Jackpot—Not!

How a "machine malfunction" can take away an apparent jackpot–and what to do about it

"Machine malfunction voids all pays." Every slot machine in every casino, regardless of style, denomination or manufacturer, displays this disclaimer. But what does it mean?

Many slot players, including several of our readers, know all too well what it means. It means that you can be sitting at a reel-spinning slot machine and line up the top jackpot–on the payline, with the maximum coins wagered–and win nothing. Or it means you can hit the "max bet" button, hit a machine’s top winning combination, and be paid the jackpot listed for a one-coin wager.

"Sorry, that’s not a jackpot," the attendant will say. "The machine malfunctioned." Despite your protests, the decision will hold up under subsequent scrutiny by regulatory bodies, or even in court.

Perhaps the most infamous machine malfunction occurred a few years ago in Arizona, at a Native American casino managed by Harrah’s. A woman lined up three "Quartermania" symbols on the multisite progressive, apparently winning the $330,000 jackpot. Several hours later, the casino verified with an independent lab that there was a glitch in the computer chip, and she was denied the jackpot.

The woman took her case to the tribal commission overseeing the casino, and the decision to withhold the jackpot was upheld. Harrah’s and slot-maker IGT ultimately worked out a deal to compensate the woman for her jackpot, but only because the whole affair had become a public-relations nightmare. She was a former migrant farmworker and said she wanted to use the money to help a granddaughter who had kidney problems and who might require dialysis.

The payment was simply a gesture to close the case. Since it involved a verified machine malfunction, the casino and manufacturer were in no way required to pay that jackpot, even though the physical reels lined up the top jackpot symbols.

Not all such cases are this dramatic. One of our own readers relates the following story:

My wife and I were playing at [an Eastern casino]. When this particular machine shows three mermaids on the payline, three buttons on the machine light up, giving the player the right to choose one and win up to a $9,000 bonus. The three mermaids lined up perfectly on the payline but nothing lit up. The technician first checked the [reels]–they were definitely locked in place. However, he then instructed the computer to rerun the last spin and, lo and behold, only two mermaids ended up on the payline with the third landing one position below. The casino claimed it was a machine malfunction, voiding all pays. However, the only malfunction was the fact that the computer ‘told’ the machine not to land on a win when in fact, it did. Whatever happened to ‘What you see is what you get?’

The answer to the reader’s question is that on a modern reel-spinning slot machine, what you see is not always what you get.

To understand this answer requires a bit of background information. Before the early 1980s, slot machines did not need to display the malfunction disclaimer. For the first seven decades after the invention of the reel-spinning slot machine, its operation was entirely mechanical, and reel results were dependent solely on gravity. The result on the payline was the result. Period.

Jackpots, though, were never more than a few hundred dollars. There were 22 "stops," or reel positions, on each physical reel. Therefore, the odds of landing a top jackpot were limited, and the jackpots hit too frequently for casinos to afford big jackpots.

Casinos, however, wanted to offer bigger jackpots–mainly to compete with state lotteries, which were offering millions of dollars in their "lotto" draws. In the early ’80s, Bally produced the first slot machines that used a computer to pick the reel results. In 1984, Universal perfected this type of game with the first "stepper" slot–the model for all reel-spinners to follow. Instead of a spring-loaded mechanism, a stepper motor that accepted commands from the slot’s computer now controlled the reels. Each possible reel result was assigned a number. The lower-paying reel results were assigned many numbers each; the top jackpot was assigned one or two numbers.

It was called the "virtual reel"–a simulation of a physical reel that was perhaps a mile long, with thousands of cherries or blank spots and one or two spots with a "7" or other top jackpot symbol. The reels themselves now functioned only as a display mechanism, showing the player the result that had been picked by the computer–no different than a video screen showing the same result.

But unlike a video slot, modern reel-spinners still have the one mechanical element–the mechanism, driven by the stepper motor, that actually stops each reel on the result signaled by the computer. Like all physical mechanisms, it is subject to mechanical failure.

Practically all "machine malfunctions" in reel-spinning slot machines involve a failure of the stepper motor to stop a reel on the spot instructed by the computer. That’s what happened to our reader.

So what can you do about it?

First, know that in instances such as this, the casino does not have to pay. Not because they are crooks, but because they are backed up by ample precedent under the law. If a dispute goes to mediation by regulatory authorities, the regulators will always side with the casino if the computer’s memory shows that the random number generator picked a nonwinning combination. (Again, remember that the reels themselves are now considered display mechanisms only.)

That said, there are ways to prepare for such occurrences ahead of time–preparation that will virtually ensure you some type of payment for your jackpot, if not the entire amount, even if a verified machine malfunction occurs.

Most importantly: Always use your player’s club card when playing slots. Casino officials always check the player’s history in such instances. If that card shows you to be a regular player, chances are the casino will pay you for most moderate jackpots, even if a malfunction is verified.

"A lot of casinos will take into consideration the type of player you are, and the record you have with the casino," says Charlie Lombardo, senior vice president of slot operations at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. "Get a card and establish yourself. You don’t have to be a high-roller, just a regular customer. If you’re a guy who came in regularly to play my machines, and never caused a hassle or abused comps, I would be more apt to pay you in a case of machine malfunction than if you came in once, played six coins and started screaming and hollering for a thousand dollars."

In Atlantic City, they call it a "P.R. payout." Slot managers are authorized to handle machine malfunctions as a public relations situation.

"Improper indexing [a reel not stopping where the computer instructs] happens from time to time," says George Mancuso, vice president of slot operations at the Atlantic City Tropicana. "If the customer is a Diamond Club member, we handle it as a P.R. situation. We try to make the customer understand why it happened, and make a judgment call on compensation. You try to take the situation away from the game itself, and try to come to terms in a reasonable way."

A "reasonable way" may involve paying off a moderate jackpot; it may involve a token payment as compensation; it may involve a comped room or meal. It does not always mean you will be paid the full jackpot, though–casinos do not want to set precedents of paying in case of machine malfunction.

"Most of us are reputable people trying to run a reputable business," says Lombardo. "But we are also responsible to our shareholders. I have to answer to upper management if I give someone a thousand dollars."

‘The Button Didn’t Work’

Not all machine malfunctions involve improper indexing of the reel result. In fact, it’s never an issue in video slots or video poker.

The most common complaints from video poker or video slot players involve malfunctions in buttons–either the buttons used to hold cards before the draw, or the "max-bet" button.

According to Mancuso at the Trop, while video poker disputes are rare, the casino tries to employ reason in each situation. "We try to be fair," he says. "For example, if someone is dealt four of a kind, they are not going to discard one of the four of a kind cards. We will work with them on something like that."

More frequent in video games, though, are disputes concerning the amount of the wager. Players will hit a top jackpot with less than maximum coins wagered, and will either claim they hit the max-bet button or they inserted coins and it didn’t register.

Again, your slot club card is your best ally here. Tom Reale, vice president of slot operations at the Sands in Atlantic City, recalls that the largest "P.R. payment" his casino ever made involved a $100 slot machine. A player hit what he said was a $16,000 jackpot on the two-coin machine, but the machine’s computer showed that only one coin was wagered on the spin–an $8,000 jackpot. The player said one of the coins he inserted had not registered.

"We looked not only at the record of that session, but at the customer’s player history," says Reale. "This was a man who always played max-coin, and he was a loyal, rated player. So we made good on the jackpot."

Open Your Mouth

One thing to remember if your slot is not working right: Open your mouth. Call someone early. Don’t wait for a jackpot, especially if a button is malfunctioning or coins wagered are not registering.

Another one of our readers relates the following tale:

I decided to spend my last hour of gambling at [a Las Vegas casino] playing the multiline ‘Jackpot Party’ nickel game. I was very surprised when after only three spins, I hit the bonus. [On this game, the player chooses gift boxes for hidden bonus amounts until choosing one with a ‘Party Pooper’ character, which ends the bonus round.] On my first gift box selection, I chose the fourth box down in the first column. It would not open. I paused three seconds and tried again, no luck. I tried a box on the opposite side, and it opened right away for 125 coins. I then went back and tried the box I wanted before; it still would not open. Again I went to the other side and made a selection–it opened with no problem; 25 coins. I made another selection on this side and received 50 more nickels. The original gift box still would not open. On my next selection I got the ‘Party Pooper’ guy. I know at this point all the boxes are opened to reveal what was behind them. Guess what? The box that wouldn’t open had 500 nickels behind it. I was so mad I cashed out and vowed never to play there again. I felt cheated.

The reader was not "cheated" by the casino; she was "cheated" by herself. She did not open her mouth. The correct action would have been to call a slot attendant immediately when her first gift-box choice did not open. The problem would have been corrected, and she would have gotten her 500 coins.

"The main thing to remember is to call somebody," says Charlie Sanderson, slot performance manager at Harrah’s Atlantic City. "Inquire as early as possible. If a button doesn’t work, get somebody to help you."

"Open your mouth; become proactive," agrees Lombardo at Caesars Palace. "Most places are going to treat the situation properly."

Mancuso at the Tropicana adds that it is always in the casino’s best interest to satisfy a loyal customer. "In most cases, you prefer to take care of the customer," he says. "You want that customer to walk away happy. That’s how a good relationship starts."