$57 Million Slot Machine Win Blamed on Software Error, Casino Won't Pay
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
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WTH - no evidence ? How on earth did they not get ANY footage ? A machine with a multi-million jackpot should be on camera at all times I imagine. Since the machine would surly lock the screen to allow confirmation of the winning criteria, at least the manager would have taken a picture with a camera or cellphone showing that the screen did not show five identical symbols. Hell, with money like this on the line, I'ld think there would be a log that recorded the results of each game.cgaWolf said:
It's called gambling and it is never in your favor. You do not go to a casino to make money, you go to a casino to have fun.DTWolfwood said:
They operate a business designed to pay out enourmous amounts of money at very specific rates. They can not afford to pay several millions just because a machine had a malfunction. Thats a quick way to go out of business.
If you will, you can consider gambling a tax on poor math skills. Because the only one who always wins is the state who collects his tax on each and every game that is played.
They might have gotten footage, but it was not secured as evidence during the primary investigation. It may turn up still, but i wouldn't bet on it (da tum tssss). Obviously very sloppy work by the police & state attorneys -- not completely out of character for the austrian executive or judiciary process*.
The problem is finding out what happened months after the fact (this happened in August), when there are essentially no records, logs, tapes, etc...
I sure could hazard an educated guess, especially since the number that lit up on the machine was "42 949 672,86" - a number recognizable to any programmer ( 4,294,967,295 is the max value of a 32-bit integer ). This would indeed indicate a software problem on the machine, perhaps caused by playing again even though his account card was already removed (which shouldn't be possible), dropping the display below a value of 0, and causing it to wrap around to 43m - on a machine designed to pay out 4,500 EUR at most, and which legally isn't allowed to pay out more than 2m Euro.
However at this point it becomes a discussion about liability, and a judge could decide either way - that the AGB are valid, and software errors invalidate the winnings, or that it's the casinos fault in not maintaining and testing their machines properly.
*) Don't get me wrong - most of the time they get it right and do decent work, while at the same time respecting the "don't bother me with anything, at all, ever"-attitude so endemic in the Austrian people, and which at the same time is the very reason for some of our convoluted laws. However, at times those two concepts clash, which makes for headlines such as the one being discussed here
(ps: again, i can source the numbers, but the links are all on austrian and swiss news outlets, and in german -- also, there isn't actually a lot of articles about this, since it's mostly a non-event except for the guy himself, and the gambling industry)
The problem is finding out what happened months after the fact (this happened in August), when there are essentially no records, logs, tapes, etc...
I sure could hazard an educated guess, especially since the number that lit up on the machine was "42 949 672,86" - a number recognizable to any programmer ( 4,294,967,295 is the max value of a 32-bit integer ). This would indeed indicate a software problem on the machine, perhaps caused by playing again even though his account card was already removed (which shouldn't be possible), dropping the display below a value of 0, and causing it to wrap around to 43m - on a machine designed to pay out 4,500 EUR at most, and which legally isn't allowed to pay out more than 2m Euro.
However at this point it becomes a discussion about liability, and a judge could decide either way - that the AGB are valid, and software errors invalidate the winnings, or that it's the casinos fault in not maintaining and testing their machines properly.
*) Don't get me wrong - most of the time they get it right and do decent work, while at the same time respecting the "don't bother me with anything, at all, ever"-attitude so endemic in the Austrian people, and which at the same time is the very reason for some of our convoluted laws. However, at times those two concepts clash, which makes for headlines such as the one being discussed here
(ps: again, i can source the numbers, but the links are all on austrian and swiss news outlets, and in german -- also, there isn't actually a lot of articles about this, since it's mostly a non-event except for the guy himself, and the gambling industry)
Whether or not the Casino is in the right is irrelevant to what i'm saying. i'm simply saying y are there so many average blue collar people wanting this man to lose outright?LorienvArden said:
I'm sure the man won't get the money but for what its worth i hope they settle with him for more than what they offered. I just can't understand how ppl in this day in age siding with the folks that make ungodly amounts of money over the ppl that work the 9 to 5.
I get just as tick off when i see ppl defend the games industry when they cry about used games and their retarded nickel and dime schemes.
this says it all imo with regards to how i see their business model.
Nope! You pay!
The Casino is responsible for their own machines and the result of each one, payable on demand. And since a software-run slot machine is much easier for a casino to cheat the customer with than a mechanical one, a 'software error' is what you call 'all in the wrist'. The right time, place, atmosphere, and circumstance.
In short, luck. Pay up.
The Casino is responsible for their own machines and the result of each one, payable on demand. And since a software-run slot machine is much easier for a casino to cheat the customer with than a mechanical one, a 'software error' is what you call 'all in the wrist'. The right time, place, atmosphere, and circumstance.
In short, luck. Pay up.
Where did you get that impression ? Who makes ungodly amounts of money?DTWolfwood said:
The managers ?
-Those that I met at our store said they where well paid, but they have to put in the hours to actually earn their pay.
-The cashiers waiters etc. need to be very well trained. They have to speak at least three languages fluently, know the rules of four games by heart with ALL eventualities and be able to enforce them with customers who are frequently drunk.) have exceptional behavior and so on. They get paid 'adequatly' for the hours they pour into the job.
The State ? Yea, just for shelling out the license to gamble and enforcing routine checks on establishments that host gambling machines or that are suspected to host illegal gambling, they collect a ROYAL amount of taxes.
Even gambling is a competitive business and it is not nearly the gold mine people might think it is. Those millions have to be earned by the business first so they can be paid out to one lucky winner. With competition right across the border, you have to keep the prices attractive and shell out from time to time. (Granted, negative publicity like this should have been avoided considering this) But in a world of hard and fast numbers you can't just rule "oh, let's give him the benefit of the doubt and several millions... I'm sure it won't happen again."
Comming from several years working in sales, I share with you the first rule concerning customer relations:
"Each and every customer is out for your money. He will lie, cheat and scream to get it. The customer is ALWAYS Wrong, and it is your job to make him see his mistake and feel better in the end."