It wouldn’t matter whether it was at the gambling mecca of Vegas, or, as in the case of Behar Merlaku, at a little-known casino in the tiny Austrian town of Bregenz – if the bells and lights on the slot machine I’m on start ringing and flashing, telling me I’ve won $57 million, then of course I’ll be planning my retirement.
But when Swiss national Merlaku went to claim his jackpot, owners of the casino simply said there’d been a “software error” and that the 26-year-old was therefore not entitled to the big money prize.
Instead they offered him $100 and a free meal, which, hardly surprisingly, he rejected. Admittedly, it appeared that the top prize was for a five-slot match, whereas Merlaku had only managed to match four-slots, but with the machine’s screen and accompanying racket telling him he’d won, why wouldn’t he believe it?
So upset was Merlaku that he has decided to launch a lawsuit against the casino, claiming it should honor the ‘win.’ The incident took place earlier this year, while the legal action will begin next month.
The Daily Mail reports the lawsuit as likely being the biggest ever claim of its kind – and one which will be closely watched by gaming operators the world over.
In an interview on Austrian television, Merlaku said that the jackpot had come up loud and clear. “There was music and the sum I had won – nearly 43 million euros – was displayed on a screen.”
He added, “I was so overjoyed and in my head I began calculating what I could do with all this money.”
A few months ago, Merlaku told the Austrian Times, “I will fight for this until my death. I don’t accept it. I can’t sleep anymore and I constantly think about the injustice I’ve experienced.”
In the coming months the hopeful gambler will find out whether a supposed software glitch is a good enough reason to prevent him from getting his hands on the money. If, on the other hand, he does win, he won’t be the only one hitting the jackpot, with his lawyers no doubt pocketing a tidy sum for their trouble.
The Bregenz establishment is run by Casinos Austria, which operates casinos in more than 15 countries.
[Image: Richard Goldberg / Shutterstock]
Leo Wallner (and private owner Martin Schlaff) will never pay out. One Wallner already owes millions to the Austrian public for defrauding the AOC, and Martin will take the poor sap up on his comment “I will fight to the end” – check out his last business partner’s status – Solomon Obstfeld. This gambling outfit is old school in every unimaginable sense. I hope he gets something for his grief but anyone that knows the Austrian Lottery setup knows Casinos Austria is in bed with the gov’t (why else are they the sole supplier in Austria – lest the EU courts are trying to change that one). Good Luck my friend but make sure your looking in all directions – ask Ariel Sharron why?
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Ric Mantia from digitaltrends.com said:
Fixed Games od Chance? WENDY’S HAMBURGERS & SOUTHWEST AIRLINES recent promotion on Wendy’s cups and sandwach carboard wraps for the “W” burger debut disallowed me from entering and stated I entered the same code twice. NOT. After checking my saved prior entries and finding I had DUPLICATE CODES on “W” sandwich casrboard sleeves I call Wendy’s in Dublin Ohio and complained several times, with no return calls as promised. “W” burger is good but customer service is wrong & bad leaving a great customer ($40-50 weekly) with a bad after-taste. RICHARD MANTIA in Dayton Ohio.
No matter what the ODDS, he must be compensated. SIMPLE AS THAT, NO MORE BULLSHITS REPRIMANDS OR DOWN TO EARTH BULLCRAP REASONINGS!
If the MACHINE has a SOFTWARE ERROR, then the guy deserve to sue the company. PERIOD!!!
Accidents and bad beats are all part of the gambling experience, even for the house.
They have to pay their gambling debts like they expect their gamblers to.
Let the house sue the programmers, but pay…the…gambling…debt or forever be a deadbeat casino/company worldwide.
A similar incident happened, this time with the lottery (scratch). The woman’s scratched card shows a $1M win! But, the Lottery Office says no after scanning the card, matter of computer error. The woman sued and won, plus atty’s fees and costs.
I don’t think this guy is entitled to a payout but it really makes you wonder about the legitimacy of gambling operations. Gambling is like some sort of tax on people that don’t understand statistics and just cruel for those that can’t sort through conflicting information.
You don’t understand gambling, you better shut up.
A loser in every sense of the word.
You, too! Better shut up. Instead, why not try to resolve the problem instead of reprimanding!
I’m ‘resolved’ to the fact that the guy is a loser in every sense of the word. LOL.
If I won and something happened, and I lost 50+ millions and only got 100. I’d probably tear up lol
If anyone of you have played slot machines and took the time to read the fine
print under all the payout labels, It clearly states “all prizes void if malfunction occurs”.
So your just suppose to take their word for it ? Want to buy a bridge ??? lol :9
But there was no malfunction! Is it a malfunction when you see all the bright lights, the sweet-sounding toot-toot and the dollar figures all declaring you have won!
Malfunction is, when there are conflicting issues on the machines, such as continuous roll–back and fort, keeps on discharging bills, lights flash, etc.