Iowa Supreme Court Ruling Denies the $41.8 Million Jackpot

Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the Isle Hotel Casino in Waterloo doesn't have to pay Pauline McKee the $41.8m she thought she had won while playing the slot machine named Miss Kitty. The court decided that McKee didn't hit any jackpot and that slot machine’s hardware erroneously awarded the bonus.

The 90 year-old thought she had won life changing money during the family reunion at the casino back in 2011. According to the lawsuit that she filed against Isle Hotel Casino, Pauline was invited by her daughter to sit next to her and play Miss Kitty slot machine. After a while, the video screen showed that McKee won 185 credits ($1.85) but also displayed a notice of bonus award of nearly $41.8m.

The supervisor photographed the display of the slot machine and gave Pauline a $10 card to play other games while she waited. After a while, the supervisor paid her the $1.85 that she won on the machine and offered her a free hotel room while casino was looking into the machine.

One day later, the casino’s vice president explained to Pauline that the situation is unusual and that Iowa Gaming Commission must conduct investigation of the machine that displayed the bonus award.

However Pauline didn't receive good news after investigation of machine’s hardware and software was completed. The Iowa Gaming Commission concluded that the machine’s hardware erroneously awarded the bonus which means that bonus award was not valid.

Miss Kitty game manufacturer, Aristocrat Technologies, has explained that casinos were warned that the game can show an erroneous bonus and advised casinos to disable bonus option.

The 90 year-old sued casino in 2012 in order to collect the prize that slot machine showed her but court has ruled in casino's favor.

The court ruling states that when Pauline started to play Miss Kitty slot machine, she has entered a binding contract with rules and a pay table that can be seen by pressing the button on slot machine. A sign posted in front of slot machine says "Malfunction voids all plays and pays". Due to the rules that made no mention of the bonus, the court ruled that Isle Hotel Casino does not have to pay $41.8 million to Pauline.

The Iowa Supreme Court said that Pauline didn't hit jackpot no matter what the screen showed as it was caused by an error in the machine’s software.

However, there are cases where judge ruled in gamblers' favor but that is only possible in cases where a bonus is allowed by the casino rules or when casino changes the rules after the game was played. One of the casino’s attorneys has said that casinos are required to post rules and follow them to the letter and that they are not allowed to change rules in the middle or after the game.

Photo: thefactsite.com