Bally’s Atlantic City Won’t Pay Disputed $1.2M Wheel of Fortune Jackpot

Posted on: May 20, 2024, 11:04h. 

Last updated on: May 20, 2024, 11:39h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

A New Jersey woman says she hit it big on a progressive slot machine at Bally’s Atlantic City, but the casino is refusing to pay out.

Bally’s AC, Ronay Beal, Wheel of Fortune jackpot, IGT
Gambler Ronay Beal, left, provided ABC News with a photo she snapped of her “winning” jackpot, but the casino claims it was a glitch. (Image: ABC)

Roney Beal, 72, claims she won a $1.2 million jackpot while playing the Bally’s Wheel of Fortune slot. But when she called slot supervisors to alert them to her win, she was informed the terminal had malfunctioned. And as the small print on most slot machines says: “Malfunction voids all pays and plays.”

Now Beal is preparing to sue Bally’s for the jackpot she believes is rightfully hers.

“It went off, says, ‘you’re a winner’ and gold coins popped out,” she told 6 ABC Philadelphia. “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!'”

‘Reel Tilt’

Casino staff informed her that the machine had experienced a problem and was flashing a sign for “reel tilt,” which voided the win.

“When the man came over to talk to me, he said, ‘Lady, get it in your head; you won nothing’,” Beal claimed. She was later offered $350 as a goodwill gesture.

Beal’s attorney, Mike Di Croce, believes casino staff “fooled with the machine” before anyone could take a look at it. He is planning to file a lawsuit for the full jackpot, plus $1 million for emotional distress.

“Bally’s has no comment on this incident as we’re only the casino who houses the machine,” a Bally’s spokesperson told The New York Post. “[Casino tech supplier] IGT handles the payouts and would be best to get a comment from [IGT] at this time.”

IGT said it was “cooperating with the investigation of this matter.”

Winner, Winner, Steak Dinner

In 2016, Katrina Bookman, a single mother of four from Queens, New York, was playing an IGT slot at Resorts World New York City that offered a maximum payout of $6,500. So, when she hit a $42,949,672.76 jackpot, casino staff suspected a glitch.

Instead of $42 million, Bookman ultimately received the $2.25 win that the machine should have displayed and a free steak dinner.

That’s not to say that the house always wins in these situations. In 2000, two men, Garrett Griggs and Stephen Livaudais, sued IGT and Harrah’s New Orleans over a disputed $1.35 million jackpot, also on a Wheel of Fortune machine.

The case dragged on for six years, but a Louisiana jury and the state appeals court ultimately sided with the two players after IGT failed to prove beyond all doubt that a malfunction had occurred.