The house always wins...
A 72 year old woman who hoped to take her winnings to 'buy a trailer' for her son is being told by Bally's in Atlantic City that the $2 million jackpot she claims she won was invalid and the result of a 'technical glitch'.
As a result, Bally's - along with game manufacturer IGT - are refusing to pay the money out.
Gambler Roney Beal told 6ABC in an Action News Investigation that "at the end of February, she went to Bally's and dumped hundreds of dollars into a Wheel of Fortune machine".
Then, according to her, the unthinkable happened. She hit a $1.2 million jackpot - with a 2x multiplier. "And it went off, says, 'you're a winner' and gold coins popped out. This very nice guy says, 'Oh my God, you hit, you hit!' He said, 'Lady you're a millionaire.' And I'm like, 'Oh my God!'"
After the slot went off, she hit the 'service' button - and that's when the machine displayed a "tilt" message.
Beal told ABC: "That's when the sentences came up 'tilted'. When the man came over to talk to me he said, 'Lady, get it in your head, you won nothing.'"
The casino told her the machine had a 'reel tilt' which voided her win. She said the slot attendant asked her to "spin it off" but she refused. "He had it rolling real slow. He had it opened and then he is pushing it," she told ABC.
The attendant then offered her $350. Her attorney, Mike Dicroce, said: "They fooled with the machine before anybody else had the opportunity to take a look at this."
"You invite somebody to your business. They pay the money, they win, you're supposed to pay. That didn't happen," he added, claiming he has gone to the New Jersey Game Enforcement Division over the incident.
He has asked to "preserve the machine and casino floor videos for an independent forensic review," the report says.
A similar incident happened in 2000, he said: "IGT took the position that look even though aesthetically these symbols came up it wasn't a win because the computer says it wasn't a win." In that case, a jury decided IGT had to pay the $1.3 million jackpot.
"Why would I ever go to a casino again in my life? Any casino? Why, if there is no hope," Beal concluded.
