Run this scenario through your heads for me bros. Imagine you just lost your job. This is particularly stressful for you because the job you had didn’t leave you with a huge buffer in the bank. Dejected and desperate, you head to the nearest casino to throw your funds in a slot machine because, whatever. You slide one of your last coins into the machine, pull the lever, wipe the tear from your eye, take a long swig of your Captain and Coke, and then read out loud to yourself the text on the screen: Printing Cash Ticket. $42,949,642.76.
Your life has changed forever. All your financial woes have been solved with just one pull of a lever. An all-encompassing joy floods your body. You call loved ones and promise your children one of those Power Wheels that we all wanted growing up.
Then, a suited casino employee approaches you and says: “Just kidding. Technical glitch. You understand, right? You’re still poor.”
You are then thrusted right back into your troubled reality directly after sniffing the high life.
That is exactly what happened to Katrina Bookman, a mother of four, at the Resorts World Casino in Queens.
Bookman thought she had won $43 million on the slot machines before casino staff told her that the win was a technical glitch in the machine, and instead tried to pay her in a steak dinner.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Bookman told the Daily News. “My body went numb.”
The commission claimed the malfunction makes any win null and void even though to the consumer, there was no discernible problem. The slot machine was pulled from the casino floor and fixed after the incident.
Katrina rightfully complained:
“How do we know when there’s a problem with it? Once I hit something, now you’re going to say it’s a problem. I totally don’t think that was fair”
“You offer me a steak dinner? I feel like they did me real dirty.”
A statement from the resort read:
“Upon being notified of the situation, casino personnel were able to determine that the figure displayed on the penny slot was the result of an obvious malfunction — a fact later confirmed by the New York State Gaming Commission,” a Resorts statement said. “Machine malfunctions are rare, and we would like to extend our apologies to Ms. Bookman for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
Bookman’s lawyer, Alan Ripka, insists the casino should honor the payout, claiming if not, the casino can cry glitch every time someone wins.
This is the casino equivalent of having the referees call a bogus call to cost you the game on the last play of the Super Bowl. I’d argue that it’s better to be the Cleveland Browns and never have a taste of everlasting glory. That way, it won’t hurt as much when it’s ripped from your cold, lifeless fingers.
[h/t Daily News]