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- A man who won nearly $230,000 playing slots in Las Vegas returned home, having no idea he was a winner.
- After a complicated investigation, the Nevada Gaming Board finally tracked the man down.
- Read more news about gambling here.
Imagine traveling out of state to Las Vegas. You hit up a casino and decide to play some slots. After not winning, you head home. Then you find out that on one of your slot pulls you actually won almost $230,000 and you didn’t even collect it while you were there.
Because that exact thing happened to a man from Arizona named Robert Taylor.
Taylor, while visiting the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on January 8th, played some slots, went home, and did not collect $200… or well, in this case, $230,000.
The reason given for why Taylor did know about his lucky windfall was due to a “communications error” – i.e. the loud bells and flashing lights didn’t go bonkers when he hit the jackpot.
An elaborate investigation was conducting by Nevada gaming authorities
Only thanks to a investigation conducted by multiple agents of the Nevada Gaming Board that involved, according to a press release, “the review of multiple hours of surveillance footage across multiple gaming properties, numerous witness interviews, a study of electronic purchase records, and the analysis of rideshare data obtained the Nevada Transportation Authority and a rideshare company,” did he get his money.
“The Nevada Gaming Control Board is charged with the strict regulation of the gaming industry, the protection of the gaming public, and ensuring that the industry benefits the State of Nevada,” stated James Taylor, chief of the Nevada Gaming Board’s Enforcement Division. “I commend the agents of the Enforcement Division, particularly Agent Dan Nuqui, for ensuring that the public trust in the gaming industry remains strong by spending countless hours over two weeks to ensure that a patron is awarded winnings owed to him. I’d also like to thank the Nevada Transportation Authority for their assistance in confirming the identity of the patron. This has been a great example of government working together for the benefit of the public.”
So after “multiple attempts” to identify the patron by the casino were unsuccessful, and a complex investigation, Taylor was notified on January 28th – 20 days after he actually won – that he will be collecting $229,368.52.
According to the Nevada Gaming Board press release, Taylor “will collect his winnings at Treasure Island Hotel & Casino this weekend.”
If he’s smart, once he gets his money he will walk straight out of the casino and never look back.