In the last couple years — 2010-2011 — there have been several reports about people winning a slots jackpot and then being told that they hadn’t really won, that it was just a computer error. Obviously, most of the media focuses on how unfairly these people were treated and how crushingly disappointing it would be to have millions of dollars dangled before your eyes, only to have them snatched away. After all, it does seem extraordinarily unfair. However, as with anything else, there are two sides to the story and, most of the time, casino owners are not simply making excuses so that they don’t have to pay — there really was a problem.
Image via Wikipedia
The Other Side:
In December 2011, for example, Behar Merlaku, won a slots jackpot in the Austria Casino worth $54.3 million, but was not allowed to keep it because of a computer glitch. It’s easy to understand how devastating that would be. However, according to the casino, the machine showed a number that was greater than the casino was even allowed to pay out! How can that be explained, except as a true computer error?
The Problem:
Imagine this: it’s your friend’s birthday, and you’re both fond of casino games. Therefore, you offer to let your friend role three dice and pay him or her $10 for ever dot that turns up. Your friend agrees. Then, when he or she rolls the dice — somehow — they all break in half so that 21 dots are face up (that’s a score of seven for each die)! Your friend would be delighted, but you would — understandably — be more than a little disgruntled at having to pay more than should have been possible, even ignoring the fact that three sixes would have been extremely unlikely. Now, imagine how you would feel if each die shattered so even more dots were showing — say 40 or 50. You would probably refuse to pay because the number that came up was two or three times what should have been possible.
Although less dramatic than dice physically breaking, this is what happened to the casino owners, only instead of just thinking that it’s unfair, they actually aren’t allowed to pay as much money as Merlaku won. Somehow the computer program in the slot machine malfunctioned. Granted, they could have handled it better (offered him what they could pay rather than just $100, for example), but that still doesn’t change the fact that they were cheated too.
Image by ragingwire via Flickr
A Possible Solution:
Such disputes are nearly inevitable when that much money is on the line. However, technology does offer a possible solution: online jackpots. Because each slot machine does not need to be programmed and maintained individually, the chances that an online slot machine would malfunction are much less. Also, online casinos have much more to lose through bad press than traditional casinos do because there are so many online casinos to choose from that if they ever failed to pay out a jackpot they would almost definitely go out of business.
However, you should still always do your research and know exactly how much a jackpot online — or otherwise — can pay out so that you don’t end up disappointed.
