Casino Refuses To Pay Winner
Why Would A Casino Refuse to Payout? As the online casino world grows in size, players need to be more cautious than ever before. This is because there are a lot of untrustworthy sites around, many of which will refuse to pay out if you win a large amount. The reason behind this is. Online Casino Refuses To Pay. Finally, Lady Luck smiled at you and you could win a significant amount of money in the casino. But to win – it does not mean to get money, because they are still on the account in the casino, and you need to withdraw them. Usually, a player wins a large jackpot and the casino refuses to pay arguing that the machine wasn’t supposed to award a prize so high. For example, the machine awards a prize of $1.000.000 but the casino says that the top amount is $10.000 and will pay only that much.
Support the independent voice of Miami and help keep the future of New Times free.
On Sunday, a gambler at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa was playing a $4 slot machine when its bells started ringing and an enormous figure began flashing on its jackpot screen: $166,666,666.65. Bill Seebeck thought he was set for life.
Alas, 'twas not to be. After investigating the win, casino officials told him that the machine had malfunctioned and he wouldn't be receiving a cent. The maximum jackpot on the machine is a relatively paltry $90,000- and the gambler wouldn't get that payout either. They even attempted to coerce Seebeck into agreeing to that in writing, but he refused.
It's not the first time the Seminole tribe has pulled a similar gambit. In 2007, a Sunny Isles man was playing the slots at Seminole Hard Rock Resort & Casino in Hollywood when it appeared that he hit a jackpot worth more than $259,000. He was even given an oversized check for the amount- before casino officials attributed the win to a 'computer glitch' and told him he would not be paid. After the story hit was reported in the news, the tribe decided to pay the full amount.
Seebeck probably shouldn't hold his breath for a similar reversal concerning his own enormous jackpot- although you can't blame him for trying. From an ABC news report:
Seebeck says he is looking for a lawyer to help him comprehend the
convoluted federal Indian gaming regulations to possibly pursue legal
action.
Update: Well, that was quick.We just received a statement from Seminole Hard Rock with the news that they've reached a 'good faith' settlement, for an undisclosed amount, with Seebeck. Something about the way this is worded tells us the gambler remains a non-millionaire- although he might have a couple of thousand bucks to whittle away on more slots:
The Seminole Hard Rock Casino Tampa has made an offer to William Seebeck, and he has accepted, recognizing that the slot machine he was playing on Sunday malfunctioned, in what can be best described to the layman as a 'computer glitch.' The maximum payout on the Ultimate Party Spin machine played by Seebeck is $99,000, although his bet of $1.50 at the time of the malfunction could have generated a maximum payout of only $2,500, with the right combination. Determination of a malfunction was made by representatives of the machine's manufacturer and software provider, according to established gaming industry standards, with confirmation from an independent third-party laboratory analysis. The casino has opted to settle this matter for an undisclosed amount as a good faith gesture, and we look forward to welcoming Mr. Seebeck on future visits.
Keep Miami New Times Free... Since we started Miami New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Miami, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our 'I Support' membership program, allowing us to keep covering Miami with no paywalls.
Trending News
Powered by SailThru
Veronica Castillo isn’t a regular at casinos. However, when she ended up going to one a couple of years ago, she had won a staggering $8.5 million after trying her luck on a slot machine. That is, until the casino refused to give her a cash prize. This sent Veronica down a rabbit hole as she learned exactly why the casino decided not to give her the money that was rightfully hers…
Veronica could never have foreseen that she would become the main character of this crazy casino story. As far as she was concerned, she was just looking to get away for the weekend with her mother. The Portland, Oregon woman took her mom to the Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester, Washington. Despite not being a gambler, Veronica wanted to try her luck on some of the slot machines. In a way though, it actually made sense that Veronica was so interested in numbers…
Seeing that she is a mortgage consultant with nearly two decades worth of experience under her belt, it is safe to say that Veronica understands how money works really well. So when she was stripped of her $8.5 million winnings during her trip to the casino, she was convinced that something wasn’t quite right. For someone who knows numbers, things simply didn’t add up. However, she did not suspect anything when she entered the casino…
Immediately, Veronica was dazzled by the bright lights and sounds of Lucky Eagle Casino. In an instant, she understood what all the fuss was about and why people love going to casinos. All the signs pointed to her wanting to try her luck on some of the slot machines. These tall, mysterious machines are extremely popular due to how easy they are to use and their bright, luring lights. However, there was one particular slot machine that piqued her interest…
It seems that Veronica is a huge fan of dinosaurs because the slot machine that caught her attention was a prehistoric themed one called “Jurassic Riches.” Not thinking too much of it, Veronica had chosen her machine and was about to make her move. However, before she did that, she sat down and thought about some of the things she already knew about slot machines, and gambling in general. Nevertheless, this wouldn’t take anything away from how excited she was…
Ultimately, Veronica knew that there was a good chance that she would walk out of that casino empty handed. However, this didn’t stop her from going in there with her mother and having a great time. She was excited by the mystery. Having rarely gambled in her life, this was pretty much new territory for her. She was aware that casino games tend to favor the casino. However, she had limited knowledge about the intricate systems behind a slot machine…
It takes a lot of sophistication and ingenuity to engineer a successfully functioning slot machine. They usually include a random number generator and a number of intricate systems within the machine. This means that slot machines have a near-infinite amount of combinations to make the results as random as possible. As for Veronica, she wasn’t clued up on the intricacies of slot machines. All she was interested in was trying her luck, just once, and then she would get on with her life.
Unlike other casino-goers, who will spend an entire day on the same slot machine, pulling the lever until they get a cash prize, Veronica did things differently. Having not caught a gambling bug, all she wanted to do was choose a random machine, which she did, put a note in it, and see what would happen. So she inserted $100, pulled the lever, and hoped for a good result. Nothing could prepare her for what the slot machine would end up showing her…
When everything was said and done, Veronica couldn’t believe what she was seeing. On the screen of “Jurassic Riches,” it said that she had won over $8.5 million! $8,589,298.90, to be precise! She had never really won anything in her life and now, she had won a sum of money that was, without a shadow of a doubt, life-changing! Naturally, she was completing surprised by the outcome and in an interview, she recalled her initial reaction after seeing that figure of money.
In an interview with Inside Edition, Veronica was simply asked what it was like to win $8.5 million. Her answer was pretty understandable. “I was in shock,” she said. “[And] was excited.” She also reiterated her feelings in an interview with KOIN 6, saying the following: “I was very excited and happy…couldn’t believe it.” During those initial few minutes after winning the jackpot, the biggest question going through Veronica’s mind was what she could do with that sort of money…
Seeing that she was already a successful mortgage loan officer, Veronica was pretty happy with her life prior to this incredible moment. As a result, she was struggling to work out what she would do with such a large sum of money. One thing was for sure though, she could probably buy anything she wanted. Also, she would never have to work another day in her life. However, these dreams were about the be shattered in a matter of minutes…
As members of staff came towards her, Veronica assumed they were simply coming over to congratulate her for winning the jackpot prize. However, she assumed wrong. It turns out that the reason the staff members arrived on the scene was that they wanted to shut down the slot machine. “They come to me and say, ‘We have to shut off the machine,'” she said. But that was just the start of her terrible experience at the Lucky Eagle…
Not only did the workers at the casino shut down the “Jurassic Riches” slot machine, they also came to inform Veronica that she hadn’t actually won anything. “Then I was like asking ‘What about the prize?” she said. “And they said, ‘there’s no prize.’ It was horrible.” Completely confused and distraught by what they were telling her, Veronica had a million questions and demanded answers in that very instant. However, things only seemed to get worse…
While she had plenty of questions that she wanted answers to immediately, the staff at the Lucky Eagle desperately tried to appease her with some sort of instant compensation. However, Veronica couldn’t believe her eyes when one of the workers gave her a ticket worth $80. $80.35, to be precise! This meant that Veronica received a one-hundred-thousandth of what she thought she’d get. Nevertheless, she was still determined to find out the reason that her dream jackpot had gone wrong…
In short, the staff explained to Veronica that the slot machine she had been using had malfunctioned. Despite displaying the $8.5 million on her screen, it was actually a display error. Naturally dumbfounded by the explanation, Veronica couldn’t believe what they were telling her. Still unconvinced by their reasons, CEO John Setterstrom began to break down some key rules that would hopefully set the record straight – most notably, a sticker that rested on the side of each slot machine…
John Setterstrom was quick to explain that his casino was able to retrieve any crucial data to prove that what Veronica saw was actually faulty. “We have backup systems as well, and screenshot systems and systems that are built within the systems that can accurately depict and we can show it to the guest,” he said. More importantly, though, the CEO showed KOIN6‘s Lisa Balick some of the casino rules. One of them claims that “machine malfunction voids all pays and plays.”
Casino Refuses To Pay Jackpot Winner
Although the casino executives tried to explain to her what had happened, Veronica simply wasn’t buying it. As far as she was concerned, the casino was “cheating” and trying to avoid paying her what was rightfully hers. “To me, it’s deceiving, it’s cheating, it might even be fraudulent,” she said in an interview. “My first thought was ‘how many times did they have these kinds of instances and people walking away thinking they have won and going empty-handed?”
Lisa Balick, who works for KOIN6, took it upon herself to do some digging of her own, in an attempt to set things straight. When she called the CEO of Lucky Eagle Casino, John Setterstrom, she was surprised by what he had to say. “Obviously, $8 million, there’s no machine in the state that pays that,” he told her. “This has never happened there before.” Furthermore, the casino tried to make amends for what had happened…
CEO John Setterstrom revealed that in his 20+ years at the casino, he had never witnessed a situation quite like this one. He also said that he was planning on getting to the bottom of what exactly went wrong in the “Jurassic Riches” slot machine. And it’s not just the casino who launched a full investigation. The manufacturer of the machine, Rocket Gaming Systems revealed that they are going to work out the cause of the malfunction. That’s not all though…
Shortly after the slot machine fiasco, the casino issued a formal statement, proving that they were taking the situation seriously. They were as determined as Veronica to get to the bottom of the error. However, the casino also shared information in an attempt to prove that the slot machine had, in fact, malfunctioned. They also reiterated what John Setterstrom had confirmed in the interview, that the machine has a maximum jackpot of $20,000. But the casino wasn’t out of the woods just yet…
Casino Refuses To Pay Winner
While the casino was adamant that the slot machine Veronica used had displayed an error, causing the confusion, they still wanted to apologize to her for the inconvenience. The casino issued a formal apology, expressing “deep regret” over what had transpired. The staff at the Lucky Eagle didn’t realize how machine errors can be traumatic for their users. Nevertheless, Veronica was feeling in the mood to forgive the casino for their faux pas. And that wasn’t all they did for her…
Casino Refuses To Pay Jackpot Winner
The casino didn’t just issue a formal apology to Veronica for the inconvenience. It also made a concerted effort to make her feel better, by supplying her with a number of freebies. In order to compensate her for her misfortunes, the casino gave her a weekend stay at the hotel free of charge, with meals included. However, this is certainly not the end of the story. As far as Veronica is concerned, she has some unfinished business…
Casino Refuses To Pay Winner
Despite the casino trying their best to appease her, Veronica isn’t satisfied. She wants to get an attorney, in an attempt to get what she believes is rightfully hers. And if she doesn’t win her case, she at least wants to share her story with the world. “What I expect at the very least, is to create awareness about how the casinos work, when the players get the big winnings!” she wrote. Whatever happens, we hope that Veronica gets some sort of happy ending.