NEWCASTLE, Okla. (KOKH) - An Oklahoma woman gambling at the Newcastle Casino Friday morning claims she hit the jackpot for nearly $8. 5 million, but she said the casino won’t pay her. Las Vegas slots player wins $15.5M jackpot on Christmas Eve It was the largest slot machine jackpot Nevada has seen in eight years, the casino owner said. An anonymous woman won $34.9 million.
Veronica Castillo isn’t a regular at casinos. However, when she ended up going to one a couple of years ago, she had won a staggering $8.5 million after trying her luck on a slot machine. That is, until the casino refused to give her a cash prize. This sent Veronica down a rabbit hole as she learned exactly why the casino decided not to give her the money that was rightfully hers…
Veronica could never have foreseen that she would become the main character of this crazy casino story. As far as she was concerned, she was just looking to get away for the weekend with her mother. The Portland, Oregon woman took her mom to the Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester, Washington. Despite not being a gambler, Veronica wanted to try her luck on some of the slot machines. In a way though, it actually made sense that Veronica was so interested in numbers…
Seeing that she is a mortgage consultant with nearly two decades worth of experience under her belt, it is safe to say that Veronica understands how money works really well. So when she was stripped of her $8.5 million winnings during her trip to the casino, she was convinced that something wasn’t quite right. For someone who knows numbers, things simply didn’t add up. However, she did not suspect anything when she entered the casino…
Immediately, Veronica was dazzled by the bright lights and sounds of Lucky Eagle Casino. In an instant, she understood what all the fuss was about and why people love going to casinos. All the signs pointed to her wanting to try her luck on some of the slot machines. These tall, mysterious machines are extremely popular due to how easy they are to use and their bright, luring lights. However, there was one particular slot machine that piqued her interest…
It seems that Veronica is a huge fan of dinosaurs because the slot machine that caught her attention was a prehistoric themed one called “Jurassic Riches.” Not thinking too much of it, Veronica had chosen her machine and was about to make her move. However, before she did that, she sat down and thought about some of the things she already knew about slot machines, and gambling in general. Nevertheless, this wouldn’t take anything away from how excited she was…
Ultimately, Veronica knew that there was a good chance that she would walk out of that casino empty handed. However, this didn’t stop her from going in there with her mother and having a great time. She was excited by the mystery. Having rarely gambled in her life, this was pretty much new territory for her. She was aware that casino games tend to favor the casino. However, she had limited knowledge about the intricate systems behind a slot machine…
It takes a lot of sophistication and ingenuity to engineer a successfully functioning slot machine. They usually include a random number generator and a number of intricate systems within the machine. This means that slot machines have a near-infinite amount of combinations to make the results as random as possible. As for Veronica, she wasn’t clued up on the intricacies of slot machines. All she was interested in was trying her luck, just once, and then she would get on with her life.
Unlike other casino-goers, who will spend an entire day on the same slot machine, pulling the lever until they get a cash prize, Veronica did things differently. Having not caught a gambling bug, all she wanted to do was choose a random machine, which she did, put a note in it, and see what would happen. So she inserted $100, pulled the lever, and hoped for a good result. Nothing could prepare her for what the slot machine would end up showing her…
When everything was said and done, Veronica couldn’t believe what she was seeing. On the screen of “Jurassic Riches,” it said that she had won over $8.5 million! $8,589,298.90, to be precise! She had never really won anything in her life and now, she had won a sum of money that was, without a shadow of a doubt, life-changing! Naturally, she was completing surprised by the outcome and in an interview, she recalled her initial reaction after seeing that figure of money.
In an interview with Inside Edition, Veronica was simply asked what it was like to win $8.5 million. Her answer was pretty understandable. “I was in shock,” she said. “[And] was excited.” She also reiterated her feelings in an interview with KOIN 6, saying the following: “I was very excited and happy…couldn’t believe it.” During those initial few minutes after winning the jackpot, the biggest question going through Veronica’s mind was what she could do with that sort of money…
Seeing that she was already a successful mortgage loan officer, Veronica was pretty happy with her life prior to this incredible moment. As a result, she was struggling to work out what she would do with such a large sum of money. One thing was for sure though, she could probably buy anything she wanted. Also, she would never have to work another day in her life. However, these dreams were about the be shattered in a matter of minutes…
As members of staff came towards her, Veronica assumed they were simply coming over to congratulate her for winning the jackpot prize. However, she assumed wrong. It turns out that the reason the staff members arrived on the scene was that they wanted to shut down the slot machine. “They come to me and say, ‘We have to shut off the machine,'” she said. But that was just the start of her terrible experience at the Lucky Eagle…
Not only did the workers at the casino shut down the “Jurassic Riches” slot machine, they also came to inform Veronica that she hadn’t actually won anything. “Then I was like asking ‘What about the prize?” she said. “And they said, ‘there’s no prize.’ It was horrible.” Completely confused and distraught by what they were telling her, Veronica had a million questions and demanded answers in that very instant. However, things only seemed to get worse…
While she had plenty of questions that she wanted answers to immediately, the staff at the Lucky Eagle desperately tried to appease her with some sort of instant compensation. However, Veronica couldn’t believe her eyes when one of the workers gave her a ticket worth $80. $80.35, to be precise! This meant that Veronica received a one-hundred-thousandth of what she thought she’d get. Nevertheless, she was still determined to find out the reason that her dream jackpot had gone wrong…
In short, the staff explained to Veronica that the slot machine she had been using had malfunctioned. Despite displaying the $8.5 million on her screen, it was actually a display error. Naturally dumbfounded by the explanation, Veronica couldn’t believe what they were telling her. Still unconvinced by their reasons, CEO John Setterstrom began to break down some key rules that would hopefully set the record straight – most notably, a sticker that rested on the side of each slot machine…
John Setterstrom was quick to explain that his casino was able to retrieve any crucial data to prove that what Veronica saw was actually faulty. “We have backup systems as well, and screenshot systems and systems that are built within the systems that can accurately depict and we can show it to the guest,” he said. More importantly, though, the CEO showed KOIN6‘s Lisa Balick some of the casino rules. One of them claims that “machine malfunction voids all pays and plays.”
Although the casino executives tried to explain to her what had happened, Veronica simply wasn’t buying it. As far as she was concerned, the casino was “cheating” and trying to avoid paying her what was rightfully hers. “To me, it’s deceiving, it’s cheating, it might even be fraudulent,” she said in an interview. “My first thought was ‘how many times did they have these kinds of instances and people walking away thinking they have won and going empty-handed?”
New Slot Machine Wins
Lisa Balick, who works for KOIN6, took it upon herself to do some digging of her own, in an attempt to set things straight. When she called the CEO of Lucky Eagle Casino, John Setterstrom, she was surprised by what he had to say. “Obviously, $8 million, there’s no machine in the state that pays that,” he told her. “This has never happened there before.” Furthermore, the casino tried to make amends for what had happened…
CEO John Setterstrom revealed that in his 20+ years at the casino, he had never witnessed a situation quite like this one. He also said that he was planning on getting to the bottom of what exactly went wrong in the “Jurassic Riches” slot machine. And it’s not just the casino who launched a full investigation. The manufacturer of the machine, Rocket Gaming Systems revealed that they are going to work out the cause of the malfunction. That’s not all though…
Shortly after the slot machine fiasco, the casino issued a formal statement, proving that they were taking the situation seriously. They were as determined as Veronica to get to the bottom of the error. However, the casino also shared information in an attempt to prove that the slot machine had, in fact, malfunctioned. They also reiterated what John Setterstrom had confirmed in the interview, that the machine has a maximum jackpot of $20,000. But the casino wasn’t out of the woods just yet…
While the casino was adamant that the slot machine Veronica used had displayed an error, causing the confusion, they still wanted to apologize to her for the inconvenience. The casino issued a formal apology, expressing “deep regret” over what had transpired. The staff at the Lucky Eagle didn’t realize how machine errors can be traumatic for their users. Nevertheless, Veronica was feeling in the mood to forgive the casino for their faux pas. And that wasn’t all they did for her…
The casino didn’t just issue a formal apology to Veronica for the inconvenience. It also made a concerted effort to make her feel better, by supplying her with a number of freebies. In order to compensate her for her misfortunes, the casino gave her a weekend stay at the hotel free of charge, with meals included. However, this is certainly not the end of the story. As far as Veronica is concerned, she has some unfinished business…
Despite the casino trying their best to appease her, Veronica isn’t satisfied. She wants to get an attorney, in an attempt to get what she believes is rightfully hers. And if she doesn’t win her case, she at least wants to share her story with the world. “What I expect at the very least, is to create awareness about how the casinos work, when the players get the big winnings!” she wrote. Whatever happens, we hope that Veronica gets some sort of happy ending.
HOLLYWOOD (CBSMiami) – A lucky Fort Lauderdale woman has won a record slot machine jackpot worth more than $3.8 million at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood.
Ms. Laurie, who didn’t want to reveal her last name to the public, hit a jackpot for $3,854,682 on the IGT Megabucks® slots game shortly after midnight Thursday morning.
READ MORE: Street Flooding, Power Outages Reported Following Heavy Rain Moving Through South FloridaThe jackpot marks the highest payout in history for all six Seminole Gaming properties and the largest slot jackpot ever awarded in Florida on an IGT game.
The lucky player was on a $1 machine and had wagered a $5 bet to win the jackpot.
IGT Megabucks® slot machine (Courtesy: Seminole Hard Hotel and Casino)
“I am in absolute shock,” she said. “You like to dream big but that’s really big. That’s not even in the ballpark of what you think you can win. That’s a lottery! It still feels like a dream,” she said in a statement released by the casino.
The woman just celebrated her 60th birthday last week and was spending the evening at the Guitar Hotel having dinner with friends at Council Oak Steaks & Seafood.
READ MORE: 1 Dead, 2 Wounded In SW Miami-Dade Shooting
When asked about what she plans to do with her winnings, she said, “We’re talking about hurricane windows! We talked about resurfacing the pool or maybe getting a nicer condo after retirement.”
Since reopening on June 12, after being shut down due to COVID-19, the casino has awarded more than $74.8 million in jackpots, including 29 jackpots valued at $50,000 or above.
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The Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood has implemented strict safety guidelines to keep guests and employees safe from COVID-19.
Those guidelines include required masks for guests and employees inside any facility except while in the pool, eating, drinking or smoking in designated areas. To maintain physical distancing, only registered hotel guests are permitted access to the pool. Chairs on the pool deck are spaced to encourage social distancing and guests who violate safety protocols may be asked to leave by management.