Someone almost won $43,000,000 in a huge slots jackpot. The story is amazing and curious for anyone involved or interested in slots.
Here is the tale.
It is 2016 and a 44 year old Bookman decided to play the Sphinx Wild slots machine.
Playing for 40 cents per spin on the 40-payline “penny machine,” Bookman and her partner were floored when the game screen lit up and froze in place. Katrina took an excited selfie next to the screen which read Printing Cash Ticket $42,949,672 and Please Remove Ticker.
She said “I kept thinking about my family. The struggle I’ve been through, it’s hard to cope.”
Unfortunately for the Bookman family, those dreams were quickly dashed when casino management ushered her off the gaming floor. They told her to come back tomorrow to learn about the venue’s “official ruling.”
That language was obviously alarming, but Bookman dutifully returned to ask the all-important question:
“I said what did I win? (The casino rep said) You didn’t win nothing.”
According to Bookman, the higher-ups at Resorts World Casino told her that the titanic jackpot was simply the product of a machine malfunction. To add insult to injury, management reportedly offered her $2.25—the amount they said she rightfully won on the fateful spin—along with a complimentary steak dinner.
Suddenly confronted with such crushing disappointment, Bookman flatly refused the “offer” and set to work contacting an attorney.
“Casino personnel were able to determine that the figure displayed on the penny slot was the result of an obvious malfunction – a fact later confirmed by the New York State Gaming Commission.”
Indeed, had the nearly $43 million payday been awarded, Bookman would’ve broken the American slot jackpot record of over $39 million. That enormous haul was bagged by an anonymous winner at the Excalibur casino in Las Vegas back in 2003.
“You can’t claim a machine is broken because you want it to be broken. Does that mean it wasn’t inspected? Does it mean it wasn’t maintained?
And if so, does that mean that people that played there before Bookman had zero chance of winning?”
Given the demonstrable facts of her case, the Sphinx Wild doesn’t offer multimillion-dollar jackpots and the machine clearly states malfunctions void all payouts. It’s a virtual certainty that Bookman’s claim was eventually denied. Which is such a shame.
This outcome would conform to legal precedents established in several similar cases involving slot jackpot malfunctions.
Bookman’s story is tragic to say the least, as any gambler who chases the big jackpots can attest.
After years of spinning she would have thought in that moment it had all been worthwhile.
With that said, Bookman did have a few clues in front of her which suggested that the big win was too good to be true. Perhaps next time Katrina, there is still a hope for all of us to secure the giant win.
