Man Has No Clue He Won $229K Vegas Jackpot, Faulty Slot Machine to Blame
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An Arizona man was notified that he had won $229,000 in Las Vegas, following an investigation into a faulty slot machine that did not show he had hit a progressive jackpot.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board announced Friday that Robert Taylor was at Treasure Island Hotel & Casino on January 8 when he hit the jackpot. The problem was that the machine malfunctioned and did not alert Taylor or casino personnel that he won, the board said in a statement.
After an initial review of the machine confirmed the jackpot win and the casino was unsuccessful in identifying the winner, the gaming board launched a two-week investigation to identify the individual.
"However, due to a communications error that occurred, the slot machine experienced a malfunction that prevented Mr. Taylor and casino personnel from realizing that a progressive jackpot had been won," the statement said.
"By the time an extensive review of the slot machine and the communications technology was completed, confirming the jackpot had been won, Mr. Taylor had returned home to Arizona. Immediately after confirmation that the patron had won the jackpot, multiple attempts to identify the patron by the casino were unsuccessful. At that point, the Board initiated an extensive investigation."
The investigation involved numerous witness interviews and reviewing multiple hours of surveillance footage, ride-share data and electronic records.
"The exhaustive investigation resulted in successfully identifying the patron as Robert Taylor," the statement read.
Taylor was notified on January 28 that he won the jackpot. He was able to pick up his $229,368.52 winnings at the casino over the weekend, the gaming board said.
"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. 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," Enforcement Division Chief James Taylor said.
"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."
Slots machines feature interactive yet random odds for winning a cash prize. A progressive slot machine takes a percentage of each bet placed and adds it to the jackpot total.
When a player spins a winning combination on the slot machine, the machine should notify the player and the casino about the win. But on occasion, a machine might malfunction and not alert a player to a win. Sometimes, though, the machine will alert a player they won a jackpot even though they won nothing.
While the odds of winning depend on the prize, the chances of winning the progressive jackpot on a slot machine are approximately 1 in about 50 million, according to bonus.com.
Newsweek reached out to the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino for comment.
