Image Credit: SOURCE/ Lake City Casino
Republished November 19, 2014 - 1:00 PM
Original Publication Date November 19, 2014 - 10:52 AM
PENTICTON - A malfunctioning slot machine resulted in a $100,000 win for a woman gambling at Lake City Casino in Penticton last January and the B.C. Lottery Corporation has pulled all the malfunctioning machines.
The lottery corporation only revealed the problem after an inquiry by the Vancouver Sun. A spokesperson confirmed today it removed 189 Diamond Point progressive slot machines. It was designed to never pay out more than $1,000 but when the player hit the jackpot, it showed a payout of $99,999.97. The player was paid the amount shown "as a customer service gesture."
"In this particular case, BCLC could verify that a jackpot had occurred but was unable to confirm that the amount was anything other than what had displayed on the screen," said spokesperson Aly Couch. "Accordingly, BCLC determined that the appropriate course of action was to pay the erroneously displayed prize, and was subsequently able to collect the prize amount from the slot machine manufacturer."
The error was caused by a default in the progressive controller, which is the hardware and software controlling communications among linked slot machines.
The Diamond Point slot machine that posted the jackpot was removed from the casino floor, and all 189 Diamond Point progressive slot machines were labelled out of service. All progressive slot machines are linked together to form one large progressive jackpot.
It was later discovered that 152 slot machines across the province could have the same hardware malfunction, since they have the same controllers, however none of these machines experienced a malfunction, according to BCLC.
BCLC replaced the 20 controllers that managed the 152 slot machines province-wide and the machines were put back in use.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Meaghan Archer at marcher@infotelnews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014