Monday, January 29, 2007

Why some casinos deserve to get cheated

If casinos don't already make enough money! Read this article, then tell me after doing so if you could feel sorry for casinos getting ripped off?

More Casinos Realize They Can Blame Software Glitch
And Not Pay Out Big Prizes

Last summer, we suggested a new business model for
casinos, after hearing the story of one casino blaming
a software glitch in order to not pay out a jackpot a
player had supposedly won. In that case, the guy was
supposedly hiring a lawyer, but we haven't heard an
update. However, it appears that others are picking up
on the trick. A new casino in Pennsylvania had a slot
machine tell a player that he had won $102,000,
supposedly "the big jackpot" of the day. Various
casino staff came up and congratulated him, until
someone else came over and offered him two free meal
coupons, saying that the jackpot message (which even
stated his name) was a software glitch on their
internal computer system, and was due to some internal
testing that never should have reached the actual
machine. Specifically, they claim it was "a
communications error." The article does note that the
slot machines have a disclaimer that the casino is not
liable for machine malfunctions, but there are
questions about whether or not that covers this
situation, since it wasn't technically the slot
machine that malfunctioned, but the casino's computer
system. Either way, it seems pretty sleazy, and
probably isn't particularly good publicity for a new
casino trying to drum up business.