Casino Nixes $57 million slot payout, offers man $100 and free meal instead

[Deberg_1990]

http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news...d-swiss-to-sue



Sorry, but that $57 million you thought you won at the slots? Computer error.

That was the message that a casino in Bregenz, Austria, gave to Behar Merlaku, 26, after he got a really exciting return on a slot machine, the UK's Daily Mail reported.


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Merlaku got only four of the slot machine's five required matches, but a winning bell went off and a flashing screen told him he had won the big jackpot on March 26, the Daily Mail said. But when the Swiss man tried to claim the prize, the casino operators blamed a software error and offered him $100 and a meal instead.

Now his lawyers say he's entitled to the huge prize and he plans to sue Casinos Austria AG; a court hearing is scheduled for Jan. 10. The Daily Mail said it's thought that such a civil action would be the largest of its kind anywhere in the world and the case is being keenly watched by gaming operators.

His lawyers say that when he refused the casino's offer, he was banned from the establishment. They say that the company said the slot machine manufacturer was responsible and cited Austrian law that jackpots cannot normally be higher than two million euros, the Daily Mail reported.