BLACK HAWK, Colo. (CBS4) – A Colorado gambler thought he was a winner, but he may end up with nothing at all.
A jackpot of $31,202.41 was the amount that thrilled Chuck Barry and his wife, believing they had won the “super jackpot.” The couple was playing at a penny-slot game called Cash Spin at the Lady Luck casino in Black Hawk.
“I turned right to my wife, and I said, ‘We just hit the super jackpot,’ ” Chuck said. “I’m getting chills right now talking about it.”
That excitement was short-lived, after the casino disputed the payout when a floor manager said there appeared to be a malfunction with the machine.
“I’m an honest person. I have a beautiful family, and I’m blessed, and I deserve that jackpot,” Chuck said.
The Colorado Division of Gaming is conducting a forensic investigation to determine whether or not the machine was truthful on the jackpot, and if Barry is entitled to any of the winnings. If a valid jackpot occurred, the casino is obligated to pay the winner the advertised jackpot amount for that particular game outcome.
“If there’s an award that needs to be paid, it will be paid,” said Cameron Lewis, a spokesperson for the Division of Gaming. “And if there is something else, we need to be able to explain it fully.”
The results of the investigation could take up to a month, and the Barrys have already been waiting for a week. If the patron disagrees with the results, the decision can be appealed to the Gaming Commission.
“This is not fun at all. If this is what a jackpot is all about, I don’t want to win one,” said Tisha Barry, Chuck’s wife.
A spokesperson for Lady Luck told CBS4 that there are disclaimers on all their slot machines, saying that all the machines have electric pieces and are subject to malfunctions.
“We didn’t go there to become millionaires,” said Tisha. “But we certainly didn’t go there to get cheated either.”
Last year it was a dispute at Fortune Valley where the woman won over 1 mil and walked out with $20.00 The law suit that was settled at Harras over a jack pot. Bullwackers another jackpot that was hit and again disputed. Just to name a few.
We dont go to Blackhawk anymore because of not only this, but lack of payouts. You can get airfare to Vegas for well under $200 and unlike Blackhawk, my upscale rooms at the Palazzo are free and they always give me $75 to $150 in play money. Oh and comp’d dinners.
Blackhawk is a complete joke and waste of time.
The media needs to get it’s facts straight before they discredit the Casinos and the Division of Gaming. You also need to realize that when you gamble, doesn’t matter if it’s in Colorado, Nevada or any place, the person gambling needs to know how to gamble and it’s his or her responsiblity to know how the machine pays out. On every slot machine in the world there is a disclaimer, “Malfunctions void all pays and plays”. This is to protect not only the casino but the patron as well. This was a simple malfunction and shouldn’t be paid! It’s no different than the machine running out of tickets or a power spike. Go ahead and play in Las Vegas. I can tell you, the games are a lot tighter there but hey, as long as your happy and away from the “corrupt” Blackhawk…..
That is pure BS if the disclamer say’s that. Well then we should all STOP gaming at any casino that has that disclamer. When the money stops coming in who will pay for the machines, lights, leases etc. That’s a pritty poor way to get out of a bet.
Your right Kimo. Better yet if you want to gamble spend it in Colorado on the Lottery and not on Machines That May Default. I thinl this should go on You Tube and then let millions know the scam.
I forgot to mention maybe the next excuse is the same as an insurance company uses ” ACTS OF GOD ” so who will dispute that.
I worked in the gaming industry 21 years 17 in gilpin county as a slot tech and in my profesional opinion touch screens are just disputes waiting to happen. I’ve seen them be off up to six inches at times. people touch a symbol they want and another one turns over. Of course they are one symbol away from the top pay and say they should of hit the jackpot and of course the machines are labled “malfunction voids all plays and pays” Those are the exact words, not our machines contain electronic parts and are subject to malfunction, thats just not true. Also I’ve yet to see anyone get paid on a malfunction dispute, I’ve even had to go to court over them, yet never seen anybody win. The problem with touch screen is it’s a one touch deal, you touch it turns. The concept should be select a symbol it highlights and the you press play, that way if it picks the wrong symbol you can correct it before hitting play. Unfortunally this is to simple for the industry to see because they are to busy looking at the bottom line. They seem to kiss off dollars to save pennies. Ticket in ticket out has destroyed the industry. There is no sound of winning, no excitment and worst of all no service. The main reason the majority of casinos have gone ticket in ticket out was so they can cut labor. I started out in 1987 as a change person, outsold everybody and got promoted to tech. I’ve seen general managers that started out selling change, it was just an all around great starting position. Now due to ticket in ticket out the position no longer exist. some of these places only have 2 people working the floor paying jackpots and selling change, so service really suffers. I mean what good is a perfectly good slot machine if you can’t get change to put in it? That’s how shortsighted these people are, plus they run them so tight and have no clue that coin in is directly related to coin out. It’s like they’ve never seen the movie casino. Keep your players playing as eventualy all the money goes to the house. Once you’ve got them don’t give them a reason to leave. I know if I drop $200 in five minutes i would leave too. A little history of gaming. One question I have asked everybody out here, what is the name of the tray that the money falls in is? Allways the same answere “the coin tray”. Wrong. The correct name is “the loud bowl” invented in the 1940’s by Bill Harrah in reno. He wanted a way to draw people into his casino, enter the loud bowl and the sound of winning and excitment. It worked. Excitement draws people in, not a quiet casino where the machines go beep. As thier bottom line decreases because of thier ignorance they go staight for the labor cuts to obliviuos to think maybe if we improved service and increase coin out more people will come in. But that will never happen.
That machine didn’t malfunction TAKING their money did it????
Lady Luck – YOU are LOOSING MUCH MORE than $31K – You will lose customers, just like Fortune Valley has lost customers. MORONS!!!