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Back in March, you may recall, there was good reason to question whether you could ever trust a casino again. Louise Chavez, a caregiver who makes just $12,000 a year, thought fortune smiled widely upon her at the Fortune Valley Hotel & Casino in Central City after she hit a $43 million jackpot on her birthday. But the casino soon reneged on the payout, claiming the machine had malfunctioned.
As a consolation, Chavez got a free room for a night, some food, and about $20, which she put into the machine. The Colorado Division of Gaming says Chavez, of Thornton, got about what she deserved. She should have collected $20.18 instead of the jackpot, according to The Associated Press. The “Price is Right” penny slot machine wrongly registered a jackpot after Chavez bet 40 cents.
Regulators have concluded that an incorrect payout occurred because of errors in “mathematical calculations built into the game software,” reports The Denver Post. The top possible jackpot on the machine was $251,183.16. But to be eligible for that, Chavez would have had to wager $4.
Fortune Valley previously paid Chavez $23.43, including $10.25 in credits she hadn’t played. Regulators have ordered the slot machine manufacturer and operator of the jackpot system, WMS Gaming, to pay Chavez $7.