They Offered Her a Steak Dinner Instead of the $43 Million

Katrina Bookman Katrina Bookman had just won $43 million on a New York City Slot Machine! All of her dreams were about to come true. However, the casino had other ideas. Legal battles ensued, and the word 'Malfunction'. quickly became Katrina’s least favorite word of all time! “Lucky” Spin When Katrina Bookman walked into the Resorts World Casino in Jamaica Queens, New York City,. she planned to play a cheap game to blow off a little steam. She avoided the more expensive machines, like, the Megabucks slots with a $100 minimum to play. Instead, she went and found a relatively inexpensive, penny slot machine, the Sphinx Wild. Katrina put her pennies in and played to win. While all gamblers dream of winning big, few. truly believe it'll ever happen. Besides, how can you be sure about a luck-based, game? This probably made it all the more astonishing, to her and her partner when they won. Instead of the standard payout, a different, message popped up, "PRINTING CASH TICKET: $42,949,672 PLEASE REMOVE TICKET". Katrina later told interviewers that she couldn't help making plans with the money then and there. She even mentally put aside $1 million to, make her son's dream of owning a barbershop come true. Official Ruling. Katrina's dreams were brought to an abrupt end when casino managers ushered her off the. gambling floor. Of course, as anyone would, she asked about, her winnings. The Casino told her to come back tomorrow, for the official ruling. The only thing she expected to hear was, here. are your winnings Ms. Bookman. Instead, she got a vague answer and was sent. home. With the terminology "official ruling" being, used, it was clear that the winnings were in question, which couldn't have been easy, for Katrina. The would-be millionaire told interviewers. that she grew up very poor and bounced around foster homes and was even homeless for a time. She also raised four children as a single, mother, so the struggle is something she knows. Poor Katrina must have felt as if she'd been. saved from all her struggles. She was quoted as saying, "I kept thinking. about my family. The struggle I've been through, it's hard. to cope." She knew that she was about to change her family's destiny, but it was all called into question. It must have been hard to sleep that night. as she thought about her winnings. Judging from the picture she took before the ticket finished printing, it's safe to assume that she told multiple people. She more than likely called her family and told them that she would make all their dreams come true. The thought of letting them all down would, have been a hefty burden to bear. You are guaranteed a payout if you win a game in a casino, right? Well, this isn't actually the case. There are quite a few situations when a casino can withhold your winnings and send you out empty-handed. The first and seemingly most simple one is if you do not have a valid ID . Before a casino gives you any money, they have to run a check. on you and can't if you don't have identification. The second can happen when they run your name through the GIP to see if you owe any money to the government. If you're flagged in the system, then your, earnings go toward your debt. The last and most relevant one to our story

is if a slot machine malfunctions. While it may seem unfair to the would-be winners, casinos are not obligated to pay due to some business-friendly laws. Nothing, Unsure of what would happen but determined to get her winnings, Katrina went back to, the Resorts World Casino and spoke to a representative. She knew something was wrong but wasn't ready, for the news she was about to receive. When she asked the Rep, "what'd I win?', he, responded, "you didn't win nothing." At the very least, it seemed like an inappropriate double negative, and at the worst, it crushed her dreams. This realization was like a slap in the face. to Katrina. Her ideas of salvation were snatched away. in an instant. In her mind, the Casino had taken away her, power to make her family's dreams come true. This loss had to have been devastating for. the single mother of four. The Rep told her that instead of the $43 million she thought she won, her spin was actually worth $2.25. She went from plans on buying whatever she, wanted to plans on buying a dollar menu burger. She also said that they offered her a free. steak dinner which was like adding insult to injury. Katrina couldn't believe what she was told, and refused any offers on the Casino's part. She left without any winnings that day, but. she wasn't done yet. Katrina was going to contact a lawyer and see if she had a case to sue the Casino. Casino Version The Casino seems like a bully at first glance, but with even a minor glance at their side of things, it becomes easy to understand why they didn't pay Katrina the winnings. The important thing to note is the machine, Katrina was playing on. Its malfunction was evident to the Casino from the start. If Katrina had claimed the prize money, she. would have broken the record for highest slot payout. However, the only type of slots that go that. high have progressive jackpots. All that means is that for every person that. loses the game, the jackpot increases. The Sphinx Wild Slot is an inexpensive slot, machine with a maximum payout of $6,500 and no progressive jackpot. She couldn't win that money; it was impossible. While $6500 isn't a terrible prize by any means, it's a far cry from the millions Katrina thought she had won. The Casino's findings were later confirmed, when the New York State Gaming Commission determined the machine to be faulty. All slot machines come with a sticker that. states, "Malfunction Voids All Pays and Plays," this just means that the Casino isn't liable, for any situations caused by a faulty machine. The whole situation may seem cruel, but the rule has to be in place when machines are involved. For example, let's pretend a roulette dealer accidentally calls out your number instead of the actual winning number. Their mistake—or malfunction, if you will—. doesn't mean you’d get paid. Believing you would get paid in that situation is a bit silly and naive. The Casino shouldn’t have to pay out when the prize isn't actually won. The Nevada Gaming Board has ruled that a casino. is not liable for misunderstandings caused by a malfunctioning machine. There reasoning behind this is relatively, simple, the game is meant to pick a random array of symbols when a button is pushed or a handle is pulled. A malfunction can interrupt this process,.

changing the random order that the symbols would end up in. Some of the confusion is caused by manufacturers. designing the machines to briefly align on the jackpot when malfunctioning. While that seems like a really dumb design flaw, it happens. The Gaming Board wants the game to be played, fairly on all sides, and a malfunctioning machine can no longer facilitate the game. Bookman Version. With the Nevada Gaming Board's ruling, it was very clear that the machine was busted. However, this wouldn’t slow Katrina or her, lawyer down one bit as they tried to get her prize money. The argument became about two things. The first was an argument stating that the. Casino's negligence could have caused the malfunction, making them liable for some compensation. The second was whether the Casino should pay. damages for the stress that the situation caused Katrina. In an interview with ABC News, her lawyer, Alan Ripka, stated, "You can't claim a machine is broken because you want it to be broken. Does that mean it wasn't inspected? Does it mean it wasn't maintained? And if so, does that mean that people that, played there before Bookman had zero chance of winning?" Ripka requested answers to these questions. and the exact nature and name of the malfunction, but he was denied at every turn. The Resorts World casino kept very tight-lipped, about their side of things and wouldn't give Ripka an inch. IGT, the company that makes the slot machines, was also named as a defendant in the case. They, too, refused to comment. Ripka and his client's whole argument hinged. on the Casino being at fault for not maintaining the machines. However, this is a weak argument. The machines run 24/7, and the possibility. of them breaking down is too large for preventative measures to be effective. After getting no answers, Ripka believed negligence, to be the cause of all of this. He said that his client suffered "mental anguish". and "significant" financial loss due to the whole situation. He was quoted as saying, "They win, and the. house doesn't want to payout; to me, that's unfair. The machine takes your money when you lose. It ought to pay it when you win." While going after the whole $43 million that. Katrina's ticket said she won, Ripka seemingly knew that his client would never win that. Instead, he told interviewers his client should get the max payout that her machine could give, which was $6,500. Katrina readily agreed with him and hoped. this would be the least she was awarded. Katrina's case was settled out of court, and nobody but those involved know what they agreed on. Did Katrina get her money? Did the Casino just shove her to the side? If she didn't get some kind of satisfactory. compensation, we imagine she'd be very vocal about it. It's safe to assume that they settled and. had to keep it quiet so scammers wouldn't try to use it as a loophole to rip off casinos. Other Malfunctions. This definitely isn't the first or last time malfunctioning slot machines make headlines. Behar Melaku's case was an interesting one. On the machine he was using, you need five, jackpots to win. He only got four, but the slot still told, him he had won $58 million. This was obviously an error for multiple reasons. One, he didn't even get the win condition which is hitting five jackpots. Two, not only was this payout higher than the machine could give, it would have also been breaking the law. In Austria, the law states that the maximum, you can win is 2 million. This case was so obviously a malfunction that, Melaku didn't have a leg to stand on. Another of these cases involves a man named, Joe Pepitone. He’s a butcher from Las Vegas, and Joe tried. his luck at a casino one night after work. He thought he hit it big when the reels hit, the jackpot, and his machine told him his prize was $463,895 dollars! Unfortunately, a jamming error caused the, machine to roll its reels backward to reset itself. This malfunction made it seem like Joe won, the jackpot, but it only counts if it were part of the machine's Random Number Generation. It seems like no matter what you do, if there’s a malfunction, you're not getting paid! Click to watch one of these next videos!,