Wheel of Fortune Slot Maker Sued in Dumbest Lawsuit, Ever

By Scott Roeben, on December 09 2024
3 min read 7 comments
Las Vegas Las Vegas WTF

We have seen some dumb lawsuits. One moron actually sued Venetian because a scorpion stung him in the testicle. We are not making this up.

Now, however, we are witnessing peak stupid. A class action lawsuit has been filed against IGT, maker of Wheel of Fortune slot machines, claiming the game’s wheel is “rigged” and “doesn’t operate pursuant to the laws of physics.”

The profoundly idiotic lawsuit was filed Nov. 21, 2024 in the U.S. District Court in Nevada. The rumor is after it was submitted to the court, a clerk, two bailiffs and a judge were hospitalized briefly for internal bleeding resulting from spontaneous, convulsive laughter.

Reno attorney David O’Mara is the bonehead in question. Probably not pictured.

This, friends, is why our legal system is FUBAR.

The lawsuit takes a shotgun approach to ambulance-chasing, as it not only names IGT, but also some casinos that have Wheel of Fortune slots: MGM Resorts, Bally’s Corp., Penn, Station Casinos and Boyd.

Plaintiffs in the case include MENSA members from Las Vegas, Detroit, Rhode Island and Mississippi. Mississippi was the real shocker.

The lawsuit asserts the Wheel of Fortune bonus wheel is “deceptive” because “the outcome is predetermined by an internal computer that defendants have programmed to ensure the wheel stops much more frequently with the indicator pointing at one of the segments with a lower monetary amount.”

Wait.

Slot machine wins are determined by computers and not pure chance?

Slot machines make gamblers think they have a better chance of winning than they actually do?

Slot machines are made to take in more than they pay out?

String them up!

Possibly related: Behold, the Grand F.U. Wheel.

Sigh. We’ll type this slowly for the “lawyer” who filed this frivolous lawsuit: All slot machines in modern casinos have internal computers. The outcome of wagers is determined by a “random number generator” or “RNG.”

Everything you can see on a slot machine is for show, including the reels. The reels have nothing to do with the outcome of your bet or spin or hand.

Ditto the wheel. Ditto the firecrackers. Ditto the pigs. Ditto the buffalos. Ditto the sounds and lights and hoopla.

The bonus wheel on Wheel of Fortune is displaying the results of the RNG-determined outcome. It’s not “rigged.” Casinos don’t have to cheat, they have a built-in advantage based upon math.

The RNG is our robot overlord, and all the rest is bells and whistles. You know, marketing. And possibly brainwashing. Depending upon who you ask.

In casinos, even the completely “random” games aren’t “random.” Yes, your dice roll is random, but the payouts for that roll ensure the casino gets a bite even if you win. The chance of rolling “snake eyes” (two) in craps is 36-to-1, but the payout is 30-to-1. That difference between the true odds and what the casino pays is called the “vig.” A roulette spin on a straight-up number should pay 38-to-1 on a double zero wheel (36 numbers, two zeroes), but it pays 35-to-1. The casino do take a bite, don’t she?

As with so many asinine lawsuits, this one isn’t about logic or being right or even the law. It’s a money grab. A Hail Mary to see if anyone with deep pockets (and insurance) will settle just to get rid of this masturbatory exercise in judicial bottom-feeding.

Nonsense lawsuits like this clog up our legal system and encourage other nitwits to blame big business for their own poor judgment and misfortune.

Slot machines and gambling are completely voluntary. They are also highly regulated.

Wheel of Fortune is arguably the most successful slot machine in history, and it’s an absolute blast.

Fun fact: There are about 250 variations of the Wheel of Fortune slot machine.

Las Vegas was built on the illusion of winning, and many people actually do. Win, that is.

Casinos are still businesses, however. They’ve gotten more expensive in recent years, in part due to cerebrally flatlined lawyers trying to make nothing into a windfall.

We hope the defendants will fight the good fight until this lawsuit is tossed and the lawyer for the plaintiff is tarred and feathered in a public square. Although, living in Reno might be punishment enough.