Woman Won $43 Million Jackpot and Was Offered a Steak Dinner by the Casino Instead of Her Winnings
$6,000 Welcome Bonus
Which would you prefer: a steak supper or $43 million? Unfortunately, even after winning the jackpot on a slot machine, one woman didn't have many options.
At the Resorts World Casino in Jamaica, Queens, Katrina Bookman was playing the slots when she won what would have been the highest slot machine prize in US history: $42,949,672.
She used the device to take a photo to capture the occasion and subsequently said that she felt "numb" when she saw the transformative figure.
Bookman was instructed to return the following day to discuss her rewards, but when she inquired as to what she would be taking home, a staffer answered, "You didn't win anything."
Because the machine's warning that "malfunctions nullify all payouts and plays" was there, the commission claimed they were bound by law to only award Bookman the money she had earned.
The casino gave Bookman a free steak meal as a show of goodwill, but that hardly causes for celebration when you think you've won enough money to eat steak for the rest of your life.
A spokesperson for Resorts World, Dan Bank, told CNN: “Upon being notified of the situation, casino personnel were able to determine that the figure displayed on the penny slot was the result of an obvious malfunction – a fact later confirmed by the New York State Gaming Commission. After explaining the circumstances to Ms. Bookman, we offered to pay her the correct amount that was shown on the printed ticket. Machine malfunctions are rare, and we would like to extend our apologies to Ms. Bookman for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
After realizing she'd only be walking away with a couple of dollars, Bookman, who grew up in foster care and raised four children as a single mother, commented: "All I could think about was my family."
