Won't Pay

[Guardian of Nekops]

If your machine had a bug and DIDN'T register that he'd won when he DID, would you seek him out and pay him? No. You would not.

99.99% of the time, you take people's money and give them nothing back. Over coin tosses and card flips and other arbitrary games. The only scrap of honor left to you is to pay up with good grace when someone wins.

If you've got a buggy machine that hands out wins too often, then tough luck. Unless he hacked it, that's all on you. Get it fixed and pay the man, that's part of the price of doing business in this COMPLETELY ARBITRARY business of yours. Again, I'm darn sure that you aren't handing out money when they break the other way, so stop trying to weasel your way out of it.

Hundred bucks and a free meal, indeed... I bet he spent more than that there that NIGHT. Might as well offer him a damn T-shirt.

 

[SwagLordYoloson]

That is one gamble the casino lost.

 

[Prince Regent]

Even though it's unlikely the man will get his 50 million in court, the casino should offer him 1 milion. The man will likely take it and it will create some PR and if the man doesn't take it he'll be a moneygrabing bastard, wich in turn will create some PR for the casino too.

 

[Guffe]

Casinos fault for not using the good old mechanical ones instead of this, they use machines they better know the risks they take. It's the same as me using a phone and expecting it to work every second I use it. (well not really but you get the point)
And if he paid 4 out of 5 slots shouldn't he get like 4/5 of the prize? I'd settle for 32million euros xD

 

[Memoriae]

Nah, 4/5 matches would probably be about ?1000.

What they should do to save face, is probably pay the winnings to the guy, and then sue the shit out of whoever provided them with the faulty machine, as it looks like it's a 100% software one. Compensation, plus whatever they paid out as a settlement to the guy. Everyone is happy, and the people who's fault it actually is are the ones who pay.

 

[Mr.Tophat]

I'm pretty sure a 4 match up is worth some money, why not just give him that? I mean, might not be the jackpot, but its probably worth more than a 100$.

 

[DTWolfwood]

its disheartening that ppl are taking the Casino's side on this <.< WTF happened to us when we take the side of an operation that is design to win your hard earned money rather than the Lucky schmuck who hit the jack pot?

Well good luck to the man. I hope he wins.

 

[cgaWolf]

I doubt there's any way this guy can win a legal battle against a casino. All the casino is going to do is drag it out in court until he can no longer financially keep it up.

You have the US legal system in mind - it doesn't really work that way in Austria. While lawyers aren't necessarily cheap, the rates are fixed by law, and if he has legal insurance (quite common in the DACH region), he can keep it up a long time; while simultaneously the ways to delay & drag out a court case are much more limited than in the US.
Any court case will move slow (as people who've been to court will know), but it's not like there are million of pages of documents to work through, so once the process starts (january IIRC), it will move along at normal pace.

The problem the guy has is the 4/5 stars and that evidence wasn't secured (neither the machine, nor videotapes, a witness wasn't contacted during the criminal case, etc..); in addition to jackpot limits being ~2m; this machine normally has a maximum payout limit of 4500 Euro.
On the plus side, a) he's not liable for software errors, b) the software error wasn't proven in the (dismissed) criminal case - there's really no way to predict how a judge will decide, so unless they come to a settlement, this will go to the supreme court.

For now, he's asking for 5m Euro, might be a smart move for the casino to settle, before a judge determines that they are liable for software errors of their machines. (Settling doesn't imply guilt, but can prevent a judgement you may want to prevent as prior law for future cases)

(ps: i can source above info, but it's in german )

 

[Mortuorum]

This is pretty much a big "suck it up" moment for the casino. Pay the man his money, fix your software and chalk it up as a (very large) PR expense.

How many other businesses can get away with the "oops my bad" defense? I work in banking. If we screw up and underdisclose someone's APR on a mortgage, you can bet your ass that we would get ass-reamed by the courts (and the FDIC, OTS, FFIEC, State Department of Banking, etc.) if we tried to weasel out using a "software error" defense.

And the numbers we're talking about in my example are much smaller than what's on the line at any big casino on any given day. When there's $57 million on the line, you test the living hell out of your software before putting it into production and you still buy insurance to protect you against errors like this.

 

[Drake666]

I doubt there's any way this guy can win a legal battle against a casino. All the casino is going to do is drag it out in court until he can no longer financially keep it up.

You have the US legal system in mind - it doesn't really work that way in Austria. While lawyers aren't necessarily cheap, the rates are fixed by law, and if he has legal insurance (quite common in the DACH region), he can keep it up a long time; while simultaneously the ways to delay & drag out a court case are much more limited than in the US.
Any court case will move slow (as people who've been to court will know), but it's not like there are million of pages of documents to work through, so once the process starts (january IIRC), it will move along at normal pace.

The problem the guy has is the 4/5 stars and that evidence wasn't secured (neither the machine, nor videotapes, a witness wasn't contacted during the criminal case, etc..); in addition to jackpot limits being ~2m; this machine normally has a maximum payout limit of 4500 Euro.
On the plus side, a) he's not liable for software errors, b) the software error wasn't proven in the (dismissed) criminal case - there's really no way to predict how a judge will decide, so unless they come to a settlement, this will go to the supreme court.

For now, he's asking for 5m Euro, might be a smart move for the casino to settle, before a judge determines that they are liable for software errors of their machines. (Settling doesn't imply guilt, but can prevent a judgement you may want to prevent as prior law for future cases)

(ps: i can source above info, but it's in german )

You really look like to know your legal system (you're Austrian ?). You're studying in law school ?

 

[PH3NOmenon]

I'm going with the 5th one jammed and he really did get 5 in a row and the software read it as such so yeah he should get the money.

I'm going with this as well. Or the machine was poorly calibrated or something. It could have very well been a hardware error.

Either way, the machine told him he won. Pay the man.

The casino can then go back and sue the company who made the slot machine for that amount because they sold them faulty machines.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Here's a question: If it had pulled up 5 reels and NOT screamed he won, would the casino have gleefully paid out anyway?

Probably not, the unspoken truth is they make the rules of who wins and who doesn't and if they don't want to pay up there is nothing you can do.

Sure you can always go to court but guess who has more money for fancy lawyers...

 

[jboking]

Well this sucks, but if it can be proven to be a software error, he won't get his money. I mean, if he only lined up four and he had to line up five for the jackpot, it can be a proven software issue. However, if they can't prove that, they damn well better pay. I mean, if they get away in court with calling this a software error, they could do this anytime anyone gets a jackpot. silliness.

They should pay up. It told him he won, so he should win. Whether only 4 of the 5 slots came up is kinda irrelevant in my opinion when the machine is blaring noises and victory music at you and you are stuck dumb with a sum of ?43 million that you think should be yours!

Sorry, but what special did your avatar come from?

 

[pirateninj4]

If it was a computing error, which not actually getting all five slots but "winning" indicates, then he shouldn't get the money, because he actually didn't win, the machine said he did, but machines can be wrong, and the casino shouldn't suffer for it.

Lol. I like how you said the casino shouldn't suffer. As if the casino was a person. And it had a heart and could feel emotions.

 

[jakeblues69]

The 'Software Error' clause is in every casino. The one I used to work at had it written on every slot machine, "Malfunction voids prize wins".

This. I've worked in the business for 11 years now and it's on every machine. I used to love it when some scamming shithead would spin away all his credits, then tale a bottle cap to scratch the touch screen right over the "spin" button and play it out like they are some kind of victim.

 

[cswurt]

I don't know this guy.
I don't know this casino.
I've never been to this country.

I don't care what these people do.
But because I have an undying hatred for my fellow man, I hope he loses his case and ends up having to pay tons of legal fees.

 

[Silent Biohazard Solid]

How do we know the error was in the software? Maybe the error was in the slot itself, and even though it was supposed to match all 5, the fifth slot didn't get stuck or something by accident?... Actually, yeah, exactly what kebab4you said.

 

[Axyun]

Of course the casino should pay up.

I imagine that if there are errors that tell you you've won when you haven't, there are also errors that don't tell you you've won when you have. Does the casino make it a point to pay up the people that have had this (if any) happen to them? Of course not! So why should the casino be the benefactor under both scenarios.

 

[lacktheknack]

Nope, the casino is in the right.

I don't really care that the software error'd, he still didn't fulfill the requirements of the Jackpot. Then again, as a comp-sci student, and I have to ask... How on Earth do you screw this up?