I was playing a dollar progressive machine, actually five-dollars per bet, in the Pequot Casino on Saturday night, August 30, 2008. After spending about sixty dollars on the machine, I got the three "spin-to-win" symbols to align and the spin-to-win button started flashing. Having hit this button many times before in my several years of gaming experience, I expected the wheel to spin and stop at probably 25 dollars. Instead, it slowly decelerated and stopped at 400! Then, at the time music would usually start playing and it would start paying, the wheel started again and continued to slowly turn, forever, and forever. My friends who were witnessing this event quickly ran for an attendant.
The attendant
The attendant opened the machine, jiggled something, and then closed the machine. The machine then restarted as the attendant walked away saying; "Good luck!" When the wheel stopped the second time, it stopped at 40, not the original 400. To add to this insult, it didn't even pay its indicated 40 dollars. Instead, it paid nothing.
Malfunction voids all payouts
Another attendant was called and he declared that it was a "wheel tilt" and "malfunction voids all payouts!" I complained vigorously and the attendant said that he would call a supervisor. The supervisor never came.
Avoiding payouts
It seems that there is a new scheme. The casino just creates a "machine malfunction" to avoid paying winning bets. This is an interesting scheme and something that must not go unchecked.
Letter
Therefore, last night I wrote a letter to the casino explaining the events and requesting my $400. I will keep you posted about the results of this letter. In researching the corporate address of the Foxwoods Casino in the Internet (there doesn't seem to be any), I noticed that there have been numerous complaints and lawsuits against the Casino. It seems that the Casino's lawyers claim that they are above the law so that state and federal law does not apply to them. This is something to consider if you intend to spend your money there.
