Casino Error Gives Away Half a Million Dollars

Errors in your favor evidently don’t just happen in Monopoly. The culprit was a defective slot machine—who knew slot machines could be so loose. The location was Caesars Indiana. And yes, the casino was not even aware of the bad slot machine until a player notified them. So what happened?

According to The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky, the really loose slot machine started giving extra credit to players. It was an easy win for lucky players. Put in some cash and get 10 times the value in credits—yes, 10 times your money. Before anyone knew it, Caesars was out $487,000. If not for the “let your conscious be your guide” player, the casino could have lost millions.

Here’s the kicker. Caesars could actually be fined for allowing one of their machines to become the personal ATM for lucky players. Why? According to the deputy directory, Jennifer Arnold, of the Indiana Gaming Commission, they failed to follow procedures that were designed to stop this sort of thing. Talk about kicking someone when they are down.

Here’s the rub. Are the players that hit the “jackpot” required to return the money? Commission Director Ernest Yelton said that while Caesars can try to get the money back, he was not sure about the legalities of the matter. Is it stealing, even technically, if the machine gives you the money? Unethical maybe.

Caesars’ hero is one Kathryn Ford, 23, of Louisville, Kentucky. She sat down to play with her husband and noticed that the loose slot machine gave her $200 when she put in a $20 bill. She then tried another, and the same thing happened—interesting. She continued stuffing $20’s into the machine until it gave her a quick $1,600 payout in vouchers.

Other gamblers took notice—obviously. According to Ford, the second she left, another gambler jumped at the machine, stuffed in $100, cashed out $1,000, and ran off. Ford and her husband reported the incident to casino officials. They quickly determined that the software was to blame. It was installed on July 21. Here’s the funny part. The machine was set up for play in the Philippines and that’s why American money was getting major play.

Caesars is now in the process of trying to recover some of the money lost thanks to this costly mistake. Will these people be hard to find? Evidently, some of the geniuses will be rather easy. Why? Caesars GM, Ed Garruto, has been given a gift in the recovery effort. According to Garruto, “Some 24 of the gamblers won’t be hard to find, because they used their casino player cards.” Now that’s classic.