Michigan Woman Sues BetMGM Over $3M ‘Glitch’ After Five-Day Roulette Session

Posted on: June 23, 2021, 04:52h. 

Last updated on: June 23, 2021, 05:16h.

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

A Michigan woman who claims she spun an initial $50 stake into $11 million playing an online roulette game at BetMGM is suing the casino giant for failing to pay up.

BetMGM
Jacqueline Davis during an interview with Fox 2. She told the reporter she never sleeps when she’s winning. (Image: Fox 2)

Jacqueline Davis, from Detroit, claims she played the “Luck O’ Roulette” fixed odds game at BetMGM for five days straight. By the end of her one-woman roulette-athon, she had dropped from $11 million to just $3 million, and figured it was time to quit while she was still a multimillionaire.

Except that she wasn’t, according to MGM. Davis’ lawsuit claims she went to the MGM Grand in Detroit to get a $100,000 advance on her winnings, which she says she was given in cash. When she returned the next day for the rest, she was told there had been a glitch in the system and she wouldn’t get a cent.

Davis claims MGM later said she could keep the $100,000 if she signed a confidentiality agreement to not talk about the glitch. If news of the glitch ever got out, Davis would have to return the money.

No Sleep for Winners

But Davis has been talking about the glitch to anyone who will listen, including her lawyer, David Steingold, and the local Fox affiliate.

She denied in an interview with Fox 2 that she knew the game had malfunctioned and that she was trying to exploit it.

“How could I?” she asked the reporter.

“Because you were winning.”

“The purpose of gambling is to win,” she said.

She told Fox she had stayed up for five days because “Who sleeps when you’re winning?”

All Pays and Plays

Glitches in casino games are not uncommon, both live and online. If you examine live slots closely, you’ll notice almost all bear a disclaimer stating, “Malfunction voids all pays and plays,” while online casinos have something similar included in their terms and conditions.

That means these types of cases don’t usually work out well for the plaintiffs, although, miraculously, one in the UK recently did.

Steingold, Davis’ attorney, told Fox that he didn’t dispute there was a glitch, but argued this was not a defense.

He said MGM is required, as a licensing condition, to check its games every 24 hours. Since his client played for five days, the company had ample opportunity to fix the problem.

Steingold said he’s dying to know exactly how much BetMGM makes on the Luck O’ the Roulette game and whether others who played at the same time but lost got their money back.

BetMGM has not responded to requests to comment on the situation.