Not everyone gets the chance to become a millionaire in America. More specifically, not many ever dream of coming across $8.5 million. That is why Veronica Castillo must have been ecstatic when she won the amount in gambling.
The joy was short-lived as in just five minutes the casino staff let her know that they wouldn’t be paying off the amount: the excuse – machine error. The 42-year-old from Portland, Oregon, thought that her investment of $100 had paid off big inside the Lucky Eagle Casino. In the company of her mother in the casino in Rochester, Washington, she was soon to be disappointed when the staff told her that the slot machine had made an egregious error. Adding salt to injury, the staff refunded her only $80 and told her to be gone.
Castillo was agitated and wondered how many times such an error had occurred that resulted in rightful winners going home with nothing. On regular days, the casino machines are not prone to malfunctions. That is because they have a sticker that often voids the plays. John Setterstorm, the CEO, was apologetic and claimed that nothing of the sort had happened in the casino since it opened for business in 1995. The casino later released a statement and didn’t budge on the previous non-committal stance.
Indeed, they said that Rocket Gaming Systems, which makes the machines, would delve deeper into the issue and investigate what the problem could have been. According to them, one slot machine can only give $20,000 if someone has played all the lines. Castillo did not even place bets on every line as she was limited to only a $100 stake. That would mean that she could only have won a maximum of $6000.
While the casino is planning to stand rock solid on their stance, it’s evident that Castillo will not go down without a fight. No doubt, many people would not give up if they had been richer by $8.5m, albeit for five minutes. Joseph Dupuis, senior staff at the establishment, apologized profusely to Miss Castillo. He claims that the machine malfunctioned and gave her an erroneous credit display. In a bid to make her feel better, the casino offered some goodies.
For one, Castillo can stay in the hotel for one weekend, and she doesn’t have to pay a dime. She can also dine for free and can head to the casino to do some free plays. Obviously, the lady was not willing to settle for the small appeasement, considering what was at stake. She plans to hire an attorney and seek legal recourse to resolve the problem. She is well aware that the result may not be positive. That’s why she said on her Facebook that at the very least, she hopes to create awareness on how casinos refuse to pay out to the big
winners.
