US casino refuses to pay out winnings in excess of USD 2.5 million

A 72-year-old pensioner claims to have won more than 2.5 million dollars at a US casino. According to her statement, however, the casino in question refuses to pay out the million-dollar prize and ultimately only offers a mini-compensation of 350 dollars. But why is the renowned casino refusing to pay out the winnings and what are the player's chances of success?

72-year-old Roney Beal claims to have visited Bally's Casino in Atlantic City in February of this year and, according to her own statement, won 2.5 million dollars. She had previously ‘fed’ a slot machine with several hundred dollars over a period of several hours. After she won the jackpot, a dispute arose with the casino management. As recently as August last year, we at GambleJoe reported that the Atlantic City casinos' profits had plummeted due to high employee costs.

Jackpot won - an error message?

The 72-year-old player from Shamong Township told ‘6 ABC Action News’ that gold coins suddenly popped out of the slot machine and the word ‘jackpot’ appeared on the screen. A man then came up to her and congratulated her on winning millions.

Full of euphoria, she informed the casino staff. However, disillusionment followed: an error message lit up on the slot machine screen and an employee explained to her that she had not won anything. The casino offered the pensioner compensation of 350 dollars for the inconvenience. 350 instead of 2.5 million dollars? This was of course not an option for the 72-year-old - she refused and made the case public. A few days ago, the BILD newspaper also reported on the incident.

1 million dollars in compensation for ‘emotional distress’

The player, who even claims to have been kicked out of the casino immediately after the incident, has now hired a lawyer to claim her jackpot winnings of around 2.5 million dollars. But that's not all: she is now also demanding 1 million dollars in compensation for the ‘emotional distress’. In total, Roney Beal wants around 3.5 million dollars from Bally's Casino.

It happens time and again in casinos that players assume they have hit a jackpot due to a computer error, for example. In the summer of 2022, for example, we reported that an Argentinian casino refused to pay out the jackpot to a construction worker.

In another case, we at GambleJoe reported in early autumn 2022 that a court in Australia had ordered a casino to pay out a jackpot. It remains to be seen whether the 72-year-old pensioner from New Jersey will also receive her winnings.

Image source: https://pixabay.com/de/photos/atlantic-city-new-jersey-stadt-4000163/