Roney Beal, from Shamong Township, New Jersey , struck gold at Bally's Casino in Atlantic City back in February. She alleges she splashed out hundreds of dollars on a Wheel of Fortune machine before it landed on the word 'Jackpot' with a dollar sign.
The gambler claims she heard the words "you've won" and saw 3D gold coins appear with a blue light flashing. Onlookers began cheering her on as a millionaire, but when she hit the button to call for help, a "tilt message" popped up indicating the machine had malfunctioned.
"I was hoping for $1,000, saying, 'Please God let me win'. And it went off, says, 'you're a winner' and gold coins popped out. This very nice guy says, 'Oh my God, you hit, you hit! ' He said, 'Lady you're a millionaire.' And I'm like, 'Oh my God! '," she told 6ABC Action News, reports the Daily Star .
The jackpot was more than $1.2million, but Roney hit the multiplier, boosting her supposed winnings. However, the celebrations were abruptly halted when the casino staff arrived and informed her she'd actually won nothing, reports the Mirror US.
"That's when the sentences came up 'tilted'. When the man came over to talk to me he said, 'Lady, get it in your head, you won nothing," she recalled. Roney was told that the slot machine had suffered a "reel tilt," which invalidates any supposed wins.
She recounted how an attendant opened the machine and urged her to "spin it off" something she refused to do. The casino employee then proceeded to press various buttons inside the slot machine before offering her a mere $350 significantly less than the jackpot she believed she had hit.
Roney described the scene: "He had it rolling real slow. He had it opened and then he is pushing it."
Bally's Casino and the gaming manufacturer, International Game Technology, are disputing the claim of a win, informing her that the large payout was the result of a machine malfunction.
Yet, Mike Di Croce, Roney's solicitor, has raised suspicions that the casino worker might have interfered with proof of the win. "They fooled with the machine before anybody else had the opportunity to take a look at this," he asserted to the New York Post.
Di Croce has called on the New Jersey Gaming Enforcement, Bally's, and IGT who would be responsible for the payout to secure the slot machine and footage from the casino floor for an impartial forensic examination. "You invite somebody to your business. They pay the money, they win, you're supposed to pay," he argued. "That didn't happen."
He's getting ready to hit Bally's and slot machine giant International Game Technology (IGT) with a whopping $2.56million lawsuit, while also plotting to add over a million for emotional distress, revealing she's still 'very anxious'.
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A spokesperson from the casino said: "Bally's has no comment on this incident as we're only the casino who houses the machine. IGT handles the payouts, and would be best to get a comment from at this time."
On the other hand, a representative of IGT said they're "cooperating with the casino operator's investigation of this matter".
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