A Florida man, Bill Seebeck hit one hell of a jackpot. Playing the $4 slots, he hit the biggest jackpot in the history of the state of Florida: $166,666,666.65. The casino looked at the number and thought two things: 1) that is way more money than we want to lose and 2) that is too many consecutive sixes for foul play to not be involved. [via mademan]
It turns out, they may have been right. Casinos make it their policy to investigate every jackpot (wouldn’t you?), and after they roped the machine off, they looked into whether or not Seebeck’s win was legitimate. They concluded (surprise) that it was not because the machine’s alleged top payout was $99,000. Seebeck (surprise) claimed he wanted a good lawyer.
Usually, when you hit a jackpot, the machine “locks up” and stops spinning. There are flashing lights and an electronic signal is sent to a casino attendant instantaneously to let them know about the win. In Seebeck’s case, the casino is claiming that the machine continued to spin “out of control,” that it was their policy to not payout for malfunctioning machines, and that he would therefore be getting no money.
This is actually protocol for all jackpots over $5,000. A casino attendant, in these cases, always checks the machine for malfunctions, and as the jackpots get larger, even the machine manufacturers will travel to the casino to check the machine. You've got to be a phenomenal liar to put one over on the casinos (like these guys).
So, at the end of the day, when the casino offered Seebeck an undisclosed amount for a settlement, he should be thanking his lucky (sort of?) stars. The Seminoe Hard Rock Casino had this to say:
“The Seminole Hard Rock Casino Tampa has made an offer to William Seebeck, and he has accepted, recognizing that the slot machine he was playing on Sunday malfunctioned, in what can be best described to the layman as a “computer glitch.”
“Determination of a malfunction was made by representatives of the machine’s manufacturer and software provider, according to established gaming industry standards, with confirmation from an independent third-party laboratory analysis. The casino has opted to settle this matter for an undisclosed amount as a good faith gesture, and we look forward to welcoming Mr. Seebeck on future visits.”
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