Americans love hanging out with one-armed bandits, as many consider it their favorite pastime. However, it seems that they would have to take a break from spinning the reels as many slot machines started displaying signs of malfunction all over the place.
There are now several reports coming from a couple of casinos that claim slots malfunctioned several times. To make matters worse, one person claims to have been robbed of a jackpot worth more than a million dollars.
The Jena Choctaw Pines Casino Issue
Before the holiday weekend, a report came from Louisiana’s Jena Choctaw Pines Casino that some slots had gone haywire. These problems continued on Monday, and by the end of the week, a total of 300 slots had to be shut down, which was almost half of the entire offer of slots in this casino.
Apparently, the devices that were turned off failed to communicate properly with other devices and servers, but the exact problem remains a mystery. In other words, no exact cause of the issue was detected, and it is yet to be determined.
Keith Young, the Director of Marketing for the casino, stated that he would have loved to know what exactly had happened and go and fix it. However, he added that they didn’t have the data necessary to identify the problem.
He concluded that the reason why they were “building it from the ground up” was to detect what the problem was and make sure that it didn’t exist.
The Encore Boston Harbor Issue
As reported in WCVB, a local media outlet of Boston, Encore Boston Harbor also had to deal with issues regarding slot machines. Several patrons who played slots in the casino encountered an error that was connected to the system related to slot tickets.
However, the employees reacted quickly and fixed the issue right away. Nevertheless, it remains clear to date what was the root cause for the error and how many of the 2,800 slots in the property were affected by it.
Moreover, no information is revealed regarding the amount of money that was at stake due to errors on the slot machines.
Encore’s officials acknowledged the problem with slots in an official statement. It says that a “brief system failure” took place with the ticket system and that hand-paid jackpots system was introduced briefly. Moreover, the statement claims that the problem has been fixed and that the winners are all getting their pays.
According to reports made by customers, the slots came back online on Friday at 9:30 pm. Finally, the statement invited all people who played slots during the system failure to contact them at the given email.
Oklahoma’s Newcastle Casino Slot Issue
The last case of malfunctioned slots seems more severe as it occurred right after a casino patron supposedly won an $8.5 million jackpot. Maribel Sanches was playing Liberty 7s slot in Newcastle Casino in Oklahoma when the device shut off at the moment she won the jackpot.
However, she has proof of her winnings as she managed to take a picture of the display.
According to the casino’s officials, malfunction voids all payment, but Sanchez already hired a lawyer and plans to go on a legal pursuit, as the casino won’t admit what caused the slot to shut down.
If she manages to prove that she really won the jackpot and the casino fails to explain the reason for the shutdown, the property could be in huge trouble that will cost millions of dollars in addition to the jackpot payout.
