Many people play slot machines in pursuit of jackpots. However, some slots jackpot winners don’t receive their prizes.
Casinos that don’t pay usually do so for one reason: machine malfunctions. Of course, the public is often outraged when they read of such incidents.
The common response is: “Casinos can win our money but won’t pay when they lose.” But are slots jackpot winners really getting screwed over in these cases?
Famous Incidents Where Slots Jackpot Winners Weren’t Paid
Several stories come to mind when regarding non-paid winners. Pauline Mckee, a 90-year-old grandmother, didn’t receive a $41.8 million jackpot that she won in Iowa.
Recently, a woman didn’t receive an $8.5 million jackpot at Four Queens Casino. Four years ago, another New Yorker named Katrina Bookman didn’t get to collect a $43 million prize.
Each of these stories involves somebody who watched a massive slots payout flash on their screen. However, they didn’t actually get the fortune, because they were the recipient of a machine malfunction.
How Can Casinos Get Away Without Paying?
Slots jackpot winners are seemingly entitled to their payouts. However, a deeper look suggests they may not actually deserve such wins in every case.
Problem number one, each game is only programmed to pay up to a certain amount. A slot machine with a $5,000 top prize can’t legitimately pay $10 million.
Most malfunctions that award huge jackpots are on such machines. The player receives a payout that is vastly higher than what they should.
The second problem is that casinos feature disclaimers on slot machines that get them out of having to pay in such scenarios. The disclaimers typically note, “All pays and plays voided on a malfunction.”
Players don’t like to accept such excuses when they feel that they’ve won big. However, these disclaimers are all that casinos need to win in court.