It ought to pay it when you win,” Ripka said.

“The machine takes the money when you lose. He’s fighting for the casino to pay Bookman the maximum amount allowed by the Sphinx slot machine – $6,500. To me that’s unfair,” says Bookman’s attorney, Alan Ripka. “They win, and now the house doesn’t want to pay out. The commission said that by law they can only award Bookman her actual winnings of $2.25, printed by the machine. The New York State Gaming Commission told WABC that they immediately pulled the machine from the casino floor to fix it, and it is now up and running once again. Katrina Bookman and a slot machine screen displaying what she thought were her winnings. She grew up in foster care and raised 4 children as a single mother. “All I could think about was my family,” Bookman told WABC, her voice breaking. Instead, the casino offered Bookman a complimentary steak dinner. The machine, like all the ones in the casino, has a disclaimer stating, “Malfunctions void all pays and plays.” The New York State Gaming Commission said that Bookman’s machine had malfunctioned. “I said, ‘So what did I win? He said, ‘You didn’t win nothing,’” she told WABC. It’s like my whole body just got numb,” Bookman told CNN affilate WABC.īut when she came back the next day to find out the exact size of her jackpot, a casino employee crushed her excitement. It would have been the largest slot machine jackpot in US history. She even took an excited self-portrait with the machine displaying her winnings: $42,949,672. Katrina Bookman hit the jackpot on a slot machine in late August at Resorts World Casino in Jamaica, Queens. It was a selfie she thought was worth nearly $43 million.

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