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.
Vegas kids, no one but the house wins. If you win, you are cheating and taken out. Why do people actually think the “Games” there are actually going to pay out?
Machines in the USA have such a disclaimer regarding malfunctions voiding all plays and wins, but perhaps Austria doesn’t have such markings, because they aren’t a bunch of litigious idiots.
Aren’t they? I think this lawsuit proves otherwise.
True!
With computer slot machines having so many lines you can bet on I can see it being a little confusing. Last time i was in Vegas most slot machines allowed me bet on 20 different imaginary lines that zig-zaged across the 5 slots. I would believe the machine if I won or lost my $0.20 each spin.
I would be curious to see if there was a picture of the machine at the time of victory, at least in Vegas you know if someone was at a machine that said they won 54million there would be a picture of it posted to Facebook.
That. Sucks.
he lost. He didn’t get 5 he got 4.
You, too, Joe are not a slot machine player. Even if you get 4, with the $54M jackpot, at least having a 4 would be a big hefty prize, too.
Hey Einstien! There WASN’T any 54 million dollar jackpot. The maximum allowable payoff in Austria is 2 million euros (2.54 million dollars). That in itself was an error. Are you starting to get it now or are you one of those millions of gamblers who thinks the casinos are out to cheat you too?
“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?”
Umm, how can he dispute that? Clearly it’s a software error. Obviously he is trying to take advantage of the error and is just getting greedy.
wonder how many SW errors resulted in not paying off?
A jury will award them him some kind of money for sure.
You are correct! Perhaps, plus costs of litigation, some millions more..
Not his fault their machines software had a glitch… He played it said he won, and he should get his money.
With that flawed thinking, everyone that has ever received too much money (or too little) from an ATM should be allowed to keep it.
He can’t win in court. On every machine is a writing saying “Malfunction void all plays and pays”.
“Admittedly, it appeared that the top prize was for a five-slot match, whereas Merlaku had only managed to match four-slots”
Therefore this this was obviously a software error. So it’s a malfunction which voids all plays and pays. Simple as that.
You lost sir. If you got the 5 then you won. You didn’t. You got 4. Just because the bells went off doesn’t mean anything other than you want $54M because you were startled.
Nope.
What if he actually won, but it was a software error displaying only 4 of 5 right? hmmm
Yes, the odds go from 1/10,000 to 1/100,000 when going from matching 4 to 5. Ten times more difficult with just one extra number…
Sue them for the money !!
WTF? give me my MON£Y!
I bet that developer got fired
Pay that man his money!
No way, he didn’t earn it!!
Hm. This could be a difficult call — if the prize really was for getting *5* hits, not 4.
Maybe the gentleman and the casino could negotiate a handsome — for him, not the casino — settlement. I have no idea what would be a “fair” amount in such a case. On the other hand, if the casino can show the situation arose because of a software error, that could arguably be a strong reason for no jackpot payoff.
Is there such a person as a “forensic software engineer detective”???
Also, if the problem *was* a software glitch, what responsibility — if any — does the company whose employee(s) wrote the software have? I would think it has some, but, then, I’m no lawyer, an an American anyway with just about zero knowledge of Austrian laws.
It would be interesting to know how much, if any, he should have won with the 4 he did get. Was it the hundred dollars he was offered?
I wouldn’t want to be the mediator in this dispute. I DO know THAT.
You know what? The Casino should have the slot machine manufacturer pay him something to keep him happy. It’s the machines fault, not the Casino. And I’m sure the manufacturer has insurance which would cover the payout they agree on.
Even if they didn’t have insurance, a company that makes slot machines should be making pretty good profits.
Yup, they should have to pay.
Totally
One could argue that the Casino makes so much money from the machine that they should have made sure it was working properly to begin with.
But then again, one can always attempt to argue anything, regardless of how foolish.