A penny slot machine at the Fortune Valley Hotel and Casino in Colorado awarded visitor Louise Chavez a huge US$42 million jackpot – or so she thought. Ms. Chavez, a resident of nearby Thornton, saw that her machine displayed a message that she had won the nationwide progressive jackpot, one of the biggest in Colorado history. Casino officials later told her that the machine displayed a faulty message and that the highest jackpot they could award was US$250,000.

Fortune Valley released a statement that they compensated Ms. Chavez for the money she put into the slot machine (US$23), plus a free hotel room and breakfast to make up for the mistake. They also said that they would examine the machine to determine the cause of the software problem and investigate how the faulty jackpot message occurred. The matter is also under investigation by the Colorado state gaming board to determine if either the casino or Ms. Chavez is at fault.

Ms. Chavez has been interviewed on several television news and talk shows to discuss the issue. She claims that the casino is trying to cheat her out of her winnings and that “whatever that machine said, I should get it”. She has not mentioned if she would sue the casino in order to claim her winnings. In many cases, casinos will pay settlements to plaintiffs to avoid bad publicity, even though slot machines typically display messages that mention that a machine malfunction would void any payouts.

However, any suit brought against Fortune Valley and its parent company, Centaur, may not bring a swift resolution. Last year, Centaur put Fortune Valley up for sale after the company filed for bankruptcy. A Fortune Valley spokesperson said that, if they had to pay out such a huge jackpot, they would “have to turn over the key” to the casino to Ms. Chavez.