A Thornton woman, who thought she won a multi-million jackpot on a penny slot, is entitled to about 20 bucks, the Colorado Division of Gaming has determined.
“The Thornton woman would have been awarded $20.18 had the penny slot machine she was playing at a Central City casino on March 26 not displayed an erroneous $42.9 million jackpot award,” the Gaming Division’s Don Burmania announced May 19 in a press release.
The Division made the determination based upon a forensic investigation performed by independent testing laboratory, Burmania said.
That independent tester — Gaming Laboratories International, is based in Lakewood, N.J.
The investigation confirmed that Louise Chavez of Thornton placed a 40-cent wager shortly before 11 p.m. on March 26 on a “Price is Right” themed penny slot machine at Fortune Valley Hotel & Casino in Central City.
As a result of the wager, the slot machine should have awarded 80 credits (80 cents) for four “Fabulous Trip” symbols displayed on the game’s five reels, 700 credits ($7) for a “Grand Game” bonus round triggered by the base game award, 426 credits ($4.26) for a “Showcase Showdown” community bonus game, and 812 credits ($8.12) for a second “Showcase Showdown” community bonus game.
A review of the game history screens on the slot machine on the night of the incident revealed all of the awards, except for the $7 Grand Game award. As a result, the casino offered Chavez $23.43 that night ($13.18 for the other three awards and $10.25 for the credits remaining on the credit meter after making the 40-cent wager).
“The forensic investigation isolated the error as being the result of the two Showcase Showdown awards occurring quickly after each other while the Grand Game bonus feature was already in play, thus creating an error in mathematical calculations built into the game software,” Burmania said.
The top award on the slot machine at the time was $251,183.16. However, a maximum wager of 400 credits – $4 – was required to be bet to be eligible for the award.
Chavez’s 40-cent minimum wager would have made her eligible for 20,000 credits – $200 – had the game’s five reels revealed the five “Progressive” symbols needed to win the top award, Burmania said.
Chavez was informed of the Division’s determination in a letter sent to her by Division Director Ron Kammerzell last week, Burmania said.
The Division has instructed the slot machine manufacturer and operator of the wide-area progressive system on which the slot machine resided, WMS Gaming Inc., headquartered in Waukegan, Ill., to pay the additional $7.
