Woman says she won $1.2 million at casino; casino says it was a glitch in the machine
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A New Jersey woman says she won a $1.2 million jackpot at an Atlantic City casino in February, but the casino is saying her win wasn’t a win but a glitch in the slot machine.
Now Roney Beal says she is planning to sue.
Beal told television station WPVI that she went to Bally’s Casino in February and put hundreds of dollars into a “Wheel of Fortune” slot machine.
“And it went off, says, ‘you’re a winner’ and gold coins popped out,” she said. “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!’”
Beal, 72, said she pushed the service button on the machine operated by the gaming company International Game Technology (IGT) and that brought security personnel.
“That’s when the sentences came up ‘tilted,’” Beal said of the machine she had been playing. “When the man came over to talk to me he said, ‘Lady, get it in your head, you won nothing.’”
Beal said the man explained that the machine had a malfunction known as a “reel tilt.” Beal said she was told that a reel tilt voids any win on the machine.
According to Beal, a Bally’s attendant came, opened the machine and 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 WPVI.
She said the attendant then hit different buttons inside, ultimately offering her $350.
“They fooled with the machine before anybody else had the opportunity to take a look at this,” said attorney Mike Dicroce, who represents Beal.
Beal’s total jackpot figure would have come to $2.56 million, as Beal hit the multiplier, the New York Post reported.
Dicroce says he has asked the New Jersey Gaming Enforcement, Bally’s and IGT, the party responsible for the payout, to preserve the machine and casino floor videos for an independent forensic review.
“You invite somebody to your business. They pay the money, they win, you’re supposed to pay. That didn’t happen,” Dicroce said.
According to the IGT website, its Wheel of Fortune slot machines have paid out more than $3.5 billion in jackpot prizes.
In a statement to the New York Post, a Bally’s spokesperson said: “Bally’s has no comment on this incident as we’re only the casino who houses the machine. IGT handles the payouts and would be best to get a comment from at this time.”
