Katrina Bookman was all smiles in late August when the Sphinx slot machine at Resorts World Casino scrolled to reveal a jackpot to the tune of $42.9 million dollars. Little did she know, her big payout at the New York casino would be denied, WABC reports.
After she won, Bookman told the outlet she was flanked by several customers and security personnel. A guard escorted her off the floor, telling her to come back the next day.
“So what did I win?” she asked the guard. “You didn’t win nothing,” the guard responded, Bookman told the television news outlet.
She told WABC her only take home from the casino was a steak dinner offer. Resorts World told Bookman a malfunction caused the machine to falsely reveal the million dollar win.
Katrina Bookman is an unemployed single mom of four. She went to the Resorts World Casino back in August, playing two slot machines to double her chances of winning. And then, she says she struck. Went to the casino at 10:00 a.m. When it opened on a spur of the moment urge! This was my second time there. At opening there are small numbers visiting. But later in the day it gets busy. Huge casino with two floors with 6000 slots and electronic table games. Live play at Resorts World casino in Queens,New York. Skip navigation. 🎣 Catching A Big Bonus 🐟 Hoppin' Fish Slot Machine 😸 #Konami for the WIN! - Duration: 35:53. Brian Christopher. A Queens gambler thought she hit it big until managers at the Resorts World Casino said her $43 million slot machine win was a technical glitch — and tried to pay her off with a steak dinner. Queens Casino Tells Woman Believing She Won $43M That Slot Machine Malfunctioned November 2, 2016 at 7:03 pm Filed Under: Hazel Sanchez, Katrina Bookman, Resorts World Casino.
According to WABC, the New York State Gaming Commission corroborated the casino’s malfunction claim. The commission says she is only entitled to $2.25.
Bookman and her lawyer, Alan Ripka, believe the resort’s claim is bogus and demand the maximum amount allowed for the Sphinx machine, which is $6,500.
“The machine takes your money when you lose. It ought to pay it when you win,” Ripka stated.
The casino has since pulled the machine from the floor, repaired it, and placed it back for play, WABC reports.
Bookman told WABC she had plans to buy her son a barbershop and donate funds to her community. She’s beat out tremendous odds as a survivor of foster care and homelessness to raise four kids by herself.
As of now, Bookman said she plans to sue the casino: “I feel I should win the max and I will treat him to a steak dinner.”
SOURCE: WABC, YouTube | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
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A woman whose slot machine said she won nearly $43 million in August was told that she would not receive her winnings because the machine malfunctioned.
Katrina Bookman took a celebratory selfie in front of the screen displaying a win of $42,949,672, and was subsequently escorted from the floor and told to return to New York City’s Resorts World Casino the next day for a decision.
When she came back, she was told the machine had a glitch and she hadn’t won anything. Instead of offering her the maximum amount that is supposed to be allowed on the machines—$6,500—the casino offered her a steak dinner. The state gaming commission told an ABC affiliate that it would be illegal to offer her the $6,500, noting that “malfunctions void all pays and plays.”
Bookman says the money would have meant a lot to her family. She was raised in foster care herself and experienced homelessness as a teenager before raising four kids on her own. She planned to use the millions to buy her son a barber shop and help out her community.
[ABC7]