Tribal casino in Alabama denies $1.4M jackpot

What do you guys think / know about this?

Article

There wasn't enough information given to make an informed decision whether there was a malfunction or the casino was just stiffing the player. I will say that I think tribal regulation is pretty much a joke. You can't expect the tribe that owns the casino to fairly resolve disputes within it. In any meaningful court, the judge would recuse himself if he felt any conflict of interest.

The fact that the machine kept changing the win amount suggests to me that there actually was a malfunction but it would be nice to have more information.

Quote: Wizard

The fact that the machine kept changing the win amount suggests to me that there actually was a malfunction.

Um, not so fast there...

Quote: article

The bingo machine indicated a jackpot of $459,000, then $918,000, and finally settled on a "payout multiplier" of $1,377,000.

That final number is just triple the first.
The second is double the first.

So "payout multiplier" sounds legit.

But I agree that trying to sue a tribe in tribal court will get you nowhere.

I'm with you there... Sounds like a 3X multipliers of some sort. There is a link in the article and the player said he was betting quarters with only $5 coin in. I've not seen many (any?) quarter machines capable of that large of a jackpot. I did find this so we know the machine will pay over $1M.

I also thought it was ironic that the players name was Mr. Rape.

Aren't payout that big usually from the company that owns the machine, not the casino itself. Seems like they would have been the ones to decide if it was a legit hit or not.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

But I agree that trying to sue a tribe in tribal court will get you nowhere.

Particularly since only members of the tribal bar are permitted to appear before a tribal judge and tribal courts are notoriously inept at resolving disputes and do not award punitive damages.

I say get rid of the tribal land, sovereignty, immunity, and all the other BS that goes along with it. Don't let them make up their own laws and have their tribal courts.

Quote: RS

I say get rid of the tribal land, sovereignty, immunity, and all the other BS that goes along with it. Don't let them make up their own laws and have their tribal courts.

Tribal properties report to the federal government. This particular casino advertises across state lines: I've seen their billboard in Biloxi.

I'd be trying to get into federal court with interstate fraud claims.